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Fresh fish in Rogue River Photo by Jim Craven Crawdaddies Fish and Chowder House, Cherol and Jeff Langfield's Rogue River restaurant, features fresh seafood such as Dungeness crab. `Crawdaddies' makes you feel like you're dining on the Oregon Coast By DAVID PRESZLER ROGUE RIVER -- On a wet and foggy day, Crawdaddies Fish & Chowder House is almost enough to make you forget you're dozens of miles from the Oregon Coast. And that's just fine with owners Jeff and Cherol Langfield. When they planned to open a seafood restaurant in downtown Rogue River, the couple wanted to import that coastal feel. So they waited two years to get the right building and placed dock piers and other nautical items out front. "It's kind of out the mind's eye from the Oregon Coast, like a little Cape Cod in Reedsport," says Jeff of the small historic house. But the Langfields' commitment to coastal authenticity goes well beyond the decor. Thanks to a family tie to the seafood industry, they bring in fresh catch directly from a half dozen coastal fisheries that stretch from Newport to Crescent City, Calif. They say that means the trip from dock to dinner plate takes days, not weeks like the fresh seafood offered in chain restaurants and grocery stores can. "This is really fresh," Jeff says. His brother, John Langfield, runs Supreme Seafood, a small distribution business that delivers fresh fish from the fisheries to restaurants on the coast -- and to Crawdaddies three days a week. Business Card Company name : Crawdaddies Fish & Chowder House Service : Seafood restaurant and order-driven fish market Location : 210 Main St., Rogue River Phone number : 582-0808 Hours : 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. Closed Sunday. Owners : Jeff and Cherol Langfield No. of employees : Four Notable : Thanks to a more direct link to coastal fisheries, the restaurant hopes to find success offering fresher fish to Rogue Valley diners. Not everything on the menu comes straight from the Oregon Coast, but the bulk of it does. "There are shellfish that you can't legally sell without going through the processors," explains Cherol, noting that the larger prawns diners like usually come from warmer waters, anyway. The Langfields opened Crawdaddies in October and have seen a steady stream of business since. The idea began brewing two years ago when the couple took a refrigerated van of fresh seafood to a farmer's market in Ashland. They quickly sold out and the smell of opportunity was as strong as the scent inside the empty van. "That began to speak to the fact that people were hungry for the real thing," says Jeff. Crawdaddies also sells fresh fish by the order on a limited basis. Jeff would like to expand the fish market but can't just now. Why? He hasn't quit his day -- or, more accurately, night -- job yet. He works the graveyard shift running a boiler at Royal Oak's charcoal briquet plant in White City. "I get off at 7 in the morning and go right to Cash & Carry and get all the dry goods we're going to need for the day," he says. After that, he grabs a few hours of sleep and helps with the dinner shift before heading back to Royal Oak. Jeff hopes to leave his night job behind in the next few months -- as soon as he's confident the restaurant can support the family. Family is a major reason the Langfields started the restaurant. "In our hearts, we wanted something we could do together," says Jeff, who's 45. His wife is 42. Both the couple's sons, Scott and David, work at the restaurant, as does Scott's wife, Leah, and Cherol's mother, Wilda Sprinkle. Crawdaddies isn't the Langfields' first restaurant. About 20 years ago, they ran Bridge Hole Deli in Shady Cove. They gave it up because having young children and running the deli proved too much to juggle. To finance Crawdaddies, the Langfields sold some rental properties. They had their eye on the building for two years before they could finally negotiate the right price. They spent $45,000 -- and most of last summer -- remodeling the building. While they felt the building fit the image they wanted to create, they were concerned about its size. It's about 1,100 square feet and seats only 25 inside; there is a patio for outside seating when the weather permits. The Langfields considered setting up shop in Grants Pass or Medford, but decided to stay in Rogue River, where they've lived for five years. While Crawdaddies is open for lunch, the Langfields say they are focused on dinner. "This town lacked a good dinnerhouse," says Cherol. "We have good restaurants in town but there was nowhere you can get soup, salad and a main course. And nobody had seafood." The Langfields know the failure rate for new restaurants is high. They think they'll get plenty of business in the summer months but are less confident about the winter. They say the first winter has gone well but they aren't sure how much to chalk up to the novelty of a new place. "This may not go and it might," Cherol says. "But someday when we are old and lay our heads down, we'll know we tried to do what we wanted to do." Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA