65: Fields to Flavor: Culinary Treasures at The Well & Table

Michael Dugan: 0:52

Born and raised in the Issaquah, Washington area with a connection in heart for its community members, Janie Weatherby is a 25 year veteran in the restaurant industry with a passion for the farm to table movement. She opened the Well and Table in the summer of 2021 to further her passion for bringing awareness to local farms. Janie graduated from Seattle Culinary Academy in 2005 and was a recipient of Ledeen's Escoffier scholarship, Janie, welcome to the show.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 1:24

Oh, thank you Michael for having me.

Michael Dugan: 1:25

I wanted to just tell our listeners a little bit about how we originally connected or my wife and I back in 2021, before you open the building in is quite was under construction and we walked in and there were people, pounding on hammers, slamming boards. And I was looking around for the owner and I couldn't find her and somebody gave me a card or something. And then. Flash forward to today not too long ago, I was eating in your restaurant with my wife and I thought, let's talk to the owner. So that's essentially how we connected.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 2:01

Well, I'm so glad you did.

Michael Dugan: 2:03

Yeah, me too. We're going to dive in a little bit and I want to understand what it was like growing up for you. And the first things you remember cooking or eating.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 2:14

Well, I spent a lot of time with my grandmothers in the kitchen as a kid. And then out of necessity, my mom worked out of the home and I was charged with the salad making for dinner. It came out of, my love of being in the kitchen came out of chores and, being a part of a family and. And then it developed into, once I started to drive, I was taking my mom's checkbook to the grocery store and doing the grocery shopping and took on more of a role as far as making dinners, pretty much all on my own. She thought it was great cause it was like one less thing for her to have to do. And I just loved it.

Michael Dugan: 2:58

So what did you love about it? What did you like to cook?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 3:02

I loved the creativity of it. And I think that I've always been very driven by my own tastes and, what I found pleasing to eat as well. For sure, home style and cozy comfort food was definitely high on the list. My, my family was not adventurous eaters by any means and it wasn't until, after culinary school that I started to become a little bit more courageous with my cuisine, but really it was, mastering the basics, how to make a sauce, how to make a delicious pot roast, how to, roast a chicken, how, just simple comfort foods were really my beginnings.

Michael Dugan: 3:47

I love simple comfort foods. I wasn't feeling good. The past few days and my wife made shepherd's pie. It's like a vegetarian shepherd pie and it was really good.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 3:56

Yeah. There's nothing better than just something cozy and made with love.

Michael Dugan: 4:00

And it's funny. Whenever I get sick, I always want to make chicken and dumplings. I sometimes make them when I'm sick just cause I crave them. Food is amazing. It's really good that, you grew up doing that. So as you were growing up, like in, in your childhood and teenage years, did you aspire to do anything? Did you have any ideas about, Oh, I want to do this when I grow up?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 4:22

It's funny, my stepdad used to tease me about furthering my education because, he would say you don't wanna grow up and be a burger flipper. And, it was like this tongue in cheek thing or, and. And then ironically, that's what I ended up doing

Michael Dugan: 4:40

Yeah.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 4:40

was growing up and just being in the kitchen. But I I just loved it so much. I was so passionate and focused on it that it became, what my, what was driving me. And it wasn't even really until in my mid twenties when I went to culinary school that I dug into it professionally. The early parts of my career were all in the front of the house.

Michael Dugan: 5:01

really?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 5:02

Yeah, I started out serving and waiting tables when my daughter was young as a way to not put her in daycare. My husband worked during the day and I would work during dinner shift and we would swap back and forth and it was a great way for me to really maximize my earning potential while I wasn't working during the day. And it worked out really well. And that too fostered my love of commercial kitchen and, being a part of the restaurant industry and the hustle and bustle of it and, just that excitement.

Michael Dugan: 5:35

The craziness and the chaos.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 5:38

Yeah

Michael Dugan: 5:38

I miss it. I spent 10 years in the business. I also went to cooking school. I went to South Seattle Community College and you went to Seattle Culinary Academy. So that's

Jaynie Wetherbee: 5:46

very sister schools. Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 5:48

You describe what it was like going to the culinary academy just for listeners? So they get a perspective about what is it like to go to cooking school?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 5:56

Yeah, it is the most fun. If you are driven by food at all, it is an absolute thrill and also very challenging. Yeah, it is not all fun and games. It's Quite a lot of seriousness and book work that goes along with it. You know a typical day would be lecture in the morning You might start class at 7 30 or 8 o'clock in the morning and you would have lecture for two hours and then you would break and go into the dining or you know into the kitchen area and Have whatever quarter you were in in the program would determine what your job was for the day. So whether you were in the beginning part of it you were learning quantity cooking. So how to prepare food safely for, 200 students. And so you were charged or that classroom was charged with preparing student lunch. And so you made lunch for the entire culinary program. And then as you progressed along to the next quarter was a little bit more refined cooking. And so then you were prepping your station as you would in a commercial kitchen, and then having guests come in and sit in the one of the. dining room restaurants. You were cooking food to order and then, and and then, so you would do your prep work and then run your service and then clean up. And then typically one more lecture class at the end of the day too. So you were going to school from, seven 30 to three, four days a week, which, was pretty intense. And then homework on top of that too. But really fun.

Michael Dugan: 7:40

Did something, yeah, I did something similar to that. I went to school, but then at night I actually was a student and would cook for the formal dining room in Seattle. And so the experience was amazing because you got into the real world side of it. And at the same time you were going to school and then you could apply everything that you learned in school at night. And I also got to see a lot of behind the scenes of the cooking school because I worked for the school. Yeah, we had a similar setup. We had a Rainier dining room, the Alki dining room, burger bar, a pantry area. So there was a fine dining and a semi fine dining.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 8:18

Exactly.

Michael Dugan: 8:20

And it was really, it really was a lot of fun. You were so busy all the time, but it was Being around so many people that were so passionate about food and the culinary arts. And yeah, I really miss it. And reliving that right now is great to do that with you.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 8:35

Yeah. It is fun. And I think what was the most interesting thing about my class and, was it was so diverse. We had people that were in, had retired and were in, in their sixties and they were. Starting over again, and they just loved food and loved, they just wanted to learn more about it. And then, and a few other people, that were in their mid forties that had ideas that wanted to open an Airbnb bed and breakfast. And, so they were doing this to sharpen their skills. And then there were, a handful like me that were in their mid twenties. Really just digging into their career and then kids that were just graduating from high school and this was their first, foray into formal education Everybody it was just so fun we had such a cohesive class and that I You know and you spend two years together and you get to know each other and love each other and you know I still to this day I'm close with a handful of my classmates and can pick up the phone have a, hour long conversation it's just, it's really great.

Michael Dugan: 9:44

That is really cool.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 9:45

the camaraderie in there was really outstanding.

Michael Dugan: 9:48

Yeah. We were a two year program as well, and you would go through all these rotations of different stations. Sometimes you work in the front of the house. Sometimes you work in the back of the house. Did they have a butcher shop as well, or, Oh,

Jaynie Wetherbee: 10:00

We didn't have a butcher shop, but we did, there would be, a certain week that you would be focused on, animal husbandry and breaking things down and whatnot. So you would have, different focuses that, where you would have opportunity to do that. And we took a few field trips as well, where we learned. A little bit more in depth about that. We went to, or I was able to go to the Kula Suskit farm school which we might talk about later on. That was a real inspiration for me in the farm to table.

Michael Dugan: 10:28

I was wondering about that. Definitely want to get into that. So as you're going along in cooking school and you graduate from cooking school or you finish in cooking school what happened next?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 10:39

Well, part of the program requirement was that you do an internship. And so I did my internship. It was an unpaid at Lisa Dupar catering. And in that. Right around in that time era, she was, Lisa Dupar was about to open Pomegranate.

Michael Dugan: 10:58

Oh my gosh. We love pomegranate. My wife and I, that's an amazing place out just near Redmond. And the bakery side is incredible too.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 11:06

Yep, exactly. So I applied and as soon as I graduated from school, went to work on the line in the pantry station at Pomegranate for Lucy Dupar. And that was a really special treat to be a part of a restaurant opening and watch all of that, unfold. It was great. It was very exciting. It was really fun. And yeah, and to be a part of that and watch and see and learn how, such large operation activity happening and to be a part of pulling it all together. It was really fun.

Michael Dugan: 11:40

And then where did you go from there?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 11:43

From there I went back to Jack's Grill. I had started when I was in culinary school. I worked again in the front of the house as a server and a bartender in the Laurelhurst store. And after being at Pomegranate for, I think I was there for about six, eight months. What is very challenging in the back of house for chefs learning line cooks is that the wage between the front and the back of the house is pretty significant. As a young single mom. I needed to make more money than what my experience, allowed me to make working the line. I went back to Jax and went to work serving and bartending again. Then pursued a career in the front of house at Jax for, gosh, another 15 years after that. I worked at the Issaquah location and it was fantastic. As my girls grew up and I took on more responsibility there, I eventually was the assistant manager and then the general manager of the Issaquah location. Which again, was a really fun, a fast paced, environment and work experience. Jax has been a part of my family and my life for so long. They've been a great support to me and to my career. Both of my kids work there with me. It was just, it was fantastic.

Michael Dugan: 13:08

Eventually we come to the time where you decided that you wanted to open a restaurant How did you decide that? What was in your head from going from this one space to saying, I, I want to take it on, I want to do it.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 13:21

Yeah. I we were sitting at Jax one night. One of my very good dear friends and her husband. They were talking about a restaurant that was for sale. And they said, boy, it sure would be great if someone we knew opened a that restaurant and, they were hemming and hawing in it. We were having a glass of wine and chitty chatting about it. And I was what do what are you guys talking about? And what's, what's that about? Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if someone that we knew and loved, that we think that would be so great at owning a restaurant. So They put this idea into my head. That really sparked things and, that ended up not working out, But it put me on a path of, writing a business plan and really putting pen to paper what my ideas are, what my vision for if, if I were to have a restaurant, what would that look like? And then I think once that ball was in motion in my head, it was, I'm going to do this. And there's not, there's nothing stopping me here and every day it was like, there's not a hard note today, so let's just keep going. We'll just keep seeing if we can move the ball down the field a little bit more. Little by little, eventually it became a construction site at what is now the Welland Table.

Michael Dugan: 14:39

Yeah.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 14:39

So it was just, one, one night. In a glass of wine and chatting with friends and, in our community and talking about, what ifs and ideas and the next thing, a few years later, the well on table was, in existence. And my dear friend that had this great idea is currently working at the restaurant right now.

Michael Dugan: 15:02

Oh, wow.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 15:03

been a great support and encourager. And, every now and again when things aren't going great at the restaurant, I remind her that it was, her idea.

Michael Dugan: 15:13

So let's give a shout out. I always like to give a place because, we're in 60 countries. She may know somebody that listens to this. You may know somebody that listens to this far away and it's just great to make those connections. So who is your dear friend?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 15:26

Oh, my dear friend, Kathy Hunt.

Michael Dugan: 15:28

Kathy hunt. Okay.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 15:29

And her husband, Rob Hunt.

Michael Dugan: 15:31

And Rob.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 15:32

and Rob was the producer for the Village Theater.

Michael Dugan: 15:35

Oh, wow. That's so cool.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 15:37

Street. Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 15:38

Love theatre

Jaynie Wetherbee: 15:39

he just retired a few years ago and Kathy has been just a dear friend and great support and also an employee of the restaurant. So I'm happy to have her.

Michael Dugan: 15:52

Anyone else you want to give a shout out to that mentored you along the way?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 15:56

Oh my gosh, so many. Being in this industry for 25, my Jaxx family all of the owners of Jaxx are just absolutely incredible, planning ideas and encouraging and supporting and giving me some opportunity to flex my creativity in the kitchen. there when it was appropriate and even allowing me to do some side projects and get outside of the restaurant and do some catering for them. That, wasn't necessarily what they wanted to do, but they, I think saw something in me and allowed me some, creative flexibility and will forever be grateful. To them I took a break from Jack's and went to work at Capri cellars, which is a little wine bistro across the way. It's still on front street. I didn't get very far from my hometown.

Michael Dugan: 16:47

That's great.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 16:48

yeah, but I went to Capri and was the chef there. And that was really an opportunity to dig into some kitchen work and. Fall in love with wine in a deeper level and learn about food and wine pairing and what I loved what my abilities were as far as, being able to create a menu that paired with wine. And so Michelle Steele was the owner at the time of that establishment. I learned a lot from her being a small business owner. A woman in business. And I am grateful to her as well. Lisa Dupar, gosh, I could go on and on about all of the people that were mentored and were a spark or inspiration and a guidance.

Michael Dugan: 17:35

That's great

Jaynie Wetherbee: 17:36

lots and lots.

Michael Dugan: 17:37

And going along with that, can you share any memorable moments or milestones you've experienced since opening Well and Table?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 17:46

Oh, there's been a few guests that have come into the restaurant that, take my breath away. Lisa Dupar being one of them, she dined in the restaurant and that was a treat.

Michael Dugan: 17:59

I love it.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 17:59

To see her in there. The vice president, I don't want to muddy her title, Vice president for Jackson Family Wines dined in that was a special treat and, oh, wow. I think every little milestone that happens. Sales wise, or, you take a little moment to be grateful and appreciate what, this opportunity has. Evolved into being and it's not lost on me that, the community supports it and the staff love and support it as much as I do. And, so those moments are really special and I want to, I do. take time to soak that into in, in the hustle and bustle. And it's on a busy Friday night when everything is humming along and you're just like, wow, look at, this is so great. And people are dining and smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves and celebrating their birthdays and anniversaries and yeah. It's just a really special thing to be a part of.

Michael Dugan: 19:13

Oh, that's really great. So now what inspired you to adopt the farm to table concept pre restaurant?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 19:20

Yeah. It has to be the Quillisascut Farm School. When I was in culinary school, we went, we had an opportunity to go to the Quillisascut Farm up in North. Eastern Washington and Rick and Laura Lee are the proprietors of this little farm school and you go as a culinary student and stay there for a week and you are, totally enmeshed in farming and animal husbandry and everything that you eat consume for that week is all on their farm. There's no lemon juice. You're making verjuice from, underripe grapes that are grown. And in the, you don't have cow's milk, they're a goat farm. So you've got goat's milk and you're making goat cheese and you're butchering chickens and ducks. And, it was just. An awakening experience for me, I, would encourage anybody that's got any sort of a passion for this, movement to go and visit or to reach out and support them because it's really a fantastic program. And then through culinary school to being a fan of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. Who was a real originator of the farm to table movement or the slow food movement. That was also a big inspiration. Reading her books and following her career and watching her stay true to her passion was also a real inspiration.

Michael Dugan: 21:02

And I think you also focus on seasonal foods.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 21:06

Absolutely. You can't be, a farm to table restaurant and not be. Seasonal, it just doesn't, it doesn't make sense otherwise.

Michael Dugan: 21:16

Yeah. Yeah. So what dishes would you say are most popular among your customers?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 21:23

Oh, the, my goodness. Anything with love, I think that we talk about it a lot in the kitchen. When we're talking about recipes and we're You know, checking things for salt and I'll be zipping along and, someone's making mashed potatoes and, you are tasting through, you're sticking a spoon in and I'm like, Oh, don't, did you put your love in there, and they laugh and whatnot. But it's true and it carries through in the flavor and the taste of the food. The guests get it, but I think anything that is cozy and comfort, especially this time of year, you were just talking about being sick and wanting to be nourished and nurtured by, what your body needed. And I think that. Our most popular dishes are those that stay true to that. Recently we've had braised beef cheeks, which are just a rich and delicious and so savory. And, we serve them with roasted root vegetables, which are what we have available right now in the Pacific Northwest. And, over mashed potatoes, and it just does not get more.

Michael Dugan: 22:34

Being a restaurant owner, you're working a lot of hours. Do you have an opportunity to travel?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 22:41

Not as much recently, but before, I traveled a little bit. I like to travel. I love to experience new places and new things and obviously new cuisine.

Michael Dugan: 22:58

Any special places that you remember? Ooh.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 23:00

Oh, Paris was really fantastic. Yeah. I went to Budapest.

Michael Dugan: 23:08

Oh,

Jaynie Wetherbee: 23:08

That was, really a fantastic and great memories and a wonderful trip. We went to the Amalfi coast as well on that same trip, which was really fun.

Michael Dugan: 23:21

That's Italy.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 23:23

Mhm. Mhm.

Michael Dugan: 23:24

Did you go to Capri?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 23:26

We did not make it to Capri. We went to, just stayed in a little town called Maiori and, posted up and, dined one way up one street and down the other and, had gelato and drank local wines and it just, and really enmeshed ourselves in the local culture and food. And it was fantastic. You would be walking along the little street and the man who owned the restaurant would be calling out to you to come in and try the local fish, that they just caught that day. And so you would, okay, you sit down and here it is, it's swimming in the ocean, an hour beforehand and now it's on your plate. And it was just, it was a really a fantastic experience. Experience. Really fun. They love their food and not, by just enjoying the taste of it, but they love it, putting it on the plate and it carries through.

Michael Dugan: 24:21

Yeah, I spent some time in Italy. We got married in southern Italy, in Garvina and Puglia. And took a bus five hours south of Rome. And Just to get married, just to go to this small little town that my wife knew some friends and it was epic. And then we honeymooned in Sardinia, which if you're listening now, put that on your bucket list. Sardinia is the most beautiful island. In southern Italy, you can take a flight from Rome to Sardinia, and you can drive around the island in a day or two, and it's just spectacular.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 24:57

Yeah. Just magical places.

Michael Dugan: 24:59

And the food, anything in Italy, you can't go wrong. It's just so good. People just equate pizza, and it's not about pizza, it's about all kinds of food. Pasta and the veal was phenomenal. I couldn't believe how good that tastes. And the seafood, oh my god, the seafood. So next question for you

Jaynie Wetherbee: 25:23

I was going to make a little point though the farm to table movement just really doesn't make sense in Italy because it's so much of how they eat, they're just like farm to table. Well, of course, how else would you do it?

Michael Dugan: 25:36

That's a good point. It is farm to table cheese from the local farm, mozzarella, fresh mozzarella. Oh my gosh. Burrata is close to it, but it's even better than burrata. And I love burrata. That's one of my favorite cheeses. It's incredible mozzarella, but it's not the same in Italy. It tastes different and it tastes better.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 25:57

Yeah. It really does. That freshness really makes a difference in how, again, how lovingly those animals are raised and, the environment that they're in and the grasses that they're eating and it, it all adds up to something really beautiful on your plate.

Michael Dugan: 26:13

Final questions. How do you handle something now learning about your background and your experience has been both in the front and the back of the house? And that's rare. That's really rare for an owner to be doing that. So how do you handle it when something goes wrong in the kitchen or in the dining room?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 26:36

One, take a breath. I think that's the first reminder, and I remind myself that, and the staff reminds me of that, and we all remind each other of that quite frequently. Just take a breath, and then try and figure it out. Whether or not it's a, it's an equipment failure or a guest issue. Yeah I'll say that. Take a breath and then make the guest happy. First and foremost. And if it's something with the equipment. That is giving us a hard time, then how can we create the menu or what can we do to make it so that we can get through the rest of the dinner shift and the guest doesn't suffer, if something is not, up to guest satisfaction, then what can we do to make it right? It's just a matter of taking a breath, asking those questions and then going forward.

Michael Dugan: 27:40

That's great. And like I said, having experienced both in the front and the back of the house, that I had those experiences and it made me see things so differently because I could understand the stress and the frustration of a hostess or a waitress or a waiter and the chef at the same time. I was an assistant manager and I was successful because of that understanding,

Jaynie Wetherbee: 28:03

Oh, I think empathy goes a long way when your staff knows that you can, are capable of jumping right in alongside them. Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 28:14

Definitely.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 28:15

And leading by example is a big part of that, building that community and keeping that going, with our staff and making sure that we're a team and that they know it.

Michael Dugan: 28:27

And as we wrap up, is there any final message that you want to share with our listeners around the world? Anything you want to take away from this today?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 28:39

Well, I would just like to say that I am incredibly proud and grateful of my community, of the farms that we have been. Working with we should circle back and do some shout outs to them. Greenville farms is one that comes to mind farm among us. Scott has been a great dear friend and we really have developed a great working relationship and that's been so fun. And such a part of what the mission of the Well and Table is to get our farmers product through the marketplace and in front of the guests so that they know what it's like to eat farm fresh, delicious food.

Michael Dugan: 29:27

It's beautiful. And finally, how do we connect with you?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 29:32

Well. We are located in Gilman village in Issaquah, Washington. We are open six days a week Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner. You can follow us on Instagram and we also have Facebook and our website is thewellentabled. com.

Michael Dugan: 29:55

Well, that's pretty easy. I encourage you if you're in the Seattle area, we have a lot of listeners in Seattle. Or if you're just traveling to Seattle, come and check out the well and table. It's a really amazing experience. My wife and I've been there three, four, five times now, and they always have interesting things on the menu and they're seasonal and it's farm to table. It's a really incredible experience. Oh, lastly, are you doing anything special for Valentine's day?

Jaynie Wetherbee: 30:21

We plan to do a menu where you have your choice of appetizer choice of main course, and then choice of dessert. And Courtney, our bar manager, is creating a fantastic. Special Valentine's Day cocktail as well to pair along with it. So we are excited for Valentine's Day. It'll be fun. And these sorts of evenings, when it's a special thing, we put, linen tablecloth down and, we dress up a little bit more and like to elevate the, typically the Well and Table is a pretty casual restaurant, but on fancy nights like Valentine's Day, we do like to, put on a dress and get a little fancier and enjoy the evening.

Michael Dugan: 31:04

I love it. Well, Janie, thanks for being a guest today. It's been a pleasure. I love listening to your passion for, Restaurant ownership, farm to table, cooking, and, serving the community.

Jaynie Wetherbee: 31:19

Well, thank you, Michael, for inviting me to be a part of this. It was my pleasure.