Olympia’s Cascadia Grill is in new hands with new menu

Jef Dukes and Julie Guarino, both of whom have deep food-service backgrounds, are the new owners and operators of Cascadia Grill, an established restaurant at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Columbia Street in downtown Olympia.

The couple moved to Olympia three years ago and had dined at the eatery, charmed by the space and the ambiance of the restaurant. When they saw the business was for sale, they began negotiations with the owners, closed the deal and temporarily closed the business to spruce up the space. They kept the name, sign, french fries and employees, who waited for the business to reopen.

“They stuck it out and we’re appreciative,” said Dukes, who cooks in the kitchen, alongside his two brothers, Kevin and Joseph.

But everything else has changed, including the menu.

“We grew up cooking,” said Jef. “We cooked as kids and we were given free rein in the kitchen.”

First and foremost, the brothers focused on flavor. That has followed them to Cascadia Grill where they have eschewed the fancy-looking meal for flavor-filled casual food.

The restaurant still serves burgers, but the menu is not as burger-centric as it used to be, said Jef. They have gluten-free and vegetarian options, plus a list of signature entrees. Among them: Chimmy chops — grilled pork chops topped with cilantro, bell, Anaheim and pasilla peppers — and Jef’s spare ribs, which are not covered in barbecue sauce, but are served with an apricot, raspberry and six-spice glaze.

There’s the chicken schnitzel sandwich, or the tofu version of the same meal.

And when she’s not working as an occupational therapist, Julie is working part-time at Cascadia Grill. She makes the desserts, such as brown sugar pie or the gluten-free flourless chocolate torte.

“I’ve never left the business,” she said, adding this is the fourth restaurant where she and Jef have worked together. They met in 1999 when they worked at a restaurant in Yellowstone National Park. Jef is originally from Southern California, while Julie is from Ohio.

The other focus at the restaurant has been to improve service. Before they reopened the business, they had a rehearsal, inviting friends to experience the food and wait staff. Jef said it’s a good way to work on the execution of the food, its timing and it gives the servers time to learn the menu.

“People want to be taken care of,” he said.

Cascadia Grill hosts live music on Wednesdays and the first Thursdays of the month, but they plan to expand to Mondays through Thursdays. They are having a grand opening 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 6, where they plan to have music and serve free appetizers.

One more thing: The owners have doubled down on the “Cascadia” decor, highlighting people and the flag from the so-called country of Cascadia, generally thought to be Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

For example, the business serves the D.B. Cooper (who hijacked a plane between Seattle and Portland and parachuted out of it mid-flight in the 1970s), which is a burger served with a heap of corned beef.

The menu has this tagline: “It’s how he used to order it.”

Asked if that was true, Jef smiled. “How do you know it’s not?”

This story was originally published December 24, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Olympia’s Cascadia Grill is in new hands with new menu."