Customers Greg and Trudy Klefstad at The DEPOT Restaurant.

Michael Lalewicz has lost count of how many Coast Weekend Readers’ Choice Awards The DEPOT Restaurant has amassed over the 19 years he and his wife, Nancy Gorshe, have owned it. He is thrilled about the winning streak. For him, it’s a compliment from the community, but what matters most to him is “making people happy, that’s what we like to do.”

The last day of February was also Lalewicz’s last as the Seaview, Washington, restaurant’s chef. “I’m very tired. Eleven to twelve hours a day, six days a week, it took the wind out of my sails,” Lalewicz said.

Challenges wrought by the pandemic became the last straw. ”We are all very dedicated here, everybody who works here works just as hard as I did. That’s what made us a good team,” Lalewicz said.

Gorshe, his wife, agrees. “Even though the restaurant may get the best dining award and Michael the best chef, it’s really about everybody. We want to thank everybody,” Gorshe said.

This includes Ashley Wassmer, one of the restaurant’s first two employees and Readers’ Choice Award Best Server for the second straight year. “She’s like a daughter to us,” Gorshe said. Having worked at the Depot for 20 years, since she was 15, Wassmer appreciates the accolade but feels bashful about it. ”I really love the restaurant, obviously, and I’m lucky that I work with really good people,” Wassmer said.

In total, The DEPOT won six first place 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards, including Wassmer’s Best Server award and Lalewicz’s Best Chef award in addition to winning best burger, catering, dessert and fine dining. The restaurant was the runner up for Best Clam Chowder.

Jamie Gisby, The DEPOT’s longtime sous chef, who has taken over the kitchen, admits that stepping into Lalewicz’s shoes “is a little bit scary. It’s a big job and a lot of responsibility. A lot of customers depend on me to make sure the food stays the same quality. But it’s a lot of fun and we’re just going to continue to build on what we’ve been doing for years,” Gisby said.

Continuity and consistency are indeed the mantra of The DEPOT’s new owners, Jeff and Casey Harrell, one they’ve adopted from the outset. Gisby is a minority co-owner.

“We want to keep the legacy of the DEPOT,” Harrell said. The Harrells own a chain of pharmacies on the peninsula as well as Dylan’s Cottage Bakery in downtown Long Beach. A self professed foodie with experience in the hospitality industry, Harrell saw the new business as an easy decision.

Lalewicz and Gorshe have known the Harrells for many years. So when the Harrells inquired about purchasing the restaurant, ”the stars aligned,” Lalewicz said.

To Harrell, the thriving, successful DEPOT is not in need of revitalization but rather enhancement. “We’re really not coming in to change a whole lot,” Harrell said. The plan is to upgrade some equipment, including the payment system, and convert the beer and wine bar into a full one. “It’s not broken so we don’t need to fix it, just to enhance it,” Harrell said.

As for the track record of winning Readers’ Choice Awards year after year, “it speaks to the staff’s expertise,” according to Harrell. “They’re all proving they are putting out a quality product, so the awards speak for themselves to what Michael and Nancy built. It’s not about me and Casey, it’s all about the staff,” Harrell said.

Meanwhile, Lalewicz and Gorshe are now adjusting to retirement. Lalewicz plans to pick up his blues harmonica, golf club and camera while Gorshe plans to read as well as to continue her work in the community, including as board chair of the Ocean Beach Hospital. The couple also plan to move from Ocean Park closer to the restaurant so they can become regulars and to travel. A Paris style bistro on the beach was Lalewicz’s original concept for The DEPOT.

“It’s bittersweet,” Gorshe said about the transition. ”Our employees and our customers are our family. We were there for them, for 19 years worth of Christmases and New Year’s and Thanksgivings. And everybody just was so appreciative that we were here and I always appreciated that they came in,” Lalewicz said.