Oshen’s makes a splash
at the Marketplace at Salishan
By Eliot Sekuler
For the TODAY
The flourishes and personal touches may be the first things to grab your attention on a visit to Oshen’s, the newly expanded, casual dining restaurant at the Marketplace at Salishan.
On a recent evening, after being warmly greeted and seated, diners were quickly approached by a wine steward who offered a complimentary tasting, a practice that’s among the restaurant’s standard features. It’s a great way to set a welcoming tone.
“Our philosophy is to deliver really good food and a really good experience at an affordable price,” said Jerome Black, one of the restaurant's founding partners.
Locals and visitors who may have sampled the restaurant when it first opened in 2023 will find a thoroughly overhauled menu and more competitive prices. Black concedes that the restaurant has searched for an identity and is still evolving following the expansion, which doubled the establishment's footprint and created room for 90 diners and two full bars. The seating is amply spaced: diners will not be knocking knees with neighboring tables. The soft-yellow, incandescent lighting is tastefully provided by basket-style pendants. The dark gray of the walls, decorated with artist Duncan Berry’s elegant and distinctive fish prints, is relaxing, and the noise level, aided by the restaurant's high ceilings, is civilized. Diners can hear themselves think and talk as they enjoy their meals.
At the end of the day, the restaurant’s embellishments, agreeable as they may be, take a back seat to the food, and Oshen’s, originally called Oshen’s Chophouse, does not disappoint.
“We’re moving away from the `chophouse’ concept,” Black said. “Our customers tell us that we have the best steaks in the Northwest, but we’re more than that: we have great pastas, seafood and Italian influences.”
While carnivores will be drawn to the menu’s several steak dishes, including a massive, signature “tomahawk” ribeye and a flat-iron steak served with frites and a green, pungent South American chimichurri sauce, vegetarians will enjoy the linguini primavera and pescatarians will find a range of choices, including pan-seared rockfish and a halibut fish and chips. The “Prawns Giardino” features succulent Patagonian prawns and perfectly cooked vegetables on a bed of bell-shaped “torchio” pasta imported from Abruzzo, Italy.
The menu’s exotic pasta offerings are the work of Oshen’s new executive chef, Paul Grossi, who moved from Port Orford, where he served in a similar capacity at the highly regarded restaurant, Redfish. Of Italian extraction, Grossi was classically trained in French cooking and brings both those influences to Oshen’s Pacific Northwest-style cuisine.
“We want to keep the food as simple and straightforward as possible,” he said. “We have so much great food available from the oceans and farms around here that you really don’t need to fiddle around with it too much. I grew up hunting and fishing and I’ve spent a lot of years here on the coast. That’s influenced my perspective on how I want to cook and eat my food: fresh and home-style with an upscale presentation. Everything on this menu is something I would cook for myself at home.”
Grossi‘s pomodoro sauce, which tops both the linguini and prawn dishes, is a signature item of his kitchen.
“My ‘nonna’ (grandmother) showed me how to cook that sauce many years ago when we had a glut of tomatoes and basil. It’s simple, it makes the ingredients stand out, and it’s delicious.”
The family origins of his signature sauce is befitting for a restaurant that is, at its heart, a family operation. Black’s wife Gitl and their son and daughter play an active role in the front-of-house operation, along with partners, Cherrie and Sam Scheinberg, a married couple who are a frequent presence. The atmosphere they generate is casual, comfortable and welcoming.
Oshen’s wine list stays true to the restaurant’s local focus, stocked almost exclusively with Pacific Northwest labels, most available by the glass. House wines include the steak-friendly Secret Squirrel red blend and the NXNW cabernet sauvignon, both from the Columbia Valley, and the Willamette Valley’s Big Fire pinot gris. The cocktail menu features a handful of “signature twists,” including “smoked” old fashioneds, peach margaritas and rosemary gin and tonics, which arrive at the table in “smoking boxes” to add another layer of flavor.
“Now that we’ve brought Paul in, we’ve refined our menu to fit with what our customers want,” Black said. “We originally had an `a la carte’ concept that made us appear to be expensive, so people thought of us as a restaurant for special occasions. We’ve changed that concept to make ourselves more affordable and now, for what we provide in our food and in the experience, we’re unmatched. We want people to think of us as a regular stop for casual dining.”
Oshen’s is located in the Marketplace at Salishan, 7755 N Hwy. 101 in Gleneden Beach, and is open from from 3 to 8 pm Thursday, Sunday and Monday, and from 3 to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday. For more information, go to oshenschophouse.com or call 764-9026.