Familiar Faces Moving into Port of Skagit Restaurant
The restaurant at Skagit Regional Airport is reopening with new operators, but they are not new to the Skagit Valley.
Spinach Bus Ventures, the team who owns Tulip Town, Skagit Acres and the Fairhaven Mill is moving into the restaurant space at the Port of Skagit, bringing their love of the Skagit Valley to the dining table.
The new restaurant, called Skagit Landing, will begin meal service on April 10th with “grab & go” style breakfast and lunch, and work up to full-service dining in the weeks to follow. Chef Josie Urbick, who has worked for Seattle Chef Tom Douglas and most recently at Bon Appetit in the Seattle Art Museum, is excited to join her childhood friends on this new venture and is completing the menu and renovations on the restaurant.
No stranger to the local agricultural industry, this hometown investment group hopes to make Skagit cuisine accessible to everyone. Andrew Miller, CEO of Spinach Bus Ventures explained that the airport location is ideal because visitors will drive through—or fly over—the beautiful agricultural land to arrive at the restaurant. They plan to source most of their ingredients from local farms, in order to support the local ag industry and to highlight the exceptionally high-quality products from the valley. Partnering with the Port of Skagit on this endeavor helped all the pieces fall into place. “We are so fiercely proud of the Skagit Valley and there’s no bigger champion of value-added agriculture than the Port of Skagit.” Miller stated.
Port Commissioner Dr. Kevin Ware shared his enthusiasm for the new Port business, and its focus on local agriculture. “Our valley and our community are agriculture-based. It’s a part of our heritage and culture—it’s who we are.” said Commissioner Ware, “Projects like Skagit Landing, are exactly the kinds of things we should be doing here to encourage the use of products we grow locally. In addition, as a doctor, eating healthy is an important part of our wellbeing. Eating locally produced products is a big step in that direction.”
Skagit Landing will begin with Grab & Go meal service and add full-service dining later in the spring. Eventually, they will add catering services as a way of further connecting with some of the breweries and other businesses located at the Port and throughout the community.
Since 2010, the Port of Skagit has invested substantial resources in infrastructure, research and technology that supports value-added agriculture. There are currently 18 businesses located on Port property in the value-added agriculture sector.