SUNRIVER – The Deschutes River Trout House Restaurant may initially draw diners for its Cascade beauty.

Set in a golden meadow along a curve of the Deschutes River, the Trout House boasts views of jagged mountains, swooping ospreys and kaleidoscope sunsets.

But people return again and again for the restaurant’s ocean bounty.

For 21 years, this Sunriver restaurant has served seafood from the seven seas. The menu is crowded with delicacies like Oregon-raised salmon, New Zealand-harvested mussels, Hawaiian ahi tuna and Northwest rainbow trout.

It’s a matter of pride for owners Keith and Kathy Morrow. Keith Morrow said diners have included governors and celebrities, natives and vacationers, and even the proprietors of the famed McCormick and Schmick’s seafood restaurant chain based in Portland.

”It’s fresher than the coast,” enthused Keith Morrow, an engaging man who considers fishing and seafood a lifestyle.

While patrons can choose from a variety of non-seafood options like veal tenderloin or vegetable fettuccine, Morrow said they decided to feature seafood when they opened the restaurant in 1981.

”Now, we’ve never been in the restaurant business before, but we both love seafood and I do a tremendous amount of fishing,” Keith Morrow said. At the time, there wasn’t much fresh seafood here.”

The Morrows moved to Central Oregon in 1971. Keith Morrow owned a real estate business. They bought the old fishing guide building on the river as an investment.

Soon, they remodeled the building and opened it as the Deschutes River Trout House Restaurant, or just the Trout House, as it’s better known. It soon became a Sunriver staple.

Today, the selection surprises the moment diners stroll through the door. White boards in the waiting area greet customers with the day’s specials – there are usually seven to 11 offerings for dinner.

The restaurant makes a point of offering at least four different kinds of oysters on the half shell at all times. Chefs smoke their king salmon and oysters on site. Seafood makes its way into many of the quiches, omelettes and lunch items.

The wine list is also extensive, inviting diners to toss aside the notion that only whites go with fish. Keith Morrow takes a personal interest in the wines, noting, ”So many red wines go so well with seafood, it’s amazing.”

The restaurant was packed on a recent Wednesday night. Couples dined by candlelight at tables for two along the glass windows with the river lapping beneath them, while families occupied larger tables in the middle of the vaulted-ceiling room.

The Morrows remodeled and expanded the building again in 1998. It’s now trimmed with logs and woods with paintings of fish and framed flies adorning the walls. A deck provides outdoor dining and even better views of the bank across the water that draws deer, elk, birds and coyotes.

Although shorts and a grubby T-shirt would seem out of place at the Trout House, the establishment touts itself as casual. It’s pretty common, for instance, to spot Keith Morrow in a short-sleeved fishing shirt and khaki pants. But fancy duds are certainly allowed.

”It’s not like we’ll cut your tie off or anything,” he said, noting that the restaurant overflows with dressy customers during events like the Sunriver Music Festival.

The reception at the Trout House is decidedly causal, as well. There is no slick pretension here.

Executive Chef Jonathan McMahan believes the Trout House has a combination of fine dining and warm feeling. McMahan studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City and worked in the city for a time, but he prefers serving diners here.

”They come with their appetites and are surprised by the creativity,” he said. McMahan will vary specials from those with a Southwest flair to a San Francisco-style plate, all the while taking advantage of the hazelnuts or berries Oregon offers.

Providing good food in a great place to live is Morrow’s goal, as well.

”That’s why we live here, it’s that simple,” he said, standing on the dock.

”We’ll keep doing it as long as we’re having fun.”

Heidi Hagemeier can be reached at 541-383-0353 or hhagemeier@bendbulletin.com.