Committed couple adds new full service restaurant to Desert Aire

DESERT AIRE - If you are wondering whether Desert Aire's new full-service family restaurant, Tumbleweeds Bar & Grill, will last, rest assured the owners are committed.

Blaine and Kim Knight cashed out in western Washington early this year and went all in at Desert Aire. They built a home here nine years ago, and they simply could no longer deny the sunshine of eastern Washington.

The Knights have taken over the former Sandtrap Restaurant and replaced it with Tumbleweeds Bar and Grill, pouring their lives into the project.

“This is it. Everything is here,” Blaine said. “There is no option We will make it here.”

“Desert Aire is home,” Kim said. “This restaurant will probably be our home for a while. We knew what we were getting into.”

So far, the life gamble the Knights have taken has paid off. They opened on May 1 to a full house, and they had a full house again the next night.

“There were people at every table both nights, including the bar and the patio,” Blaine said

If Kim seems familiar to some Desert Aire residents, that could be because she owns Kimmy's Kloset, a new and slightly used clothing store in Desert Aire.

Kimmy's closet was open only on the weekends due to the fact that Kim worked all week for the post office in Lynnwood. Now it will be open all the hours the restaurant operates. It will be moved to a section of the restaurant building to the right of the entrance.

“Customers will be able to browse around in here while they're waiting for their meals,” Blaine said.

Kim gave up a 27-year career with the post office to move permanently to Desert Aire. Blaine gave up commercial door sales for Frontier Door in Seattle.

“Those nice doors in the high-rises, the hotels and office buildings, that's what I did,” Blaine said.

Neither Blaine nor Kim has experience in the restaurant business. But they are unafraid. They know the people of Desert Aire have been clamoring for a new restaurant.

All the Knights needed to do was fill the need. Blaine will run the kitchen. Kim will run the dining area.

“We have a real good cook staff,” Blaine said. “All of them have restaurant cooking experience.”

The Knights made their decision while driving home to Lynnwood one Sunday earlier this year. Blaine brought up the idea, and the couple spoke about it all through the drive.

“Blaine said, 'Wouldn't it be cool to live here all year,'” Kim said, “and that's all we talked about until we got home.”

The Knights were somewhat surprised, but not completely, when the crowds showed up for opening night. During the month they spent remodeling, people stopped by with questions, suggestions and even free help.

“Kim had surgery,” Blaine said. “Sometimes people would see her in here working and tell her to go home, that they would take care of it. People were just great.”

Tumbleweeds Bar & Grill will operate from a 8-8 on Sundays, 6:30-9 Monday through Thursday, 6:30-11 on Fridays, and 6:30-9 on Saturdays.

“We added an hour on Fridays for families who are coming in from western Washington tired, with tired kids, and don't feel like going home to cook,” Blaine said.

Tumbleweeds will offer a large selection for breakfast, including chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. You will be able to build your own omelette, starting with three eggs and adding whatever you want (provided it's in the building) for $7.

Lunch at Tumbleweeds will include several offerings. There will be hot turkey and hot beef sandwiches, and pulled pork will be new.

“Our clubhouse sandwich will be huge,” Blaine said. “It will stand about four, maybe five inches tall.”

Lunch will also include the tumbleweed burger, the cactus burger and the loco burger. The loco burger will include jalapeño peppers and pepperjack cheese.

Luncheon salads will include chef, taco, cobb and Greek.

Dinners will be reasonably priced. There will be a ribeye steak for $14, a sirloin steak for $11, a chicken breast dinner for $11 and a prawns dinner for $13.

“And there will be Saturday night specials,” Blaine said.