Our Owners

Heather Earnhardt and Zac Young believe the rich history of the Tokeland Hotel and Restaurant offers an intimate and cozy environment where guests feel connected to the magic of an earlier, gracious period and lifestyle. Southern hospitality, exceptional food and comfortable lodgings are just part of the late 19th century ambiance.

Along with their five children, they now call Tokeland their full-time home. They keep a large flock of chickens, geese, peacocks and guinea hens, pups named Gus and Goose and Ollie, a litter of cats, Biscuit the rabbit, three pet pigs named Fanny, Fern and Francis, pygmy goats Percy, Cookie & Marjie, and a big wild garden. You can check out the action on their dedicated Instagram page - Little Goose Farms!

Our Awards

Slow Food Snail of Approval 2024

The Wandering Goose features Southern-inspired food utilizing hyperlocal ingredients. After years as a Seattle institution, owner Heather Earnhardt had the unique opportunity to take over stewardship of Tokeland Hotel, Washington’s oldest hotel. For Heather, this was a way to return to a slower pace of life reminiscent of her North Carolina upbringing.

“Our goal is to honor the community we call home - to restore the hotel to a sense of grandeur and inviting southern hospitality while having the restaurant be the center of this region’s dining scene and a local economic engine,” shared owner Heather Earnhardt.

To do that, Earnhardt, her husband and business partner Zac Young, and sous-chef Ryan Monks are on a journey to meet and work with as many local vendors as possible. Their working farm, Little Goose Farms, provides 100% heirloom produce and edible flowers year-round, utilizing mason bees and honeybees for pollination. Heirloom chickens, turkeys, peacocks, goats, guinea hens, and geese roam freely on the grounds. They rely on local farms, including Wobbly Cart, Chehalis Valley, Fantello Creamery, TUNaWERTH Creamery, and Helsing Junction to fill the gaps. Their meat comes from regional, humane ranches, Pure Country, and Preservation Meats, and the fish are all caught in local waters. The oysters, Toke Points, are harvested by Shoalwater Seafood in the backyard estuary. This plan also extends to the drinks program, which features small, regional family breweries, while the majority of wines are from natural or biodynamic wineries, many of which are run or owned by women. Staff also get a free family meal every shift, twice a day, and they currently house seven full-time employees, rent-free.

“Ryan and I discuss every item we bring in the back door before it happens, and believe me, it’s a challenge,” Earnhardt said. “We are now seed oil-free, using beef tallow in our fryers, coconut oil instead of canola, and the highest quality extra virgin olive oil from Italy for the rest. We minimize food waste by feeding scraps to our pigs, using some for stocks, and the remaining for our compost bin. We carefully monitor our orders to ensure zero GMO products are coming in, and we only serve seasonal and local fish. If it’s not in season, it’s not on the menu.”

Our Books

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THE WANDERING GOOSE: A Modern Fable of How Love Goes
Story by Heather L. Earnhardt
Illustrations by Frida Clements

A bug's life is suddenly changed when a wandering goose finds his way to her garden. They become close friends, exploring and playing in the lush garden, exchanging poems, hopes, and dreams, and eventually confessions of love. When goose begins to feel his instinct to wander, Bug's life changes again, but she comes to learn that she is surrounded by enduring love, even in loss.

Purchase:

Powells
Indie Bound
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Big Food Big Love
Heather L. Earnhardt

When Heather Earnhardt opened her tiny, magical café, The Wandering Goose, in Seattle, she infused a little Southern comfort into the heart of a city that’s skies are often gray. Her specialty is biscuits, slathered with butter and homemade jam, piled high with fried chicken and bread-and-butter pickles, or country ham and an over-easy egg. In Big Food Big Love, this “red-dirt girl” shares stories from her childhood in the South and 130 recipes that contain a satisfying mix of nostalgic and traditional Southern favorites. Served up with a side of Southern charm, this is genuinely good and unfussy food that’s meant to be eaten with family and friends.

Purchase:

Powells
Indie Bound
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Apple Books