Shelley Taylor
The Dish on Dish
Published on Wed, May 19, 2010Read More Taylor
Carlsborg's Old Mill Cafe
721 Carlsborg Road, Sequim
582-1583
Web site should be up soon: old-millcafe.com or try
carlsborgsoldmillcafe.com
Closed Monday
Tuesday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Wednesday-Sunday 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
$$-$$$
If you're a logging buff, boy, have I got a place for you!
Carlsborg's Old Mill Cafe.
Six years ago, Val and Larry Culp were to transform the old Keyhole Tavern into a stained glass studio for Val. But the old bar was so beautiful, they opened a restaurant instead.
The Old Mill interior is indisputably the most clever and interesting restaurant in memory and serves as a history lesson of our roots in these here parts, like the namesake old sawmill that once upon a time was in full production on the other side of the road.
It's almost a museum. Take your time and look around: You'll learn something.
The history lesson begins the moment you park your car - you're overshadowed by an ancient mammoth stump.
Inside, everywhere you look logging memorabilia is displayed ingeniously - every booth has something interesting slipped under the glass tabletop, including vintage pictures and old menus from the mill days. Don't look at the prices, you'll cry!
Culp-able
Everything you see here was created, bought or built by the Culps. If you want a country cabin, I recommend you contact them for your interior design!
My absolute favorite is the intricate replica of the old mill set down right in the center of a round table under the gaze of a Roosevelt elk couple, the subjects of an attention-grabbing forest-life mural.
That bar that was the inspiration for the restaurant is comfy and inviting. Many times I've seen the owners chatting away with regulars - probably enjoying a classic "shaken" martini, or a Manhattan or Cosmopolitan.
Or maybe it was one of their premium ales on draught: Blue Moon, Fish Tail or Black Butte Porter. Or any number of "premium spirits," liqueurs or specialties.
After something to whet your appetite, if you were a hungry logger, what would you want to eat? Good ol' American homecooked meals, that's what. And the Old Mill doesn't disappoint.
Greg and I and friends have dined here many a time and always leave satisfied.
Log on to breakfast
The breakfast menu boasts The Logger: ham, bacon, links or patties and two eggs. Soy sausage and egg beaters are 50 cents extra.
Like omelets? Get lost in the Omelet Forest. Try the Mexi with spicy taco meat, mushrooms, olives, green onions, tomatoes and green chilies with cheddar, salsa and sour cream.
The Harvest Moon mixes broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, garlic, peppers and tomato with a blend of cheeses. The Ocean Omelet is filled with fresh Dungeness crab, smoked salmon or bay shrimp. Each three-egg omelet is served with fried potatoes and onions or buttermilk hotcakes, as are the regular breakfasts.
Or round up some Pigs in a Blanket rolled up with butter and maple syrup, "Frenchie" toast, or a full order of hotcakes: plain buttermilk, blueberry or apple.
Old Mill specialties are biscuits and gravy, Jacquot's Harvest filled with sauteed organic veggies, or a host of Benedicts: English muffins or biscuits with meat, seafood or veggies. Also available: old-fashioned organic oats and yogurt parfait.
Homemade soup, salads
For lunch they serve
hearty homemade soup among other specials.
I love salads, especially their Carlsborg Cobb Salad: crisp lettuce, hardboiled eggs, turkey and bacon, black olives, tomatoes, purple onions - and some cobbs.
Rounding out the extensive salad menu: the ubiquitous Caesar, chef's, garden, crab or shrimp Louie, or organic spinach mixed with crumbled crisp bacon, feta cheese, purple onion, toasted almonds and dried cranberries - blanketed with honey mustard or raspberry vinaigrette.
Their Sandwich Mill menu touts a logger-sized Big Deli with ham, turkey, roast or corned beef, and choice of cheese; their BLT adds cheddar and avocado. There's the Club Carlsborg and the Gourmet Gobbler layered with crisp bacon, cream cheese and cranberry sauce.
Sandwiches come with homemade soup, salad or "Old Mill" fries ... nice and crispy on the outside and sprinkled with special seasoning - definitely try those.
Wear suspenders;
belt may burst
A Railroad Reuben (No. 1 seller) with special sauce; King's Gold Miner, roast beef piled on grilled sourdough; and French Dip with plenty of au jus are on the Hot Mill Sandwich menu.
The Logger Burgers come in chicken, pulled pork barbecue, fish, earth veggie, or crab and shrimp cake burger. Greg and I usually split the 3/4-pound "Kobe" Big Buck Burger - especially good with sauteed mushrooms. Yum. Worth every unit of cholesterol.
And then there's dinner. Begin with seafood-themed appetizers, soups and salads or make a meal out of an Asian steak salad, Caesar with prawns or an impressive Louie dinner salad.
From the grill
Besides lunch burgers, what logger wouldn't wolf down nightly specials of "Sizzlin' Steaks, Ribs & Chicken?" Choices are filet mignon, New York strip, Flat Iron, "House" smoked barbecue baby back ribs and chicken piccata; or a full-cut, juicy, slow-roasted prime rib with horseradish and au jus.
Hungry for seafood? How do coconut prawns, Coquilles St. Jacques with sea scallops, Chef Dave's own fresh crab and shrimp cakes, Alaska cod or pan-seared oysters sound?
And ... pasta! Traditional lasagna and spaghetti with meatballs, also fresh fettuccine pasta with Alfredo or pesto, clam or smoked linguine, a seafood medley, or chicken parmesan with bechamel/marinara sauce.
All the staff treat you like friends; they've been there that long.
Shelley Taylor and her husband relocated to the peninsula from California.
721 Carlsborg Road, Sequim
582-1583
Web site should be up soon: old-millcafe.com or try
carlsborgsoldmillcafe.com
Closed Monday
Tuesday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Wednesday-Sunday 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
$$-$$$
If you're a logging buff, boy, have I got a place for you!
Carlsborg's Old Mill Cafe.
Six years ago, Val and Larry Culp were to transform the old Keyhole Tavern into a stained glass studio for Val. But the old bar was so beautiful, they opened a restaurant instead.
The Old Mill interior is indisputably the most clever and interesting restaurant in memory and serves as a history lesson of our roots in these here parts, like the namesake old sawmill that once upon a time was in full production on the other side of the road.
It's almost a museum. Take your time and look around: You'll learn something.
The history lesson begins the moment you park your car - you're overshadowed by an ancient mammoth stump.
Inside, everywhere you look logging memorabilia is displayed ingeniously - every booth has something interesting slipped under the glass tabletop, including vintage pictures and old menus from the mill days. Don't look at the prices, you'll cry!
Culp-able
Everything you see here was created, bought or built by the Culps. If you want a country cabin, I recommend you contact them for your interior design!
My absolute favorite is the intricate replica of the old mill set down right in the center of a round table under the gaze of a Roosevelt elk couple, the subjects of an attention-grabbing forest-life mural.
That bar that was the inspiration for the restaurant is comfy and inviting. Many times I've seen the owners chatting away with regulars - probably enjoying a classic "shaken" martini, or a Manhattan or Cosmopolitan.
Or maybe it was one of their premium ales on draught: Blue Moon, Fish Tail or Black Butte Porter. Or any number of "premium spirits," liqueurs or specialties.
After something to whet your appetite, if you were a hungry logger, what would you want to eat? Good ol' American homecooked meals, that's what. And the Old Mill doesn't disappoint.
Greg and I and friends have dined here many a time and always leave satisfied.
Log on to breakfast
The breakfast menu boasts The Logger: ham, bacon, links or patties and two eggs. Soy sausage and egg beaters are 50 cents extra.
Like omelets? Get lost in the Omelet Forest. Try the Mexi with spicy taco meat, mushrooms, olives, green onions, tomatoes and green chilies with cheddar, salsa and sour cream.
The Harvest Moon mixes broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, garlic, peppers and tomato with a blend of cheeses. The Ocean Omelet is filled with fresh Dungeness crab, smoked salmon or bay shrimp. Each three-egg omelet is served with fried potatoes and onions or buttermilk hotcakes, as are the regular breakfasts.
Or round up some Pigs in a Blanket rolled up with butter and maple syrup, "Frenchie" toast, or a full order of hotcakes: plain buttermilk, blueberry or apple.
Old Mill specialties are biscuits and gravy, Jacquot's Harvest filled with sauteed organic veggies, or a host of Benedicts: English muffins or biscuits with meat, seafood or veggies. Also available: old-fashioned organic oats and yogurt parfait.
Homemade soup, salads
For lunch they serve
hearty homemade soup among other specials.
I love salads, especially their Carlsborg Cobb Salad: crisp lettuce, hardboiled eggs, turkey and bacon, black olives, tomatoes, purple onions - and some cobbs.
Rounding out the extensive salad menu: the ubiquitous Caesar, chef's, garden, crab or shrimp Louie, or organic spinach mixed with crumbled crisp bacon, feta cheese, purple onion, toasted almonds and dried cranberries - blanketed with honey mustard or raspberry vinaigrette.
Their Sandwich Mill menu touts a logger-sized Big Deli with ham, turkey, roast or corned beef, and choice of cheese; their BLT adds cheddar and avocado. There's the Club Carlsborg and the Gourmet Gobbler layered with crisp bacon, cream cheese and cranberry sauce.
Sandwiches come with homemade soup, salad or "Old Mill" fries ... nice and crispy on the outside and sprinkled with special seasoning - definitely try those.
Wear suspenders;
belt may burst
A Railroad Reuben (No. 1 seller) with special sauce; King's Gold Miner, roast beef piled on grilled sourdough; and French Dip with plenty of au jus are on the Hot Mill Sandwich menu.
The Logger Burgers come in chicken, pulled pork barbecue, fish, earth veggie, or crab and shrimp cake burger. Greg and I usually split the 3/4-pound "Kobe" Big Buck Burger - especially good with sauteed mushrooms. Yum. Worth every unit of cholesterol.
And then there's dinner. Begin with seafood-themed appetizers, soups and salads or make a meal out of an Asian steak salad, Caesar with prawns or an impressive Louie dinner salad.
From the grill
Besides lunch burgers, what logger wouldn't wolf down nightly specials of "Sizzlin' Steaks, Ribs & Chicken?" Choices are filet mignon, New York strip, Flat Iron, "House" smoked barbecue baby back ribs and chicken piccata; or a full-cut, juicy, slow-roasted prime rib with horseradish and au jus.
Hungry for seafood? How do coconut prawns, Coquilles St. Jacques with sea scallops, Chef Dave's own fresh crab and shrimp cakes, Alaska cod or pan-seared oysters sound?
And ... pasta! Traditional lasagna and spaghetti with meatballs, also fresh fettuccine pasta with Alfredo or pesto, clam or smoked linguine, a seafood medley, or chicken parmesan with bechamel/marinara sauce.
All the staff treat you like friends; they've been there that long.
Shelley Taylor and her husband relocated to the peninsula from California.
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