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November 17, 2000

Bellingham diner has gone to the dogs

  • News you can use after 5 p.m.

    • BELLINGHAM (AP) -- On one stool, Dorothea Kochajda was enjoying a bowl of Thai ginger soup. On the next stool was her toy poodle, Beau.

    After all, they were at the Doggie Diner and Pet Paraphernalia, which caters to canines as well as their owners.

    "It's fun," Kochajda said. "You can do things that you normally only do behind closed doors, like have a birthday party for your dog, with everyone."

    At another seat, a Shih Tzu named Dexter, who lives a few blocks away, eagerly gobbled two Scooby Snacks, small round cookie-like treats made of flour, chicken stock, turkey and clam juice.

    "Dexter knows the way here," owner Linda Hoofnagle said. "Whenever we take him on a walk, he starts pulling in the direction of the Doggie Diner."

    Co-owner Taimi Gorman said she throws a couple of dog birthday parties a week. The offerings include cakes baked in-house with pet-safe recipes and decorated with lowfat cream cheese or vanilla frosting.

    Gorman and her three partners also own the Colophon Cafe, a 15-year-old restaurant across the alley. All food for human consumption is prepared at the more posh Colophon, enabling the Doggie Diner to pass muster with the Whatcom County Environmental Health Department.

    "Essentially, a customer is ordering food from the cafe's to-go menu," said Tom Kunesh, a county environmental health specialist. "That means we don't have to license the diner because the eater is basically taking out and then choosing to eat the food on the premises."

    In Seattle, King County officials said a similar establishment would be allowed only if the point of sale was in the human restaurant and if food delivered to the dog eatery was completely prepackaged with disposable utensils.

    It was Gorman who came up with the idea of a restaurant for dogs.

    "When she first brought it up, I thought she was out of her skull," said Ray Dunn, the Colophon's founding partner, "but then within a few days, I read an article about how much money is spent on pets per year and I thought, `Hey, maybe that's not such a bad idea."'

    Gorman, owner of a pug named Madeleine Albright that sometimes sports a leopard print jacket, said the strength of the novelty pet market ultimately sold the idea.

    "There are a lot of empty nesters and retired people who have dogs instead of children," Gorman said. "They aren't afraid to spend $40 or $60 on a sweater for their dogs."

    The Doggie Diner, which also offers products from designer sweaters to doggie car seats, opened in April and has done $10,000 in business each month, Gorman said, predicting the total to quadruple during the Christmas season.

    "We've gotten in antlers, scarves, wings and stockings for dogs," she said. "Even 10 years ago, you wouldn't have thought there would be a market for this kind of stuff, but now there's really a demand for it."




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