KEVIN TAYLOR (left), manager at 15 East Restaurant and Bar, and Nik Casetta (right), owner of the restaurant, put this bar in when they did some renovations to the restaurant in June.
After working for the restaurant located at 15 E. Main St., Battle Ground when it was operating under a previous name, Nik Casetta and Kevin Taylor said that when the restaurant closed, they both decided they wanted to stay at the same location and try something a little different.
On June 22, 15 East Restaurant and Bar officially opened for business. Casetta, who owns the restaurant, and Taylor, the manager, said they frequently talked about different things they could do with the restaurant while they were both working at Paparazzi, the name of the previous restaurant at that location. Having both worked in the restaurant business for their entire lives, Casetta and Taylor decided to give their own restaurant a shot and opened 15 East.
Although the 15 East menu is mostly unique, Casetta said he has talked with the old owner of the restaurant when it used to be Dante’s and has gotten a few recipes from him.
“We’ve gone through so many items (on the menu),” Casetta said. “We took all we had, made a collection of different things we wanted to try and sometimes I just come up with ideas and combinations that sound good.”
The 15 East menu features a large variety of Italian-style cuisine, but also includes a variety of other non-Italian items. A few of their appetizers include Jagermeister Prawns, Bacon Wrapped Prawns, fondue, Jagermeister Streak Strips and a Dante’s original, Cheesy Crustino Bread.
Pasta lovers who visit 15 East are able to design their own pasta by selecting their pasta type and choosing from different toppings such as sauteed veggies, chicken, Italian sausage, prawns and more. Other pastas available include Tuscan Lasagna, Prawn’s Diablo and more.
The menu at 15 East also includes several different burgers, including a traditional burger, elk burger and their Fire Mountain Burger, which is covered in chopped habanero and chipotle peppers and is blended with tapatio and topped with pepper jack cheese. The burger is served with 15 East’s fire sauce.
Other full-meal entrees on the 15 East menu include seafood and fish, chicken and veal and steaks. Restaurant goers can build their own fish dish by selecting their catch from Pacific Northwest Wild Salmon, Yellow Fin Aho Tuna, Tilapia or Sturgeon, and choosing their preparation style. Taylor said their Prosciutto Chicken and Marsala Chicken have been popular dishes, as well as all of their seafood and steaks.
There are also several different salads available, including a grilled caesar salad, blackened Ahi salad and an Italian chop salad. A variety of different pizzas are also available, including a Thai Chicken pizza, fondue pizza and more.
After dinner, patrons can select from a variety of desserts, and Casetta said he tries to occasionally change up the dessert menu. Currently, desserts offered include apple-cran cobbler, pumpkin pie cheesecake, a candied bacon sundae and Tiramisu.
“The Tiramisu is for adults only,” Casetta said. “I make it from scratch right here and the lady fingers are soaked in espresso, rum, Kahlua, Bailey’s and Amaretto.”
Aside from their dinners and desserts, 15 East also offers customers a happy hour Tues.-Fri., 4-6 p.m. Advertised as the “craziest happy hour that ever existed” on their menu, the happy hour at 15 East includes one daily beer for $1.99, one daily cocktail for $2.99 and one daily wine for $3.99. A different beer, cocktail and wine is offered each day. About 20 food items are offered on the happy hour menu each day, ranging from appetizers, to burgers, to seared Ahi and more.
Taylor is the one who puts together most of the cocktail combinations offered at 15 East and he said some of the more popular ones include the Matchstick Mai Thai, which is served on fire; the Evil Jungle Princess, the Ginger Margarita and more.
Casetta and Taylor also put together a featured weekend menu, which consists of a couple of appetizers and entrees each week that aren’t regularly on the menu. They also offer weekday specials, including bottomless spaghetti for $7 on Tuesdays, spicy pasta, fire burgers, hot pizza and wings for $7 on Wild Wednesdays and 20 percent off of all steak dinners on Steak Nite Thursdays.
Catering is also available at 15 East and Casetta’s father, Mike, actually owns the catering company. Casetta said the menu varies and they will pretty much cook up any kind of food that the customer wants for their event.
15 East Restaurant and Bar is open Tues.-Sun., 3-9 p.m. or later. Casetta and Taylor can be reached at the restaurant
at (360) 687-0418 or by email at Nik@15eastbg.com or Kevin@15eastbg.com. Visit their website at www.15eastbg.com.
