Overlooking Willapa Bay in Nahcotta, Washington

Dedication to Culinary Art...

All The Ark ingredients are wonderfully fresh. Sturgeon are pulled from local waters, and oysters are nipped from their beds on Willapa Bay. Hazelnuts, blueberries and cranberries come direct from local farms. The Ark has created a community of purveyors who grow and catch to the Ark's impeccable standard.

For more than two decades, the restaurant has drawn a steady national clientele to enjoy patently Northwest ingredients served with exquisite style. Each serving is uniquely prepared, and the crew has found a way to translate their skills from, as they say, "their sense to yours."

The former owners reveal their secrets:

"Obviously, plants, animals - all living things on this planet use food. Some even show preferences, choosing some foods over others. But only humans combine and prepare their foods to attract and satisfy their aesthetic sense; only humans have made an art of their food. We want you to celebrate with us exuberantly and lovingly."

"We insist  on the finest fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood. It is that concern for  quality and the love we have for the Pacific Northwest that leads us to use, primarily,  local products. Where else, outside our locale, can you find Willapa Bay Oysters, Oregon  Blue Cheese, Oregon strawberries, Washington wild blackberries, Columbia River salmon and  sturgeon? We have them all; we serve them fresh. And, as you enjoy them we want you to look out our windows and over the bay to see the sources of our inspiration."

"We let the flavors, the textures, lead us. Just as a  painter chooses the colors, shapes and lines to appeal to his or her own eye and the eye  of the beholder - just as the composer arranges notes and rhythms and instruments to  please musicians and listeners - with these as with any kind of artists', we think of  our raw material as the local food we have access to. Then, we let those flavors, aromas  and colors speak to us. We express ourselves with our recipes; we tell you who we are. We  are no fans of slavishly followed recipes. We experiment; we want you to do the  same."

Enjoy an Ark Restaurant recipe...