GREENBANK — On the Greenbank Store’s Facebook Page there is this entry from before Mother’s Day: “Your mom called: She wants to go out tonight, have some crab cakes and a perfectly grilled New York steak, and sip a Whidbey Island iced tea. She wants live music too, all served up in a warm and happy place. She wants 19o4. And what mom wants, mom gets, right? She didn’t raise no fool…”
That down home, no-mincing-words kind of attitude is a good reflection of what visitors get when they venture upstairs above the historic Greenbank Store to the 19o4 Public House. The not-fancy feeling this eatery exudes is one that offers a comfortable place to dine and drink for just about anybody. It’s a place where a family can get a good meal without breaking the bank, or where friends can hang out with a generously poured cocktail and kick back and listen to some great local music.
On one recent Friday evening, the soulful voice of guitarist Nathaniel Talbot filled the space below the pub’s log-strewn ceiling, while several diners hovered between moments of conversation and listening to the singer’s quiet refrains.
“We pass the hat and then give them a meal,” said bartender Kate Buzard of the compensation for the musicians who play regularly at the pub.
The whole feel of the place is laid back, and sitting down into a comfortable, high-back red leather stool at the bar, Buzard extended the kind of warm welcome one feels sitting down in a friend’s kitchen.
The full bar is stocked with old familiars and the wine list is unpretentious and uncluttered.
“Yeah. We don’t do anything too fancy here,” she said.
Fancy or not, the simple menu, accompanied by the free live music seems to be working.
In fact, owners and full time companions Buzard and Amy Wheeler have had such great success at 19o4 with a continuous lineup of live music to serenade their guests, that they’ve decided to launch their first annual all-day music festival.
“Equinox on the Rocks” starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 21 and goes all day at the store and 19o4 until 11 p.m., celebrating the bewitching hours between the equinox and
the solstice, marking that transformation to sunnier climes of the year. (At least islanders are hoping so.)
The day will feature the bands and solo artists who have been playing at the pub since it opened in November 2010, including Eddie McGehee, Quinn Fitzpatrick, For the Birds, Duo Duende, Janie & Joe, Baby Bahia and PETE, in that order. Wheeler calls them “a brilliant mix of South End, mid-island and cross-generational talent.”
Buzard, who is also a general contractor specializing in historic buildings, renovated the store and pub and built the woodsy, old-time bar that she stands behind with the confidence of a seasoned bartender.
She’s come a long way since running around the Greenbank Store in her bare feet as child of Whidbey Island summers. She’s the niece of Tom and Mary Coupe, who owned the store for 45 years before she and Wheeler took it over.
The public house is named for the year the store originally opened, and sports several photos of various members of Buzard’s family doing very Whidbey-ish things long ago, such as one of her grandpa holding a swirl of caught fish at Beverly Beach. There’s even a “pin-up” style poster of her grandmother in the women’s bathroom.
And adding to the family-affair atmosphere is Buzard’s sister and the chef, Kim Neitzel, who said she loves working with her sister.
Neitzel and her right hand, Jennifer DeRushe, put out an unfussy menu that features as much locally-grown fare as possible, to go along with Buzard’s renovation philosophy of sustainable, recycled, reused and local.
“I like recycling. I wouldn’t want to build anything from the ground up,” Buzard said. “And we try to buy as much local products as possible.”
“I’ve had some great compliments,” Neitzel said. “It’s so nice. We put a lot of heart into this place and it’s great when people appreciate it.”
The reasonably priced comfort-food menu changes with the seasons, and offers both lunch and dinner, as well as a kid’s menu so everybody, it seems, can find satisfaction at 19o4.
Jeff Leonard is a regular diner at the pub and found respite there while waiting some months for his wife to join him at their new home near Greenbank.
“I’ve been coming here since it opened in November and it has been just awesome,” he said.
“The soups bring back memories from my childhood.”
Tickets for Equinox on the Rocks are $10 for adults; $5 for students; kids 12 and younger free.
For more info and for tickets, call the store at 360-678-3300.
Restaurant hours are Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. until closing (closed Monday and Tuesday). For reservations, call the pub at 360-678-8441.
