BENTON HARBOR — The Ideal Place in Benton Harbor is quickly becoming known for its wonderful seafood dishes thanks in part to the recent addition of executive chef Doug Clark.

Owner Chris Kasperzak reeled in Clark from New Orleans where he worked as a chef for around five years.

“Being from New Orleans in so many ways, Doug’s passion is seafood,” said Kasperzak, who opened the restaurant in 1998 at 212 Territorial Road, at the center of the art district. “We’ve expanded the menu and we keep expanding it because he is creating every day.”

Clark said all the seafood is flown in fresh and never frozen — except shrimp.

“We have about 12 different docks that we talk to… our butter fish dish comes from Hawaii, swordfish, oysters — all stuff like that comes directly to our restaurant.”

Ideal Place has dishes for land lovers too. Fan favorites include ribs, pastas and desserts.

Kasperzak said they operate a scratch kitchen, meaning they make nearly everything themselves from dressings, to sauces to desserts.

“You can truly find anything you want from pasta, meat to a nice appetizer,” Kasperzak said. “We feel very strongly about the quality of our food and put a lot into making it just right.”

The Ideal Place offers specials on weeknights, including discounted Asian ribs on Wednesday and dollar oysters cooked the way you like them on Thursday.

You can find discounts on martinis Tuesday night through Thursday night and discounts on select bottles of wine Friday night.

“The thing I’ve always loved about this restaurant is we’ve been able to maintain a comfortable atmosphere. Anybody is welcome,” Kasperzak said.

Kasperzak closed The Ideal Place in 2007 in hopes of retiring early, but “we all know what happened to the economy in 2008,” she said.

The Ideal Place reopened in May 2010.

Clark isn’t the only cook in the kitchen. He works alongside his mother, Barb, who acted as The Ideal Place’s executive chef until being diagnosed with cancer in January 2011.

Kasperzak said Barb always wanted to work with her son.

You can reach The Ideal Place by phone at 269-934-0460 or online at theidealplace.com.