WestSound Magazine magazine is excited to present the fourth annual Best of West Sound results — from Bainbridge Island all the way to Gig Harbor, we’ve found the businesses and places you love. Enjoy!   Best Restaurant The Boat Shed 101 Shore Drive, … read more

Winter brings shorter days, longer nights and lower temperatures. There are few things more comforting than coming in from the cold to a house filled with the intoxicating smells of homemade bread and a pot of soup. The beauty of most soups and … read more

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Big Heart Pet Brands — the makers of Milk-Bone, Pup-Peroni, Canine Carry Outs and Milo’s Kitchen brand dog treats — surveyed 3,000 dog “parents” from around the country. Their mission: to see how regularly humans engage with loving … read more

Buildings with a “living roof” are all the rage with the current focus on ecologically minded construction techniques. Originally European and historically planted with turf grasses, green roofs are popular worldwide for reducing pollution and runoff and improving insulation, among other environmental benefits. … read more

Editor’s Note: In this issue, we revisit restaurant owners we’ve featured in the past to check in following either a major expansion or a complete transformation. In both cases, the resulting restaurants were different enough to invite a second look or — better … read more

Gravel patios or “terraces” are an outdoor element used in home landscapes in Europe for many centuries. Elegant and natural, they are typically made of crushed indigenous stone, widely used for many years because it was a readily available and inexpensive material. The … read more

Like shopping and seeing a great pair of shoes that knocks your socks off, but in my case it was a gallon of mismatched paint on a back-corner sale shelf. It was an odd color — not vermilion, not burgundy, not orange and … read more

West Sound, known as the Kitsap Peninsula and the Great Peninsula, has a rich agricultural and horticultural history. The glaciers left rich earthen deposits behind; the forest duff provided rich tilth and the two combined to make wonderful soils. Just the right amount … read more

Everyone should have friends like Jamie Villella. When Villella, owner and operator of Mama Villella’s Personal Chef Service on Bainbridge Island, needed to test-drive her new business, she recruited her friends to be “pilot clients.” For their honest opinions about her food, they … read more