Longtime Bellingham catering business to close; breweries shine at national festival
Here’s a roundup of recent retail activity in Whatcom County:
▪ Ciao Thyme announced on Facebook that it is closing its catering company.
The 20-year-old company was not only known for its catered events throughout the region, but for its cooking classes, event dinners and its lunch cafe at 207 Unity St. In the Facebook post, Jessica and Mataio Gillis noted that it was an honor hosting so many weddings, birthdays and retirements.
While the catering business is closing, the Ciao Thyme Commons space will remain available for events.
Along with some meals-to-go events in November, the owners do have one more project in the works: A Ciao Thyme Cookbook. Details can be found on the company’s Facebook page.
▪ Northwood Hall Event Center announced on Facebook that it has permanently closed its facility, which is at 3240 Northwest Ave. The Northside Restaurant & Lounge, which is nearby at 3236 Northwest Ave., is aiming for a November reopening after being closed due to COVID-19.
▪ Lummi Bay Market at 260 is having a grand opening event at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. The market, which is near the Slater Road exit on Interstate 5, will have a variety of prizes to give away, including Silver Reef Casino hotel packages.
Details about the prize giveaways can be found on the market’s website.
▪ Bellingham breweries had a banner two days earlier this month at the Great American Beer Festival, bringing back six medals.
Chuckanut Brewery continued its traditionally impressive performance, grabbing three medals for its Chuckanut Rye (bronze), Chuckanut Chuck Lite (silver) and Chuckanut Maibock (gold).
Twin Sisters Brewing won a gold medal for its Strawberry Zwickelbier, while Wander Brewing also took gold for its Wander Litely. Kulshan snared a bronze for its Helles beer.
The Great American Beer Festival was held virtually on Oct. 16-17.
▪ Hoagtech Hydroponics recently moved out of its spot near Hardware Sales and into a bigger warehouse. The company’s new location is 4654 Meridian St., north of Walmart.
The 23,000-square-foot warehouse spot offers a variety of indoor gardening products.
▪ Senor Lopez recently opened its doors in downtown Bellingham.
The Mexican restaurant took over the Sabores de Mexico space at 1201 Cornwall Ave. According to its menu, offerings include carnitas, sopitos and for dessert sopaipillas.
The restaurant is open at 11 a.m. every day and closes in the late evening. Details can be found on its Facebook page.
▪ Semiahmoo Resort is adjusting during this COVID-19 pandemic with two new fall packages.
One is geared toward families with children that are going a bit stir-crazy at home. The School by the Sea package includes coloring and educational activities workbooks, a voucher for a box lunch at the Seaview Cafe and an outdoor activity kit with sandcastle supplies and a kite once the virtual school day is over.
The second package is a Work-Cation, which is geared toward people who want to bring up their home office and enjoy views of the water, Semiahmoo Spit and White Rock, B.C. Along with a beach office kit of extra coffee and snacks, there’s a “Quitting Time” cocktail kit in-room.
For further details, visit the company’s website.
▪ With the arrival of colder weather, Chuckanut Bay Distillery has rolled out its holiday spirit Krampus.
The once-a-year bottle blends spices, hazelnuts and honey into a wheat spirit that has become a traditional seasonal liqueur.
Krampus is available at Chuckanut Bay Distillery’s tasting room at 1311 Cornwall Ave. noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Washington state residents can also order it online.
▪ We’re listing local business holiday shopping and activities changed by COVID-19 restrictions and non-profit holiday events early this year as coronavirus distancing restrictions may change holiday activities.
If you have a business or event to promote, please complete our form online.
This story was originally published October 24, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
