Po’ Boys add to the coast’s rich cuisine,
at the Fish Peddler in Bay City
Story & photos by Niki Price • Oregon Coast Today
The Pacific Seafood operation in Bay City is all about oysters. Built on a pier in the middle of Tillamook Bay, this facility produces Pacific oysters by the millions and sends them to seafood lovers all over the globe. There are bleached white oyster shells lining the entrance, bags full of empty shells waiting on the dock and buckets full of plump, fresh oysters coming in from the mudflats. Most weekdays, you can watch the professional shuckers work the line, opening oysters the old-fashioned way: with a very sharp knife and a lot of finesse.
So, when Jeff Skeele was hired to update the menu at the facility’s restaurant earlier this year, he thought the answer was pretty clear: more oysters, in delicious new ways, that would satisfy the loyal and, perhaps, woo the neophyte. Oregonians may take Tillamook Bay oysters for granted, but outside our borders they are a delicacy. Why not give them their due?
“This is primarily an oyster processing plant, but there wasn’t much of an emphasis on the oysters in the restaurant. I thought that was a disservice to a great property,” said Skeele, a lifetime restaurateur who until last year was a senior vice president at McCormick & Schmick’s. “So we brought in a number of dishes that celebrate the legacy of the property. The menu has been pared down, really focused on local seafood with a classic fish house kind of approach. We wanted the kind of comfort food that goes with simple fish houses on the coast.”
The new Bay City menu, which was developed by Skeele with assistance from the Seafood Steward consulting team of Chef Gary Puetz and his son, Matthew Puetz, was launched in June. Around the same time, the restaurant became known as The Fish Peddler, a name which it will share with the other Pacific Seafood restaurant on the central coast, the Fish Peddler in Newport.
Now, the Fish Peddler in Bay City is positively swimming in oysters – all harvested and shucked daily, right next door. Here you’ll find oysters fried and baked, in savory stew and interesting sandwiches, with fries or just on the half shell. First-timers are encouraged to start with the new selection of Bay City Baked Oysters, each variety named for a river that flows into Tillamook Bay.
at the Fish Peddler in Bay City
Story & photos by Niki Price • Oregon Coast Today
The Pacific Seafood operation in Bay City is all about oysters. Built on a pier in the middle of Tillamook Bay, this facility produces Pacific oysters by the millions and sends them to seafood lovers all over the globe. There are bleached white oyster shells lining the entrance, bags full of empty shells waiting on the dock and buckets full of plump, fresh oysters coming in from the mudflats. Most weekdays, you can watch the professional shuckers work the line, opening oysters the old-fashioned way: with a very sharp knife and a lot of finesse.
So, when Jeff Skeele was hired to update the menu at the facility’s restaurant earlier this year, he thought the answer was pretty clear: more oysters, in delicious new ways, that would satisfy the loyal and, perhaps, woo the neophyte. Oregonians may take Tillamook Bay oysters for granted, but outside our borders they are a delicacy. Why not give them their due?
“This is primarily an oyster processing plant, but there wasn’t much of an emphasis on the oysters in the restaurant. I thought that was a disservice to a great property,” said Skeele, a lifetime restaurateur who until last year was a senior vice president at McCormick & Schmick’s. “So we brought in a number of dishes that celebrate the legacy of the property. The menu has been pared down, really focused on local seafood with a classic fish house kind of approach. We wanted the kind of comfort food that goes with simple fish houses on the coast.”
The new Bay City menu, which was developed by Skeele with assistance from the Seafood Steward consulting team of Chef Gary Puetz and his son, Matthew Puetz, was launched in June. Around the same time, the restaurant became known as The Fish Peddler, a name which it will share with the other Pacific Seafood restaurant on the central coast, the Fish Peddler in Newport.
Now, the Fish Peddler in Bay City is positively swimming in oysters – all harvested and shucked daily, right next door. Here you’ll find oysters fried and baked, in savory stew and interesting sandwiches, with fries or just on the half shell. First-timers are encouraged to start with the new selection of Bay City Baked Oysters, each variety named for a river that flows into Tillamook Bay.
Oysters Wilson are sweetened with bleu cheese, the Trask is served with herbed butter, the Miami has a little barbecue sauce. Oysters Tillamook are graced with crisply-fried bacon, finely diced red onion and shredded Tillamook sharp cheddar. Each one is made in a cleaned and disinfected oyster shell, which is filled with a fresh oyster and the chosen ingredients, and then briefly baked. You can get a plate of six, all the same or mix-and-match, for $10.95.
“This is a fun, safe, tasty way to serve oysters – perfect for anyone who doesn’t think they like oysters,” said Chef Gary Puetz. “The Kilchis is probably the most popular. It’s got basil pesto, parmesan cheese and a kiss of hot sauce, and gosh, it’s good. The hot sauce goes well with the briny, almost cucumber/celery finish of an oyster. And the broiler creates a crunchy texture on the top while the inside stays juicy.” “You don’t have to eat everything raw and on the half shell. With a baked oyster, you can get neophytes to really love them. We’re approaching a broader demographic, we think,” Skeele said. Another addition is the Oyster Po’ Boy, the Gulf Coast favorite made with fried oysters, crunchy cabbage slaw and a spicy sauce, served inside a fresh toasted hoagie roll. Served with fries, it’s $8. The Skeele-Puetz development team has also been working on the Newport Fish Peddler menu, to concentrate on that plant’s main product: Oregon Bay Shrimp. The two restaurants will share a recipe for clam chowder, and will highlight one another’s specialties. Chef Gary Puetz recommends the Baked Shrimp on the Half Shell. “We take half an oyster shell, the concave half, and stuff it with fresh Oregon Bay Shrimp meat, Tillamook Cheddar and fried bacon, and we bake it,” he said. “It really and truly is good.” The Bay City crew is also serving a Shrimp Po’ Boy, Dungeness Crab and Bay Shrimp Cakes, and a Dungeness Crab and Bay Shrimp Louie Salad. Using ingredients that come from just down the coast, or right around the corner, fits in with Pacific Seafood’s emphasis on sustainability, said Bay City plant and restaurant manager Whitey Forsman. “We’re not just using Oregon oysters and shrimp, and locally caught fish whenever we can. We’re using Tillamook cheddar and a pepper brie from Blue Heron French Cheese Company, all made right here in Tillamook County,” Forsman said. “The beef is coming from Tillamook Meats, and our breads are made at Garibaldi Bakery. We’re serving the best that our coast has to offer.” Forsman was referring to the sandwich menu, which in addition to the po’ boys offers three hamburgers: the plain Peddler Burger, the Tillamook Bacon Cheese Burger and the Blue Heron Peppered Brie & Bacon Burger (with fries they are $6, $7.50 and $7.75, respectively, and you can substitute fries for a side salad or a cup of soup for $1.50). Like just about everything else on the menu, the burger prices are lower than they were four months ago. That’s another part of the redesign, inspired by comment cards and customer surveys. “In addition to refocusing on oysters, our next move was to drop the prices significantly. In these times, we’re trying to appeal to a broader base, and to serve more people than ever before,” Skeele said. Like the name says, the Fish Peddler will continue to sell Tillamook Bay oysters, both in the shell and shucked by the pint, as well as Oregon Bay Shrimp, local Dungeness crab and fresh and frozen seafood from throughout the Pacific Seafood company. The outdoor seafood market, which sells fresh, whole fish based on availability, will be open Saturdays and Sundays through Labor Day weekend. Once the Albacore Tuna starts flowing in, sometime in the next two weeks, the outdoor market will be a busy place, Forsman said. The Bay City redesign is reaching out to those customers, too. Skeele created a new line of Fish Peddler sauces and marinades, now available at the counter. “Lastly, I felt like we needed to make the idea of taking fish home an easy and fun process,” Skeele said. “A lot of people love fish, but they don’t know how to cook fish, so we put together a series of sauces that we sell on the fish counter. We’re also handing out information on the fish we sell. What to do with it, how to coat it or marinate it, and how to cook it.” Pacific Seafood is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1941 by Frank M. Dulcich and his son, Dominic, as a seafood market on Powell Street, in Portland. It’s still a family-run business, with Dominic’s son Frank Dulcich overseeing 30 processing and distribution operations, from Alaska to Texas. “Most of our business doesn’t touch customers directly, because we so often work with wholesale customers or in fish markets. Through our restaurants, we can help people understand what we do, to help them have a good experience,” Forsman said. “It’s about touching people, through Pacific Seafood.” The Fish Peddler restaurant serves lunch and dinner, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. You can watch the shuckers at work from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. most weekdays. The outdoor fish market will be open at 8 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Labor Day weekend. Tide Tables is an advertiser-sponsored feature of the TODAY profiling some of our favorite Oregon Coast dining destinations. To find out if your restaurant can be featured in a future edition, email Dave Price, publisher. |    |
