Early last spring the gardener at the Doe Bay Resort and Retreat came to café Executive Chef Janay Destello with seed catalogs and asked her what she would like to have on the menu this year as part of their “Seed to Plate” program. “I love the fact that so much of the food we serve comes from right up the hill in the garden. Together we looked through the catalogs and I decided what I wanted to cook this year,” Destello says.

According to Harreld Dinkins, General Manager, the resort, which changed ownership in 2003, is committed to serving the freshest possible food either grown in the almost two-acre garden or purchased from local suppliers.

“A lot of the island population is not aware that we have changed.The new owners, Joe and Maureen Brotherton, divide their time between Seattle and Orcas Island and have endeavored to reintegrate Doe Bay with the island-wide community. We were not so much part of the community in the old days.

“We are more integrated with the community than ever before through our Open Microphone and Pizza Nights and the other things we do to support our local community like buying from local suppliers. We have held on to the hippie vibe,” he says.

Thursday’s Open Microphone and Pizza Night are a perfect example of how they combine all three of their goals. On Thursday afternoons the gardener brings down a harvest picked that day of produce at its peak for freshness and flavor. Together Destello and Sous Chef Abigael Birrell decide on what will be the evening’s red, white and green pizzas. According to Destello they try to never repeat a pizza in a twelve-month period.

From every pizza sold, $1 per pie goes to a different island-based or related charity for the entire month. The Orcas Center, Farm-to-Cafeteria program and Wolf Hollow have all been recipients of the nights that have raised between $75 and $800 monthly. “We feel that one of the things that we accomplish besides the donations is reminding the community that there are needs on this island and that we have community based solution to our community needs,” says Dinkins.

Dinkins claims that the evenings are the longest running continuous community showcase of its type, now with three and a half years and counting. The local sign-up sheet is a rich mixture of talent from visitors and island residents alike. From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. a mixture of mostly music, stand-up comedy, poetry, poetry slams, short stories and even dance entertain the café patrons. Long-time master of ceremonies Carlos Camblor, has just recently turned the job over to “island fixture and local musician” Fabrice zan Putten, says Dinkins.

Destello, who worked as a culinary intern at the Doe Bay Resort Café three years ago, says she was thrilled to return as executive chef. “I want to elevate the food to its highest destiny. An example is taking something like a carrot, which is just a carrot, but a carrot at its peak of freshness, and then glazing or braising or adding parsley oil around it and making it a more beautiful and flavorful carrot,” she says.

The resort strives to be the greenest business they can be, according to Dinkins. “We do less damage to the planet by buying locally. We extend our philosophy to our event catering as well. If a wedding party wanted conventional grown products or beef, we would say no. We use pump hand soap, all non-toxic cleaners, the paper products here are 100 percent post consumer, we use no incandescent lighting and boats must anchor 150 feet off-shore to protect the eel grass beds. We have decreased our solid waste steam by 50 percent and want to do more. We compost and recycle, the paint is plant-based and we use recycled building products. We have a priority purchasing policy, which means with rare exceptions, if it is not available – locally and seasonally – we don’t purchase it. We may spend more money buying locally, but we don’t believe our menu prices reflect those operating costs,” Dinkins says.

The café serves a vegetarian and seafood menu, which changes constantly with dishes being added or taken off the menu depending on what is at the peak of ripeness in the garden.

The staff estimates that 60 percent of everything they serve comes from their own garden and 80 percent from the San Juan Islands. Almost all of what they serve is organic, with the exceptions being foods such as parmesan cheese from Italy. Dairy, eggs and grains are all organic.

Sous Chef Birrell, who worked with Destello at Carmelita, will be taking over as executive chef in October when Destello plans to leave Doe Bay Café. Birrell’s background includes training at the Natural Gourmet Culinary School in New York City. She says it is the only culinary school in the United States with a main emphasis on food as a healing mechanism. She worked as executive chef at the Candle Café in New York City for more than six years and ran her own business, Rebel Girl Catering, in Seattle while working at Carmelita.

On Sundays at 10 a.m., the resort offers a “Seed to Plate” tour of the garden so patrons can spend time among whatever is currently growing in the garden and learn about organic growing practices.

The Doe Bay Resort and Retreat Café, with its window views of the bay from every seat, is on the National Registry of Historic Places. All the art that adorns the walls is for sale. Artists interested in showing their work, local charities interested in being a recipient of Open Microphone and Pizza Nights and local certified food purveyors are all encouraged to contact Dinkins or Assistant Manger Jani Mitchell at 376-2291.