KEN SWARNER: RESTAURANTING IN A RECESSION >>>

A recession is no easy times for restaurant owners.  Steve Nogler of Herban Café (2602 Sixth Avenue in Tacoma) knows that, speaking candidly this week in the Volcano about the biz and its re-opening last week after a temporary shutdown to retool.  Here’s what Jason and Jake DePaul had to say about the Café last Spring.

JASON: I find the café a nice respite â€" a truly local establishment where my relationship with my servers feels genuine and caring. I enjoy lounging at lunch, reading a book â€" nothing feels rushed. Lingering doesn’t feel frowned upon.



JAKE: I agree. You can tell the moment you walk into the Herban Café that it’s a place where people linger, where they come with newspapers and laptops in the morning, drink coffee and eat sandwiches or scones until well into the afternoon, and enjoy pot pie and wine before a show. I have spent many a Saturday-long lunch with a delicious, gourmet ham and brie sandwich, deep mug of corn chowder with big potato chunks, several glasses of Cuvee Monster Red, chocolate oatmeal cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar, and my book.



Also in today's Weekly Volcano

Scary places to eat, where the food's ghoulishly good

It's always happy hour somewhere in the world, and the South Sound

Shocking fig expose: They're good!

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