Stephanie Inn sits on the Pacific Ocean coast overlooking Haystack Rock. The 3 floor inn has a restaurant on the second floor which I’ve reported on before. You can see those write ups by clicking 2025, 2025, 2024, 2024, and 2022. We were fortunate to go back again this year and get to stay in the Oceanfront “Janice Kay” room, which we decided last trip was our favorite at the inn but must be booked well in advance. It’s well positioned, just a few feet from the dining room where Chef Aaron Bedard remains Executive Chef. The nights he was in the kitchen were the better of the four, which will be reported in 2 separate posts. The format is a 5 course menu which also includes an amuse bouche and a choice of main entree. I saw some adaptations, but those again must be made in advance. You can reserve a table at the 5:30 time Sunday – Thursday with an additional 8:00 seating on Friday and Saturday, whether you are staying there or somewhere else. It’s lovely to stay there as that also includes breakfast the next morning and a wine tasting with snacks every afternoon. The dining room overlooks the mountain view side of the building which isn’t as fun as the ocean but also then doesn’t get the glare of the afternoon sun. It’s get a high recommendation from me, enough so that we’ve already booked our 2027 stay!
Set-up
Food
August 16, 2026
The Amuse Bouche was a salmon tartar with micro greens from their farm, Public Coast Farm. The salmon was blended with lots of herbs which were an equal match with the salmon flavor. It was a silky bite of fun.
Bread and butter is a soft loaf made in house with a whipped butter topped with course salt. It comes sliced and warm and they come around during service to offer you more if you want. While the bread has no crispiness on the crust, it does have a dense soft interior which is tasty. This comes every night so I won’t repeat on the next meal.
Kingfisher Farm Spinach Salad also contained maple glazed pancetta, Tillamook smoked cheddar cheese, pickled onion, candied pecans, fresh apple and was dressed with whole grain mustard vinaigrette. The pancetta cubes were a standout for flavor and the apples nicely sweet. My main objection was that the dressing was mostly around the edges of the bowl rather than having been mixed in with the ingredients. It was attractive but less functional, though easily remedied with some tossing.
Chantrelle Mushroom Tartine was a toasted bruschetta on a mixture of Boursin cheese, black garlic aioli and truffle pearls, then topped with micro greens. The presenter named the mushrooms as White Trumpet and Lobster Brown so not sure what was in the mix. Either way I found the mix too salty and difficult to eat. What I tried was fine but not worth the effort overall.
House made sorbet was a mango lime topped with candied ginger. You got a bunch of my favorites in this one and I adored this version.
Dungeness Crab Cakes were plated with parmesan risotto and Kingfisher Farm sweet peas, all on a lemon tarragon beurre blanc. The presenter named this as the best season for crabs. Their crab cakes use shrimp as a binder (rather than bread) which is a lovely filler but in this case the shrimp flavor dominated over the crab. The risotto was good but the peas were way tough. My husband commented on it when asked and they brought him a nice plate of haricot vert – which I didn’t photograph. Whether it was crab or shrimp flavor, they both went well with the excellent sauce.
Lemon Raspberry Tart had an almond crust under the lemon curd with a raspberry gel and vanilla bean chantilly cream stripe alongside as well as a few fresh raspberries. The crust was a tad tough to cut but the tart was nice, especially in that it wasn’t too much raspberry. It was more attractive than tasty.
August 17, 2026
Amuse Bouche was olive oil poached Albacore with a wasabi aioli and pickled onions. The meaty fish was delicious with this preparation and seasoning.
Roasted Baby Beet Salad was on a whipped feta cheese, decorated with pickled radish and toasted hazelnuts then dressed with a citrus honey vinaigrette. The tender golden beets were great with the tart radish and creamy feta. Crispy nuts provided an additional crunch and tonight the greens were better dressed.
Smoked Tomato Polenta Grits were topped with Wild Tiger prawns, pancetta, and Public Coast Farms micro greens. The creamy polenta mixed nicely with the 2 large meaty shrimp. The roasted tomatoes were also quite good and mixed well with all. This was very good.
Sorbet tonight was passion fruit and lime topped with mint. This one was bursting with flavor and totally yummy.
Tonight we tried both entrees. Roasted Filet Mignon was sliced and on roasted garlic whipped potatoes, beside sauteed locally foraged mushrooms, with all on a red wine bordelaise. I asked for the rarest piece they had and this was just fine. The tender meat was excellent with the sauce and the mashed potatoes were chunky, although I didn’t get much garlic hit from them. The mushrooms were plentiful but again too salty for me. Overall still a fine plate.
Columbia River King Salmon was plated with creamy sunchoke purée, brown butter glazed carrots and sauce Maltaise. The fish was cooked a bit more than we’d like and the sauce and purée were virtually identical colors which seemd unappealing. The carrots were excellent.
Vanilla Cheesecake Mousse was decorated with Ranger dark chocolate ganache, topped with cherry coulis and underneath was almond chocolate crumble. Some cherries under the mousse were tasty and mixed well with the chocolate. This was a nice combination of flavors and textures with a good amount of sweetness.
