(gentle music) - Today on "All Across Oregon," our journey carries us to the wild edge of Port Orford, Oregon.

We start our morning the local way, a family-owned cafe, then head over to a roadside burrito stand.

From a clifftop hike high above the Pacific Ocean to a fine dining table perched over crashing waves, today is pure coastal magic.

(upbeat music) "All Across Oregon" is made possible in part by Travel Southern Oregon Coast, Travel Curry County, and John Warekois CPA.

Port Orford's story is one of survival and self-reliance.

As the oldest incorporated city on the Oregon Coast, it grew without a protected harbor, forcing its people to adapt to one of the most rugged shorelines in the Pacific Northwest.

That same independence still defines the town today.

That rugged geography forced innovation, and Port Orford became known for its rare and enduring method of launching fishing boats by crane directly into the Pacific.

A system still used today.

Fishing, shipping, and timber sustained the town through boom and bust cycles while isolation helped preserve its independent character.

Over time, Port Orford evolved into a small, but culturally rich community, blending maritime tradition with a strong presence of artists, craftspeople, and conservation-minded residents.

Today, the town stands as a living reminder of Oregon's frontier past, where history, hard work, and the power of the sea continue to shape daily life.

So this is why I really appreciate when you email me or you call me or you stop me on the street and say, "Hey, you gotta see this place, you gotta stop here, taste the food."

Well, here it is.

That's how I found this RV resort, Honey Bear RV, just outside of Gold Beach.

RV campgrounds like this continue a long tradition of welcoming travelers to the Oregon Coast once by wagon and ship, now by highway, offering a place to rest, reconnect, and explore the surrounding wilderness.

This weekend, we discovered how Honey Bear RV Resort turns every visit into a memorable experience where kindness is just as abundant as the scenery.

(bright music) We start the day here at Cafe 2.0, a family-owned breakfast spot rooted in small town hospitality.

Mom and pop breakfast restaurants hold a special kind of allure because they offer something increasingly rare, familiarity, warmth, and a sense of belonging.

You can even put me to work because that's what I do.

You want me to scoop something?

Watch something?

I'll do it all.

Perfect.

What do we got here?

- It's our southwest bowls, it's one of our more popular breakfasts.

A little bit of arugula, some avocado.

We also got black beans that we put in it.

Scrambled eggs, housemade salsa.

- I feel stronger already just thinking of that breakfast.

- [Ciaran] Those are all my teas and herbs.

- Do you have a favorite?

- For herbal, probably the Tulsi Rose.

And then if you're looking at caffeine, I like the Green Tea Garden.

And then I also make an anti-inflammatory blend that's been really popular for people.

I put a little bit of ginger in it for joint pain and then licorice and cinnamon.

- Can I try a little sip of that?

- So it is pretty earthy.

- [Vinny] That is beautiful.

You came up with that?

- Yeah.

(bell dings) - Bells up, I already say, come on.

Hey, I'm gonna help you carry it out.

Come on, she's shorthanded, let's go, where we going?

- We got two of these here.

- We gotta help where we can.

There you go.

I worked very hard on this, guys, so please enjoy, okay?

Enjoy.

- [Ciaran] So this is one of my scones.

This is my orange cranberry flavor.

The cranberries are local here in our farm.

Do you wanna go ahead and have a taste?

I'm gonna pour my, I'm gonna pour my tea.

Oh yeah, see, that's an anti-inflammatory, already, my headache feels better, my neck feels better.

(upbeat music) Super bored, dude, I need to be moving.

- Gonna be two claws.

- Two claws, need my claws?

- Two claws to fry.

- Oh, that's a little claw.

Hold on a second.

Your claws must to be bigger than mine.

Yeah, yeah, whatever dude.

Here, there, there's two claws.

- Two behind right about here.

Yep.

- And then our garlic aioli is what we use on all of our burgers, besides our chipotle.

- Look at that.

That's bomb.

That's bomb right there.

As I'm working like this, that's how I move.

- Then I do the spin, only to the right, never to the left.

- Only to the right.

And then gonna curtsy for the camera.

Ready?

Ready, let's curtsy for the camera.

Ready?

Let's bow.

Nice.

Now we're gonna make a quick stop at a roadside burrito stand along the highway.

It highlights a newer chapter in coastal culture.

So I met this couple maybe about six months ago as they were traveling through Medford.

They told me about the burrito stand they were gonna open in Port Orford.

I say "We're going to Port Orford.

When we get there, I'm gonna come see you."

And that's just what we did.

Wow, look at what you guys did, man.

Good to see you again, buddy.

You did it, man.

You did it.

This looks beautiful.

We're looking forward to seeing how you put this together for us and make some burritos and.

Hey, check this out, look, she's making a bowl out of a burrito.

Look, look.

I'll even chip in.

You ready?

White rice, black beans, chicken please.

Yes, Kim, it's yours.

Lettuce, cheese, corn salsa.

(upbeat music) I'm gonna just do what you tell me to do.

Come on, I'm gonna go to work, guys.

Brown rice.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You gotta have a flour tortilla in the bottom.

Smush it down.

Make it look all pretty.

Looks like a flower, see?

There you go.

Okay, now you're gonna do brown rice.

- Okay, one scoop?

- Yes, one scoop.

- Okay.

- One scoop of pinto beans.

So we're gonna do cheese.

A beautiful, nice big scoop of our corn salsa since it's veggie.

- Yeah, and this is the one you told me about.

- [Karri] Yes.

And then papa, we need guac, and we need jalapenos.

- And a lid.

- And a lid.

- And a lid.

And that's for Kudo, for Kudo.

If you like to walk along beautiful trails or along cliffs and looking at the ocean, let me tell you something.

This is the hike.

This is the walk.

This is the beautiful scenery you can't miss.

(upbeat country music) This is the mayor of Port Orford.

- This is Ann Vileisis.

- Good to meet you, Vinny.

- It's nice to meet you.

- I'm super psyched that you came to Port Orford.

- I am so happy we're here.

Are you kidding me?

We've had a day.

- Little loop here out at the point here, and you can see we're just like stick right out into the ocean here in Port Orford.

So here's some cool huckleberries if you want to try one.

- Really?

- Yeah.

But we're gonna go now and show you one- - Actually, Kim, taste everything for me first.

- No, no, no, fine.

- Good, isn't it?

- Okay.

- It's really good.

I'm gonna take you up to one of our cool state parks, because another great thing about Port Orford beyond the ocean and the seafood and we're gonna be out at the ocean, is we've got these great state parks that are a wonderful thing that we have.

You can take hikes and come up here and look at the wildlife and the whales and the birds.

So this is the Coast Guard station.

We used to have a Coast Guard station here, but it was closed in the '70s and now it's a historic place.

And so we've got this really cool old historic Coast Guard rescue boat because the boats used to help rescue our fishing fleet.

- That is super.

- [Kim] Can you imagine going out on the Pacific on that?

- We wanna show you today this really beautiful forest up here.

Grandmother or Grandfather tree here in Port Orford, it's a beautiful big Sitka Spruce with all these gorgeous leather ferns on there.

Have you ever seen one like this before?

- [Vinny] Not like this.

- Fir, let's go up there and.

- Oh, I touched poison oak.

- Get in there, you know, let's touch the tree, do a little tree hug while you're here, right?

- [Vinny] So I guess, I mean, I'm not a tree person, but I didn't know that spruces can get this big.

- Yeah, it's amazing.

And Sitka Spruces grow right next to the ocean.

(upbeat music) Check this out.

- Oh my goodness.

- Yeah.

This is a beautiful spot.

And you can see, yeah, the kelp coming back.

That's really something we're really excited about.

So they're trying to create basically oases where kelp can thrive and the life of the kelp forest can remain.

This is the spot where, you know, you saw that boat, the rescue boat.

There used to be a boathouse down there, and the boat would come out of this protected breakwater and be able to go out.

So here's another thing.

I don't know if you guys can see this with your camera, but I love looking down there.

You can see a couple of seals hauling out on the rocks.

And that's something we can also, do you see them out there?

- Yes, I see them.

Do the whales ever come right here in the bay?

- They do come in pretty close here.

And we often, the gray whales we see kind of farther out, but sometimes off the point here, we see them.

Let's keep going.

We'll go out to the next point here.

And now here, you can really see a wonderful open view in both directions.

So beautiful view of Humbug Mountain to the south.

What a beautiful calm ocean we have today.

- [Vinny] Look at that, how calm it is.

- That's remarkable.

- You can see yeah, the Marine reserve protects habitat for fish that helps support our fisheries.

You probably heard about that.

It's also a breeding habitat for seabirds in the spring.

So that's cool too.

And then if you come this way, you get another view.

- Wow, that's massive.

- Ooh.

Isn't this gorgeous- - Oh my goodness.

Look at that.

- Every corner you come around, you just see something that is breathtaking again and again up here.

So we love this park.

This is your exercise for the day too, right?

You gotta like get a little outdoor time.

- [Vinny] Oh, okay.

(upbeat music continues) - So we were out there, you know, in the forest with the big trees and we break out here and we have this like coastal area where all the trees are sculpted by wind.

And so you can kind of imagine the big storms that come in in the winter just by the shape of the trees.

- [Vinny] Yeah, well I was looking at it, yep.

- This is like a grand fir, which is usually a really massive tree, but out here, it's blown, it's sculpted by the wind.

Isn't that a great scent?

- Really?

This is great because you know what?

I have been sweating all day.

Now we can go two more shows, two more shots, let's go.

Hey, it worked.

Beautiful.

Perched above the sea, a fine dining restaurant owned by local artists combine culinary craftsmanship with visual art.

Coastal artists have long been drawn to Port Orford's dramatic landscape.

And this space right here reflects the town's creative spirit, where art, food, and environment merge together.

So if you want a really nice dinner with a beautiful view, and you like artwork, this is the place for you.

Meet my new friends at Redfish Restaurant.

(upbeat music) Damien.

Good to see you, Damien.

- Hey Vinny.

- Chris, good to see you.

Thanks for having me in your beautiful establishment.

- Looks like you're a hat guy.

Can I give you one of ours?

- Absolutely.

- Here you go.

- How cool is that?

It's official now.

- Welcome to Redfish.

- I love your logo.

- Oh, thank you.

- That's great.

That was, well we're a family of artists.

So that's my uncle's design.

He's designed that 16 years ago when we first opened up.

Well come check it out.

We just prepared a couple of really nice dishes for you.

- Okay, well let's go.

Let's just do it, see what they're cooking up.

- [Damien] Brian, you ready for these guys?

- [Vinny] What's up, chef?

You let me come into your restaurant on your day off.

You let me come into your kitchen, I should say.

- Well welcome.

- So what were you thinking?

Like I heard you made up some stuff.

What were you gonna do?

- We were thinking about throwing together a Caesar salad.

We'll cook up some empanadas and we'll kind of walk through some clams.

We make all the stuff here, of course.

I'm gonna pull out some dressing, Caesar dressing.

And we use Manchego cheese, which is a Spanish sheep's milk cheese Yes, it's good stuff.

It makes an excellent Caesar.

And one thing that's probably a little out of the ordinary about our Caesar dressing is we don't have any anchovy in the actual dressing.

So we offer a nice anchovy on the side.

It's actually from Central California that do some wild caught sardines down there.

So we're just gonna sprinkle a touch of cheese over this.

We do a little bit of pepper just around the rim for some garnish.

- So where'd you come from, Chef?

Are you from out here?

- [Brian] No, originally from back east.

- Yeah, where?

- I am from the peanut country of Southeastern Virginia.

Yeah, pigs, pines, and peanuts.

Smithfield hams, all that stuff.

- At least you got to claim something.

Pigs, pines, and peanuts.

- [Brian] The crackers we make in house.

- [Vinny] Look at these crackers.

Yeah.

What do you have in these crackers, are they just wheat?

- Yeah, yeah, straight wheat, sesame seed, buttermilk.

- Yummy.

Where have you been at midnight When I'm watching TV?

- [Brian] Right?

Little chunk of cheese in some of these.

- All right, now we're gonna try it without the fish.

- [Brian] Heavy on the lemon, heavy on the cheese.

- Oh yeah.

- Light.

- Very light.

I love it.

There's a lemon.

That's nice.

- So anyway, what we got going here is some chicken empanadas.

We got them deep frying.

We take the legs in the thighs and we cook them and pick them and make a little forest meat with chili and the chicken and a little cheese.

- Yummy.

- This comes with a couple of different sauces.

One of them is a cream sauce.

We take garlic and we char it in a hot pan.

So it gets a little color on it, gets a little bit of softness to it, not a whole lot.

Add a little bit of sweet corn and some cream, and that just gets warmed up.

And then we have a second sauce.

This is more of a salsa where we take grilled sweet potatoes, mix it with some sweet peppers, some cilantro, some onions, some lime, sort of typical salsa background ingredients.

And the two of those are gonna be our sauce for our empanadas.

It's super simple, but also, you know, from the ground up.

- I love it.

Love it.

That is so cool.

- And then we usually plate this something along these lines.

We'll put down this cream sauce first.

Gonna set our empanadas right on top.

That is how that would go to the table.

This last one, we're just gonna throw together some clams.

Been a mainstay on the restaurant's menu since before I was here.

Check it out.

- Oh, you got a whole, oh, look at you, man.

- Look at me on top of it.

- You are, you were ready.

- I was.

- [Vinny] All right, so you ready for some olive oil?

- [Brian] Yep, yep, bombs away, man.

I'll bring you another spoon, huh?

And we're just gonna break the shallot and the raw garlic.

- [Vinny] So you wanna start with the raw garlic, right, because that's already- - [Brian] We're gonna do it real quick with it.

- Okay, go ahead.

All right, there we go that.

Little bit of onion.

- Little shallot.

- [Vinny] Yeah, we're gonna have to definitely slow it down.

- All right.

This is roasted garlic.

- Okay, roasted garlic.

May I borrow those tongs?

- Absolutely.

- Let me get this off the bottom there.

- S and P, about a little pinch of each.

- I'll combine it.

- Sure.

And then just cut parsley, lemon zest, a little chicken stock, and a little white wine.

- Okay, I'm gonna put the rest of this little bit of everything in there.

Can I go ahead and, you wanna put the butter at the end then?

- [Brian] Yeah, yeah, yeah, I kind of mount it up with the butter at the end.

- And there's no flame, but the steam is gonna do it, yeah.

(food sizzling) Oh my goodness, you smell that?

Can you smell that back home?

Can you smell it?

Holy mackerel.

Chef, what am I doing?

I'm in your way.

I'm sorry.

- No, no, no.

You got it, you got parsley?

- Parsley's in.

- Yep, there you go, I say.

- You wanna do it all?

Half of it?

All right.

No.

- There you have it.

- There you have it.

All right.

(upbeat music continues) - [Damien] All right, this looks great.

- Good good.

Hope it's enjoyable.

- This does look great.

- Hold on, I'm gonna get myself a little spoon.

- You're gonna get a what?

- A little spoon.

- Guys, you're like pros.

Oh boy.

Those are good.

- Can't stop with just one.

- No.

Oh, that's fantastic, man.

- Ooh yeah!

- [Brian] Salty buttery.

- While we're here, mm-mm.

- Good?

- Great.

- I like them.

- Yeah.

Yeah, I've had worse.

- I love that sweet potato salsa.

- Give me a hug, man.

- I'll do it.

- Thank you buddy, nice to meet you, bro.

Nice to meet you.

- Catch you over the mountain sometime.

- Well let's go have a martini and wash this down.

- Okay.

(bright music) - All right, I'm gonna make us a Hawthorne martini.

It's one of our signature cocktails.

- Don't mind me.

- So it's two part Ketel One, one part Bombay gin.

- Ketel One vodka.

- Two parts Ketel.

- Two part Ketel, one part Bombay.

What?

- Woo-hoo!

- That's all you guys get today.

These are still clean.

- [Damien] And if it's not bruised, it's not right.

Vinny, here you go.

- [Vinny] Woo, thank you very much.

- You're very welcome.

- All right, cheers, guys.

- Hey, thank you.

- Thank you.

- Beautiful.

That is refreshing.

You're just an artist all the way around, aren't you?

- Well, would you like to see the gallery?

- I would love that, can we go to the gallery?

- Let's go check out the gallery, right this way.

- See the gallery.

(upbeat music) Wow.

I mean, I don't know even want to say, it's pretty cool.

- So Chris is the glass artist.

He does all the blown glass.

I do a lot of the paintings, including the dancers.

My Uncle Gregory, who designed the furniture and a lot of the paintings over at the restaurant.

He does the large paintings with the metal frames.

Uncle Steve does some of the woodwork.

My Aunt Lisa does the jewelry.

My Cousin Shelby does the slumped glass.

My mom Julie made ceramics.

Terry, my Cousin, does the other woodwork.

- [Vinny] Damien, how long did it take to do this?

- [Damien] I spent over a year on that painting.

- So when you're painting something, do you have other projects going on- - Yeah, I painted, you know, a dozen paintings while I was painting that one.

That is one of the most time-consuming pieces I've ever created.

That one was difficult to wrap up.

- [Vinny] Because you just didn't know when you wanted to stop?

- [Damien] No, it just wasn't working.

You know, it's a very challenging palette.

Like I wouldn't normally combine those colors, try and keep my, you know, color palettes a little more simple than that.

But I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

A lot of blood, sweat, and tears in that one.

- I bet it was.

You guys got a vacation rental?

- It's called the Redfish Loft, and it's overnight accommodations.

- Okay, if you have one of those martinis, you're gonna need to book this room.

(upbeat music) Now just outside the restaurant and art gallery, the dark silhouette of Battle Rock rises from the shoreline, a powerful reminder of 1851 when a small group of early settlers took refuge on this rock during a violent clash with local native people, making one of the earliest and most dramatic confrontations on Oregon's southern coast.

Tonight, standing where history was written, my co-producers laughed and said I couldn't make it to the top after all the food I ate and the drinks that I drank.

So not only did I make it to the top, I ran straight up Battle Rock and proved them wrong.

And man, what a beautiful view from the top.

Okay, so it's been a busy day so far.

It's time to head back to the campground.

We're gonna take a break for the night and meet some of the characters that work over there.

(gentle music) As the sun sets ending a day shaped by nature, creativity, and a timeless rhythm of the beautiful Oregon Coast.

(upbeat music) What a great day we had today in Port Orford.

We started with a great local breakfast, a quick burrito stop alongside the road, and a cliffside hike with the mayor overlooking the kelp farms.

We dined high above the Pacific Ocean and finally returned to our campsite grateful, full, and all ready to go for the next day.

We'll see you next time as we go "All Across Oregon."

"All Across Oregon" is made possible in part by Travel Southern Oregon Coast, Travel Curry County, and John Warekois CPA.

(gentle music) (film reel whirring)