A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
FROM A1
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018
CUISINE
COUNCIL
year, said they put a lot of
effort into making the atmo-
sphere, as well as the food,
authentic.
“You come in and feel
like it’s a Japanese restau-
rant,” she said. “It’s
eye-catching, the food tastes
right, and good service.”
She said there are some
challenges with operating
a sushi restaurant in a town
like Hermiston, such as its
distance from the ocean.
The key, she said, is hav-
ing an experienced chef
who knows how to prepare
fish. They also have several
fish vendors, who deliver
products on different days.
She said now, Japanese
cuisine is popular enough
that most people come in
knowing what they want.
“Our main point is to try
and offer what they want to
eat, and to try to explain all
the options,” she said.
She said the restaurant’s
hibachi grill — in which
food is cooked in front of
customers — has drawn
customers from Walla Walla
and Kennewick, where the
company also has sushi
restaurants.
Lawan Benson, owner of
Lawan’s Thai Garden, has
had a restaurant on High-
way 395 for about six years.
She said there are specific
dishes for which customers
keep coming back.
“At every table, one per-
son will be eating Pad Thai,”
she said. Benson spoke with
translation assistance from
her daughter, Ann Onphian.
“A lot of people like
my mom’s peanut sauce,”
Onphian said. “We have a
customer that drives down
from Tri-Cities once a week
for it.”
Onphian said when they
first opened, the other Thai
restaurant, Taste of Thai,
was already open.
“People were very sur-
prised that a small town has
two Thai restaurants,” she
said.
But while they occa-
sionally have slow days,
Onphian said business has
been fairly consistent since
they opened.
She said many seem to
be drawn in by the vari-
ety, as well as the healthy
options available.
“We can make pretty
much everything vegetar-
ian,” she said.
In the summer, Benson
said, she offsets costs by
using vegetables from her
own garden to make the
dishes. The family used to
travel to the Pendleton and
LaGrande farmers mar-
kets, and sell vegetables in
Hermiston.
An interest in healthy
food has encouraged new
restaurants to set up shop in
The building will still
be available for rental by
a wide variety of groups,
however. Fetter said there
are still 10 Saturdays avail-
able for rental in 2018, and
plenty of openings on other
days of the week. Fetter said
nonprofits will receive 50
percent off the base rental
price for large events.
Several policies will
remain the same as under
the
chamber’s
leader-
ship, including rules gov-
erning alcohol use, insur-
ance and deposits. Fetter
said one change will be that
a city staff member will be
required to supervise all
events, which will bump up
the rental price by a little.
“Previously there was a
pretty loose policy where
you locked the door on the
way out,” Fetter said. “We
feel we want to protect
our investment and make
sure there is no unwanted
behavior.”
He said the department
would also like to upgrade
security at the center to use
key cards that track when
people enter the build-
ing, similar to what Herm-
iston School District uses.
He also said events involv-
ing animals will no longer
be allowed, as the depart-
ment feels EOTEC is a bet-
ter home for those.
The new pricing sys-
tem approved by the coun-
cil Monday increases the
base rental price but also
includes more costs in that
price instead of itemizing so
many things, Fetter said. For
the base price, at the cheap-
est end a group can rent the
Altrusa, Rotary or board-
room for $50 for an hour,
$75 for four hours or $100
for an entire day. On the
expensive end, renting the
great room for more than
300 people is $1,500 and
comes with access for the
entire day.
In one example Fet-
ter gave, the Festival of the
Trees — a two-day long
nonprofit event in the great
room — would have totaled
$2,097 under the Chamber’s
system but will cost $2,272
under the city’s pricing
structure after base fees and
direct costs like clean-up are
added together.
On Tuesday while at
the community center Fet-
ter said staff are still going
through the center’s two
large storage areas to inven-
tory the furniture and items
such as linens. Once that is
done, Fetter said they will
likely have some more ideas
for the center, including
some possible upgrades.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Chef Silvio Ximenez gestures towards a menu while taking an order Tuesday in the Cafe at the Northwest Livestock Auction
in Hermiston.
Indian buffet moves into
Stockman’s Steakhouse
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
A lunch sushi roll special from Kobe Hibachi Sushi in
Hermiston.
Hermiston, as well.
Sant Elmo’s Italian
restaurant has yet to open
a storefront, but has been
doing deliveries and cater-
ing for the past month, out
of a building near Westland
Road in Hermiston.
Co-owner and chef Sil-
vio Ximenez said they are
focusing on fresh ingredi-
ents, and making what they
can with organic and local
food.
“Some of the things, like
cheeses, have to be imported
from Italy,” he said. “But
we’re trying to get things as
fresh as possible.”
Ximenez said the focus
will be on Tuscan cuisine.
Though new to Hermiston,
Ximenez has spent several
decades in the restaurant
business, attending culinary
school in Italy and work-
ing in Las Vegas for the last
several years. His friend,
Tacos Xavi owner Luis
Diaz, invited him to help
open an Italian restaurant a
few months ago.
“We wanted to give peo-
ple another option,” Diaz
said, adding that they had
heard people express inter-
est in having Italian food in
Hermiston.
Ximenez said they don’t
have a specific opening
The old Stockman’s Steakhouse building on North
First Street is now an Indian buffet.
Soon the outside of the building will bear the new
restaurant’s name, Indian Kitchen and Steakhouse, but
the decor inside remains the same. Even the menus
still bear Stockman’s name, and offer the same fare.
The biggest difference is a buffet filled with eight to
10 steaming Indian dishes, from Tandoori chicken and
saag paneer to chana masala and vegetable korma.
Co-owner Gaurav Bhatia, who opened the restau-
rant with his wife, Rosy Sidhu and his cousin, Raman-
deep Singh Malhi, said the idea for opening an Indian
restaurant in Hermiston came together quickly when
the opportunity to buy Stockman’s arose. Bhatia and
his wife also own the Eastside Market in Hermiston
and the Irrigon Mini-Mart.
He admitted that Indian food and a steakhouse
are an uncommon mix, but said it came down to an
opportunity.
“It was a space in town we could get into, and it was
a good location,” he said. “I know it’s a different type
of combination, but hopefully it will work out.”
Though there will still be steaks and traditional
American fare available, Bhatia said there will be a
heavy focus on introducing customers to different types
of Indian food — both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
He said so far, the reception has been positive on
social media and in person.
The restaurant is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on
weekdays, and until 10 p.m. on weekends. The buffet
starts at 11 a.m.
date yet, and are waiting to
receive their liquor license.
To order food, customers
can call 541-314-5489.
Hermiston has been
home to several restaurants
serving Chinese and Mex-
ican food for several years
— local favorites include
Panda Inn, Fortune Garden,
Ixtapa and La Palma, as
well as several taco trucks
HERMISTON’S STAND
UP COMEDY EVENT
COMING SOON!
BTW
continued from Page A1
in 15 minute intervals. Infor-
mation about the replace-
ment schedule will be sent
to customers with their next
bill.
• • •
The Eastern Oregon
Women’s Coalition, based
in Echo, received a $20,000
grant from the Oregon
Community
Founda-
tion. It will use the money
to partner with watersheds
and farmers on innova-
tive projects that increase
economic opportunity and
improve
environmental
conditions and the quality
of life for five Eastern Ore-
gon counties.
Established in 2006, the
coalition received nonprofit
corporation designation in
2015. Its mission is to edu-
cate Oregonians about East-
ern Oregon, specifically its
businesses and rural way of
life.
Receiving more than 400
applications, the founda-
tion disbursed $335,800 in
grants to 17 Eastern Ore-
gon nonprofit organiza-
tions, which also included
$10,000 to Community
Action Program of East
Central Oregon. Based in
Pendleton and providing
services in Umatilla, Mor-
row, Gilliam and Wheeler
and taquerias.
As the town’s popula-
tion grows, its appetite for
different food options has
grown as well.
“As of lately, I’ve seen
more variety,” said Otey
Muniz, a Hermiston res-
ident eating lunch at the
Indian Kitchen and Steak-
house on Friday. “I think
people want more.”
Melonville Comedy Festival
Saturday, January 27
Hermiston community Center
The 25th edition of the Melonville Comedy Festival will
feature three headline stand up comedians. These
comics are in demand corporate show entertainers.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY ERNIE KERN
Members of Hermiston Elks Lodge No. 1845 helped assemble and deliver 28 Christmas
baskets to Hermiston area families.
counties, CAPECO will use
its grant to add a refrigerated
van and increase staffing
for its food rescue program
that assists low-income and
working-class families in
the communities it serves.
Cheryl Puddy, associ-
ate program officer/regional
coordinator for OCF, said
nonprofit entities in East-
ern Oregon know the ben-
efit of working together to
improve quality of life and
build community resiliency.
“Our nonprofit partners
demonstrate this by pro-
viding creative solutions to
much-needed services in
their remote regions,” she
said.
For the full grant list and
more about the OCF, visit
www.oregoncf.org.
• • •
Members of Hermiston
Elks Lodge No. 1845 were
busy during the holiday sea-
son. More than a dozen of
Santa’s “Elks” helped in
assembling food baskets for
delivery to 28 Hermiston
area families just in time for
Christmas.
Elks member Ernie
Kern said the group part-
ners with more than a dozen
local organizations to help
ensure that those in need
will have a good Christmas
meal. Special thanks, Kern
said, goes to Fiesta Foods,
Safeway and Agape House.
• • •
The annual Christmas
Charity Pool Tournament,
held Dec. 16 at Midway
Bar & Grill, raised $3,000
for the Hermiston Senior
Center.
The
annual
event
included a spaghetti feed,
raffle, 50/50 pot and silent
auction. Tournament orga-
nizers expressed thanks to
sponsors, those who donated
raffle prizes and participants
for another successful year.
———
You can submit items
for our weekly By The Way
column by emailing your
tips to editor@hermiston-
herald.com or share them
on social media using the
hashtag #HHBTW.
CORY MICHAELIS
A comic who appears in clubs
in Las Vegas, Seattle, New York
and Los Angeles. Cory has been
on the stage of several Comedy
Festivals
KERMET APIO
A Hawaiian native, Kermit has been
working in standup comedy since 1990.
His credits include Las Vegas, Seattle and
Aspen Comedy Festivals and everyday
life. Gabriel is based in Olympia.
DEREK RICHARDS
Derek is a comic who has
worked USO Tours, the
Bob and Tom Show and
you can hear him on Siri-
us/XM Satellite Radio.
Tickets $35 per person
Sponsor:
Doors open at 7pm, Show starts at 8:00
Tickets available at Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce at the Cornerstone Plaza
Reserve Tickets at: 541-561-7488 •
NO REFUNDS • 21 & OVER