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November 19, 2004
Restaurant offers Asian-Latin
menu
By Bill Choy
Reporter
Mail Tribune
ASHLAND — A husband and wife
responsible for several successful San Diego-area restaurants
are bringing their unique blend of Asian and Latin
cuisine to this town’s ever-more eclectic mix
of eateries.
They’ve also recruited another
couple — experts in the business recruited two
years ago from London — to run the show.
Dragonfly, in the former Primavera
site at 24 Hargadine St., is scheduled to open on Saturday.
A tentative Thursday opening was delayed by last-minute
glitches, most notably late menus, said Dee Clooney,
who will manage the restaurant while husband Neil runs
the kitchen.
It’s all the creation of Billy
Tosheff and his wife, Isabel Cruz, a chef and cookbook
author who created the eatery’s menu items.
Tosheff said the Dragonfly will serve
moderately priced breakfast, lunch and dinner, featuring
items like coconut French toast, ahi tuna wontons,
grilled salmon with Asian spices topped with a mango
papaya salsa, as well as numerous vegan and vegetarian
creations.
The couple founded Mission Cafe in
San Diego. They also own the Coffee Cup Cafe in La
Jolla and Cantina Panaderia in Pacific Beach, both
in the San Diego area.
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.
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 frequently
over the past several years, and had planned to open
a restaurant for a few years.
Tosheff and Cruz will still be based
in San Diego and come to Ashland frequently.
The Clooneys met Tosheff in London,
where they worked at the popular Ransom’s Dock.
Tosheff convinced them to work in one of his San Diego
restaurants, where they have been for the past two
years.
When the Ashland restaurant began
to take shape, 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’s enjoyed the small-town ambiance of Ashland,
but also appreciates that it has big- city amenities
like good theater, restaurants and bars.
Dee agreed: "It’s so refreshing
here. It’s like a village here. You get to know
people so quickly."
"I like the diversity of the
produce here," Neil 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 slowly
with only a few of its tables in the beginning until
the staff gets acclimated. "We want the business
to evolve over time."
While much thought has been given
to design, at the crux 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 can enjoy.
"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.
Copyright © 2004 Mail Tribune,
Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Thank you.
Dragonfly Cafe
and Gardens
241 Hargadine Street, Ashland, Oregon (OR) 97520
541.488.4855 |
