After 10 years of operating her own restaurant, Mia Kartiganer is handing over the apron to Shawna Hanan.
“We are offering breakfast and lunch with locally sourced ingredients,” said Hanan, who is known for her sweet and savory pies at the Orcas Food Co-op. “And we will also have lots of baked goods.”
After the summer, the name will be changed from Mia’s to Luna’s Cafe in honor of Hanan’s 9-year-old daughter.
“Luna is very excited and proud,” she said.
After the summer, Hanan hopes to arrange a regular schedule of guest chefs to present pop-up dinners. She recently returned from sourdough school in Europe and will offer fermented pastries and bread soon. Hanan’s business partner is fellow baker Devin Overstreet, who is moving from Texas to Orcas full-time this July with her son.
The bakery portion of Mia’s is named Three Sisters Bakery, in honor of Hanan, Overstreet and a third friend who is a soul sister in the cooking arena.
“The name came to me in a dream,” Hanan said.
Prior to moving to Orcas a few years ago, Hanan ran a bakery in Ashland, Oregon, where she and her husband Alfred also operated a farm and outdoor education school. Once they settled on Orcas, the two knew a cafe was in their future. Their other children are 11-year-old Silas and Ollie, who is nearly 2. All of the couple’s kids are regulars in the restaurant, which is currently open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Shortly after deciding to buy the restaurant, Hanan brought in islander Whitney Page, who had been looking for a space to open a coffee shop. Mia’s is located in the Our House Building, and the back wall has a service window that opens onto the hallway.
Witty Coffee and Donuts will offer single origin espresso from Counter Culture Coffee Company. Bags of beans are also available to purchase, and Page will grind them right there.
“Counter Culture is very committed to sustainability and education,” she said. “They are also committed to staying very independent. … My goal is zero waste, so I encourage people to bring their own mugs.”
Witty will also have caffeine-free options like beetroot lattes and selections from the Orcas company Enchanted Forest Tea as well as Page’s baked vegan and gluten-free donuts that are organic, low in sugar and made with her own flour blends. She and her 3-year-old son Bernard both have dietary restrictions, so Page began experimenting with making donuts and milk alternatives that tasted delicious and were easy to digest. Her menu includes homemade hemp and almond/coconut milk and Minor Figures oat milk.
“I’m making them from scratch so they don’t have any weird ingredients in them,” she said.
Page, a longtime barista, first had the idea to open her own business 12 years ago while vacationing with her mother in Mexico.
“I told my mom, ‘One day I will live on an island and have my own coffee shop,’” she laughed.
Witty’s is open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (closed Wednesday) and Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon. Patrons can access the shop from either the hallway entrance or through Mia’s. The grand opening is May 15.
The two businesses are also very much a family enterprise with Alfred and Page’s husband Ryan acting as “free labor.”
“We are overlapping everything,” Page said. “Shawna is serving my coffee in the restaurant, and her baked goods will be in the coffee shop. Shawna and I are such a nice balance for each other. We both love the earth and are very sustainably minded.”
