March 23, 2007
by Brett Oppegaard of The Columbian

Barbecue chicken served with Caesar salad, front, and barbecue pork sandwich on a seeded ciabatta bun. Photo by Mike Salsbury of The Columbian.

Why: The only independent bakery amid the tree-lined tranquility of Fourth Avenue in downtown Camas, Prune Hill Bread and Wine Company makes its bread on site for sandwiches and to accompany meals. The shop also has about 600 bottles of wine, specializing in Washington varieties from the Columbia Valley, the gorge and Walla Walla. Specialties: smoked meats, particularly prime rib, chicken and sausages. Those typically are smothered in sauce. A favorite is the barbecue sauce recipe that took nine years to develop. Napkins will be needed. Prune Hill Bread and Wine primarily offers sandwiches and salads for lunch.

Cost: A whole smoked chicken is $6. A Cajun salmon dinner is $20. Grilled sandwiches range from $6 (grilled cheese) to $8 (turkey, caramelized onions and three cheeses). A piece of pineapple upside down cake is $2.50.

Best deals: From 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays, this place offers wine tasting accompanied by live piano music. Cost is $5 to $10 for the drinks, depending on the amount of wine served, plus $5 for a buffet dinner that includes hot entrees as well as salad and bread. On Saturdays, also from 5 to 8 p.m., it's burgers and beer, with half-pound burgers for $7 to $12 (a Kobe bacon cheeseburger) and $3.50 for imported bottled beer.

Atmosphere: Owner Glenn Sackett hangs his antique gun collection on the walls and blares blues music in the background.

Back story: Sackett ran a restaurant in Alaska for a decade before meeting his Vancouver wife of two years, Dorothy, and moving to Clark County. The couple also operate the Smokehouse Grill in Vancouver, with son Trevalyan helping to run the Camas cafe.

Commentary on Camas: "It's the hottest market, unless you are in the Pearl District (of Portland)," Sackett says. "Camas will be all of that and more someday. There are a lot of people down here, a lot of foot traffic. ? This is my sixth restaurant, second in this area, and none of them have taken off faster."

Rekindling history: Sackett says he found an oven from the 1940s in the back of his shop. So he did some tinkering, and he now uses it. He thinks it belonged to the Hometown Bakery, which he says was in this same retail spot through the 1960s.

Where: 228 N.E. Fourth Ave., Camas.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays

Contact: 360-833-2393.