jimgermanbar to Close This Month

WAITSBURG – Jim German and Claire Johnston plan to continue living in Waitsburg while striking out on new, not yet fully determined, adventures. But the owners of Waitsburg's jimgermanbar will close that establishment at the end of August.

German is in the process of having a "monolithic" pizza oven built on the patio behind jimgermanbar but is not sure that he'll be the one operating it. He is also actively involved with an exciting restaurant transformation in Walla Walla.

While he's not free to share too many details yet, Jim said that he has been helping restore the former Pastime Café building, located at 215 W. Main Street in Walla Walla, to a functional space.

The Pastime Café was owned and operated by the Fazzari family for decades and became a Walla Walla icon. The historic Italian-American restaurant and bar has been likened to "walking into a time warp of 1940."

The Fazzari family sold the building to winemaker Charles Smith in 2006. Smith recently sold the building to the new owner whose intent is to give something back to the community, according to German.

"This is a big thing. Just restoring the building and not letting it sit there is a gift in itself," German said.

German said the building is in disrepair and needs a lot of TLC to bring it back to being a functional space. In addition to functionality and design, German said he is working to help create atmosphere. "That's my focus," he said.

German said they hope to launch next spring and that the restored eatery/bar will be Italian. "It would be a disservice to do anything else. The space is so nostalgic, we want to honor the history of the space," German said.

Meanwhile, in Waitsburg, German is in the process of transforming the jimgermanbar space as well. He said the newly installed pizza oven is a southern Italian-style brick oven that will heat up to 800 degrees. In addition to making pizzas, the oven can be used for baking breads and roasting meats. "It's huge – monolithic. It's a very wonderful multi-purpose oven," he said.

The bar will close on Aug. 31 to allow German time to focus on the Walla Walla renovation. His wife, Claire, is very busy with her art career, Jim said.

German said the bar space will be transformed as well, but is unsure of the timeline and whether or not he and Claire will operate the new space. "I love the space, but we would love to be a catalyst for someone else to do something there. As much fun as it has been, it needs an influx of new blood," he said.

German said he has been talking with individuals who have expressed interest in the space and the community will be the first to know if it is leased, or if something new is happening.

"We're really thankful to the local community for their support and for making jimgermanbar work so well for so long. There is so much potential here – we still want to be a part of that," German said.