Anelia’s is closing but memories remain

No one in La Conner ever met Alice Yantos, but she is about to be missed in a big way.

Alice’s granddaughter Jennifer Ferry has been cooking her grandma’s signature pierogis, cabbage rolls and other Polish delights on First Street since she and Matt Farrell opened their restaurant – honoring Alice, aka Anelia – in 2014.

“It’s the best Polish food we’ve ever had,” said regular customer Larry Spaboni. “The pierogis are the best we’ve ever tasted, and we’ve had them in a lot of different places.”

In February 2020, the 50-seat restaurant was plenty busy. Its dishes and craft cocktails had garnered devoted fans like Spaboni and his wife Sue of Burlington. The stage was booked by musicians for the whole year.

And then … COVID-19.

Anelia’s Kitchen and Stage will serve its last meals this coming weekend. During April, “we will use our take-out window for weekend orders as we transition to a quick bite menu/walk-up-cafe, and begin to say farewell to our magical little space,” said Ferry.

After that, Ferry and Farrell will take an extended break as they contemplate their next move.

Yes, someone is buying the restaurant. No, they would rather not say who.

Customers Kevin Clark and Deborah Raible are heartbroken. They drive from Seattle, and are not sure what they will do when their regular spot – and their regular drinks – are history.

Ramon Hayes, who often stepped over to Anelia’s for lunch meetings, is sad to see another town business go.

Farrell and Ferry are not happy either, but COVID-19 has changed everything.

“When we opened, I didn’t want to just be in the kitchen, and Matt didn’t want to just be behind the bar,” said Ferry. They designed the space to be open, and to include a stage. Musicians were impressed to find themselves not banished to a dark corner, but front and center.

They hired talented people. Chef Ben Guadagnoli fine-tuned the menu to feature interesting flavors with a Polish northwest flair. Mixologist and bartender Tyler Moore created signature drinks like the Walnut Manhattan and the Rose for Anelia. Ben’s brother Joe Guadagnoli was a rock star server.

Nick Asplund began as a regular three-plate pierogi and beer customer and ended up in the kitchen, “a master at making Anelia’s noodles and pierogi dough as well as our sausage,” said Ferry.

“As Anelia’s become a destination spot for us, we got to know Matt and all of the wait staff,” said Raible. “We would stand at the opening of the kitchen and talk with Jennifer. But since COVID-19, it’s been just the Matt and Jen show.”

“Keeping things running with two or three people instead of a team of six is not fun,” said Farrell. “Not having live music has also been a sore point.”

Nevertheless, they have continued to cook and serve Anelia’s dishes and mixed drinks on weekends.

“It has been a spirit saver to have some place we can still go and have really good food, whether we sat in our car or outside in our long johns and lap robes,” said Raible. “We really appreciated the protocols Matt and Jennifer used to keep themselves and customers safe.”

“They’ve been amazing, taking the limits of the pandemic and making lemonade … or lemon drops!” added Clark.

Instead of signing a new lease, “our plan is hiking, camping, a road trip across the country to visit our family,” said Ferry. “We’re going to take our time, not rush. We’ll take a different route back and figure it out from there.”

Anelia’s will keep its Facebook page and website live for updates on the new owners and Farrell and Ferry as they discern their next step.

“I’m going to miss the music and the people enjoying this place and the experience and I’ll never forget it or regret a moment we’ve had here,” Ferry said. “Hopefully, great things will happen in the future.”