Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake/Silqet Martin/Ra.
Hi Jake/Silqet, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Jake- I started in kitchens at 16 washing dishes. I loved the action and hustle and noise of the professional kitchen so I really never left. I relocated from Northern California (Arcata) to Seattle and really got into cooking at a higher end level. I worked for some really great chefs and some real shitheads before moving ten years later to Portland when that scene was really starting to boom. I ran some really great kitchens there for another decade and found myself divorced and pretty lost. With no real prospects and a lot of burned bridges, a friend called from Astoria asking if I knew any cooks who would move to the coast. I moved to the coast. I worked with him for about six months at a nondescript coastal restaurant where I met Silqet, my partner now in business and life. We hated the place and eventually all of us moved on. I ran some bigger coastal operations including a fairly long stint as a corporate chef for a boutique hospitality company. Turns out board meetings and office work was not my thing. Before finding a new job, Silqet told me to take some time to really figure out what I wanted. She pushed me to write a business plan and get help from the Small Business Development Center to get a loan from a local lender. Somehow I managed to put it together and a spot opened in a very closed market and construction began. Silqet begrudgingly came on as a partner and we developed an ethos of how our restaurant would be different from the touristy places on the coast. With her connections through the North Coast Food Web, we met farmers, producers, ranchers, and fishermen to support and supply us with about 95% local servings. We opened in May of 2024 with the name Daphne, which was a pop up I had done in Portland and Astoria.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No. No it has not. Astoria is a very seasonal small town. For a long time, it’s been a summer and long weekend sort of place. Most restaurants here try to raise prices to gouge tourists in the summer and hope that lasts through the winter. We really didn’t want that. We focused on the community first and everything else was gravy. Being a contemporary restaurant in a town of fish and chips was a risk and a lot of times people view that as pretentious without actually visiting. Using local products tends to cost more than Sysco so our prices reflect that, it’s been something that we refuse to compromise on and its steadily gaining exposure and traction once guests come in and understand our idea.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Daphne is a small restaurant showcasing the seasonality and diversity of the microclimates within the Pacific Northwest Coast surrounding Astoria, Oregon. Our team works with local farmers, foragers, and producers to create a weekly crafted menu along with an inviting and nourishing experience for our guests. As a small focused restaurant, Daphne is able to seek out the freshest and best seafood, meats, vegetables and wild edibles from a colorful cast of foragers, fishermen, and farmers amidst our vibrant Pacific Northwest backdrop. “Re-introducing” our community to what our region has to offer seasonally while adhering to sustainable practices and low waste is the focus of Daphne’s philosophy.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Our producers. Farmers, ranchers, fisherfolk, foragers, and our community have been the best. Their excitement, support and love have made this little place a gem. Craft 3 is a local lender that took a chance on us and they were great and generous. Eric Stromquist at the Small Business Development Center was an absolute godsend and none of this would have been possible without his knowledge and mentoring.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://daphneastoria.com
- Instagram: restaurant.daphne
- Facebook: Daphne Astoria
