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    Home » Food & Dining

    New Leaf Café (Orcas Island, WA)

    May 4, 2016 • Updated: March 29, 2023 • by Renée B. • This post may contain affiliate links.

    New Leaf Cafe, Eastsound, Orcas Island offers an exceptional menu of unpretentious elegance. | The Good Hearted Woman

    The locally sourced menu at the New Leaf Café on Orcas Island is a testament to Chef Debaste’s culinary ingenuity and dedication to unpretentious elegance.

    Plate of grilled scallops atop a potato mash. French onion soup and crab cakes in the background.

    Everyone told us the New Leaf Café was the place for fine dining on Orcas Island, but I have to tell the truth here: we almost didn't go.

    Located in the historic Outlook Inn on the Eastsound waterfront, it all just sounded a little too-too, as my mom used to say – too fancy, too spendy, too indulgent – for our laid-back, vacation-minded inclinations.

    However, after talking it through, Mr B and I decided that, as usual, we’d like to make our own assessment. Plus, we heard the crab cakes were to die for.

    Close-up of the New Leaf Cafe menu, featuring small plates, with silverware service on a brightly colored, flowered napkin.
    Jump to:
    • A Relaxed & Refined Dining Experience
    • New Leaf Starters
    • Main Course
    • Chef Steve Debaste
    • Know Before You Go
    • More Orcas Island Travel

    A Relaxed & Refined Dining Experience

    We could not have been happier that we followed our instincts. The atmosphere at the New Leaf Café is one of relaxed refinement, very much in keeping with Pacific Northwest sensibilities.

    Collage: Server approaching our table, dressed semi-formally in a black skirt and bolero jacket; pink and yellow tulips in a pot outside; bread basket lined with a bright flowered cloth napkin, holding sliced pieces of buttered bread.

    Service was prompt and welcoming, and our waitress very capably toed the line between staying available to attend to any need that arose, while keeping enough distance so that we could enjoy our meal with a certain level of peace and privacy. (Anyone who has ever waited tables, myself included, will tell you that this is a true art.) As for those reportedly too-spendy prices; we found the menu prices quite reasonable.

    The New Leaf Café menu - built on a strong foundation of locally sourced ingredients - is a testament to Chef Steve Debaste’s culinary ingenuity and his dedication to unpretentious elegance.

    New Leaf Starters

    Our dinner started out with a basket of warm, freshly-made breads. From the small plates menu, we shared a bowl of Chef Debaste’s rich, robust French onion soup. Thick with soft, caramelly onions, our soup arrived blanketed with a large, toasty French bread crouton and a generous covering of Gruyère cheese. It was as delicious as it looks.

    French onion soup in a traditional brown, handled soup bowl.

    Main Course

    For our main course, there was no mystery about what I was going to order – crab cakes are one of my favorite things in life, and the New Leaf’s Dungeness crab cakes did not disappoint. (Technically a small plate, two crab cakes proved more than enough for a meal for me.)

    Plated over a creamy Local Goods pear-ginger buerre blanc with habaneros cream, these crab cakes were made with just enough breading to hold them together and no more, and were perfectly seasoned. The habaneros cream not only elevated the aesthetic of the plate, but gave the crab cakes a lovely little kick as well.

    Two crab cakes on a rectangular plate, atop white wine sauce.

    Mr B ordered the pan-seared Alaskan weathervane scallops, which arrived beautifully plated over a warm mash of Yukon Gold potatoes and accented with locally sourced Hemplars bacon.

    Before I go any farther, it is important you know that I have never been a fan of scallops – they are too “bouncy” for me. However, Mr B encouraged me to have “just a taste.” He said, “Renée, if you are ever going to like scallops, this is the time. These are perfect.”

    I took a bite, and yes - they were delicious. (To fully appreciate that statement, you can liken it to a three-year old mushroom-hater suddenly declaring that Hungarian Mushroom Soup is his favorite food.) Mr B ate every scallop carefully, closing his eyes often and savoring every bite. He was, by all appearances, in seafood heaven.

    Sauteed scallops on a white plate.

    Likewise, the Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, served with a  fresh tarragon buerre blanc and asparagus, were amazing.

    Bite of mashed potatoes and bacon on a fork, with a plate of food in background.

    Overall, I just cannot say enough about the exceptional quality of the food at the New Leaf Café. It more than lived up to its reputation, and we will definitely be visiting again.

    Oh, I almost forgot - the view:

    View of open water in Puget Sound.

    SURPRISE! If you’ve taken the time to read this far, I have a surprise for you!

    Mr B and I were so taken with the quality of our meal at the New Leaf Café that I asked Chef Debaste if he would be willing to share one of his recipes with us, and he generously agreed to do so. Please check out our adaptation of Chef Debaste’s recipe for Grilled Halibut over Greens (with Verjus White Truffle Vinaigrette). 

    Chef Steve Debaste

    When Seattle native Chef Steve Debaste was hired on in 2010 as Chef at Orcas Island's New Leaf Café, he already had quite an impressive resume.

    Small portrait of Chef Steve Debaste, New Leaf Cafe, Orcas Island.

    Chef Debaste began his career as the Chef at the Creperie de Touraine in Honolulu. After some years, he returned to Seattle, where his positions included Chef of the nationally recognized 1904 Restaurant and Wine Bar, District and Executive Chef at Microsoft, and Executive Chef for Guckenheimer. He was recognized as the Pacific Northwest Chef of the Year in 2006.

    Since his arrival at the New Leaf Café, Chef Debaste has developed a creative menu, inspired by and designed around locally sourced ingredients and products.

    Exterior view of Outlook Inn; three stories, white with black trim.

    Know Before You Go

    New Leaf Café

    171 Main St.
    Eastsound, Orcas Island, Washington
    360-376-2200

    Make a reservation, especially if you are visitor to the island. (According to various anecdotal accounts, locals may have the inside track here.)

    The New Leaf Café serves a very popular happy hour menu. The menu, schedule, and service (breakfast, brunch, dinner) varies seasonally. Check their website for current hours of operation.

    Crab cake, mostly eaten, with a fork cutting off another bite.

    More Orcas Island Travel

    PLEASE NOTE: This post was originally written Spring 2016. Many Orcas Island businesses are temporarily or permanently closed due to the COVID pandemic, so be sure to call ahead first!

    • The Deer Harbor Inn Restaurant offers Orcas Island diners a locally-sourced menu of slow-food at its best. |The Good Hearted Woman
      Deer Harbor Inn & Restaurant (Orcas Island)
    • Colorful clay casserole pots with lids, setting at angle on wooden table.
      Orcas Island Pottery - Earth & Fire, Inspired
    • View of San Juan Islands from the top of Turtle Mountain on Orcas Island.
      The Best Kept Secret on Orcas Island
    • Historic Downtown Anacortes, Washington
    • Two adult cormorants on the Orcas Island Ferry Pier, with boats moored in background.
      Spring Getaway to Orcas Island

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    About Renée B.

    Renée is self-taught home chef with a penchant for creating healthy(ish) comfort food recipes, and adapting vintage recipes for the 21st century cook. In her spare time, she writes unfinished novels and songs about cowboys.

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    1. CourtneyLynne says

      May 09, 2016 at 5:29 pm

      Omg don't mind me as I drool
      All over my keyboard! That French onion soup looks delicious!

      Reply
    2. Rebecca Kelsey Sampson says

      May 08, 2016 at 7:00 am

      Gorgeous! I love how the New Leaf Cafe has almost a home-spun look to it with the napkins, bread basket, and all of those small details. I love places that feel like home.

      Reply
    3. Ana De- Jesus says

      May 08, 2016 at 2:18 am

      You were not kidding about the view... sigh it is beautiful and the food sounds excellent. I like the sound of a warm Goats Cheese salad!

      Reply
    4. Hannah Adkins says

      May 07, 2016 at 7:21 am

      The New Leaf Cafe looks like a really cool place! I love that they had little touches that made it awesome, like the cloth in the basket and the onion soup bowl. Also, those scallops look amazing!

      Reply
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