Just outside Bellingham, by the shores of Lake Whatcom, is a curious sight: The Fork at Agate Bay, a fine dining restaurant and bar at the heart of the neighborhood.
The Fork started as Agate Bay Grocery in 1946, serving sandwiches and other food to go. It became The Fork, a southern restaurant, 14 years before owner Dave Kas and his wife Nora bought it in 2018. They opened the La Conner sister location, The Fork at Skagit Bay, in 2021, serving similar combinations of southern-style fine dining.
“That became our focus, which doesn’t really exist outside of New Orleans in the United States, you know?” Dave Kas says. “But southern cooking is really the one true American food. It’s the melting pot of cuisine. It’s a combination of African and Jamaican and Sicilian and French food that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.”
Both locations have become community hubs, attracting neighbors and seasonal tourists.
Fine Dining at The Fork
The Fork’s menu and wine list showcase locally and regionally inspired offerings. Southern-style meals meet Pacific Northwestern specialties such as local shellfish, meats, and mushrooms.
“Our most popular dishes tend to be meat and cheese,” says Kas. “We do a ribeye steak. We do a duck breast with duck comfit and wild mushrooms. We do bouillabaisse always on the menu. Shrimp and grits are obviously always on the menu. We do a lot of seafood – oysters on the half shell, clams.”
The Fork’s suppliers include Jack Mountain Meats, Pure Country Meats, Taylor Shellfish, Judd Cove Oysters, Penn Cove Shellfish, Samish Bay, Charlie’s Produce, Bow Hill Blueberries, Blue Heron International, Spotted Owl Farm, and Wonderland Teas.
“Obviously, the shellfish is super local,” Kas says. “It’s coming from Samish Bay or Judd Cove on Orcas Island. Some things, you just can’t get local. I mean, nobody’s growing lemons and limes around here. But Cascade Mushrooms is another local company that we like to use. I do buy some things at Whole Foods just because I can’t get them anywhere else. But other than that, yeah. It’s all as local as is feasible.”
Lakeside Ambiance on Agate Bay
Above all, Kas says, The Fork’s customers and staff make it unique. He estimates that 95% of customers are regulars and 5% are tourists.
“I have the best staff,” Kas says. “I have been so blessed with having just fantastic staff up here, both restaurants really. But you know, it’s like Cheers. It’s where everybody knows your name, and all the regulars have plaques on the bar that say their name and what they drink. We just see the car pull into the lot. We know who it is and what they want, and their drink is sitting on the bar when they walk in the door. And it’s just such a neighborhood place.”
The restaurant’s décor includes an interesting centerpiece: a 1962 George Pocock eight-man rowing shell on the ceiling. The University of Washington donated it, with 15 feet of the original 62-foot shell decorating the Skagit Bay location.
“Lighting and music are two of the most important and most overlooked aspects of the restaurant business,” Kas says. “You know, you go to a place, and it’s too bright and too quiet, and it’s awkward. You go into a place, and it’s too dark and loud, and it’s awkward. You know, you really have to strike that perfect balance between the two. And so that’s always been very important to me, and I like to use a lot of low-wattage lighting.”
Proudly Serving Bellingham
Kas says that the most rewarding part of running The Fork has been watching new staff build their confidence and neighbors become regulars.
“It’s seeing them learn and grow and go from being afraid to talk to people to practically managing their restaurant within the number of years,” Kas says. “Watching them advance, learn, and grow their confidence, that I think more than anything else, is what I take pleasure from.”
As a “destination location” for tourists and a local establishment to neighbors, The Fork gives and receives community support as it thrives.
“They’ve been very supportive of us,” Kas says. “It’s been definitely a reciprocal relationship. You know, anytime anybody comes to us and asks if we can have a gift certificate for our kids’ school or whatever charity, we always donate. And again, there’s nothing else out here. I mean, there is no other place that people can go that’s a community center for this neighborhood. We are very much neighborhood-driven and community-driven for sure.”
The Fork offers drop-ins and reservations, which are helpful on busy days. You can make reservations on their website or by calling 360.733.1126.
The Fork
2530 Northshore Road, Bellingham
