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In purdy, sometime this spring, construction will begin on Laguna. And soon after, customers will be breaking bread, shucking oysters and cracking crabs at an oyster house-style restaurant owned and operated as an extension of Minterbrook Oyster Company.
Minterbrook plans to build the Peninsula area’s newest restaurant near the Purdy Bridge on the former site of the Roland and Roland Real Estate offices. Lagunas will feature a seafood market and restaurant on the lower floor and several office suites on the upper floor.
“Yes. You’ll be able to get a Po’ Boy oyster sandwich,” said Kent Kingman, whose family has owned and operated Minterbrook Oyster Company since 2012.
family business
On the culinary front, Kingman says neighboring Massimo Italian Bar and Grill often inspires his family. Together, seafood and Italian cuisine could be successful.
“That place on the water deserves a good seafood restaurant. We plan to make it a family atmosphere, after all, we have children.”
It’s a family business: Kent Kingman, left, with his sons Garrett, center, and Austin, right, hope to expand Minterbrook Oyster Company into Laguna’s, a bayside oyster bar in Purdy.
The Kingmans plan Laguna’s (Kent’s wife, Donna, came up with the name) as a family business inspired by equal parts seafood and basketball.
Sons Austin, 26, and Garrett, 24, attended nearby Peninsula High School and played in the Seahawks game. highly successful teams between 2014 and 2016. After stints playing college basketball (Austin in Idaho and eastern New Mexico; Garrett at Tacoma Community College and Hartford University), both settled in the Key Peninsula area.
Austin, along with his fiancée Frida, hopes to operate the family business restaurant. Garrett, along with his fiancée Marisa, will oversee Minterbrook’s oyster operation.
A test of patience
Kent Kingman says the project has been a test of patience.
After purchasing the property in 2013, getting Laguna’s moving has felt like one of those 1,000-piece puzzles. And it’s not one of those simpler landscapes that are a kaleidoscope of sharp colors with stoic mountain cabins and 71 different animal species.
This puzzle is a gentle wash of blue sky, puffy white clouds, ultramarine water and sand…not unlike the view visitors will see of Henderson Bay and Burley Lagoon.
Looking west from Laguna’s parking lot.
The short story: Rife with red tape and regulations, this puzzle included relocating electrical service lines underground; adhere to strict health department regulations in an environmentally sensitive area; address traffic problems; and designing a large antique water tank on site for firefighting. Is not easy.
Construction could begin next month
The long story: This project has been a long time coming. If all goes well, construction could begin in March.
On site, Kingman says adjacent property owners Wayne Hogan (Massimo’s) and Alex Roland (Purdy Station 76) have been a big help in the effort to get Laguna up and running.
“It’s complex, but we’ve been patient,” Kingman said, adding that the project now awaits a hydrogeological study required by the health department… one last hurdle. “But it looks like we are very close to starting construction. Our goal is to open the restaurant next spring. As soon as we get approval from the health department, things are going to go boom, boom, boom.”
From free throw lines to tide lines
Kent Kingman says his path into the seafood industry with Minterbrook Oyster Company (and now Lagunas) may have started on the basketball court.
Sports have been a shared family passion. A long-range scoring specialist, Kent was a standout player at North Kitsap High School (Class of 1978) who set a West Central District playoff record for points scored in a single game, 44 against Tyee High School. His tournament average of 38 points per game is also a record.
“I’ve heard that if there had been a three-point line at the time, Dad’s record might have been higher,” Austin Kingman said. “For dad, it was all about the pull-up sweater.”
Kent Kingman says Harold and Beverly Wiksten, longtime owners and operators of Minterbrook Oyster Company, inspired him to purchase the business in 2012. At the time, Kent’s career as a company culture transition specialist often had him traveling during the work week. Long-distance tasks included taking the helm of struggling companies, redirecting the culture, changing things, and then handing them back to the company owners.
Along with his wife Donna and brother Kelly, he coached the Austin and Garrett basketball teams from third grade through high school at Lighthouse Christian.
Closer to home
The thought of missing basketball games while his children were in high school was not an option.
“When the kids got to high school, I made the decision to do something else,” Kingman said. “I wanted to see the boys play basketball. So, I decided to find a local business and do this one more time for our family, not for other people, but for ourselves. “I set out to find a company that was right for our family.”
Kingman says he had been looking for a potential deal for a couple of years when Wiksten approached him about purchasing Minterbrook, a business near the mouth of Minter Creek where local ties run deep.
“I’m always amazed at how many people in the community have connections to this place,” Kingman said. Minterbrook has been in the oyster business since 1932. “People say ‘I used to work there’ or ‘my mom worked there.’ For many years, the Wiksten family had a nice business that served the community very well.”
in the shell
After taking over Minterbrook, Kingman noticed a trend in the fresh oyster market. It was the flowering of the (raw) oyster bar phase.
Looking east from the water at Laguna’s.
Historically, raw oysters had been the survival food of the coastal poor. No more. Minterbrook’s model was to harvest oysters (which could only be shucked by hand), package them in jars, and then ship them around the world.
The transition to selling shucked oysters was challenging, but the operation was simplified. Fewer hands were needed on deck to shuck oysters.
Kingman says Minterbrook ships most of its oysters overseas or to larger city markets. Minterbrook maintains a retail outlet on the site.
“If you want local oysters, you have to come here and get them,” he says.
Laguna’s is sure to feature fresh Minterbrook oysters.
Eating oysters 101
Wine aficionados can taste and decipher Washington wines and tell you if a wine comes from one of several AVAs (also known as American Viticultural Areas) influenced by unique sun, soil and water conditions. Is this Cabernet from Walla Walla, Snipes Mountain or the Yakima Valley? They know.
The same goes for fresh oysters. Likewise, a Willapa Valley oyster has a different flavor than a Quilcene oyster, which has a different flavor than a Minterbrook oyster. The driving force behind the oyster game, Kingman says, is that each body of water has a unique algae that gives each oyster that certain je ne sais quoi.
Can you tell the difference?
“Yes, I can tell the difference,” says Kingman, who admits he had never eaten an oyster until after purchasing Minterbrook. “One day she was on the boat and she was very hungry. One of the guys said, “Just eat an oyster.” Since then, I have come to love them.”
Oysters near and far
Will Laguna’s, named because of its proximity to Burley Lagoon, serve oysters from other regions for us locals to compare?
“I’m not sure.”
Vibriosis, caused by the bacteria Vibrio, is the kryptonite of the oyster game. You can get quite sick from eating a contaminated oyster, and producers are constantly on guard against bacteria.
An outbreak can send the entire industry into a tailspin. Kingman advises caution when consuming oysters from Mexico, although a warm-water oyster grown along the U.S. Gulf Coast can be quite delicious. A Florida oyster raised in much warmer waters may be saltier than an oyster from the Northwest. That saltier oyster can work well on the barbecue…same for a Po’ Boy sandwich.
Just like discussing grapes with a wine connoisseur, oyster aficionados are cut from the same cloth. You can learn a lot about oysters by chatting with Kent Kingman. Soon, local residents will have the opportunity to experience it for themselves.
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