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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us June 20, 2005 Essentially Ashland Beasy McMillan: Ashland’s Wolfgang Puck Lance Pugh Who can count all the restaurants founded by this entrepreneur’s entrepreneur? Lance Pugh, that’s who Lloyd Haines and I had just purchased the Casa Del Sol building (Hanson/Howard Gallery and Thai Pepper) in 1986 when we began looking for tenants. Judy Howard’s decision to move her gallery more toward the Plaza fit well with our plans. A bit more of a challenge, however, was to find a restaurant operation for the lower level, which would soon have balconies and decks along the creek. I had been a regular of Beasy’s Back Porch (Brooklyn, Senor Gator’s, Ashland Creek Bar and Grill, Creekside Pizza Bistro) at the time. Slow-cooked Texas barbecue hung heavy in the air as I devised a plan to hook Beasy McMillan, Ashland’s most prolific chef/interior decorator of the era, and reel him into a space that I knew would be a winner for us all. My ruse had to be several layers deep, as Beasy knows how to play and win at poker, especially when the stakes are high. Beasy McMillan founded a host of eateries over the years in Ashland. Accompanying photos give a taste of the diversity of his endeavors. Submitted photos The stage was simple to set. I bought a patio set for the rear deck of the building, decorating it with a multicolored umbrella, some balloons tied to the handrailing and an iced bucket with a bottle of Schramsberg Blanc De Blanc alongside four champagne flutes. Four place settings were laid out, with the appropriate flatware and utensils. At the stroke of Ambush Hour, Beasy began his walk over the bridge to his restaurant. I whistled and waved him my way, to which he headed after stopping to look for a few, frozen seconds. When he arrived at our dining lure, he said: “Lance, you sure know how to fish.” For Beasy, that was a high compliment. Some months later he opened Thai Pepper there, which remains a success to this day. To the best of my remembrance, fine dining began in Ashland when Bernard and Suzie opened Chateaulin in the early ’70s. One of the secrets for their early success was having Jeff Keyes as their chef, he having come from Aspen. In 1980 Beasy McMillan drove to Ashland in a rental car from the San Francisco Airport. He had spent years in Houston, Texas, but was clearly out West looking for opportunity. By 1983, he and his wife, Carole, had purchased a house on Liberty Street. Beasy always has a reason for doing anything, and in this case he was opening a new restaurant on East Main above the pub to be called Change of Heart. Jeff was the magic in the kitchen and Beasy focused on the menu and interior design. It was an instant success. Beasy grew immediately restless, as creative types are wont to do, and soon opened up Beasy’s Back Room, which offered quality steaks, sausages, a Texas mixed grill and a Back Room salad that lives on at Beasy’s on the Creek, just downstream from Thai Pepper. John Thommen managed the Back Room, and it was a hoot. The theme was clearly Texas, and no one was disappointed. The locals languished after the tourists had sped to the plays. Noticing that Ashland, for reasons only known to and insisted upon by the Jackson County Health Department, had no outdoor dining, Beasy quickly sought a solution that still remains a high point in the taste buds of the lucky residents of the time. Thus in 1984 he opened up Beasy’s Back Porch along Ashland Creek, to the clamoring applause of so many of us. The former location of a mortuary, then of the blues club named Brooklyn, the new venture was, again was, a Texas Deal, but with seating for a hundred. Texas brisket, pork ribs, chicken and sausage came with a side of both beans and coleslaw. A piece of bread, some butter and a beer made this a meal to remember. A kid at the college won an MTV party for 150, with guest hosts “Downtown Julie Brown and Howard Jones.” This was broadcast on national TV and helped make the Back Porch the place to be. I logged on to the food and haven’t logged off since. On New Year’s Eve in 1986, Beasy opened Thai Pepper. Billie Harto, Indi and Darlene Jeyarajah, and Ranjit and April Morehouse manned the engine room and kept cranking out orders of Crispy Fish, Tiger Rolls, curries and sates. I can never forget the Tiger Cries or the Garlic Pork with Coriander & Fresh Chilies, pork tenderloin marinated in garlic, cilantro, black pepper then sautéed with onion and tomatoes … though this clearly indicated that I’m writing too close to dinnertime. The canvas lighting fixtures came from an upstairs expansion salad offering of the Wizard’s Den (Munchies). It is now the kitchen for the Greenleaf Restaurant. By 1987, Jeff Keyes had moved on from Change of Heart and Beasy slipped in a new concept named the Bayou Grill, which had a major New Orleans focus. Etouffee rolled out of the kitchen daily. Ever restless, Beasy opened China Korea in the Bayou Grill space, which added yet more spice to our dining pleasure. In 1988, Beasy took over the former location of the Hamlet’s Roost and created Macaroni’s, this with his partner Marty Moreland, who later came to own and run Martino’s. Beasy's on the Creek In 1989 The Back Porch morphed into Senor Gator’s. B.T. Collings became a partner, having done all the finish work at Thai Pepper. Opening night was, unfortunately, very stressful, as newly printed menus had different numbering than the one kept in the kitchen. For the first hour every order was wrong and, in the end, simply given away. After deciding to scale back in 1990 Beasy sold all his restaurants and tried to kick the habit of opening one up every year or two. He stayed on the restaurant wagon for nearly two years, but fell off into a barrel of olive oil down on East Main, where he opened Cucina Biazzi in 1992, this in the former location of Clark’s Cottage. In a typical Beasy fashion he decorated and designed every visual aspect of the restaurant. The menu is typically Italian. A typical four-course meal at Cucina Biazzi includes the following: Antipasto plate with pickled veggies, cheeses, meats and delicious breads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The second course consists of your choice of one of four pastas which rotate seasonally, though usually with such taste treats such as Lobster Ravioli, Rigatoni with Italian sausage and Cappellini with spinach, garlic, lemon and olive oil. This translates to yummy in my dictionary. The third course is the entrée. You may choose from such offerings as tender pork loin, beef tenderloin, or the seafood dish du jour. As with all fine Italian meals the salad is served last, dressed in vinaigrette and topped with walnuts and feta cheese. There I go again, writing too close to dinner … Pat South helped run Beasy’s on the Creek, which opened up in a new, three story building along and above Ashland Creek. Lloyd Haines conceived and built the structure 1995. Beasy sold this restaurant in 2000 to Rob Harvey, who had graduated from dish washer at Cucina to co-owner, then full owner. Pat South went in as a partner in 1996 for the very popular KatWok (Beasy’s name), which offered some very palate-awakening Pan Asian cuisine. Pat moved on and opened up Tabu. In 1998 Beasy took over the former Sandpiper Restaurant on Barnett in Medford and opened up Tutto Bene. Medford was not quite ready so a year later Tutto Beno said arrivederci and the Wailea Ranch opened in its place. Within 18 months Beasy came back to Ashland, to a market that really did appreciate his culinary and decorative skills. By 2002 our wandering chef amused himself by opening The Big Kahuna across from Lithia Park and commissioned a taqueria called the Tamale Dog under the former Ashland Steak House. This was just to keep him out of trouble until he unveiled the Hong Kong Bar in the third story of the Masonic Building on the Plaza. It has the look and feel of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Three years later the restaurant was sold to Chris Hart and April Morehouse, who used to work at the Back Porch and Thai Pepper. It may be hard for some of you to believe it, but we have a Wolfgang Puck running around Ashland calling himself Beasy. It’s time we called him on it, then to thank him for the many wondrous meals he has made possible for us to enjoy in this small berg. Future columns will focus on many downtown businesses that have helped make Ashland unique. The former Brooklyn, Mum’s Cottage and some mystery guests will lead the charge from times past to lend perspective to the revival of the Downtown. Send your favorite remembrances to: [email protected]. 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