KENNEWICK, Wash. – Calling all foodies, July is National Culinary Arts Month. It is a month to celebrate food and those who make it. If you want some excellent food, look no further than downtown Kennewick.
According to Hot Mess Burgers and Fries Co-owner Ben Nichols, culinary professionals do this job because they love serving the community, one hot meal at a time.
He says he fell in love with food while on a cruise as a teenager. He said he’d never tasted anything like that before. Nichols said that’s where he discovered his passion for food. He was having a hard time while on the cruise with his mom and stepdad. He remembers the staff turning off all the lights and serving his table a baked Alaskan ice cream dish that was lit on fire. He tells me that this magical experience set him on the path to where he is now. “Later that night, I was in my room thinking about how that experience really took away those bad feelings I was having,” Nichols said.He said he wasn’t the only one who felt the magic of that experience; as he looked around, everyone else was in awe of it, too. Nichols said that after that one moment, he knew he wanted to be the person behind the scenes giving customers a moment like that.Nichols said cooking is an outlet for him, and he said the dishes he creates are extensions of himself. He says he loves food because it’s universal, like music, language, and art.Two local sisters have been in the baking business for a long time. Baking skills may come easier to some than others, like Concetta Gulluni and Elena Gavin, owners of Layered Cake Artistry in downtown Kennewick. Gulluni focuses most on baking, and Gavin spearheads the business side.Gavin said the business came together after they started baking for family and friends. Then it just grew from there. However, these sisters were no strangers to baking. According to Gavin, she and her sister began working in their family bakery when they were younger. She said they come from a big Italian family, and to them, food is love. A lesson that was passed down to them from generation to generation. “Watching them day in and day out at our family’s bakery,” Gavin said. “Making pastries and cakes and bread. Sharing that with the community and all the connections they made with people coming into the shop. I think that fueled our passion for what we do.” Gavin said one of their popular items is tarts, and they make everything from scratch. Gavin said another way they share their love of baking is by offering cooking and baking classes for the community to take. Gavin said some advice for those thinking about getting into the culinary world is to have a passion for baking or cooking and a love for what you’re doing. Gavin said there were days when they wanted to throw in the towel, but because they love baking, they kept chugging along.
