Photo by Meegan M. Reid, MEEGAN M. REID
Virgilio Sumilhig serves up a slice of prime rib to Christmas Day buffet diners at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino. (MEEGAN M. REID | KITSAP SUN)
Photo by Meegan M. Reid, MEEGAN M. REID
Dawn Rosenlund of Portland enjoys her Christmas dinner at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino with family and friends. (MEEGAN M. REID | KITSAP SUN)
Photo by Meegan M. Reid, MEEGAN M. REID
Two-year-old Tyler Jenne eats Christmas dinner with a little help from his mother, Darcy Jenne, at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino. (MEEGAN M. REID | KITSAP SUN)
SUQUAMISH —
Even Santa Claus, full of milk and cookies, would have been hard-pressed to pass up a stop at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino’s Christmas Day all-you-can-eat buffet.
As line chefs sliced slow-roasted prime rib, roasted turkey breast and honey-glazed ham, you could almost see people’s mouths watering as they looked down the buffet line, savoring the smells of the evening.
Hundreds of people planned their day around a visit to the casino. While some tried their luck at slot machines and card tables, for many the priority was filling their bellies with a good holiday meal.
“It’s just a nice way to unwind after the busy holiday night,” said Silverdale resident Darcy Jenne. “They do a really nice job.”
Jenne and her husband, Glenn Jenne, started visiting the casino for Christmas Day dinner three years ago. The family does its big Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve with Darcy’s parents, Ralph and Bernie Brown, who live in East Bremerton.
By Christmas Day, the couple is ready to let someone else do the cooking and cleaning. And for just the two of them, it’s not worth the trouble to make a big Christmas Day meal, Jenne said.
This year, the couple, with 2-year-old son Tyler in tow, were joined by the Browns, who wanted to see what Christmas dinner at the casino was all about.
They weren’t disappointed.
“We were going to be at home eating leftovers from last night,” Bernie Brown said. “It’s very nice.”
The night’s menu had a variety of choices from the traditional prime rib, turkey or ham, to seafood favorites like snow and Dungeness crab legs, steamed manila clams, peel-and-eat shrimp and jumbo coconut shrimp.
Other, less-traditional menu items included lobster ambrosia, lobster and mussels with gnocchi saffron sauce, duck a l’orange, grilled New Zealand lamp chops, sushi rolls and a build-your-own pasta bar.
A large chocolate fountain, ice cream machine and wide selection of holiday desserts beckoned those who left room for dessert.
Gary L. Samuel, the casino’s director of food and beverage, said that casino officials planned for about 750 people to pass through the buffet line this year.
“Mostly it’s the food areas that get hit the hardest,” on Christmas, he said. “I like to think we’re doing a good job.”
Regulars Louie and Carolyn Peltier certainly think so. The longtime Bainbridge Island couple were enjoying their holiday meal at the casino Saturday. Louie Peltier guessed that they eat at the casino five nights a week.
When it came time to plan for Christmas dinner, there was no question where they would be eating.
“They do a very good job,” Peltier said. Beyond offering delicious and healthy food options, the elderly couple — Louie’s 81, Carolyn is 79 — are always treated like VIPs, Peltier said.
Not far from the Peltier’s table, a group of Suquamish Tribal elders came together to celebrate the holiday. Joined by friends from Portland, Ore., the group joked about not having to cook. It’s nice to let someone else worry about planning the meal, they said.
They came to the casino for Christmas because it was the only place in the area offering a “spectacular” holiday buffet, said Suquamish elder Mary Ann Youngblood.
Samuel was happy to hear that people made the casino’s buffet a part of their holiday. Not just because it was one of the few places open on Christmas Day, he added, but because of the quality of food.
“I think we have developed a good reputation in the county for providing good food,” he said.
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