Tutti’S Has It All

`Tutti’s” says it “all” - literally. Tutti is an Italian word, meaning all, altogether, join in. It’s also the meaning behind the name of Tutti’s Cafe & Gourmet-to-Go, a new restaurant in Sunset Mall (across Highway 95 from Fred Meyer’s), Coeur d’Alene.

This Tutti’s probably has dual meaning because of the variety of the menu and the friendly ambiance of the place. Chef (and co-owner) Marilyn Fisher provides gourmet dishes resulting from 25 years of experience in fine restaurants in California and Nevada.

Located in the spaces formerly occupied by Papino’s and Heathcliff’s, the cafe offers lunch, dinner and take-out. The facility has a tasteful dining room that seats 35, seating for 15 in the entry deli and a meeting room/gallery for up to 50 people.

Fisher prepares every item in-house - American, European, Asian and Mediterranean - from roasted meats to an array of salads, sandwiches, soups and veggie specialties. She has owned five other restaurants and a cooking school, has won national recipe honors and was catering chef for Corbette Canyon and Maison deutz vineyards.

She and her husband and co-owner Jay Fisher also are artists, with their work displayed in the cafe’s meeting room. Originally from Pismo Beach, Calif., and Iowa, respectively, they joined family in North Idaho two years ago.

Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Phone 676-1845.

Quality in-store service and excellent prices are the mainstay of Diamond Gallery, a jewelry store that opened this month in the space formerly occupied by Lord’s Jewelry next to Baskin-Robbins in Coeur d’Alene Town Center on Appleway.

Specialties in the 1,600-square-foot store are fine jewelry, Howard Miller clocks, crystal giftware and the work done by gemologist Burton Grover. He has 40 years of experience in the business.

Owners are Coy and Debbie Mott, who also own a jewelry store in Ontario, Ore. Earlier planning to start a store in Boise, they were buying fixtures of the former Lord’s store and decided to simply purchase the business. Originally from Louisiana, he came to the Northwest from Bakersfield, Calif., and she is from Ontario.

Hours at Diamond Gallery are 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. weekdays and 9 to 3:45 Saturdays. Phone 664-5232.

Vacationing in North Idaho convinced Steve Ducommun and Edward (Chip) Miller that this is where they wanted to live. The result is D&M Auto Body, a new business in the southwest corner of Second Street and Hazel Avenue, Coeur d’Alene.

In the space formerly occupied by Cal’s Auto Body, the men offer a towing service, auto body repair and air-conditioning and muffler work. They have 25 years of experience between them in Laytonville and Laguna Hills, Calif.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays by appointment. Phone 676-0352.

Construction has begun on a Schuck’s Auto Supply store just south of the southwest corner of Highway 95 and Orchard Avenue, Hayden.

The 7,000-square-foot store, to be completed in September, is south of the Idaho State Liquor Store, Duncan’s Floral and Subway building and north of property planned for development by Del Kerr, who owns all three parcels.

With about 15 employees, the new store is owned by parent company CSK, which also owns Checker Auto Parts and Kragen Auto Parts.

The Phoenix-based company has about 830 stores in the Western states, including Schuck’s in Coeur d’Alene and Ponderay.

With the yard/garage sale season in full force, here are a few hints:

Don’t rely on just printed advertisements or you’ll only get the “professional” buyers, those who plan to resell your stuff at higher prices. Put clear signs up at key nearby intersections and in front of the house.

Unless you want early birds (again, the pros), keep to the hours posted on your signs and put them up right when the sales begin. If your sale is more than one day, don’t put the days on the sign or few people will come the second day because they’ll know the bargains are gone.

Keep prices at yard-sale levels or you’ll be stuck with everything unless you’re willing to bargain. It’s good to decide ahead of time when you’ll be willing to start bargaining and how low you’ll go. Have plenty of change.

Don’t assume a charity store is going to want what you don’t sell, especially if it’s something they’ve already overstocked. Clean stuff up or no one will want it.

Be pleasant. People will hang around and buy more.

A residence is allowed no more than two sales a year or it’s considered a business. To complain about your “illegal” neighbor, phone the state tax commission.