By Kelli Samson
It’s happened again.
On downtown Olympia’s Fourth Avenue, the brown paper has been put up in yet another storefront, a promising signal of good things about to come our way. Behind the paper at 406 4th Avenue East, the four chefs at Our Table have been taking baby steps toward realizing their dream of a sit-down restaurant.
Our Table is a collaborative effort between chefs Mike Holbein, Jose Dumenigo, Joe Francis, and Brad Thompson, and they are hoping to officially open their doors August 18. In preparation, two walk-up (or phone-ahead) windows have been open for months allowing people to enjoy their tasty creations: one at their front door and one next door, inside the Eastside Club Tavern. This strategy has allowed them time to hone their routines together, experiment with menu items, get feedback, and prepare the inside of the restaurant just so.
Chef Mike Holbein – a former glass blower – grew up cooking with his dad in Cleveland, Ohio. “My dad taught me my first white sauce. Food is the center of everything in my family,” he says. “I can’t remember a time when we didn’t sit down for dinner together.”
He came to Olympia via San Diego and has been here for the last decade. He’s cooked in both Olympia and the town of Union. “I’ve been working in food in some capacity since I was thirteen. I’m twenty years into this business as a thirty-three-year-old, which is kind of crazy,” laughs Holbein. “It’s a great time,” he says of cooking. “I absolutely love it.”
Those of us who recall Rosie’s on Rogers may remember him. He also worked at the Chestnut Corner Cafe, on the site of the current Oly Rockfish Grill. “I was running both of those kitchens at the same time, and it burned me out quite a bit,” shares Holbein. He next served as the executive chef at Robin Hood in Union for five years. “That was the most free I’ve been able to be as a chef while not being part of the ownership.”
Our Table fills a mostly-empty niche in Olympia. Their menu is fluid, influenced by the whims of the chefs, the currently available harvests, and the seasons. They source their ingredients almost completely locally, working especially closely with vendors at the Olympia Farmers Market such as The Fresh Approach, Calliope, Wobbly Cart, Pigman’s, and Rising River Farms. Their seafood is fresh from the Olympia Seafood Company, and their meat is all Washington-raised and free of antibiotics.
And they really do make everything from scratch. Breads, house made cheeses, you name it. Many reviews on Yelp are saying that Our Table is cooking up the best food in Olympia. “It’s so amazing and very, very humbling to have those kinds of reviews,” says Holbein. “I absolutely love this town.”
The collaborative approach among the four chefs at Our Table is unique. Holbein met the three other chef-owners through Robin Hood. They affectionately refer to themselves as “The Four Fathers” of Our Table. They share ownership, duties, and the same pay rate. “When we hire more employees, we hope that will stay the same so that everyone gets paid equally and we all have a stake in our goals,” explains Holbein.
“We’re really excited to be in this space and cooking together,” Holbein continues. “Between the four of us, we have nine kids. We’re cooking food that we would serve at our own tables to our own families. These guys are unbelievably passionate about food and they’re super-talented. We have a chance to make something together that’s not already here in Olympia.”
Holbein and his fellow chefs believe in the importance of breaking bread together. They believe in the power of sitting down to connect with people you care about. They believe in supporting local farmers and putting quality food into the mouths of the masses.
“We can have amazing, local, beautiful, organic, local food that doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. We don’t want you to have to save up to come here.”
What they don’t believe in is boring food. The items on their ever-changing menu are at once familiar and refreshingly inventive. The caprese salad you may find offered during the later summer months? It doesn’t stop with the traditional tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil – it embraces stone fruits, lemon cucumbers, house made cheese, and cold smoked salmon, too. “We are not willing to settle for anything that’s not amazing,” states Holbein. “We want to cook things that are fresh and creative. We thrive on that.”
Until the official opening of Our Table’s doors, the two windows remain open Monday through Friday, noon to midnight, and Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 p.m. to midnight. After the restaurant officially opens in full capacity, breakfast will be available all day, Thursday through Sunday.
It’s difficult to argue with their value system. Grab a chair, Olympia. Have a seat. It is after all, Our Table.
406 4th Ave. E
Olympia
(360) 932-6030
