New tastes in Netarts
[Read an updated story, from July 2007]
Spring has sprung
at the Schooner,
after a fresh renovation
By NIKI PRICE
Oregon Coast Today
See the PDF version, as printed in the paper.
The draining low tides are perfect for clamming, the skies are beginning to deliver sunsets and the wildflowers are beginning to pop. It’s spring on Netarts Bay, the time when a young chef’s thoughts turn to … filet mignon, Dungeness crab omelettes and grilled flat bread sandwiches.
In the next few weeks, Tom Flood Jr. and his crew at The Schooner Restaurant will be unveiling the Netarts Bay restaurant’s new menu, full of fresh tastes and local specialties. Just three items are coming off the old menu, which has been in place for a year, and several new entrees are being added for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The filet mignon, for example, is a romantic special that stuck around past Feb. 14.
“We made this filet mignon for Valentine’s Day, and it turned out really well,” Flood said. “If you wrap a piece of bacon around a filet mignon and put it in the pizza oven, it turns out pretty phenomenal.”
Patrons from Netarts and Tillamook, as well as those who travel the Three Capes Scenic Route on holiday, will find other surprises. Among them are oven-roasted sandwiches, all made in the wood-fired Earthstone oven.
“I think we’re going to add the Smoked Salmon Broiler, which is a combination of house smoked salmon, bleu cheese, red peppers and vegetables, which we warm up in the pizza oven. It kind of smoothes out and crusts up a little bit,” Flood said. “We’re also thinking about a fried oyster sandwich on flatbread, with bleu cheese coleslaw and house-made barbecue sauce.”
Flood’s referring to a grilled flatbread, which is pizza dough that is cooked on the grill to order. The result is a crispy crust with a tender and flavorful exterior, which also lends itself to breakfast sandwiches. They plan to serve one of these sandwiches, a “kitchen sink” to go with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and gravy (made with freshly ground sausage, of course).
The cuisine at The Schooner is a collaboration between Flood, who with two partners has owned the Netarts landmark since September 2005, and his chefs, the twin brothers Jerald and Joe Ellison. All three brought their food-loving sensibilities from other locations — Flood from Portland, the Ellisons from Idaho — and applied them to the bounty of the bay and the Oregon countryside.
“They’re young enough that they’re in their growth period, and that’s good for me. And, they’ve really bought into the philosophy of fresh and local,” Flood said. “We like to take risks with what we serve here, and I know that once people try it, they’ll be hooked. I’d rather take a risk, to get someone to try something new, and we’ll keep striving to do new things.”
The menu bending starts at breakfast, which is served starting at 7 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Schooner presents both a Classic Eggs Benedict ($9, with Canadian bacon smoked in the wood-fired oven and a freshly-prepared, house-made Hollandaise sauce), and a Smoked Salmon Benedict ($11, with spinach and smoked salmon over poached eggs and the same dreamy Hollandaise). Both are made with a French baguette, rather than an English muffin.
“On the new menu, we’re going to be adding a Crab Eggs Benedict, which I’m real excited about,” Flood said. “It won’t be using a Hollandaise sauce, though. It will be a poached egg and muffin, topped with a Dungeness crab cream sauce. I’ve been making it for years, and I think it’s really top notch.”
The most popular omelette, Flood said, is the Netarts ($10). It’s a light and airy combination of Dungeness crab and seasonal vegetables in a cheese medley, topped with oven-roasted tomatoes and served with hashbrowns or O’Brien potatoes, and toast. The Downstairs Omelette ($8.50) includes the house-smoked Canadian bacon and Portobello mushrooms, while the Tree Hugger ($9) rolls fresh vegetables with Tillamook cheese.
The lunch appetizer menu is alluring, with steamer clams, fresh-shucked oysters and jalapeno poppers, as well as specialties of the house like Grilled Prawns ($10), served with a spicy garlic cream sauce. Mid-day guests also like to nibble on Bruschetta, grilled bread with a fresh Roma tomato tapenade ($6), or splurge on the General’s Wings, one pound of jump chicken wings, fried crispy hot and tossed in made-to-order General Tsao’s sauce ($8.50, in mild, medium or dragon’s breath).
The Schooner also makes lunch sandwiches, from burgers like The Babe ($9 for a half-pounder with bleu cheese and bacon sauce) to the Matador ($9, with roasted red pepper, onion, Monterey Jack cheese and Matador sauce). Hippies are welcome to enjoy a sandwich named in their honor — ciabatta bread with pesto, fresh mozzarella and stacked with mesquite roasted vegetables, toasted in the oven — for the same price. All are served with a choice of fries, side salad or chowder.
This is all a warm-up for dinner, naturally, with a selection of pastas, beef and seafood with a Northwest sensibility. Despite volatile prices for Dungeness crab and halibut, Flood intends to keep them on the menu along with new ravioli, rockfish and grilled oyster offerings. Patrons are still fired up about the pizza, made in the Earthstone Oven and prepared fresh with Old World combinations like Margherita (smoked roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil, and olive oil) and Mountain Mushroom (white sauce, mushrooms and Fontina cheese). Crunchy and delicious with just a hint of sea salt, a 9-inch pie starts at $10, and make-your-own combos are always available.
The Schooner crew is fired up, too, having just enjoyed a 20-day vacation during a maintenance closure of the restaurant. Flood refinished the floors in the bar and kitchen, installed Oregon Lottery video poker machines and recharged his culinary batteries for the season ahead. They’ll be busy before you know it, as spring turns to the bustling summer on the bay, and Flood and his staff will wish they had more tables and even more space on the oyster grill.
It won’t be long, in other words, until the busy summertime, when a young chef’s thoughts turn to…. quiet winter months.
The Schooner Restaurant, just off the Three Capes Scenic Route four miles southwest of Tillamook, is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The bar is open from 7 a.m. to close on Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to close Monday through Friday. Reach the Schooner at 503-815-9900.
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