February Foray to Lincoln City, OR Nets New Favorites!

We've just returned home from a couple of days at Lincoln City.  We were so fortunate to be visiting during another splendid, spring-like weather pattern:  sunny and warm, t-shirt type weather.  We hadn’t been in this central beach community for quite some time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves rediscovering it. 

It was great fun to walk through our No. 1 favorite gallery in town, the Pacific Artists Alliance, and see the new works by local artists, including one in particular we admire a lot, Tim Power; his large copper salmon can be seen in one of the studio sets for OPB’s “Oregon Art Beat”.  Tim is such a fine individual with a wonderful life story.  His latest creations involve using a single strand of stainless steel wire to create fanciful creatures.  We’re particultarly fascinated with his 3’ high sculpture of a tuna fish performing karaoke that was constructed using a strand of wire which is about 2,000’ in length!  Magical! 

 

We were also glad to discover the North Lincoln County Historical Museum; what a find!  Kudos to Director Anne Hall and her volunteers for such a delightful experience.  I think that our favorite exhibit was memorabilia from the old Pixie Kitchen restaurant.  Do you remember this long-time Lincoln City institution?   It closed in 1985, but for many years was a "must stop" for lots of people visiting Lincoln City.   As you entered the eatery, you encountered fun house mirrors, picture box tables, a great gift shop, and of course, the pixie-filled grotto full of mechanical pixies. Maybe the food was generally good (although not remarkable), but that didn’t matter because everywhere there was something fun and festive!    Surely, the world is a sadder place without the Pixie Kitchen…in fact, maybe the demise of the Pixie Kitchen is a sign of how low our civilization has fallen! 

There were some very positive current encounters with the culinary scene in Lincoln City.  For dinner we visited Wildflower Grill on the northern boundary of town as well as Tidal Raves, which hugs the cliff a little south of town in nearby Depot Bay.  And, of course, for lunch we had to go back to J's Fish & Chips, ever our first choice for fish and chips on the Oregon coast (and maybe anywhere - see our 2012 review of this little treasure).

The Wildflower Grill is housed in a charming cottage that welcomes patrons with its plantings, peaceful setting and gracious staff.  We opted for dinner in the sunroom, although there was no sun outside, only a descending darkness that couldn't quite hide the forest and marsh that laid just beyond the windows.  A salad with homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing was a refreshing start to the feast.  My selection of Duck Breasts topped with a Marionberry Sauce and Steven's Seafood Platter were a tasty way to cap a fabulous day of touristing:  generous and well-prepared servings that brought out the true flavors of the ingredients.   We understand that the Wildflower Grill is famous for its breakfasts - if this dinner was any indication of their breakfast, we'll soon be sitting in their sunroom to order breakfast!

By the time that we arrived at Tidal Raves the next night, we'd been restauranting for several days, and I needed a lighter portion.  My Smoked Salmon Chowder accompanied by a House Salad with Almonds, Dried Cranberries and a White Balsamic Dressing were a great fresh-tasting alternative to usual fare.  Steven couldn't resist the Fried Razor Clams (only rarely can he pass them up! with a panko coating and pronounced them:  perfect!  So was the view.  In spite of the hour and the darkness outside, our window table offered a memorable view of the pounding surf just below the busy eatery.  Truthfully, Tidal Raves was another terrific find on the mid-coast. 

Oh, and let's not forget the culinary experience at our Lincoln City hotel, the Shearwater Inn.  Here continental breakfast trays are delivered to the guest rooms.  Now, isn't that a lot nicer idea than fighting your way into the usual breakfast room at a hotel and hoping that there will be a clean table for you, let alone a seat!  Our trays held an artifully arranged assortment of our choice, including juice, hot chocolate, fruit cups, hard boiled egg, yogurt, granola with berries, muffin and croissant with butter and jam, and were delivered promptly at our chosen time period by a cheerful hotel employee.  What an extremely pleasant way to start the day! 

 

Wildflower Grill

4250 North Highway 101

Lincoln City, OR 97367

541.994.9663

 

Tidal Raves

279 US 101

Depot Bay, OR 97341

541.765-2995 

 

J's Fish & Chips

1800 SE Highway 101

Lincoln City, OR 97367

541.994.4445