POULSBO — After 36 years of dreaming, John and Merlyn Schermerhorn have finally been able to put the plan of running their own restaurant into action. With Merlyn’s knowledge of Filipino food and their combined creativity, Lynn’s Kitchen has been filling watering mouths since it opened in November 2006.

The restaurant is named after a friend of the couple who used to cook regularly for her friends and family, and everyone would congregate in her kitchen. It was a fun, comfortable, lively atmosphere John and Merlyn have been working to recreate from day one.

“We’ve actually be accused of romancing the customer,” John said. “This job is wonderful, it’s a lot less stress doing this than my other job.”

He said he was an electrician before getting into the restaurant business, and he invariably prefers the latter. Though it’s just the couple working at the restaurant right now, they both say it’s not really work, but fun. Merlyn does most of the cooking, with help from John, and he focuses primarily on customer service. The only downside is if they run out of one dish, it can be difficult to catch up, because as soon as they are done making it, another runs out. The restaurant is set up buffet style, allowing diners to go back for more of their favorites.

“I enjoy cooking and entertaining,” Merlyn said. She added her cooking makes the restaurant special because she features different dishes other Philippine establishments leave off the menu such as kare-kare or oxtail soup with a peanut butter sauce, dinuguan or pork meat cooked in pork blood and lechon or whole roasted pig. She also cooks lumpia — spring rolls — by the tray full, and features more mainstream dishes.

“Those are the three things we make that nobody else makes,” John said.

“I’ve got a lot of specialties,” Merlyn added. “All the food I make is a specialty.”

Lynn’s Kitchen also provides take out and special orders, John said. Many of the customers who try it once, usually during the lunch time rush or passing through during dinner, come back again with their friends. The restaurant provides a chance for residents who enjoy ethnic food to get it straight from the source.

“It’s growing steadily, not in great leaps and bounds, but it is growing,” John said. “I would say the lion’s share of our customers come back for repeat meals. And when they don’t, it’s usually because they either move or are not from here.”