A few weeks ago we spent a weekend on the Oregon coast with our daughter, her husband and her in-laws. On Saturday we enjoyed two decidedly different restaurants, each providing great dining within its own niche.

Yolk occupies a unique building featuring fine craftsmanship on the main drag in tiny Manzanita, Oregon. Slices of agate and quartz are embedded in the walkway leading up to the front door, and inside, massive slabs of highly polished wood make up the bar and dining counters, open to the kitchen beyond.  Open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday to Monday, Yolk serves up breakfast all day, offering a selection of skillets  and scrambles  (served with sautéed potatoes or greens and a choice of homemade oat molasses toast or buttermilk biscuit — both delicious) as well as certain breakfast standbys like oatmeal, pancakes  and French toast. As our server handed us menus, she informed us that the chef had just pulled some raspberry-peach turnovers from the oven. We quickly agreed that we would share a couple between the six of us, which proved to be a brilliant decision. The pastry, flaky and light, cupped a wonderful blend of the fresh, sweet fruit, still warm from the oven. 

That evening, we journeyed about 20 minutes up coastal Highway 101 to the artsy community of Cannon Beach to enjoy an early birthday dinner for me at Newmans at 988. We’d dined there before and knew we were in for a fabulous meal featuring French/Italian cuisine from owner/chef John Newman. We shared a couple servings of the moist and flavorful crab cakes to start things off, along with a few varieties of the house-baked bread with olive oil.

One great option at Newmans is the prix fixe chef’s menu, but with so many temptations on the regular menu, each of us opted for those instead. A few ordered the fresh king salmon with risotto cakes,  Jenny choose the ravioli of the day (summer squash and four cheeses),   Harry chose the pork tenderloin roulade,  while I started with a light green salad with pears, walnuts and gorgonzola  and enjoyed a main course of medallions of beef.   We managed to save room for dessert, including housemade strawberry sorbet, a lovely créme brûlée and, for the birthday girl, a decadent piece of hazelnut chocolate torte. 

It proved to be a weekend of great dining at the beach, and also proved that there’s more to great eats at the beach than just seafood!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor