Cliff House restaurant reopens June 17
A new operator will reopen the Cliff House restaurant, one of the region’s oldest restaurants that opened in 1925 in Northeast Tacoma. It’s scheduled to reopen Thursday June 17.
The name of the new operator will sound familiar to diners in Gig Harbor– Sue Glenn, who has owned Gig Harbor’s The Green Turtle Restaurant for 17 years.
“It’s been crazy, with all the details … but we’re finally ready,” said Glenn on the phone just a few minutes ago. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner.
“The upstairs menu will be the same menu as The Green Turtle, and the downstairs bistro in the lounge will the same menu as the way Guido had it,” said Glenn. The Guido she’s referring to is Guido Brendicke, who has owned the Cliff House building and land for more than 30 years. Most recently, Brendicke had leased the Cliff House to Robert Denny, who operated the Cliff House with partners for a year until they closed the restaurant in December 2009. Workers hired by Brendicke said in January that Brendicke would reopen the restaurant, but Glenn said she offered Brendicke that she would take over the restaurant through a lease arrangement, which means Brendicke will continue as owner of the property and building, and Glenn will operate the business.
Glenn said the executive chef will be the same executive chef as The Green Turtle, Roman Aquillon, who has cooked at The Green Turtle for several years, save for a hiatus when he went to cook at the now closed Blue Olive (the restaurant that is now Woody’s on the Water).
Glenn described Aquillon’s Cliff House menu, the same as that at the Green Turtle, as Northwest French. A quick perusal of the Green Turtle menu shows some dishes feature European touches and a few items draw influence from Asian and Northwest cooking. Menu items include things like salmon with a white mango and peach salsa (market price), chicken gorgonzola ($22), Muscovy duck with plum and toasted almond sauce ($26), peppercorn crusted ahi with a garlic-ginger glaze ($24) and scallops and prawns puri-puri ($26). Read the full Green Turtle menu here.
Expect the bones of the restaurant to appear much the same, but a few décor improvements have been made, Glenn said. For one, the pink wallpaper, she said, is gone. She described the interior as an attractive two-tone color scheme.
Happy hour specials will be offered Sundays-Thursdays, from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Also, Glenn said she plans for live entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays.
Cliff House RestaurantWhere: 6300 Marine View Drive, TacomaPhone: 253-927-0400 (phone will not work until Tuesday) Website: http://www.thegreenturtle.com/Opening date: Thursday June 17Hours: Open for lunch and dinner daily. Happy hour Sunday-Thursday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and another happy hour offered in the late evening.
This story was originally published June 11, 2010 at 4:47 AM with the headline "Cliff House restaurant reopens June 17 ."