A new owner for Christina's on Orcas Island

Once upon a time, on an island far, far away there lived a charming woman named Christina who bought a gas station and turned the upstairs into a restaurant with a terrific view of Eastsound. People came, loved her food, and made the restaurant famous. Movie stars flew in on private planes just to eat there. After a quarter century of this, Christina was ready to retire and sold the restaurant, but the new owner gave up after only two years. Fortunately, there's a happy ending: a really good chef who really knows the restaurant biz is taking over.

The newcomer is Lisa Nakamura, whose culinary resume includes stints at the French Laundry in Napa, Qube in Belltown and bin Vivant in Kirkland, currently chef de cuisine at The Herbfarm. She's changing the name of her new place to Allium (the botanical name for the onion family--her favorite vegetable) and plans to reopen by Memorial Day. Another reason, as if we needed one, to drive to Anacortes and get on the ferry to Orcas.