Tawny Darling and Robert Chadwell, owners of food business Adventure Harvest, prepare sushi for customers at their second pop-up event of the year on Friday, June 25.
Barbecue comes to the Chilkat Valley
Three Chilkat Valley residents are opening a roving barbecue business July 17.
“A couple years ago, I got into casual barbecuing, then into the competition circuit,” said pit master Lyndon Moore, who recently moved to Haines with his wife Christine after getting out of the Navy. “My wife grew up here. She brought me in September to visit, and we fell in love.”
The pair are teaming up with Christine’s cousin and fellow veteran Michael Hoy to start Pop Smoke Barbecue. Their first customers will be at a Mosquito Lake Community Center fundraiser.
Moore said the trio is in the process of ordering meat and refining the menu. After the opening, the plan is to run popup-style booths at locations throughout the Chilkat Valley on days off from their current jobs.
“We want to do the big staples-brisket and pulled pork-and then have a rotating special like ribs, chicken wings and tri-tip, as well as sides,” Moore said.
The hope is to one day turn the business into a more permanent venue, he said.
“We want to see where the public interest is and grow from there, doing events, moving up to a food truck or even a restaurant one day,” Moore said.
Second cannabis retail business in the works
Haines High School graduate Jordan Badger is starting a marijuana retail business.
“All the scary forms are out of the way. I’m now waiting to hear from the state,” Badger said.
Badger purchased the former Radio Shack building at the corner of Haines Highway and Jones Point Road in December.
“When I bought the building, I was thinking of ideas about what to use it for,” he said. “The main thing is trying to be in Haines year-round. I was looking for a business that would allow me to do that.”
He said he considered other options like coffee, fish and alcohol. “I didn’t want to sell alcohol, and marijuana just seemed like a more consistent business (than fish or coffee),” he said.
Badger said he plans to focus on selling buds and edibles. As a non-marijuana consumer, he said he’ll look to others for help selecting products. “I have lots of friends who will gladly tell me whether it’s good,” he said.
Badger said he hopes to receive state approval this summer so he can start building the shop. If all goes well, he said he should be operating within a year.
Haines currently has one licensed marijuana retail business, Winter Greens, located near the cruise ship dock.
Monthly sushi pop-ups scheduled through October
Tawny Darling and Robert Chadwell, owners of food business Adventure Harvest, are branching out into sushi.
“I was a sushi chef down in Florida,” said Chadwell. He returned to it when he was laid off during the pandemic.
Adventure Harvest was previously focused on selling jams, jellies and preserves at events like Haines Farmers Market.
The two hosted their second pop-up sushi event of the year on Friday, June 25, operating out of the Haines Senior Center kitchen. Their menu included locally sourced crab from Stuart DeWitt and shrimp from Woody Pahl.
Chadwell said he’s planning monthly pop-ups through October. The pair publicize events by posting to Haines Facebook pages and community website, and by posting fliers.
Winery slated for July 4 opening
Three Northmen, a tasting room for local mead, hard cider and hard soda opens July 4 at 11 a.m.
The tasting room has been a multi-year project for co-owners Chris Thorgesen, Jeremy Groves and Chad Clark, longtime friends with a shared passion for fermentation.
“It is kind of a dream job. It’s turning a hobby into a job,” Groves said, crediting Thorgesen with the idea to go into business.
Groves said the tasting room will offer a dozen different meads and hard ciders, eight flavors of hard soda, and a couple non-alcoholic options.
They plan to open twice a week, likely on the weekend, throughout the summer while they continue working to get established. Groves said they won’t have set hours. Customers can check the Three Northmen Facebook page for updates.
The tasting room is located in the old King’s Store across from Haines Sheldon Museum. The business is subject to the same requirements that distilleries and breweries are subject to, including restricted hours, and no live entertainment or bar seating.