14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Pamper your palate with a fresh choice
Review and photos by
MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
I
I was beat. My feet hurt. My
brain was fried. I’d been working too
much and I needed a break. I needed
to be treated, taken care of. To un-
wind. So I got in the car and I drove
south, over the cliffs of Neahkahnie
Mountain to Wheeler where I found
the Rising Star Cafe.
I knew of the Rising Star, of its
fi ne reputation, that the hole-in-the-
wall, funky building and its peeling
blue paint was not representative of
the fi ne food inside. I did not know,
however, that reservations are almost
wholly required. When I arrived
on a Wednesday evening around
6:45 p.m. I was nearly turned away
despite the restaurant being half-full.
A little persistence got me a table.
My luck continued as I was carrying
cash. I rarely do, and Rising Star
doesn’t take cards. (Checks are OK.)
The dining room is tiny — rough-
ly the size of an apartment bedroom.
Space-saving wooden benches run
lengthwise. The room is casually
dressed, with natural light and pastel
style evocative of a breakfast nook.
There’s space enough for maybe 10
or 12 diners to fi t comfortably. On
this evening they’re mostly couples,
sitting closely. Sounds and smells
drift in from the adjacent kitchen,
over big band jazz on the stereo.
The menu bears the day’s date.
It is short and in constant fl ux; there
are but a handful of main course op-
tions, no appetizers nor side dishes.
Each selection comes with a salad.
Besides a pasta or two, a cioppino
and a $20 burger, they are as such:
an animal protein with a medley of
vegetables. Despite there being only
10 or so options, it’s quite diffi cult to
decide. Everything looks amazing.
Top quality ingredients and classic
techniques.
Seafood, the servers say, is chef
Ron’s specialty. It comes from
Garibaldi. (The produce, from
Tillamook, and the beef from Col-
orado, from a farm where the chef
apparently once worked.) With that
The Oregon Red Rockfi sh & Shrimp
Francaise featured potatoes, a med-
ley of vegetables, rockfi sh, shrimp,
and citrus beurre blanc.
RISING STAR CAFE
Rating:
92 Rorvik St., Wheeler
503-368-3990
HOURS: 5 to 8 p.m. Wednes-
day to Saturday, and 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Sunday.
PRICE: $$$ – With drinks,
couples will spend $100
(cash/check only)
SERVICE: Particular — reser-
vations required — but a cut
above the rest
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN OP-
TIONS: Few choices, but high
quality
DRINKS: Cocktails, wine,
beer, tea
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Above: Bolognese fettuccine is just once of many choices on Thursdays —
pasta night — at Rising Star Cafe in Wheeler.
Left: The Key Lime Tart was topped with a tower of fresh whipped cream.
suggestion I bypassed the Canary
Island Roasted Lamb Stew (which
would be gone from the menu the
next week) in favor of the Oregon
Red Rockfi sh & Shrimp Francaise
($29), which the menu described as
an “Italian interpretation of a French
concept using Northwest ingredi-
ents.”
First came the salad, on a clear
glass plate. Dusted with Parmesan
and tossed ever so slightly in a
vinaigrette, the lightly spicy greens
and carrot spears stood fi rmly on
their own, fresh as could be, telling
of the soil. The portion was slight,
meant to peacefully rouse digestion,
to warm up.
Carefully arranged, dotted
with fl ower petals and curly-cued
scallions, the main course was both
abundant and labored over. Stacked
like a mountain upon boulders of
exquisitely seasoned, perfectly
crusted, soft home-fried potatoes and
surrounded with a smorgasbord of
veggies — from green beans, toma-
toes, mushrooms, bell pepper, carrot,
zucchini, kale and more — were two
large cuts of rockfi sh, bay shrimp
and citrus beurre blanc. The fi sh’s
breading was light, not crisp, and
used seemingly to hold it together.
All together, under so much of the
beurre blanc, the meal was rather
acidic. The fi sh was buttery enough
to meet, withstand and balance it.
The shrimp, not so much. I couldn’t
fi nish — it was a good feeling, that a
dainty presentation didn’t preclude a
wallop of food.
As one diner mentioned to his
companion after fi nishing a similar
plate: “I’m stuffed with the best
stuff,” he exhaled. “To be full when
it’s so healthy, that’s where to be.”
Unlike him I saved room for des-
sert, an exquisite Key Lime Tart ($6)
topped with a leaning tower of fresh
whipped cream, sprinkled with dried
blueberries over a graham cracker
crust. Against its cooling, smooth
brightness I enjoyed a warming perk
from the vast menu of green teas.
I was tempted, as many were, to
poke my head into the kitchen, or to
send word via the server, to thank
the chef. Indeed, the experience had
relaxed me, made me recognize the
fruits of my labor.
I returned a few weeks later and
found a similar menu, albeit with a
few changes here and there. I was
curious about the burger — could it
justify the $20 price tag? But I was
taken in by Pork Tenderloin Casalin-
ga ($26), its divine crust more than a
textural addition, its herbs tantalizing
and mysterious. It was tremendously
Italian. Save for creamy, whipped
mashed potatoes replacing the home
fries of the Rockfi sh and nearly a
head of roasted garlic, the accom-
paniments were quite similar. I
dreamed about sides that were more
reactive, conversational with the
main courses. The homogenization
is another of Rising Star’s idiosyn-
crasies. It is a restaurant that is both
casual and particular.
This all changes on Thursdays —
pasta nights. There, without reserva-
tions, one can get a quick plate for
a relatively low price ($12.50). Pick
your noodle — linguini, penne or
fettuccine — and your sauce, in this
case pesto, pomarola, bolognaise or
lamb stroganoff. I tried the bolo-
gnaise and lamb and was comforted
Poor
Below average
Good
Excellent
Best in region
and satiated by both. Each invoked
excellent home cooking. The bolo-
gnaise was straightforward, elemen-
tal, simplifi ed. The stroganoff, with
gobs of sour cream, featured big
chunks of succulent lamb. It was
almost like a different restaurant.
It’s the other nights of Rising
Star’s short week that speak to the
restaurant’s heart, though — that ca-
sual, particular heart. Give yourself
over to chef Ron and his exacting
specifi cations and you can indeed
leave feeling a little more pampered
and personally cared for than most
restaurants in the area. Indeed, with
the Rising Star’s quaint size, it’s
apparent chef Ron puts himself into
every single dish.
One group, after dinner, dessert
and wine, were lingering. Part-time
residents from Manzanita, they were
discussing the seminal New Yorker
piece about a tsunami landing on the
North Coast. They did so with blasé
cheer — as if it wouldn’t matter at all
if everything were washed away. In-
deed, a good meal can do that for you.