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At the Green Gables Bed & Breakfast & Bakery in Newport...
Dinner is easy as pie
By Niki Price
Reprinted with permission from OREGON COAST TODAY (www.oregoncoasttoday.com)
Published Aug. 31, 2007
 The best potpie moment is when the spoon breaks through the flaky crust, and the aromatic steam first escapes. The smell of chicken breast chunks, cooked in a cream sauce with seasonal vegetables, cradled in a homemade pie crust, can be overwhelming. Will you be able to wait until the filling has cooled before you take your first bite?
Sisters Rhonda Campola and Yolanda Tremblay sure hope so, because they don’t want you to burn your mouth before you can truly enjoy their homemade potpies. They make them nearly every day at their Green Gables Bed & Breakfast café, in the Nye Beach neighborhood in Newport. These one-dish meals can be baked at home, in your kitchen or rental kitchenette, or in the Green Gables bakery oven.
“Our chicken potpie is really popular, but the beef burgundy is good, too. It’s beef sirloin in a brown stew sauce with peas and carrots. From top to bottom, everything is homemade right here,” said Campola. “It’s a 9-inch pie with more than two cups of filling, and we’re never skimpy on the meat. It makes a hearty meal for one, or for two light eaters, or with a salad.”
The crusty sensation is just one of the hearty takeout items offered at the Green Gables. Since they bought the restaurant and B & B in 2006, their cases have been filled with Italian pastries as well as fresh scones, muffins, cookies and cheesecakes. But they’ve also won coastal hearts with a homemade red sauce available by the quart and used in traditional Italian-American lasagna.
It’s the kind of food that Campola and Tremblay grew up with, at home in New York State, and they’re picky about the ingredients. Use the wrong olive oil, wine or cured meat, the sisters believe, and it just won’t taste the same. They make meatballs, meatball subs, square-cut pizza on a freshly-made crust and two kinds of lasagna: meatless, with a blend of five cheeses, and regular, with sausage and pepperoni.
“Our homemade red sauce is what makes that special. It’s made with all fresh ingredients and our secret recipe,” Campola said.
The 9-inch potpies ($7.50 for chicken, $9 for beef) and lasagna ($6.25 cheese, $6.75 meat) have been big hits with visitors who need an easy, hearty meal. The same goes for the quiche, which is also served to the guests staying in the two ocean-view Jacuzzi suites upstairs. The downstairs bakery usually has several varieties, from broccoli and cheddar to veggie, leek and cheese, available by the slice ($5.25) or by the pie.
But if you’re dealing with a food allergy or other dietary restriction, don’t despair. Since their mother was diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity a few years ago, Campola and Tremblay have become adept at adapting recipes with specialty flours. Nearly everything on the menu, including the lasagna and potpies, can be made wheat or gluten-free, for a small extra charge and a little notice. They always have three kinds of gluten-free muffins (lemon poppyseed, orange-cranberry nut and banana walnut raisin) in the freezer, at the ready.
“We’ve put a lot of work into these special recipes, because it really has to taste right,” Campola said.
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 put the “coffee” in “coffeehouse” by serving a custom blend by local roasters, Cape Foulweather Coffee, in Lincoln City. And there’s entertainment, too. On Saturday mornings, locals drop by for soft baked biscotti, cookies or cannoli, as well as a treat for the ears: Kurt Smith , a local teacher who plays guitar and sings every Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m.
Campola has been keeping busy making desserts, including grown-up birthday cakes like carrot raisin, chocolate chip tortes, cookie and pastry trays, and crowd-pleasing cheesecakes.
“My orange chocolate cheesecake has just been flying off the shelf. It’s a traditional Italian cheesecake swirled with orange chocolate, Ghirardelli chocolate of course, with a chocolate cookie crumb crust. It’s very decadent,” she said.
Manga! Or, dig in!
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. For more information, call 541-574-0986 or head to greengablesbb.com
TideTables is an advertiser-sponsored feature of the Oregon Coast Today. To include your restaurant in an upcoming edition, call 541-921-2306. |
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