Snoqualmie’s Barbecue Restaurant Buckshot Honey Adds New Location in Cashmere - Eater Seattle

David Storm, the barbecue pitmaster behind Buckshot Honey in Snoqualmie, has transformed his passion for feeding people into a successful restaurant venture that’s now expanding to Cashmere, Washington.

On Friday, October 18, Buckshot Honey’s new location debuted at 400 Aplets Way in Cashmere, which once housed a well-known barbecue spot called Country Boys. The space seems tailor-made for the restaurant. Built around two giant rotisserie smokers, the rustic venue features salvaged wood walls and outdoor seating. Look for all the greatest hits from the original Buckshot Honey menu such as the Dave’s Way with a ½-pound smoked brisket on rye with roasted onions, pickled peppers, black pepper mayo, and provolone cheese whiz and the burnt-ends chili served with cornbread.

Storm’s story in hospitality is one of perseverance. He got his start at 13, as a busboy and dishwasher in Florida at Saint Petersburg Fish House. Five years later, he made the move to California, cooking in LA for a few years, before heading north to the redwoods in Humboldt County. For six years he immersed himself in the local punk scene, he played in bands, and partied. At one point he became homeless in Eureka — “a rough, cold, and rainy place,” he says. “I found a huge respect for the neighborhood soup kitchen. I would go there two to three times a day. Turkey and ham sandwiches on Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Storm recalls.

Storm eventually got a job at a French spot called Chemin de Fer where he was able to make enough money to get off the streets.

In 2001 Storm pulled up stakes and road-tripped to Seattle. Arriving in the city with his wife and two little girls, Storm found a job within three days working the grill at Stanford’s in South Center Mall. Still, he kept his eyes peeled for new opportunities.

That opportunity happened to be at Portage Bay Cafe. To this day, Storm still considers the eatery one of the best in the city. It was there where he learned how to “rock the egg station,” which he notes is no easy feat. Owners John and Amy Gunnar recognized Storm’s skills in the kitchen and he was quickly promoted to sous-chef, and then ultimately head chef of the popular breakfast and lunch spot with a focus on local ingredients.

“I learned a lot from John and Amy,” Storm says. “They taught me so much about the problems with our food chain and introduced me to so many sustainable ingredients in the PNW. So much respect for them.”

It was also around this time that Storm hit a rough patch. His marriage was not working out and he was going through a divorce. As Storm puts it, “I was completely broken.”

Storm moved over to Tom Douglas’s now-defunct Dahlia Lounge. Although he loved his new job and his chefs and co-workers, Storm was in a “self-destruct mode” and the gig only lasted a year. “My alcoholism was affecting my work,” he recalls. “I think everyone knew it but me.”

At one point, Storm swallowed a bottle of Xanax and washed them down with a tall can of Pabst, in an attempt to take his own life. Instead, he woke up in a bed at Harborview Hospital.

The Tom Douglas restaurant group stepped in and got Storm counseling and medication. “That shit saved my life,” Storm says.

As the Seattle food scene evolved, Storm embraced the emerging food truck trend, joining Josh Henderson’s Skillet. The work was hard, but fun, and Storm found a ‘family’ amongst the crew cooking on the truck. While at Skillet, Storm entered an outpatient recovery program and started his sobriety, which marked a turning point in both his personal life and his culinary career. He’s currently 11 years sober.

Storm spent the next 8 years with Henderson opening Quality Athletics, Westward, and Great State Burger. When Renee Erickson’s group, Sea Creatures, took over Great State Burger, Storm moved on.

Around that time, Storm’s dad passed, and he inherited a small sum; this inheritance became the seed money for Buckshot Honey.

The timing, however, couldn’t have been more challenging. Storm signed the lease on an old Snoqualmie bank building established in 1923 in February 2020, after the first U.S. COVID-19 case was identified in Washington State and weeks before social distancing measures and dining room closures effectively shut down the restaurant industry. But for Storm, “failure was not an option.”

Buckshot Honey opened its doors on July 29, 2020 — a date that serendipitously coincided with Storm’s late father’s birthday. A hit right out of the gate, Buckshot Honey had fans from all over the region lining up for brisket and cornbread.

With the expansion to Cashmere, Storm has added a fryer and new cooks who will continue to add to the already extensive Buckshot Honey canon.

Buckshot Honey is open at 400 Aplets Way in Cashmere and at 38767 SE River Street in Snoqualmie.

If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. For international resources, here is a good place to begin.

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