One Restaurant’s Impact: Tibbitts@FernHill Gives Back By Paul Schlienz
Tibbitts@FernHill is one of a kind. A small restaurant with a big impact on its community, Tibbitts@FernHill is easy to miss if you're not looking for it, but it's well worth seeking out. This 25-seat eatery, located on a quiet street in Tacoma's Fern Hill neighborhood, in the city's southernmost reaches, has already achieved accolades, awards and a loyal clientele in its short two-year existence. "I didn't want to do what everybody else did," said Chef Shawn Tibbitts, the restaurant's owner, "I wanted to have my own creative niche, my own outlook on flavors that I built throughout my whole career as a line cook." Acts of Mercy Doing the right thing, for Tibbitts, means serving his community. Growing up poor in the Fern Hill neighborhood, where he has now found unimagined success and recognition, he has never lost sight of his roots and is passionate about helping the poor and needy. And he remembers that it was because of one man's charitable giving that Tibbitts@FernHill exists today as a restaurant.
12 │ wahospitality.org
"Tibbitts@FernHill came to me from a blessing," said Tibbitts. "By all rights, Tibbitts@FernHill should never have happened." Tibbitts' mother died shortly before the restaurant's opening. "I had all my money saved up," Tibbitts recalled. "When she passed, I took all the money that I had, and I gave her the best funeral a son could give his mother. I was broke." Then came an unexpected act of mercy. A friend Tibbitts hadn't spoken with in 15 years reached out to him. "He asked me 'What would it cost to open your restaurant?'" Tibbitts said. "I gave him a number and he cut me a check. I opened my restaurant with $32 in my bank account and a prayer." Success came more quickly than Tibbitts could ever have anticipated. "After the first six months − BOOM! − all of a sudden, I'm getting more people into the restaurant, so I launched my first give back," Tibbitts remembered. "I always knew that if
Chef Shawn Tibbitts (just left of the yellow post) with a few of his many fans. (Photo: Shawn Tibbitts)
