Jay and Michaela Kothman are the new owners of the Ajax Café in Port Hadlock, but the journey starts with another café, and before that, something entirely different.

The couple were both working regular jobs, Jay as an engineer and Michaela as a nurse, when they decided they wanted to try something different.

The couple used to eat breakfast then go for hikes in the forest, thinking aloud and tossing ideas around. They say those were their best conversations. At first, they thought about investing in real estate, so they looked online at property. “We would think, no, we can’t, and reasons why not to, and then, we’d think of another obstacle to overcome, and Jay eventually gave up on excuses,” said Michaela.

It was Michaela who saw a listing for Twana/101 Brewery in Quilcene. “Jay was thinking I was crazy, but he said, ‘Okay, let’s start from here,’” recalled Michaela. They bought the Quilcene restaurant and named it Quilbilly’s Restaurant and Taproom.

“One day after a lot of thinking, we quit the 9-5, which meant no holidays off,” recalled Jay. One minute, he was an engineer, and the next, he was flipping eggs on the grill, he added.

They admit some people are offended by the restaurant’s name. The people who aren’t happy about it were teased in high school, a long time ago, and called “Quilbillies.”

They think it relates to hillbillies, but it doesn’t, according to the Kothmans. Jay explained they named it Quilbilly’s more because of the town’s remoteness and living out in the sticks.

The pair wanted fresh, locally sourced food, and redid the interior of their new restaurant to make it comfortable. They kept the same employees and improved their benefits, and customers came to try the new place.

“We are seeming to be having success,” Jay said. “The community is wonderful. Quilcene is tight-knit and people support one another.”

Then the owners of the Ajax Café approached them to ask if the Kothman’s might think about buying it. Jay said there were other people interested in the café. Some potential buyers wanted to totally change it from how it had been throughout the years. The buyers didn’t want to see that happen. They liked that the Kothmans wanted to keep the café as it had always been. The deal was made.

It has a quirky number of hats for customers to wear while they dine, and if they want to dress up, ties hang on a rack as well.

The café now sports a full-service bar, but that was not always the case.

The building, at 21 N Water Street, has a lot of history to it. That apparently includes the first floor being operated as a saloon in the first half of the last century.

In 1977, according to Jay, people opened a café yhere. They struggled because the business was new to them. The story goes that one day a customer came in and noticed they had no beer or wine. The owners then said, “We have coffee.” It was Judge Grady, who served on the Jefferson County court. He asked how they could have a nice meal without wine? So the owners started serving “red” and white” coffee.

That came to an end when people from the liquor board came in and asked what they were doing.

But the café owners went to court. The judge? Judge Grady. The owners’ defense included the same line the judge had raised: “Well of course you can’t have a nice meal without wine.” They got a slap on the wrist and a liquor license. 

Ajax Café is doing well, according to the Kothmans. They’re always busy and on weekends reservations are highly recommended. 

The café has a long history of having live music, but not until summer when there is outdoor seating. “The space is small, and the ceiling is low. With music playing, it’s hard to talk,” said Jay. They have preserved some of the musical background using record albums as menus.