Some time ago I wrote about memories and memory triggers. Yesterday, while I was listening to the latest chapter of Dirt, my son Kristopher’s audio drama, I was once again reminded of a pleasant memory that lay dormant in the mush in my head.

When I was in the 7^th or maybe 8^th grade I was in Aberdeen, Washington—my dad’s family home after a journey through Butte, Montana and Cumberland, Washington. I don’t remember if I was there alone as I had been a couple of times, or if I was with the rest of my family, but for some reason I was spending time with my aunt June and uncle Eddie.  

I was brought back to the time Uncle Eddie took me to the Wirta Hotel on the banks of the Wishkah River in Aberdeen. I’m sure that place is long gone and probably not remembered by too many others. As I recall this was a weathered wooden structure as many of the old buildings in Aberdeen were at that time.

The restaurant, or maybe it is better described as a café, was one large room with a horseshoe-shaped seating counter for maybe 15 or 20 diners in the center. Inside the horseshoe was a long, rectangular, flat-top cooking surface that obviously had been well used over the years. 

After we sat down at the counter Eddie ordered two servings of Swedish pancakes. It was like poetry in motion watching the cook prepare our meal. He made each order from scratch in a bowl and when the consistency was just right, he threw the batter down the length of the flat top in one long thin ribbon.

Quickly after the bowl was emptied, he picked up a spatula and starting at the first end of the ribbon he deftly pushed the spatula down the length of the batter turning it over like a plow rolls the sod over when plowing a field. That done, he quickly folded the cooked pancake into three layers and onto a plate. The entire process didn’t take more than 3 or 4 minutes and I had a plate of food in front of me.

This was much like the way the cooks at today’s Frank’s Dinner in Spokane work, only more fluid and graceful.

I think that was the best breakfast I ever had, and wish I had been able to repeat the experience before the place closed.

Ken Kaiyala
2-27-2025