Willows Inn Reopens With Blaine Wetzel As An Owner

Willows Inn reopened yesterday, after a two-month winter holiday, and Northwest Business Monthly has the scoop on the composition of local investor group West Shore Hospitality, who purchased the inn from Riley Stark. Willows Inn chef Blaine Wetzel is one of the named investors, confirms John Gibb, the majority investor and inn manager, who has emerged as a spokesperson for the group. Wetzel joins ten other partners, "?plus some other existing supporters, friends of The Willows,” Gibb told the magazine.

Among the changes implemented by the new owners are the following: a new martini bar with a limited food menu and the inn's Tap Root Café has transitioned from a pub that featured scheduled full-menu dinners into an Internet café with a scaled-down menu. Later this year, Gibb's group West Shore Hospitality, will re-open the Beach Store Café, another Lummi Island stalwart: "The plan calls for a family-type atmosphere, Gibb said, with a commitment to fresh, locally-sourced foods and the cafe's trademark wood-fired pizza from an oven by Woodstone of Bellingham."

· The Willows Inn Re-opening March 1 w/Additional Features, Chef Wetzel Joins Ownership Group [NBM]
· All Willows Inn Coverage on Eater Seattle [-ESEA-]
· All Switcheroos Coverage on Eater Seattle [-ESEA-]