Capt. Dan Draper demonstrates the technique by which he removes the muffins from their yummy, yummy tops.

Pastry of a different sword
Feds, up and left,
to feed the coast sweet treats

By Niki Price
OREGON COAST TODAY

The new pastry shop at the corner of SW 51st and Hwy. 101 in Lincoln City features trays of freshly-made popovers, chewy chocolate-draped macaroons, sweet and fruity muffin tops, and buttery, flaky scones. They’re all old-fashioned recipes, produced in small batches with real butter, just like your grandma used to make — if your grandmother was a pirate, that is.
Swashbucklers of all description feel right at home at Captain Dan’s Pirate Pastry Shop. Dan and Kathy Draper have decorated their restaurant, open since February, with nautical details, smart-aleck signs, driftwood mobiles and a mechanical parrot named Polly. In between the cookies, pies and cakes you’ll find Nautical Knots (an orange-flavored, yeast-bread twist) and Pirate Eyes (small tarts filled with jam). They serve coffee, tea and ice cream, offer wholesale delivery to area restaurants and take custom orders for birthday cakes and specialty pies.
Presiding over it all is Cap’n Dan himself, who wears a leather tri-corner hat and provides the puns; for example, when you order the jam filled tart, be ready to hear it’s “just another day in Pirate Eyes.” For the Drapers, it’s not far from the truth. These veterans of the financial sector in Portland have decided to spend their retirement — or part of it, anyway — pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams.
“We’re at that stage in life where we said, let’s give it a shot. Let’s do what we want to do,” Dan said. “Kathy has always wanted to open a pastry shop, so we researched the area and decided that it might be a good fit. We asked around, and got positive feedback, so we set out to do it.”
Cap’n Dan, who spent 30 years working for the Portland Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, also had experience as a restaurant cook. Kathy, who worked for the Fed as well as in mortgage banking, had owned her own coffee latte business. And, she loved to bake, having learned at the hips of her mother and grandmother in southern California. When she was a teenager, her baked entries earned blue ribbons at county fairs. Later, Kathy’s pies and cakes always drew cheers at every company potluck.
She believes in old family recipes, like sticky bread and layer cakes, made with real butter and shortening, real whipped cream and fresh eggs, and Northwest favorites like marionberries and hazelnuts. Kathy prides herself on an extra-flaky pie crust and cookies that you can’t stop eating. Since opening the pastry shop, however, this lifelong baker has learned a few new tricks.
After fielding a few requests from wholesale customers, for example, Kathy began working on cinnamon rolls. She developed a recipe using high-quality cinnamon, freshly-grated nutmeg and pecans, which she can assemble in small batches and bake in her convection oven all day long. Her icing is made with butter, powdered sugar and a touch of almond extract.
“The cinnamon rolls have really taken off, all by themselves. People are starting to come in and say they’ve heard we’ve got great cinnamon rolls,” Kathy said. “And when people walk in and smell them, they are easy to convince. I want to have a red light outside. Blink, blink, blink! Cinnamon rolls are done.” 

Dan, Kathy & Polly Draper.

You have to watch what you say around the Drapers, because you might find your comment will stick. Kathy created an oatmeal cookie that was heavy with raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts and pecans; a regular customer once called it “the beefy one.” Now, this signature treat is called the Beefy Captain’s Cookie, and the Drapers rather enjoy the confusion it causes.
“We thought it wouldn’t be very popular because it has so much stuff in it. But if you like oatmeal cookies, you’ll probably like it,” Kathy said. “But people always want to know if it has beef in it.”
The rolls and coffee go down easy with a cup of joe from the Pirate Coffee Company, an unaffiliated but equally arrr-dent roasting and retail shop in Depoe Bay. The Drapers grind each batch as they brew it, so the coffee is always fresh and flavorful.
Customers are welcome to take their bounty and leave, but if they stay, Cap’n Dan and his first mate try to show them a good time. They provide coloring pages and books at a kid-level counter, open to children and adults alike, and give away lots of eye patches and CDPPS temporary tattoos. The tables are laden with “Pirate” magazines, and the shelves are stocked with logo cups, T-shirts and Captain Dan’s Pirate Pastry Shop ball caps. The captain himself used to wear one of the latter, until a young critic stepped in.
“This little kid, he was about 7 years old, he came up and said, ‘Cap’n Dan, pirates don’t wear baseball caps.’ So I decided to wear this pirate’s hat instead,” Dan said. “A few minutes later, he looked at my feet and said, ‘Cap’n Dan, pirates don’t wear Crocs.’ I said, ‘Cap’n Dan does. Cap’n Dan’s feet hurt.’”
Dan is the master of banter and loves a good joke. He’s the product of a military family who traveled the world before landing in Portland, and he’s got the accents to prove it. In addition to the gravelly pirate, Dan can inflect a New England nasal or a Liverpool lilt (think John Lennon before he crossed the pond) on cue.
“It’s just another day in Pirate Eyes! See, I like puns — arr, arr, arr,” Dan said. “We’re actually having fun. That’s the important thing, not to take it too seriously. Serious enough to make a little money, but not too serious. Because it’s got to be fun, or it’s not going to work. At least not for us.”
Captain Dan’s Pirate Pastry Shop, at the corner of SW 51st St. and Hwy. 101 in the Taft neighborhood of Lincoln City, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day except Tuesday. You’ll find menus on the web at www.piratepastry.com. For details or to order ahead, call 541-996-4600.


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