By Jacob Dimond
jake@yelmonline.com
Pepsy McGill, co-owner of Gather Gastropub, has always dreamed of hosting and attending a ball, and her vision will come to life on Saturday, Feb. 1, as she and her husband, Bobby, will host the restaurant’s first ever winter ball.
Doors for the event, at The Owl Nest, 210 Cedar St., in Roy, will open at 5:30 p.m., and the event itself will last from 6 p.m. to midnight, according to Eventbrite.com. Tickets for the event can be purchased for $75 at https://tinyurl.com/GatherGastropub.
Pepsy McGill told the Nisqually Valley News that the restaurant will cater the event, which includes a prime rib dinner and dessert, and the Gather Gastropub is excited to host a night of fun.
“It’ll be a nice night of dancing and mingling and a way for the community to get together. I’ve wanted to do a ball ever since I started doing hair,” she said. “We wanted an event to bring the community together. My first idea was a Christmas ball, but it’s always such a busy time for everybody. In February, life slows down for everybody, and we wanted to create a night for people to look forward to.”
She added that in previous years, she’d bring up the possibility of hosting a Christmas ball or a Winter Ball, but the concept would never gain traction. This year, with the help of the Gather Gastropub’s Kayla Walker, McGill’s idea came to fruition.
“It’s really fun to see people really excited and interested. There’s been a lot of support for the event. It’s only been posted for a week now, and to be halfway sold out already is huge. That was nice to see,” McGill said earlier this month. “The venue is beautiful. My sister and her husband refurbished the old barn in Roy, and it’s so beautiful. It’s perfect. It’s perfect for a wedding, any event. My aunt had her daughter’s baby shower there.”
The Gather Gastropub also wants to give back to local businesses and is currently working out the details of finding an attainable way to do so. Follow the Gather Gastropub on Facebook for more details coming in the near future on how to get involved.
“We haven’t decided on what we’re going to do with the small-business aspect. We want to do something to celebrate and give back to small businesses, but it could be something more along the lines of a silent auction,” McGill said. “We want to do something, a little giveaway or something. We’d like to do this yearly and have it be an annual event. Maybe we’ll donate to Dollars for Scholars. Maybe we’ll donate to a charity — something along those lines.”
While the McGills are still trying to get the word that their restaurant is open, the gastropub is gathering plenty of compliments in the community one year after the business opened in Yelm.
“We like the positive feedback we’ve been receiving. [Chef] Chris [Lascik] is a really proud chef, and when people are saying good things, it’s the best. Good reviews are the best reviews,” Bobby McGill said. “Steak nights are picking up and getting popular. Originally, this place didn’t have a steak night, but it’s getting really popular. It’s working out like we were planning it to work out.”
The restaurant also features weekly specials, which Bobby McGill and Lascik each said have been popular items while featured on the menu. The two use what they have in the kitchen to create unique specials, and Lascik said that if the restaurant’s food provider has a special on a certain type of protein, he’ll try to base a special on the selection of meat. The restaurant’s special recently was beef Bolognese, and the week prior, Lascik used leftover beef to create meatballs for sandwiches.
“If we see it on TV or a picture of something and think it looks good, we kind of brainstorm from there. We have a base idea and evolve it from there. It’s my time to have fun, make something good and be creative,” Lascik said. “What’s nice about always doing something different is you can go back to something you’ve done, even though it’s been a month and a half. You’re not doing the same thing every weekend, but you have these spot-on items that you know will sell if you’re in a pinch.”
McGill noted that a potential rebrand to the name and menu of Gather Gastropub could come in the near future.
“There’s a lot of comments that ask us if we still do things the old way. We’ve taken over something that had a long history, and even though we’ve changed everything, even our food vendor, there’s still those people who may have not come back since we took over. We want to encourage those people to come back,” Lascik said. “Even though it’s the same name, we have all new ingredients, a new menu, and everything is scratch made now.”
The two are overall pleased with how the first year of business under the McGill’s ownership has gone and hope to see Gather Gastropub’s customer base continue to grow in their second year.
