Golfing gourmet

COEUR d'ALENE - For the first time in more than two decades, the clubhouse at Ponderosa Springs Golf Course again has a restaurant.

Anthony Hall, who for more than six years operated Anthony's Midtown Bistro, is back in business, running Backwoods Grill at the par-3 course. For Hall, the Ides of March is a lucky day.

"I opened on March 15, the same date I opened Anthony's," he said.

The tiny kitchen means the breakfast and lunch menus will be about as basic as they can be. Starting with an a la carte breakfast menu with a "build-your-own-breakfast" format, to burgers, salads and sandwiches, the Backwoods Grill theme is "keep it simple, stupid," and "keep it right," Hall said.

One egg, one dollar. Two eggs, two dollars. Ham $3, sausage or bacon, $2, and so it goes. Flank steak hash is $3, with another $2 for hash browns or $3 for potatoes O'Brien.

Oatmeal brulee is seared on top with a torch just as its dessert namesake. Pancakes, waffles, French toast, omelets, a breakfast burrito and biscuits and gravy round out the breakfast menu, served along with lunch every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

And with the club's full bar, after 10 a.m. a bloody Mary or other alcoholic beverage can be served alongside.

A chicken-fried steak is made with Hall's own sausage gravy, and some breads including the fresh-baked focaccia are also made in-house.

There is no soup of the day. Instead, there is the soup of the week, another way Hall simplified.

With a daughter turning 5, he chose not to include dinner at Backwoods Grill.

And leave the checkbook and credit card home, it's cash only, a cost-cutting move.

Portions are generous, with the chicken-fried steak a 10.5 ounce serving of meat, and large orders of fries, offered as an option to soup or salad with any lunch. Chicken strips and fries are sold by the pound separately.

For a guy who spent $40,000 on culinary school, it's a bit of a change.

"The gourmet thing wouldn't go so hot here," Hall said. "I don't want to serve a $12 hamburger."

Nevertheless, ground sirloin is used for burgers, and his jerk chicken includes an apricot-tamarind dipping sauce, combining tangy and sweet flavors.

For a couple of years, Hall has been attempting to produce a live, online, interactive cooking show, Kitchen Voyeur, that would allow viewers to follow the processes of gourmet cooking and ask questions. Technical problems have put that on hold, though the years at Anthony's allowed him to pay off a complete kitchen that is now installed in his garage, until the time that project resumes.

With six employees and seating for nearly 100, including a deck when the weather warms, the return of the restaurant is a welcome addition to customers who have visited the golf course for decades.

"They were missing something not having a restaurant," said Donna Belle Collins of Coeur d'Alene, who showed up on opening day and promised to be a regular. Husband Clarence is especially fond of the biscuits and gravy.

"We missed having something besides peanuts," Donna said.

Ponderosa Springs is just off French Gulch Road on the east side of the city.

Information: 664-1101