Serene scene

Convention center cafe offers gourmet cuisine

MOSES LAKE —The sound of running water is continuous at the Moses Lake Convention Center's new cafe.

"The name 'Serenity' came from the fact we felt everybody was really busy in their lives," owner Susie Kilpatrick explained. "They needed a nice quiet place to come, and enjoy a little serenity."

As such, the Serenity Cafe opened Sept. 21.

"We wanted to really celebrate Northwest cuisine," Kilpatrick said.

The decision came after a year and a half catering and cooking food at the center, which she and husband Jess manage.

"It just runs things more efficiently if you have a restaurant open," she added.

The Kilpatricks put together some menus, ideas, and directions they wanted to pursue.

Chef Richard Lane came in and helped push the Kilpatricks toward a gourmet menu, working with Northwest cuisine and bringing in some different options, such as walleye, other seafood and roasted apple sorbets.

"Things like that, trying to use what's in the area," she said. "This will be an ongoing process that we'll be continually changing our menus and focusing more and more on Northwest cuisine."

Once the cafe is up and running, Kilpatrick said phase two begins. The phase involves a music and performing arts center. Musicians have already contacted the Kilpatricks asking to play, she said.

"Our idea of dinner theater, Christian comedy, things like that will be some of the focuses that we're doing," she said.

Kilpatrick adds there are hopes for an event at least once a month for area youth that's non-alcoholic. She hopes such events can be held once a week.

"We'll want to do those as often as we can, but of course we understand that they're not very profitable, so we need to get the rest of the performing arts center actually up and running so that it can help support some of that for the youth that is not very profitable," she said.

Response from the community has been complimentary, Kilpatrick said. Long-term plans for the future include new signs, lighting and an additional parking lot to complement an additional entrance at the rear of the building.

"There's a lot of construction going on, that make it difficult to have something open during the middle of all that," Kilpatrick said, also pointing to a new heating and cooling system and roof. "A lot of things have been going on behind the scenes that people don't notice. That's really going to upgrade this whole complex."

Born in Moses Lake, Kilpatrick said managing the center has been proceeding wonderfully. Many ideas are being talked about within the area, she pointed out, and hopes the center complements the ideas and the community. For example, the center plans to provide the lunch menu for students of the Moses Lake Christian Academy.

"We see the convention center as offering something really special and unique to the community, especially with the arts and trying to add that along with what we're doing," she said. "Everything that we're doing and the owners of the property (Patrick and Judy Molitor), all of this is working together to a common goal to really provide something for the community that's different than what we've had before."

Five employees are already in place and an additional five may be hired, she added.

The cafe is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner. Plans are for a Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. within the next few weeks.