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| A plate full of Italian specialties, below, including biscotti, spice cookies, chocolate fudge torte, cannoli and pizelles. Sisters Yolanda Tremblay (left) and Rhonda Campola at their Green Gables coffeehouse in Newport. OCT photos by Niki Price. |
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Sticky fingers?
Steal a moment at The Green Gables in Newport
Sisters bring a tradition of Italian pastries and hospitality
By NIKI PRICE
Oregon Coast Today
It’s a scene that sisters Rhonda Campola and Yolanda Tremblay remember well from their Italian-American childhood home in New York State. Family members sat down around the kitchen table, with small cups of strong espresso, to share a plate piled high with struffoli.
Struffoli, a Neapolitan specialty that’s referred to in the plural, are small buds of deep fried dough that are coated in a citrus-infused honey. They are charmingly sweet and more than a little sticky, so the refined coffeehouse visitor might be tempted to dive in with a fork.
But the proprietors will encourage you to try it the Italian way: “You take a sip of espresso, grab one with your fingers and pop it in your mouth. Then lick your fingers and do it again,” said Campola.
These sweet little treats are just one of the Italian baking traditions the sisters have brought to the Green Gables Bed & Breakfast in Newport. This landmark inn, coffee house and bookstore had been a landmark in the Nye Beach neighborhood for many years before Tremblay and Campola took over last fall. They make fresh scones and muffins, as well as soft toasted biscotti and quiche by the slice to go with tasty drinks made with locally-roasted Cape Foulweather Coffee.
When it comes to Italian style food, they are picky about their ingredients. Use the wrong olive oil, wine or flavor, the sisters believe, and it just won’t taste the same. The cannoli is a good example.
“Everything, including the shells, is made right here. The cannoli has a crispy shell made with a wine dough, with a sweet filling that’s made with two kinds of Italian cheese,” Tremblay said. “And our cheesecake is made with three kinds of Italian cheese, not just cream cheese, so it’s airy and fluffy.”
“Using different kinds of Italian cheeses — mascarpone, fontina, parmesania reggiano — it makes a big difference. The meats, the milks, the cuts of meat, the sausage, they’re all special. It’s quite a fiasco, pulling together everything we need for our baking, but that’s what makes it authentic,” she said. “Our customers are not quite familiar with these things, but we’re hoping that once they do they’ll fall in love, and know where to come and get it.”
The glass cases are filled with a fudgelike chocolate torte, with a sweetened cheese filling, mellow and delicious Italian spice cookies and pizelles, crispy lace wafers that come in anise, chocolate and orange flavors. They also make meatball subs, meat or cheese lasagna, take-out sauce by the quart and other Italian-American favorites, all made from recipes they learned from aunts, grandmothers and other family cooks.
“We spent our holidays around my mother’s family, and we learned how to do all this stuff at a very young age. My grandma was always cooking and baking, and she threw a lot of hints at us,” said Campola. “We make everything here on the premises, right down to the crust.”
That means that they’re happy to adapt recipes for special diets, with offerings like wheat- and gluten-free quiches, muffins and even lasagna (make sure you call ahead, 541-574-0986, to ensure availability).
They may have learned to cook at their grandmother’s side, but they have earned their hospitality stripes on the job. Until moving West, they operated a 12-room hotel in Niagara Falls, New York, 10 minutes to the falls and the border with Canada. At All Tucked Inn, they housed and fed guests from around the world.
The discovered Newport on Christmas vacation in 2005, and soon began looking for a business and home. They found both in the Green Gables, where they live with their mother (“We moved out there with the whole family, a real Italian thing to do,” Campola said). Their bed and breakfast operation features two quiet suites with Jacuzzi whirlpool tubs and ocean views.
They’ve maintained the bookstore, which features a variety of used paperbacks, intriguing hardcovers and children’s books, in the downstairs coffee shop. The shop sells gifts by local artists as well as Wicked Wix Candles, a line of highly-scented natural palm wax candles that Tremblay makes on site. They can be customized with corporate logos, holiday greetings or other messages.
They plan to build the Green Gables business back into a corner coffee house, a neighborhood hangout where friends gather to enjoy a coffee, have a conversation and, perhaps, get their fingers sticky.
“People are still unsure about the struffoli, so I’m always giving out samples. You get your little cup of espresso and you eat them with your hands,” said Rhonda. “Manga!”
The Green Gables Bed and Breakfast, Coffeehouse and Book Store is located at 156 SW Coast St. in Newport. Hours are 8 a.m. to late afternoon; this week, they’ll be closed only on Tuesday, May 29. For more information, call 541-574-0986 or head to www.greengablesbb.com.
TideTables is an advertiser-sponsored feature of the Oregon Coast Today. To include your restaurant in an upcoming edition, call Charles Helbig, 503-842-0404 or Dave Price, 541-921-2306. |
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