LINCOLN CITY, Ore. — Dory Cove Restaurant is known to its friends as Road’s End Dory Cove because it is at the end of Logan Road. But the overly descriptive name suggests more than that mere geographical fact. Dory Cove FEELS like the end of the road — just the kind of home-cooking cafe a weary driver might hope to find in the wetlands west of Oregon’s seacoast highway.
It is an American classic, this little wood-shingle bunker with its fishnet decor, a really fun place to eat. Lincoln City locals come for baskets of fish and chips or giant-sized hamburgers, followed by splendorous wedges of pie. Travelers from all regions of the country have sung hosannas to us about Dory Cove’s broiled salmon steaks and its Oregon-style extra-thick clam chowder.
It is not the kind of restaurant that a fastidious gourmet will appreciate. The cuisine and ambiance are strictly for the road-food connoisseur. Waitresses are friendly, fast and gabby. Beverages are served in large Mason jars with handles.
Hamburgers are probably the most popular item on the menu. They are juicy, sloppy, satisfying hunks of beef, the kind you cannot get at a fast-food window. The head of the list is the mammoth Road’s End Burger — a half- pounder topped with Cheddar cheese and Canadian bacon on an onion bun. For meat-eaters who want to use utensils, the menu also lists steaks.
Seafood baskets are what we like to eat when we come to Dory Cove. This kitchen knows how to properly fry shellfish, so there is plenty of crunch and chew to the halo of golden batter that surrounds each oceanic nugget (shrimp, oysters, clam strips or scallops), but not so much that whatever is inside gets lost. You taste the seafood, and its marine smack is even accentuated by the heft of the crisp fried jacket all around it. Baskets are accompanied by another oily-good thing: garlic-Parmesan French bread.
Dory Cove pies, like everything else on the menu, are hearty fellas. Sever a bite-sized portion of cream pie from your wedge, and you will feel its gravity weighing on your fork; sour cream raisin is especially substantial — and tasty. Even chiffon pies are thick, sweet and goopy. Last time we drove up the Oregon coast, we were faced with a choice of pineapple cream, banana cream, chocolate peanut butter cream, nectarine chiffon, lemon meringue, lime, sour cream raisin, walnut and deep-dish apple pie served steaming hot.
There is something gluttonously satisfying about getting a whole deep-dish pie all for one’s self . . . and something quite cozy about a deep-dish pie for two, as in our Dory Cove-inspired recipe below. These measurements make enough pie for eight people, however you divide it: into four 2- to 3-cup ovenproof bowls, or into eight individual servings. If you make it in eighths, cut the baking time by 10 to 15 minutes. If you make it all in one big 2 1/2- quart casserole, add 10 to 15 minutes.
DEEP-DISH APPLE PIE
10 cups peeled, cored and sliced ( 1/2-inch-thick slices) apples (we like Granny Smiths best)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspooon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter
Enough dough for 2-crust pie
2 tablespoons cream (or milk)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll dough out on floured board, slightly thicker than ( inch.
In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice.
Mix sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour. Stir thoroughly into apples.
Pack apples into 4 ovenproof 2- to 3-cup bowls. Dot with butter, then drape with dough. Pinch and crimp rim firmly around edge. Cut 3 to 4 vents in dough. Brush with cream. Place in oven, with a rimmed cookie sheet on the shelf below to catch any dripping juices. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake 30 to 35 minutes more, until crust is a rich, golden brown. (Apples will “settle” below crust as pies bake. This is a good place to add ice cream or Cheddar cheese, through a break in the crust, just before serving.) Serve warm. Makes 4 pies, 8 portions.
Dory Cove, Logan Road, Lincoln City, Ore.; 1-503-994-5180.
