Salty Girls has been a Sequim destination for high quality fresh shellfish, seafood and drinks since 2018. But owners of the small seafood bar/restaurant say they have been consistently asked about fish and chips.
Owners Tracie Millett and Lavon Gomes said that Salty Girls has too small of a kitchen to handle the amount of oil that is involved in fish and chips, but they wanted to give customers what they were asking for.
FnChips, A Salty Girls Production, opened in 2022 at 134 S. Second Ave. — less that a block away from the original Salty Girls Seafood Company — offering fish and chips and several other menu items so potential customers no longer have to walk away disappointed.
Mouth-watering menu
A giant piece of deep fried cod or halibut or coconut prawns with fries and coleslaw, and clam chowder form the core of the small menu. A large serving of poutine with clam chowder can check a lot of hunger boxes.
Salty Girls chowder, prepared in huge batches daily and then let sit for the flavor to mature — “the thyme needs time,” Gomes said — won Best Chowder on the Peninsula last year in the annual contest held by the Sequim Gazette, Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / The menu last week at FnChips, a Salty Girls Production, at 134 S. Second Ave.
It takes 20 pounds of potatoes per batch, Millet said, which they previously prepared cutting by hand. After saving tips from customers, the pair bought a Robot Coupe machine fondly nicknamed Bertha. The expensive industrial food processor was a “game changer,” Millet said.
Diners can enjoy a cold drink like beer or a root beer float with their meal, and in the near future the shave ice machine will be up and running.
Gomes and Millet said they chose their french fries from 100 different kinds, guided by the desire to serve their clients delectable fries that wouldn’t grow soggy on the way home in to-go boxes and that can be reheated without flavor loss.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen Clam chowder poutine, fries with cheese curds, clam chowder, bacon and shaved white cheddar is one of the hearty meals available off the small menu at FnChips, a Salty Girls Production, at 134 S. Second Ave.
The atmosphere inside the old Episcopal church, formerly home to Blondie’s Plate, is casual. Diners can either eat at a series of tables in a row or outside in a sunlit dining space with weather shielding and heaters for cold days.
Hours are 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
Gomes and Millet say that FnChips attracts a different clientele that those who frequent Salty Girls; one notable difference being that most customers pay cash while Salty Girls customers pay mainly with cards.
However, they intend to “marry” the two, owners said, perhaps as soon as early summer of next year.
Twists of fate
Gomes said that one day in 2008, she was riding her bicycle on Washington Street, and “this red building was in the middle of the street,” in the process of being moved from its old location to its present location next to the old Episcopal church.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Owners Tracie Millett and Levon Gomes, with long-term employee Maria Flores-Lewis, stand in the weather-proofed outside eating area of their latest endeavor FnChips, a Salty Girls Production.
Nearly a decade and a half later Gomes and Millet are the owners of the former Heritage Square property that includes that red building, which they say was the jail and courthouse.
“I never thought I’d run it,” said Gomes.
“Long term plans for the property include renovations to the former courthouse building on Bell Street to build a commercial kitchen and Seafood Market,” the pair wrote in an email.
“The residence on the corner of Bell and Washington will eventually be removed to make space for a plaza that will have covered outdoor seating and space for events and music. The church building will be renovated to accommodate the move of Salty Girls into that space, while retaining FnChips as part of the larger offerings.”
A sourdough bread bowl hosts a serving of Salty Girls’ award-winning clam chowder at FnChips, Salty Girls’ newest eatery.
They hope to sell the residence whole, so someone can move it to their own land and continue to use it.
Gomes went to school in San Francisco for five years to be an architect while working in an oyster bar. She said that the Heritage Square project is “the final thesis of our lives,” involving many complexities, dreams and plans to make their vision a reality.
Millet was formerly a high school science teacher, and together the two run an Airbnb that was formerly the first marina in Sequim and frequently visit Hawaii. They say they are very happy and grateful to live in Sequim and work with an amazing crew.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Long-term employee Maria Flores-Lewis serves a helping of clam chowder in a bread bowl and fish and chips with coleslaw and tartar sauce in the outside seating area of FnChips. “Maria is amphibious,” say Salty Girls owners Tracie Millet and Lavon Gomes, “she helps wherever she is needed.” The owners say that employees’ high morale is the force behind Salty Girls success.
“Salt water weaves through everything we do,” said Millett.
For more information, visit saltygirlsseafood.com or call 360-300-7544.
FnChips — A Salty Girls Production
Downtown Sequim restaurant featuring fish and chips
Where: 134 S. Second Ave.
Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
More info: 360-460-5591 or shuckyeah@saltygirlsseafood.com
On the web: facebook.com/fnchips.sequim/
Ethan Cesena, a recent hire at FnChips, serves a helping of macaroni and cheese with crab, made from scratch at FnChips in the outside dining area. The dish is also available with smoked salmon.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen From left, staffer Ethan Cesena, manager Shawn Royaltey, and owners and Tracie Millett and Lavon Gomes join forces in the kitchen of FnChips.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / From left, Ethan Cesena, Shawn Royaltey, manager, and Tracie Millett and Lavon Gomes, owners, join forces in the kitchen of “FnChips, a Salty Girls Production.” The owners say that Royaltie is “an amazing human, fabulous to work with, a good communicator who is kind, fair, generous and responsible.”
