Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The word on the street in Colfax is true, a wood-fired pizza restaurant will be going in on Main Street in the location of Terry Veitz' former barber shop and Eclectica.
The “Gear N' Cog Bistro,” as it will be called, is an extension of the wood-fired pizza sold last summer at First Thursday events in Colfax by Amanda Rawlings and her parents Candy and Roger, all of Palouse.
Amanda will manage the new shop after vacating the Gear N' Cog, an artist consignment store in Palouse. Plans to open that space as a restaurant did not materialize.
“It was really too small and the building needed a lot of work,” said Rawlings, who first moved to the Palouse from Napa Valley, Calif., to attend WSU. Later, as she worked toward her master's degree in apparel design and merchandising, her parents moved to Palouse.
Now preparing to open a restaurant again – a previous effort fell through in Garfield in 2013 – the location in Colfax came together for the Rawlings with help from Sarah McKnight, Whitman County Managing Director of Southeast Washington Economic Development Association, who approached the Rawlings' at a First Thursday event in September.
The family has long sold wood-fired pizza at various outdoor events from April to October – Palouse Days, Potlatch Days, Moscow Renassiance Faire and more – under the name of Hearth of the Dragon.
In November, McKnight showed them a series of buildings in Colfax.
They signed a lease two weeks ago in the spot owned by Bob Krikac of Colfax, who bought it last year from Kim DeHart.
The Rawlings will first close the Palouse shop and move its artist consignment items into the new building in Colfax.
They hope to be open for the artworks by March with plans to open the restaurant by the end of the year.
First, health department, fire marshal and building inspector requirements will be addressed in the space which formerly housed the Toccata Blues eatery. Its kitchen equipment has since been taken out, requiring the Rawlings to install a new set-up.
“It's a lot less work than what we were trying to do in Palouse,” said Amanda.
Plans for the menu at the sit-down service restaurant include pizza, pasta, soup, salad and a dessert menu of pastries.
“We're excited to bring this to Colfax,” said McKnight. “It gives more variety and another place for sit-down dining in the evening.”
The Rawlings' experience in food began when Amanda and Candy took culinary classes while Amanda was in high school. Candy is now the head cook at Schweitzer Engineering's childcare center.
In 2011, Roger went to Fort Collins, Colo., to the headquarters of Fire Within Co., where the Rawlings bought their mobile wood-fire ovens. Roger spent three days on the premises learning how to use the new purchase.
Soon after, the family made an effort to open a Gear N' Cog restaurant in Garfield, but a lease agreement did not come together between the Rawlings and the city on the Garfield-owned location of the former Cher's Restaurant.
Overall, they seek to open a restaurant in order to be in the food business year-round.
“With Hearth of the Dragon, we are limited in the time of year we can operate,” Amanda said.
Their lease ends in Palouse Jan. 31.
“We are collecting boxes right now and starting to pack up,” said Amanda.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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