Editors note: I'm working with high school journalism students at Seattle University's Journalism Summer Workshop this week. This is one of several articles written by students that the News Tribune will publish this summer. -- Sue Kidd

By Rebecca Harris

Eating your way through the Taste of Tacoma – it’s a combat for your concentration, fighting for the focus of your taste buds — but Donavan Maples hopes that Half Moon Bay Bar and Grill’s first appearance at the food festival this weekend will provide a taste seafood lovers won’t want to forget.

Half Moon is located in Westport – or, as general manager Maples calls the coastal town, “the cousin of Ocean Shores.” Maples’ access to fresh crab and fish guides what he cooks.

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Roseanna Donely and Dale Jarosz, owners of The Ark Smokehouse. Peter Haley/The News Tribune

Sometimes it takes a boatload of people to get a restaurant to float. In the case of the new Ark Smokehouse in Tacoma, Roseanna Donely relied on a crew of helpers when things began to tank.

A year ago, the restaurant veteran – with nearly 40 years’ experience operating the family-owned Caveman Kitchens in Kent – was looking to branch out with her sister Dale Jarosz. They intended to open a smokehouse in Tacoma. They found a location – the Olde Shipwreck on Marine View Drive – and leased the property, taking out a line of credit to complete building improvements.

Then came the economic storm, and The Ark’s line of credit washed away with it.

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