Nell Thorn’s cuisine well worth drive to La Conner

Published 9:35 pm Thursday, February 12, 2009

LA CONNER — Life in a tourist town has at least one advantage: You probably can count on some good places to dine.

That’s the case with this village, popular with day-trippers who head north for the tulips, farmland snow geese and shopping on La Conner’s quaint main street. The town boasts several restaurants of some distinction; one of them is especially esteemed by the locals: Nell Thorn.

Perched on a hillside one block east of La Conner’s main street and the Swinomish Channel, Nell Thorn has been serving creative, delicious dinners and lunches for close to a decade. Owners Casey and Susan Schanen make everything in-house, including bread and desserts and even condiments, with an emphasis on organic and locally grown ingredients.

My wife and I have been dining at Nell Thorn for years. It’s always been good — and sometimes it’s great. You can easily spend more than $100 for two, but you can also eat well for about $20 per person, including a glass of wine.

Nell Thorn offers two distinct dining environments. Downstairs is a cozy, wood-trimmed pub, a perfect shelter from the storm. It’s popular with regular customers. Try to get a seat in the pub’s main room, where there are a couple of charming inglenooks.

The dining room upstairs is romantic and inviting. Service is consistently excellent in the dining room. The pub can get slammed when the locals stream in for plates of Nell Thorn’s signature French fries (more on those later). Reservations are recommended for the dining room; they’re not accepted for the pub.

Once seated, you’ll want to start with an appetizer, such as winter squash potstickers ($9), accompanied by a raspberry ­Sichuan dipping sauce, or prawns piccata ($12), sauteed in garlic and lemon and presented on a bed of spinach and capers.

Then it’s on to one of Nell Thorn’s most beloved offerings, at least by us, an endive salad ($12.95) in a champagne vinaigrette with a seasonal fruit garnish — it was matchsticks of apple on our recent visit — and, best of all, a ball of warm chevre crusted with candied hazelnuts. It’s outrageously good, and paired with some of the complimentary bread and olive oil with balsamic vinegar, would make an excellent light, inexpensive supper.

Salads with grilled salmon and grilled steak also make fine meals. Both cost $15.95.

If you’re on a budget, try the Nell burger ($11.95), a half-pound of grilled chuck on a house-made bun and accompanied by your choice of soup, salad or the most addictive fries you’ll ever eat. They’re deep-fried in peanut oil and dusted with herbs. Salting them won’t occur to you.

Entree preparations by chef Casey Schanen are interesting and delicious, and make good use of the best available meats, fish and produce.

The entree menu combines menu standbys, such as braised lamb shank ($19.95) and Sichuan duck ($23.95). You might also encounter, as we recently did, a light, fresh dish of seared sea scallops ($24), paired with stewed white beans, arugula and lemon butter.

There are always a couple of steak offerings — you can order the crack-like fries as a side — and several pasta dishes (they make their pasta in-house). And you can choose from several seafood dishes.

Desserts are all made in-house by Susan Schanen. Favorites include a Skagit mud brownie and a panna cotta served with a fruit sorbet, also homemade. During our latest visit we split a coconut rice pudding with a passion fruit gelatin ($6).

The locals keep returning to Nell Thorn. Folks from out of town will want to come back, too.

Mark Carlson: 425-339-3457, mcarlson@heraldnet.com.