Meet The Owner: Anne Dottai
Anne Dottai, known to many as Annie, discovered the original Grilla Bites in downtown Chico, Ca when her daughter, Deanna, started college there in 2004. When Anne went to help Deanna get moved into her dorm, Deanna was very excited to take her mom to the cool little organic café she had found. Both Anne and Deanna have multiple food allergy issues and need to avoid dairy and egg, so it was thrilling to find somewhere with lots of vegan choices for both breakfast and lunch. Anne particularly loved the vegan chocolate chip cookies!
A couple years later when Anne was back for another visit, she learned that more Grilla Bites were springing up, so she looked online when she got back to Washington and thought, “this would be so perfect for Snohomish”. Anne has a nutrition degree from Bastyr University and an active nutritional counseling practice in Snohomish, so she has gotten to know the community well and knew that the menu and local, sustainable theme of Grilla Bites would be a welcome addition. She then decided to invite Fred Marken up for a look see and so the journey started.
With the help of Mosaic Architecture of Snohomish, the planning began and construction finally started on November 27th, 2007. Anne took great care to make the construction process environmentally friendly as well as sustainable. She used eco-friendly paints, recyclable carpet, found salvaged building materials and old church pews at Seattle Second Use, frequented JG Murphy auctions where she bought lamps, chairs, and many restaurant supplies. Many of Anne’s friends and friends of friends put in long hard hours helping bring it all together. Just about two years after the seed was planted, Washington’s first Grilla Bites opened in Snohomish on March 13th, 2008.
Anne’s background in nutrition and compassion for the growing numbers of people with food intolerances, such as dairy and gluten, make her strive to bring a variety of quality, tasty choices to the menu so that almost anyone can find a number of great things to try. She also has amazing vegan, gluten free cookies from the Flying Apron of Fremont that fly off the shelf daily. All sandwiches and burgers are served on fresh baked organic breads and buns from the Snohomish bakery, but Anne does offer both gluten free breads and buns when needed.
Anne knows this is not the most favorable economic climate, to put it mildly, to be starting a new restaurant, but the gratefulness she receives from the community and visitors on a daily basis helps her keep the faith that Grilla Bites of Snohomish is meant to be. Anne enjoys being a part of the community and looks forward to developing lasting relationships with its members.
