Rathdrum, Idaho, is not without restaurants. Its current food scene includes two spots that serve Mexican dishes, one offering Chinese food, several burger and pizza joints, a brewery, numerous diners, and nearly as many fast food chains. But in 1993 when Stephen Short was newly arrived to the small town as a young adult, few of those places existed.
Arriving from Morro Bay, California, where he'd worked in the restaurant industry as a teenager, Short envisioned creating an eatery that would appeal to various age groups, including recent high school graduates like himself.
"My idea of rock-and-roll fish and chips was kinda like the first thought I had in my head," says Short, who noticed at the time that there wasn't anything catering to the younger demographic in the prairie town northwest of Coeur d'Alene.
"It was gonna be a loud, fun music-[oriented] hip spot," says Short, who was into music, especially grunge.
"Nirvana was a thing and they had a song with a lyric that said, 'It's okay to eat fish 'cause they don't have any feelings,'" Short says. He knew it wasn't true but thought the lyric was clever.
Nearly 30 years later, Short is using the phrase on his website for Fish On, a funky, fast-casual eatery he opened last month. The Rathdrum restaurant features fine-dining touches and affordable dishes that dip into American, Asian and Creole traditions.
"John the Fisherman" ($14) is Fish On's version of fish and chips, for example, subbing rockfish for cod, or the trendier but more expensive halibut. The poke bowl ($16) offers a choice of diced yellowfin tuna or octopus marinating in traditional soy sauce, along with a Vietnamese nc chm slaw, avocado, English cucumber and lime-ginger sauce over jasmine rice.
Octopus also gets a southern treatment in a sandwich ($15) with Creole spices — think smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic, onion — and Louisiana "comeback" sauce, which Short describes as "Creole-style fry sauce."
The Sichuan Fishbowl ($16) was inspired by a Sichuan salt-and-pepper fish dish Short enjoyed during the brief time he lived in Seattle. It combines crispy rockfish over "chili crispy noodles," an invention by Fish On chef Pete Edge.
"It's basically fried garlic and fried chili peppers tossed over rice vermicelli noodles, and it's in chili oil," Short explains. "It's spicy, though," he adds. "It's not, like, melt-your-face-off, but it's got some heat for sure."
Short met Edge in 2012 when the chef was working at Paragon Brewing in Coeur d'Alene and Short had recently moved back to Rathdrum from Seattle. They stayed in touch when Edge left Paragon to work at the former Fleur de Sel restaurant as sous chef alongside 2017 James Beard Award best chef semifinalist Laurent Zirotti.
When Fleur de Sel closed in 2021, Edge was considering moving out of the area, says Short, who was then trolling for a way to bring his restaurant plans to life.
"When I showed [Edge] the space and showed him my menu, he asked if he could just join forces with me and become my head guy in the kitchen and run my kitchen for me," Short says.
The menu reflects Short's pescatarian lifestyle. In the seafood jambalaya ($15), for example, instead of pork to create the rich base for the Creole-style stew, Edge uses lobster broth.
"There is no meat or meat product of any kind even in the stocks of a soup or anything," Short says, other than fish.
And because they wanted to offer a healthier alternative to deep-fried foods, many dishes can be ordered with a pan-seared protein instead, like the Fish On tacos ($15) with choice of rockfish, shrimp or octopus.
Short got lots of help to create the funky look and feel of Fish On. Local artist Lindsey Davis Johnson painted a giant blue fish and orange octopus arms on the building's exterior wall facing Highway 53.
The vibrant color scheme carries through to the inside. Walls are aqua green, while dining room seating is coral colored. The paneled ceiling is painted black, but Short placed transparent images of fish over fluorescent lighting segments to create the sense that you're underwater.
The restaurant has a small bar area resembling a thatched hut. It currently serves beer and wine only, but its liquor license application is pending, Short says.
Short wanted a pinball machine for Fish On and found two options, with themes of Elvis Presley or NASCAR. He chose "the king."
"Yeah, we already had a music motif going, and I just thought it was the perfect fit," he says.
Short's wife, Katie, gets credit for the tables, which feature a visual mashup, from oceanic scenes to '50s-era magazine images. The tables are heavily epoxied, adding shine and whimsy to the space, which looks out to the Super One Foods parking lot and nearby Lakeland High School.
The hallway to the restrooms is also fish-themed with photos provided by North Idaho residents of their "great fishing moments," Short says. After putting the word out on Facebook, Short got more than 200 photos of various shapes and sizes, which are mounted directly on the wall.
People come in just to have their photos taken in front of their own images, he says. "And it gives them a sense of belonging and ownership of a local restaurant," he adds. "I think it's a win-win for everybody." ♦
Fish On • 6613 Commercial Pkwy., Rathdrum • Open Tue-Thu 11 am-9 pm, Fri-Sat 11 am-10 pm • Facebook: Fish On • 208-712-3055
