The story of Stillwater Fish House & Oyster Bar began 10 years ago on a beach in Hawaii when Jesse Felder, then a 21-year-old Army infantryman fresh out of basic training, and his buddies were looking for a place to camp out under the stars.

Through an intriguing set of circumstances, Felder is now the owner of Whitefish’s newest restaurant and his father-in-law, Dan Vogel, is the general manager.

“There’s been a whole set of unusual opportunities,” Vogel said. “The seeds of the story carry on.”

But more about that later.

What restaurant patrons need to know upfront is that Stillwater Fish House, located in the former Shaker’s restaurant on U.S. 93 across from Skyles Lake, opened its doors less than two weeks ago offering a menu almost unheard of in Montana.

Fresh fish? In Montana?

That doesn’t compute for many folks around these parts, Felder said.

“Some have had bad first impressions” of restaurants that tried to specialize in fish, he said. Others were turned off by “horrendously expensive” fish entrees.

What Stillwater Fish House brings to the table is a varied menu of fresh fish and seafood entrees at prices that won’t break the bank.

How Felder and Vogel pull it off is through their connections in Hawaii, and specifically, the Honolulu fish market. If they need mahi-mahi, they call their supplier and have the fish shipped fresh within 24 hours. They also deal with the high-end Honolulu Fish Co., which buys only the finest fish at the Honolulu market.

Thus diners will find dishes such as Hawaiian Hamachi Crudo and Miso Butterfish on the menu, along with a variety of fish dishes, from Maine lobsters to fresh wild salmon and steelhead trout.

Stillwater’s Trout Papillote, steamed with vegetables in an Italian-made clear cooking bag made from rice, has been an immediate crowd-pleaser.

“It’s probably the dish we’ve worked the most on,” Vogel said. “The cooking bag allows for no-fat cooking and keeps the broth inside. We cut the bag at the table.

“It’s an amazing product,” he said of the exclusive cooking bags, adding he doubts anyone else in Montana is using the product.

With all of their dishes, the goal is to offer “bold, impactful flavors,” Vogel said.

For those who want a break from seafood, Stillwater Fish House has four “ranch” entrees on the menu: Two varieties of steak, a brined and grilled pork chop and brined and grilled chicken.

Vogel’s knowledge in the restaurant business runs deep. He worked for many years in high-end restaurant management at places such as Beverly’s at The Coeur d’ Alene Resort and the exclusive Patsy Clark’s in Spokane. He later moved to Hawaii and worked as a wine wholesaler, rubbing elbows with some of the finest Hawaiian restaurants and participating in food shows and other events.

Back to the story of how Felder connected with Vogel. It was Vogel’s wife, April, who bumped into Felder and his Army buddies on that Hawaiian beach a decade ago. With rain in the forecast, she told them she couldn’t let them sleep on the beach as they had planned, so she put them up on the covered porch of their home.

The boys stayed with the Vogels the entire weekend. Later, when Felder — a Southern gentleman raised in Austin, Texas — stopped by to drop off a bouquet of flowers, April Vogel suggested he ask their daughter Adrienne out on a date.

The two hit it off and eventually got married.

Felder, whose palate gravitated to Coors Light in those days, soon found himself learning a lot about wine from his father-in-law.

“Dan would pull out a glass of amazing wine. I hated it at first, but it wasn’t long before I loved wine,” he recalled.

The Vogels headed to the Flathead Valley in 2006 where Dan took a job as wine division manager for Fun Beverage, turning down other international job offers because the avid skier “needed mountains desperately.”

It was Whitefish’s sense of community and the opportunity to carry on their work with nonprofit groups that drew the Vogels to the resort town.

Felder and his wife moved to Austin after he got out of the service in 2007, and he jumped into real estate — just about the time the national economy was ready to take a nose-dive.

Still, Felder did well in real estate. Austin remains the No. 1 real estate market in the country, he noted.

After spending holidays and vacations in Whitefish with the Vogels, it wasn’t long before they, too, were lured to Northwest Montana.

“I knew getting into real estate here wouldn’t be great, as the new guy on the block,” Felder said. “So I thought, this is my opportunity, and what better than to team up with Dan.”

The two took a long, hard look at the restaurant needs of the Flathead Valley, even conducting a feasibility study about restaurant offerings in other ski resort towns.

Vogel studied menus and found local restaurants weren’t focusing on fish dishes.

“I had to ask, is there a barrier for the acquisition of fish in Montana?” Vogel said.

What they discovered were two companies — Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Pacific Seafood — that were more than able to meet their needs.

Stillwater Fish House’s oyster bar is a new twist for the Flathead. It offers four varieties of fresh oysters daily, depending on what’s in season. Last week the bar featured Kumamotos, Virginicas, Naked Roys and Day Bobs.

Vogel’s restaurant experience and Felder’s business savvy are an apt pairing.

“This is not a hobby and it’s not an experiment,” Vogel stressed. “Our game plan is simple. We want value and incredible food. It takes enormous focus to make it work.”

There’s been a little serendipity along the way to opening the restaurant. Their chef, Brad Pryor, had recently moved to the Flathead with a boatload of experience cooking in Alaskan fish houses.

And there’s been some camaraderie among the cooking community. John’s Angel Catering loaned them its kitchen to develop their menu and doled out a dollop of advice here and there. “We’ve created a great partnership with them,” Vogel said.

“Our goal is to go after the locals,” Vogel said. “If they love us we’ll do well.”

Felder said he’s heartened by the community support. “They’re rooting for us,” he said.

Tourists and Canadian visitors are other important segments of their clientele. The restaurant already has caught the attention of the many Canadians who travel right by their door on U.S. 93 to the Flathead.

Stillwater Fish House is on Facebook, an important marketing tool, Vogel said, because “it gives us dialog with guests worldwide.”

The restaurant is located at 2635 U.S. 93 W., three miles north of Whitefish. It’s open from 4 to 11 p.m. daily.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.