Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro & Bar
#GSVMemberMonday Feature
Located in the picturesque town of La Conner, Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro & Bar offers a unique waterfront location for guests to dine. Nell Thorn offers a fresh, daily menu of artisan-made, sustainable, farm to table NW fare, craft cocktails, fine wines, & microbrews on tap. Ingredients are sourced from local family farms and are organic whenever possible. Genuine Skagit Valley members Bow Hill Blueberries, Hedlin’s Family Farm, and Samish Bay Cheese are a few of the local farms that are featured during the year. Nell Thorn is the perfect place to gather and warm up with friends during winter, and you can spend the warmer months dining outdoors on their spacious deck over-looking the beautiful & historic Swinomish Channel.
The restaurant is co-owned by General Manager Albie Bjornberg and Chef James Donahue, who both have an undeniable passion for locally-sourced, artisan crafted, and supremely fresh ingredients. Bjornberg and Donahue have been business partners at Nell Thorn for about 5 1/2 years, but have been collaborating together on food and restaurant inspiration for many years prior. One recent collaboration has been the addition of some fresh pastas made specially with Washington State grown Durham Wheat milled at Cairnspring Mills, in Burlington. Stay tuned for more on that as the new year progresses!
We recently caught up with Albie, who also happens to be a certified sommelier – to find out what he and Chef Donahue’s favorite Skagit grown crops are:
“We have favorites every season. And we also have favorites that kind of cruise through seasons. So it’s not just fall, winter, spring, summer. We love our Ralph’s Greenhouse beets here, our beautiful organic greens we get from Well Fed Farm, and also potatoes – we enjoy our local yellow Knutzen Farm potatoes, also the Makah Ozette potatoes (which are an indigenous potato variety). Everything that we have here in our little cournicopia that happens year round – it’s just everything. What’s your favorite? YES! “
Lunch at Nell Thorn is served daily from 11:30 – 2:00 with small plates and salads from 2:00-3:00, and a full dinner menu starting from 3:00 until 8:00. Although Nell Thorn will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day so that the staff may enjoy the holidays with their loved ones, the restaurant staff, Albie and Chef Donahue are looking forward to offering regular open hours with an extra special menu on New Year’s Eve. Specific holiday menu offerings and reservations (which are advised) are available via their website.
“Everything local, all the time” is a quote we heard recently and it has stuck with us. We could not think of a better quote to describe the complete atmosphere one receives while visiting Nell Thorn. Thank you Albie, Chef Donahue, and the team at Nell Thorn for showing and feeding us so many delicious versions of Everything Local, All the Time! We’re so proud to feature you on this edition of #GSVMemberMonday
Happy Holidays from Genuine Skagit Valley!