Pioneering Ark Restaurant changes hands, keeps its focus

It seemed hopelessly far away to some, a restaurant sitting at the end of the Earth. Yet, under owners Jimella Lucas and Nanci Main, The Ark Restaurant & Bakery on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula became nationally known for both excellent food and for provocative ideas about the sources of food.

Now, after 25 years of Ark ownership, Lucas, 61, and Main, 57, have sold the restaurant but plan to remain active in the food world, including spreading their vision of what they call the ecology of food.

The Ark will remain open under new owners Michael and Cameo Gilson, who say they plan to keep it essentially unchanged. The existing staff has been retained.

"Nanci and I decided about five years ago that we were going to sell The Ark. About three years ago, we began to get serious," said Lucas, who ran the kitchen, while Main oversaw the bakery and the "front of the house."

"There were things that both of us wanted to do" that were ruled out by "the huge commitment of time" involved in owning and running the restaurant, Lucas said.

Though the sale took effect Oct. 19, Lucas said that in the weeks since then she and Main have been training the new owners in the Ark's way of doing things.

Local resources

Situated in the tiny village of Nahcotta, on Willapa Bay, The Ark grew to fame on the basis of Lucas' and Main's imaginative use of the harvest of local waters, forests and fields.

Oysters, clams, salmon, sturgeon and other seafood; wild mushrooms, huckleberries and blackberries gathered by foragers; the harvests of nearby vegetable and fruit growers — these and other fresh, local foods became the foundation of The Ark's menu.

Over time, the restaurant drew national attention in major newspapers and magazines, and Lucas and Main appeared as guests on various Northwest TV shows. They have also written four Ark cookbooks.

The idea of emphasizing fresh, local foods seemed to come as a novel surprise to many of their interviewers, recalls Lucas, who in turn was shocked at others' surprise over what seemed to her a fundamental concept.

Though that concept was relatively new when Lucas and Main were building the Ark's reputation, it has gained popularity among a growing number of restaurants.

Joining the fresh-and-local idea, for Main and Lucas, was a constellation of other concepts they considered related. Among them: buying organic foods whenever possible, to help preserve soils and the environment; and composting or recycling everything they could, often at considerable cost to the business.

They maintained their own oyster beds, operated by a grower who refused to spray the beds with pest-killing chemicals that some consider environmentally damaging.

Earlier this year, The Ark received the statewide Environmental Excellence Award from the State Department of Ecology.

Giving back

Lucas and Main have been active in the peninsula community in other ways, such as helping local schoolchildren learn how to plant a garden and cook the harvest. They also helped start the area's Northwest Garlic Festival.

Such activities won't end for them with the restaurant's sale, said Lucas.

"Our business has been very generous to us, and what you do is give back," she said.

Also in their plans: consulting work, cooking classes, catering, spreading their ecology-of-cuisine philosophy through public talks and selling their own specialty-food products on their Web site (www.nanciandjimella.com).

Those products aren't yet available but probably will include some grilling rubs for meat, a biscotti, cranberry products and possibly even some treats for dogs, Lucas said.

Meanwhile, The Ark's new owners will retain the restaurant's core menu, though "we'll show our creativity in the daily specials," said Michael Gilson.

He and his wife came to the Long Beach Peninsula from Los Angeles, where they operated a nightclub and fine-dining restaurant. He said they had long wanted to escape that city.

Gilson said The Ark also will retain its practice of supporting producers of fresh and local foods.

Judith Blake: jblake@seattletimes.com