Nell Thorn, La Conner, WA:
The pinnacle of French-influenced, NW fine dining with my husband and my mom
“If I could dream up the perfect destination restaurant, it'd be this place. All of my favorite special occasion food in one menu. Warm, elegant, unpretentious atmosphere. Priceless views of La Connor channel. Gracious, intuitive service….” — my Google review
It’s been two weeks since Nell Thorn, and I’m still in la-la land. Nestled along a humble corridor of bobbing boats, wooden benches, and the scenic waters of La Conner Channel, Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro & Bar serves the most delicious Pacific Northwest cuisine, with a European flair and impeccable, understated service.
We took my mom there while visiting from Twin Falls, ID our last night in Camano Island, WA, Sept. 17, just for the Penn Cove Mussels — my absolute favorite Seattle souvenir.
You can’t get these tasty morsels in Hawaii, where I last lived (before trying my luck in Washington state in the mid-1990s). They’re worth the trip, along with the wild salmon and the endless cups of venti attitude.
I hadn’t laid eyes on my mom, who lives in Honolulu, since 2019. She’s the one who first introduced me to Oysters Rockefeller, raw oysters, and clams as a child. In an indirect way, she was the inspiration for my foodie obsession.
If it weren’t for her, I’d never be in America, delighting in all things fast food (Kentucky Fried Chicken, Arthur Treacher’s Fish ‘n Chips, Dairy Queen), as well as 1960s-‘70s continental cuisine (Steak Diane, Lobster Thermidor, Cherries Jubilee).
My husband and I both figured everyone in our party of three would thoroughly enjoy what Nell Thorn seemed to offer, after perusing the menu.
We did.
Usually, one of us will go off on an annoying, loud tirade on everything that sucks about a new place we’re trying. Especially involving our precious food. Especially my mom (where do you think I got my bitch critic from?).
But in this case, none of us had a bad word to say about the French-inspired restaurant or our kind, attentive but not too invasive server, who seemed to be able to read our minds and fulfill our every desire a beat before we voiced it.
Days after our dinner, my mom was still bringing up the Penn Cove Mussels and her Bouillabaisse with rouille (a creamy sauce of garlic, saffron, cayenne, egg yolk, olive oil, and angel tears). I don’t blame her.
Everything we ordered, and we ordered a lot — much more than a party of three — was sublime and transportive. If I blinked, I would swear we were in Normandy, ripping and dipping sourdough bread into the hearty, yet delicate broth, red wine in hand, war stories gushing.
I’ve always had a thing for French cuisine. After all, I took French in high school four years in a row, while everyone else went for the easy Spanish A. For a school project, I made eclairs and pretended I was Julia Child in a cooking demo — tout en français. If it’s French, it’s got to be quality.
Alas, I married the complete opposite of fancy French frou-frou, or so he thought. A German-Irish-American through and through, Ed prefers down-home burgers, pizza, meat and potatoes…hole-in-the-wall diners…looking askance at any dish costlier than a drive-thru night on the town. Besides, there’s the escargot problem.
Nell Thorn — and my mom footing the bill — did a lot to change his mind, I think, for the better. Now, he’s more open to French restaurants. Yay!
How could you not be, after all we ate…with gusto?
Lightly battered, juicy fried oysters a cut above a chip shop…
Tender Penn Cove Mussels and Cherry Stone Clams (my mom wanted raw, btw) swimming in their own sea-salty juices, white wine and anise-flavored pastis, fresh herbs, meaty applewood-smoked bacon, and cream…
Jesus Christ, take the wheel.
Two expensive-but-worth-it orders of freshly harvested and shucked Skagit Bay Oishi Oysters — clean, cucumbery, and slighty creamy — served with a choice of mignonette (like at our other favorite oyster place, Elliott’s) or tart, not-too-sweet cocktail sauce…
Beet and orange goat cheese salad, with a spritely balance of earthy, creamy, and citrus-y to offset the rich entrees to come…
The most light and bright Dungeness Crab Spaghetti (house made with semolina), my husband’s order — finished down to the last bite despite being stuffed…
Mom’s sublime Bouillabaisse, featuring the greatest hits of the Pacific Northwest, including fork-tender, wild Alaskan halibut, prawns, mussels, clams, fish stock, Yukon Gold potatoes, fennel, jeweled tomato (they grow in the garden just outside), tarragon, and this distinctively addictive, licorice-y rouille…
My roast duck sitting proud atop a tangle of house-made rich tagliatelle in a rich, mushroom demi-gravy…
Room for dessert, two: vanilla/rum-kissed crème brulée everyone raves about and Valrhona chocolate mousse with ginger-citrus-chocolate bark… I wasn’t even hungry anymore at this point, but I devoured 3/4ths of the crème brulée without batting an eye.
If I go back, and who says I won’t?, I’ll be sticking to the small plates. Of course returning to the Cherry Stone Clams and Penn Cove Mussels, with lots of complimentary, house-made sourdough bread for sopping.
Maybe some other small plates I’d been coveting, like Crispy Polenta and Calamari Marseilles. And, to top off the pinnacle of fine dining, Spiced Plum Olive Oil Cake (which I’ll be then learning to bake at home).
It’d be nice to have my son with us next time.
Birthday celebration?
“Nell Thorn makes all of their pastas fresh and in-house, so regardless of if you’re noshing the semolina rigatoni or spaghetti, or the egg yolk tagliatelle, you’re in for noodles worlds away from stale or soggy.” — “A Fresh Philosophy on Farm-to-Table | Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro & Bar” by Kristen Boehm, Bellingham Alive, April 11, 2023
Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro & Bar
116 S. First St., La Conner, WA
(360) 466-4261
Read more about the La Conner, farm-to-table institution from an April 11, 2023 Bellingham Alive feature, here.
