Dana's taking over DaVinci's space

Downtown restaurant makes move

MOSES LAKE — Ask Dana Andrade how she feels about moving her business, and she counts the emotions off on her fingers.

"Scary, nervous, stressed, anticipating, excited," the Dana's Restaurant owner said. "Right now there's just a lot going on, so I'm in business mode — get this done, get this done, get this done."

Once all the obligations get done and opening day draws nearer, Andrade expects to be more excited about working with a new menu.

Andrade, Letha Hays and Jill Rowley worked alongside one another at various points in time at several restaurants past and present in Moses Lake. Hays is returning to town from the Tri-Cities to work as dining room manager, while Rowley serves as Andrade's "right-hand everything."

Even in the midst of redecorating and working, the women running Dana's agree the move to their new location brings them full circle.

"We've all known each other for so long," Andrade said.

"For me to have this opportunity, it really is a blessing for me," said Hays, who is Dana's floor manager. "I couldn't be more happy. I'm very excited to come back to Moses Lake, I love it here. Great things are going to happen here."

Rowley thinks Dana's customers are very satisfied.

"The comments I receive on the floor are she's so creative, where does she come up with these ideas and we just love everything that you have here," she said. "It's not going to do anything but get better. More choices, and it's going to have Dana's touch."

Dana's originally located downtown for three years, next door to its present location at 109 W. Third Ave., where it has been for nearly seven years. By the end of the month, Andrade and company plan to move to the former site of DaVinci's Ristorante, at 606 W. Broadway Ave.

"I've wanted to move into a bigger location for a long time," Andrade said. "I like being downtown, but we outgrew our current location within two years of being there. We store everything in little kitty corners and under booths, and it's kind of an inconvenient situation. It makes it hard to function sometimes."

Andrade also wanted to gain a grill and oven and stove space, enabling her to expand her restaurant menu.

"I have a little creativeness that wants to do some other things and this is providing me with that opportunity," she said. "We can add some steaks, some pastas, some seafoods. We're going to have a lot of our same menu, especially the salads, but we're going to expand into a different area with the sandwiches." That includes some panini sandwiches and handmade burgers. "The menu will be a lot more fun for me, and I hope a lot more interesting for our customers."

Andrade has employed DaVinci's owner Scott Isherwood's daughter Gabi for about five years. When Scott made the decision to close the Italian restaurant, he suggested Andrade look into taking the spot. She leases the building, and purchased everything inside of it, including ovens, stoves, tables, dishware and silverware.

"We won't be just a downtown lunch spot," Andrade said. "We're going to be open dinner also. Come summer, we'll also be open on Sundays, and then Sundays from now on."

The restaurant is being remodeled. Andrade said she loved and admired the look and atmosphere of the Italian restaurant, but it's just not Dana's style.

"We're not doing a lot, we're basically just lightening it up a little bit," she said. "We're doing some electrical and a teeny bit of moving the equipment around."

She aims to keep the Third Avenue business open until Jan. 19, and open in the new location on Jan. 25.

Andrade expects the number of Dana's employees, presently at nine, to quadruple at least with the change. The employees presently working at Dana's retain their positions in the move.

"I'm really excited to have the opportunity to work with a different type of crew in the kitchen," she said.

At the Third Street location, space was small and employees all did a little bit of everything. In the new location, Andrade expects to be able to work with those people who have a natural feel for cooking, and help them learn to develop their interests. "When I find someone like that, I really enjoy doing that with them, and I think here, I'll be able to do that a lot more."