Mapping out plans to make the most of Walla Walla Restaurant Month? Be sure to leave room to explore uncharted territory.
While February’s annual event draws diners for some of their favorite dishes and drinks, it also offers an enticement to explore something completely different. Fixed prices for curated dishes at nearly three dozen participating restaurants and wineries help draw guests to taste while supporting the culinary community at the same time.
If it’s been a while since you’ve visited, here are three places that have recently added their own flavor to Walla Walla’s dining scene.
Moosie+Baha: 130 E. Rose St., inside the Showroom on Colville | Open daily, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
If you’ve enjoyed the fresh grab-and-go or heat-and-serve dishes from downtown Walla Walla specialty food retailer The Mill, you’ll want to pop in next door at its new sister business to taste what happens when the shop’s ingredients come together for deli-style sandwiches.
Moosie + Baha answers a call from customers for fresh sandwiches made with the dips, spreads and other ingredients from The Mill. In the additional space, owners Jennifer Clapp and Esam Ibrahim spread their wings from the more traditional menu of their original business and experiment with flavors — all while drawing inspiration from European sandwich shops, as well as two major culinary influences, Esam’s grandmother, Moosie, and Jennifer’s father, Baha. Among the offerings are a beef bulgogi with kimchi melt and a rosemary ham on a classic baguette with cultured European butter and crisp cornichons.
“We were able to create a business that’s a little more playful and casual and off-the-cuff, based on the ingredients we have over at The Mill,” Jennifer says.
For February, guests can choose a “Quick Bite” special of any signature sandwich and side from the case for $17.
The Witlof: 57 E. Main St. | Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays | Reservations online
With Korean, Dutch, Portuguese, French and Basque influences, The Witlof is not a restaurant that fits into a box. And that’s just how owners Edward and Claire Shoemaker like it. With a focus on seasonal, local ingredients, the restaurant’s menu can adapt not only to the changing crops but to the influences and creative agency of the owners. “We want it to be visually amazing, smell amazing and hit your palate like a ton of bricks,” Claire says.
Specializing in casual fine dining, the restaurant offers scratch-made dishes for every taste and dietary need, along with thoughtful cocktails, beer and imported wine. It also expands on the Shoemaker’s Tri-Cities’ venture, The Endive Eatery, which opened in 2019. Some may recognize the connection between the names — endive and witlof both references to the chicory vegetable — as a nod to Belgium, where Edward spent time as a student before moving on later to cook in Australia and New Zealand.
Among the most popular dishes is the K-pop Chicken, gochujang-glazed chicken with housemade hoisin and sesame aioli. For February, The Witlof offers deals at each of the three price points, starting with a Quick Bites special of a choice of two appetizers, two drinks or one app and one drink for $20. For its $29 School Night Special choose between the airliner, chicken with manzanilla-thyme sauce, spicy potatoes and sauce, or Cuadril a la Plancha, a beef culotte with green peppercorn jus and espelette butter, along with draft beer or a selection from two wines. Its $47 Date Night Special includes a Basque leek and potato soup or Witlof salad, a half order of K-pop chicken and a choice of orzo con pulpa, pork cheeks or bibimpap and a choice of wine or vermout preparado cocktail. Specials are not valid Friday or Saturday, Feb. 13-14.
Lamadrid’s Bistro: 628 W. Main St. | Open Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. | Reservations: 509-876-0238 or online
Don’t try to guess from the name what might be on the menu at Lamadrid’s Bistro. Since November, guests at the West Main Street eatery have been treated to an eclectic mix of cuisine inspired by half a lifetime of work in restaurants by chef and co-owner Arturo Lamadrid.
Alongside his sister, Luisa Lamadrid, he’s put together a blend of flavors and dishes with something for everyone. That includes soups, salads, burgers and pastas, along with shawarma, Thai coconut curry shrimp and Moroccan lamb stew. “We wanted to create a relaxing place where people can come in and enjoy their time and, at the same time, enjoy really good, freshly made food,” he says.
Luisa runs the front of the house, building relationships with customers while Arturo creates the dishes he’s honed as both a chef and owner at an array of Eastern Washington and Idaho restaurants.
For February, their $35 Date Night Special offers a choice of creamy garlic pasta or tomato and herb pasta, finished with chicken or shrimp, plus a house salad and a chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon from Browne Family Vineyards.