Pullman’s Black Cypress restaurant, a James Beard Award finalist, aims for the sweet spot between elevated and approachable
PULLMAN – Ask Nikiforos “Nick” Pitsilionis about his approach to hospitality, and he just might answer with a story about a soup vendor.
In mid-1700s Paris, Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau became well known for his “bouillons restaurants,” or restorative broths. They grew so popular that, over time, the adjective was used describe eateries themselves. Its root comes from the Latin verb “restaurare.”
To renew.
Pitsilionis, owner of arguably Pullman’s finest dining establishment, likes the lore as well as the idea that restaurants provide – and were founded on the principle of – transformation and healing.
“We’re meant to restore people,” he said. “We should be turning people back out into the world in a better place than when they came in.”
That philosophy has earned his downtown restaurant a nomination for one of the most coveted honors in the culinary world. The Black Cypress is under consideration for the prestigious James Beard Foundation award for outstanding hospitality.
Semifinalists were announced in January; finalists, in March. Winners will be named Monday . The award honors a restaurant that, according to the James Beard Foundation, fosters “a sense of hospitality among its customers and staff that serves as a beacon for the community and demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality, and operations while contributing positively to its broader community.”
The Black Cypress is one of five contenders, along with Sepia in Chicago; the Quarry in Monson, Maine; Lula Drake in Columbia, South Carolina; and Bottega in Birmingham, Alabama.
When semifinalists were announced, Pitsilionis started seeing texts from friends and fellow industry workers, offering congratulations. He didn’t know what they were talking about.
The nomination came as a surprise, said Pitsilionis, who opened the Black Cypress in 2009.
The restaurant draws much of its workforce from Washington State University and University of Idaho. Most of its front-of-house workers are students. Some come with limited or no experience.
“I see it as a responsibility to make sure they are empowered,” Pitsilionis said. “I want them to feel confidant and strong because they are well versed in procedure and technique.”
Care goes into training. But there’s still high turnover. Employees graduate and leave. “That’s the nature of running a restaurant in a college town,” Pitsilionis said.
And that makes the James Beard nomination that much more special. “To run the Black Cypress like a Michelin-starred restaurant is just not viable,” Pitsilionis said. “We’re refined, but we’re not that refined.”
Pitsilionis, 49, won’t be traveling to Chicago for the award ceremony. His wife gave birth to their third child mid-May; he has a newborn to help tend to as well as a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old.
Service manager Grace Navarrete will be among the handful of Black Cypress employees in attendance.
“At first, I was like, ‘Who is James Beard? What is this award?’” said Navarrete, who came to Pullman from Riverside, California, for college and now works full time at the Black Cypress. She loves “the consistency of the food’s quality as well as the environment. It’s very uplifting. There’s a real sense of family.”
Now that she knows more about James Beard and the awards given in his name, she’s “very grateful” for the nomination.
(The Portland-born Beard, dubbed the “dean of American cookery” by the New York Times in the 1950s, was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He died in 1985 at age 81.)
“We’re excited to be recognized for all of our hard work,” said Navarrete, who’s worked at the Black Cypress since 2021. “To be recognized on such a huge, national scale is really amazing. Just getting in (the running) at all, we feel like winners.”
Host and server Harrison Gaal, a WSU music student who’s also worked here since 2021, agrees. “I think it’s well deserved. The food is consistently delicious.” The atmosphere, casually sophisticated and friendly, “not arrogant.”
The nomination “went under my radar,” Gaal said, until one of his professors congratulated him. It brings a sense of pride to staff, “and, I hope, pride to the community as well.”
Born in Greece, Pitsilionis came to America at a year old and grew up in the restaurant business. His parents owned and operated a family-style Greek and Italian eatery in Kenai, Alaska, and he started working there in seventh grade.
He eventually manned the pizza station, dabbled in bartending, managed the restaurant and spent summers with family in Greece. After finishing college in Australia, he traveled, maxing out credit cards and expanding his knowledge and appreciation of all things food- and hospitality-related.
In Italy, he attended a truffle festival. In Greece, he worked olive harvest. In New York, he dined at Gramercy Tavern. In California, he worked at the French Laundry. “It was critical for me,” he said. “I learned a lot.”
Thomas Keller’s “The French Laundry Cookbook” also made a big impact. So did Tom Colicchio’s “Think Like a Chef,” which Pitsilionis calls “the single best book on technique.”
Of course, his heritage and upbringing were also influences. The Greek word for hospitality, philoxenia, translates to “love of the stranger.” It’s something Pitsilionis takes to heart.
“I hate to word ‘rando,’” he said. “That’s exactly who – a true stranger – you should be looking out for and making to feel welcome. There’s a responsibility to a fellow person to care for them.”
When friends opened Nectar restaurant and lounge in Moscow, Idaho, in 2007, Pitsilionis worked for them first as a server, then in the kitchen.
Two years later, he opened the Black Cypress.
Daily specials spotlight chefs’ creativity and seasonal ingredients. “I love seasonality,” Pitsilionis said. “I think you have a responsibility as a chef to cook seasonally.”
But, at the same time, he said, “I wanted to have menu staples that are not predicated on the seasons. I wanted the restaurant to be the kind of place where you go in and there’s the dish you were craving. You go in after weeks or months, five years or 10 years, and there’s your dish.”
Deboned with crispy skin, the roasted half-chicken sits atop a bed of bread salad with roasted kale and herbed pan jus. “The dish was meant to evoke Thanksgiving,” Pitsilionis said. “I love Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving food.”
He also loves roast chicken. “It’s not too fancy but it makes you feel good.”
That sentiment largely sums up his style. Pitsilionis aims to make foods and experiences that are elegantly simple, comforting and consistent.
Those elements keep Rob McPherson coming back. The Pullman High School art teacher has been a regular since the restaurant opened and visits “probably three times a week.
“The food just tastes incredible. They just get so much flavor out of everything,” McPherson said, sitting at the bar on a recent weeknight. “I like the ambiance, too.
“That’s important to me. The service is great. They just take care of you. They seem to predict what you need.”
Sometimes, what you need is bacon. On those occasions, consider the carbonara – with De Cecco pasta, onion confit, garlic confit, a splash of cream, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and chunks of house bacon.
It, along with the chicken and Double R Ranch ribeye, topped with béarnaise butter and served with a seasonal side, such as asparagus, and mashed potatoes – riced, then puréed for extra creaminess – are three top-sellers.
Servings are generous. While dishes are Italian- and Greek-inspired, “I make American-sized portions,” said Pitsilionis, who stepped back from the kitchen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the restaurant nears its 20-year mark, he’s hoping to find a business partner or to sell – perhaps to an employee or employees – so he can devote more time to his family.
Meantime, he said, “When people come to the Black Cypress, we want to elicit that feeling you had as a kid when someone who really loved you cooked for you.”