Dragonfly Cafe and Gardens - Ashland Oregon Restaurant

November 16, 2004

By Bill Choy
Reporter
Ashland Daily Tidings

A husband-and-wife team that has opened several successful San Diego-area restaurants is bringing its unique mixture of Asian- and Latin-flavored cuisine to Ashland.

Dragonfly, at 24 Hargadine St. where the Primavera restaurant was once housed, is tentatively scheduled to open for business Thursday.

The restaurant is the creation of Billy Tosheff and his wife, Isabel Cruz, a chef and cookbook author who created the menu for the eatery.

Tosheff said Dragonfly will be a moderately priced establishment that will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The menu will feature items such as coconut French toast, Ahi won tons, grilled salmon with Asian spices, topped with a mango papaya salsa on top, as well as numerous vegan and vegetarian creations.

The couple founded the Mission Cafe in San Diego and own the Coffee Cup Cafe in La Jolla, Calif., and Cantina Panaderia in Pacific Beach.

Tosheff said he wanted to start a restaurant in Ashland since discovering the town by chance about 10 years ago when he stopped here on the way to Seattle.

He said while exploring the town, he fell in love with its beauty, and the people and businesses he came across.

"There's a real creative nature about it," he said. "There's a lot of craftsmanship here, which I admire."

He has visited the town constantly over the past several years, and has been planning to open an eatery in Ashland for a few years.

Tosheff and Cruz will still be based in San Diego and come to Ashland frequently.

The day-to-day management duties will be handled by Dee Clooney, and her husband, Neil, will be the chef de cuisine.

The couple met Tosheff in London, where they worked at the popular London restaurant Ransom's Dock. He was able to convince them to work in one of his restaurants in San Diego, where they worked for the past two years.

When the Ashland restaurant came to fruition, Tosheff decided they would be a perfect pair to help get Dragonfly up and running.

Neil Clooney said the couple liked the idea of coming to America to "broaden our horizons." He said he has enjoyed the small town ambiance of Ashland, but also appreciates that it has big city amenities like good theater, restaurants and bars.

Dee Clooney said they have enjoyed the small town flavor of Ashland, unlike the big city life they experienced in London.

"It's so refreshing here," she said. "It's like a village here. You get to know people so quickly."

"I like the diversity of the produce here," Neil Clooney added. "I like that everyone is food curious here. They like to know the source of the food. I appreciate their knowledge and interest."

Tosheff said the plan is to open the restaurant slowly, only opening up a portion of its tables in the beginning while the restaurant staff gets acclimated.

"We want the business to evolve over time," he said.

While much thought has been given to the design of the restaurant, the vital success of any good eatery is the food, Tosheff said.

"We want the food to be good and people to have the best experience," she said.

Tosheff said like his other eateries, he wants Dragonfly to be an open, inviting place, that both locals and tourists alike can enjoy.

He hopes the eclectic food and good prices will help the restaurant become a popular choice for locals to eat.

"We're about food and people," he said. "We just want to take our time and create a great restaurant for the neighborhood."

The restaurant is at 241 Hargadine St., below the Oregon Cabaret Theater. Dragonfly Cafe and Gardens is open 7 days a week, from 8 - 3 and from 5 till close.

Thank you.

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