The Grainery cafe offers locally grown food
Ted Escobar/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Pastry Chef Paulette Weber puts together a strawberry pie.
The new café in town — The Grainery — has only been in business since March 1, and already it has 15 employees.
Not because it has grown a lot in a short time, but because of an innovative hiring practice. The employees set the number of hours they want to work.
QUINCY — The new café in town — The Grainery — has only been in business since March 1, and already it has 15 employees.
Not because it has grown a lot in a short time, but because of an innovative hiring practice. The employees set the number of hours they want to work.
You could say innovation is a by-word for the owners, David and Harriet Weber. Their first idea was to develop the café at their River View Farm on Road V southwest of town and feature their farm products in their foods.
Because of infrastructure demands, that idea wasn’t possible. But the Webers are featuring their farm products at their 101 E Street Southeast location in Quincy.
According to Harriet, all of the breads and pastries are made with River View grains or Shepherd’s Grain, which comes from Eastern Washington growers. The Grainery grinds its own wheat and rye flours.
The Grainery staff also makes wheat berries for salads and other needs. They boil and soak wheat kernels so they plump up like cooked rice.
As for the innovative hiring practice, the only full-time employees are head cook Katie Phelps and barista manager Megan Couture. They choose to work 40 hours.
“Everyone else, we work around their schedules,” Weber said.
Some of the part-time employees work two days a week, some three days. One employee works just a few days a month.
Weber wanted this arrangement. She believed it would allow her to tap the talents of people in the community who don’t desire full-time jobs.
One of those is master baker Ann Phelps, who works three days a week. She has 25 years of experience in food service. Weber came to know her at the C7 Bar and Grill, where Weber purchased foods she needed for occasional special events.
“Our paths kept crossing,” Weber said. “She and I sat around and came up with the concept. She came up with the name The Grainery.”
Phelps calls the concept “intentful food.” The intent is to serve people “really clean food” and involve “the bounty this area has to offer.”
There are no regular egg and bacon breakfasts at the Grainery. There are no steak and potato dinners. The menu includes Panini sandwiches, garden fresh salads and specialty deli sandwiches.
The salad dressings are hand-crafted. There is a soup and a deli salad of the day. And there is a selection of “homemade” bakery products, including the “ginormous” cinnamon roll.
The bar has a full espresso selection and specialty coffee, tea, smoothies and Italian sodas. And there are Pepsi products.
The Grainery has occasional afternoon tea tasting parties, headed up by Couture. The tastings include six teas and freshly-baked treats. They are scheduled by reservations.
The Grainery offers entertainment on selected Friday nights, from 7-9 p.m. Darnell Scott will perform blues and R&B on June 18. On July 2, Better Day is scheduled with folk and bluegrass music.
Another specialist on staff at the Grainery is pastry chef Paulette Weber, who is related to the owners by marriage. Yet another is Liann Sarty, who makes cookies and bar cookies.
“I wanted them to really be a part of this team to help build the café,” Weber said.
Although David Weber farms, he is another of the specialists. He can be found at the café in the early hours.
“He’s a great barista,” Weber said. “He’s a coffee aficionado.”
And, of course, he’s a partner.
“We planned the whole thing together,” Weber said.
David puts in long days farming 1,100 acres of dry land wheat, lima beans, corn and irrigated wheat. But he admits he’d “rather be in here than out there.”
Weber herself is a specialist – in hospitality. She attempts to meet and greet every person who walks through the door.
“What I really like is to make people feel welcome,” she said.
Weber noted she and her husband set up the financing to be able to give The Grainery a two-year commitment, or enough time to see if the community is going to support it. So far, she said, support has been “very encouraging.”
“A lot of people have said Quincy needs a place like this,” Weber said. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
The Grainery is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m Monday through Friday and from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. It is not open on Sundays.
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