In the heart of Tacoma, Washington’s historic Fern Hill neighborhood, a culinary gem has taken root. Tibbitts@FernHill, helmed by the unstoppable Shawn Tibbitts, is more than a restaurant – it’s a testament to the power of passion, resilience, and a commitment to community.
In a world where restaurants often strive for trendy concepts, Shawn bet on breakfast, driven by a campfire-style kitchen setup that allows for creativity and efficiency. The gamble paid off; Tibbitts@FernHill is now a reservations-only hotspot, feeding 120 people on Saturday and Sunday. But Shawn measures success in more than just numbers – it’s the zero-waste, the joy of watching his vision take flight, and the gratitude of the community he serves.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell us a little bit about your journey and how you grew up.
I was born in Nuremberg, Germany – my dad was Army. I had pneumonia seven days after I was born. All my records said failure to thrive. I was also born with ADHD and a mild case of Autism, and I always had high energy. In the fourth grade, I memorized and recited the whole Gettysburg Address at Fawcett Elementary School. The next year, my mom put me on Ritalin, and then life changed for me. I didn’t feel like a child anymore – I was just not energetic as I used to be.
At the age of 14, I moved out of my house and lived on couches. My life changed when I met a girl and had a kid. I worked at a place called Tacoma Golf and Country Club, which is where it started for me in 1994. The chef took me under his wing and said, “Sean, you have a wonderful memory. If you want me to, I’m can to teach you a lot.” So I just started there, and everything’s made from scratch. He said, “Sean, the only thing, bit of information you really need to know is ‘don’t work at one place too long or that’s all you’re going to know‘.” Here we are, 40 jobs later – I worked for 29 years as a line cook in 40 different restaurants, and now here’s Tibbitts. I love food, I love people, and it’s my passion.
Ther reason I made my location in Fern Hill is because my elementary school is across the street, and this is where I grew up at in my youth. I was eating breakfast next door and Tony, the owner of Little Jerry’s (he’s also a native and Hispanic), says, “Hey, Sean, I got a little cafe next door. You want to take that over?” I took this over and never would have thought that I’d still be here after eight years.
Fern Hill was established in 1860. So it’s one of the oldest neighborhoods in Washington State. If you drive down to 72nd between Park and Sheridan, you’ll see the first Pony Express building in Washington State on the right.
Tell us about the evolution and structure you’ve built for the restaurant:
When I first opened, I was a ladies’ lunch cafe – I did lunch from 10 to 6. But nobody came in because nobody knew who I was. I wanted to get the world’s attention, so I created a plan to do an omelet-style kitchen setup.
When you go to a country club, everything’s off a campfire burner, so I implemented that, and I wanted to do breakfast because breakfast is fast, people enjoy it. I wanted to be creative, so I made myself reservations only, now I’m one of the busiest restaurants.
Until this day, I still run that same program. Now I feed 120 people every Saturday and every Sunday and it’s busy. But for me changing to breakfast was my biggest dream come true because now I run out of food every day. I’m zero waste. I’m cooking on two campfire burners and it’s zero overhead and it’s amazing to open something and watch it take off. I mean, it’s every kid from the Rez’s dreams, you know, and that’s what it is. Just give me a couple burners and I’m grateful.
I’m just grateful for the people and the love.
Lobster Frittata
Tell us about the menu – what are you cooking up?
So my strategy on the menu is I want to match that to local businesses. Take mushrooms, for example. I don’t want to do farmed mushrooms because you can get those at the store. I want to get fresh local ingredients. I go through Adams Mushrooms out of the Key Peninsula. My coffee is Island Coffee Company, they’re a small roaster out of Gig Harbor. My micro greens are from Alford’s Farm Pacific Northwest, and that’s out of Auburn. My honey is Honey’s Healthy Hive.
When I do my menus, I base what is in season and what the farmers have an abundance of. I have a lot of runners that will run from the farm to my restaurants on their ways to work, on their way home. We have a list and they just drop it off – it’s super, super efficient, and super easy. I will never do FSA, or Cisco, I won’t do the modern places. I always want to support something local.
What is something that you are proud of as a small business owner for the last 8 years?
One thing I’m proud of is coming from nothing and doing something that is total heart. Thanksgiving is coming up and I’m doing a huge community drive, and we’re going to feed close to 700 people for free. That’s what keeps me going.
I’m not rich, I don’t want to be rich. I’m rich in the heart because I want to give back and give hope to other people, other families. Yes, I’m on all these top awards, yes I can make good food, but for me it’s more than that. It’s deeper, it’s doing something with nothing and just letting the community come together and making everything just wonderful.
I don’t care for likes, I don’t care for followers. I’m an action guy. If you want something done, I’m going to do it, hands down, every time. I do it all. I do it all.I do everything. I do my Facebook, I do my advertising, I do my social media, I do it all. I do the cooking, I do the organization, I do a lot of the shopping, I do the phone calls.It’s a lot for one guy, but again, it’s a balance for me. I have ADHD and a mild form of autism. And for me, I’m so resilient.I just can’t stop. I just gotta keep going.
People ask me how I get all the awards and on all the lists, and my honest answer is, “I don’t know”. It’s a mystery. I’m grateful for it, but I’m nobody special. I’m just like all of you, I tie my shoes the same way. I just wake up, dress up, show up, and that’s my life.
I owe it all to my great team that comes in here. John, Angie, Priscilla, Junior, JJ, and even people in the past that have helped me grow this. They’ve left and gone to bigger and better things, and I couldn’t be more proud of them and happy to be part of their journey.
What are some of your favorite things to cook?
I’m just creative. I’m not one of those guys that will go on YouTube or look what everybody else is doing. I want to create, from breads to sauces to dishes. I don’t want to follow the bandwagon of doing the same thing. I want flavors. Sure, everything has been done, but still I’m looking for that one thing that hasn’t. But I’ve always made it about the people and I just try to make really good food.
What are some of your favorite parts about owning a business?
The constant flow of people that come through here, meeting guests, travelers, seeing the smiles, hearing the laughter, blowing their minds with what I cook back there, and just the relationships I’ve built through here.
I’ve easily fed over a million people in my lifetime, and a lot of people still remember me.
To book a reservation at Tibbitts@FernHill, call 253-327-1334.