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COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
143rd YEAR 1R 3
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Smart people,
smart cities,
smart growth
Find your niche, economist says
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The Daily Astorian
Photos by Andrew Tonry/For The Daily Astorian
Chefs Jonathan Hoffman of Chef’s Table catering and Sean Whittaker of Astoria Coffee House & Bistro plate their dishes.
At Iron Chef, 3 courses
and a cloud of squash
Winning dish
‘almost like a little
brunch for dinner’
See FORUM, Page 8A
A ¿ ght for the
ocean’s future
%\ A1'RE: T21RY
For The Daily Astorian
Locals strive to keep nearshore
waters free from power generation
6
(AS,'( ² ,n a whirlwind of
steam and sizzle, the ,ron Chefs
went to work. For a brief, but furi-
ous, hour they whipped, sautéed, baked
and boiled. And, just under the wire of
the ¿ nal buzzer, beneath bright lights
and before expectant eyes, each two-
man team delivered its own elegantly
plated, fragrantly enticing, three-course
meal to the judges.
,n a competition that was, as judge
and renowned Portland restaura teur Vita-
ly Paley put it, “neck and neck,” the team
of chefs Jonathan Hoffman (Chef’s Table
catering) and Sean Whittaker (Astoria
Coffee House & Bistro) was declared the
winner Tuesday.
The victory amounted to a title de-
fense for Hoffman and Whittaker, who
took the honor in 2014. That they were
once again paired together by random se-
lection offered a head start.
“, think it helped out a lot,” Whittak-
er said of their previous experience in
the competition. “We knew exactly how
we did it last year and it worked, so we
thought: why not do it again?”
Their strategy revolved around a divi-
sion of labor. Whittaker handled the ¿ rst
and second courses ² a frisée salad with
(conomist Joe Cortright’s most telling advice to the
audience at Thursday’s Columbia Forum might also be
the most obvious: education is the best economic invest-
ment strategy.
Cortright, who last presented at the forum ¿ ve years
ago amid the depths of the Great Recession, described
an Oregon and U.S. economy once again growing, albeit
a new economy not focused on the same sectors some
might wax nostalgic over.
The term “recovery” is a misnomer, he said, as the
economy can have more employment but never gains
back all the same jobs it had before a downturn. While
natural resources are still an important part of Oregon’s
heritage and a large part of it’s economy, Cortright said,
growth is being driven by high-tech ¿ elds.
“We’re in a global economy today, and the biggest
determinant of how successful you are as an individu-
al, how successful your business is, how successful your
community and state is, is really dependent on the knowl-
edge of the people,” Cortright said.
Cortright is an economist with ,mpresa Consulting, a
¿ rm in Portland specializing in metropolitan economies,
knowledge-based industries and education policy. He is
also director of the City Observatory, an urban -policy
think tank using data to analyze cities and the policies
that shape them.
%\ .AT+ERY1 +28*+T21
EO Media Group
LO1G B(ACH, Wash. ² Fishermen are looking
keep their grounds through Paci¿ c County’s new shore-
line buffers.
The Shoreline Management Program limits develop-
ment to protect water quality, habitat and coastal func-
tions. For years, local agencies have worked to rewrite
the program to match new state guidelines.
The shoreline plan buffers will redraw the rules of the
coast.
Most of the state’s outer coastline is federally con-
trolled by the National Park Service or by local tribes.
Out of the state’s remaining 38 miles of coast open for
¿ shing and development, roughly 32 of those miles bor-
der Paci¿ c County.
The limited space has caused ¿ shermen to worry that
offshore development will cut them off from the catch.
“We realized the SMP really is the teeth of what
happens in the ocean,” said plan Chairman Tom Kol-
lasch.
He said the prgram’s authority extends three miles
into the ocean. ,f the buffer’s language is adopted by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the
new guidelines also could determine development rules
for federal waters and reach 200 miles offshore.
ABOVE: Sean Whittaker, Jonathan Hoff-
man, Abe Bund of Newmans at 988 and
Aaron Bedard of Stephanie Inn at the
2015 Iron Chef Goes Coastal. RIGHT:
Abe Bund of Newman s at 988 works his
dishes at Iron Chef Goes Coastal.
roasted squash, bacon and a lemon-hon-
ey vinaigrette and a squash gnocchi with
carbonara cream sauce, ' ungeness crab,
seared scallops and a wild mushroom
rag. Hoffman took care of the entree ²
a spaghetti squash and savory butternut
squash scone, crab cake and hollandaise
sauce topped with micro-greens, roasted
vegetables, fresh herbs and a squash pu-
ree. Hoffman described it the dish as “al-
most like a little brunch for dinner.”
See CHEF, Page 8A
See OCEAN, Page 8A
:hen the tsunami hits, maNe
sure guests NnRZ Zhat tR dR
Tsunami-aware
meeting focuses
on hospitality
%\ &Y1T+,A
:A6+,&.2
Coast River
Business Journal
You own a hotel on the
north Oregon Coast. A tsuna-
mi is coming. What should
you do?
The groundwork is a plan
Ey the Oregon Of¿ ce of (mer-
gency Management, displayed
this week to help hospitality
owners and workers help vis-
itors to higher grounds.
The meeting, hosted by
Karen Parmelee, GeoHazards
awareness coordinator for
the “Tsunami Safe: Hospital-
ity Begins with Safety” state
program, which launched in
October. The program calls
for training for management
and staff, tsunami awareness
education for employees and
the dissemination of tsuna-
mi awareness information
to guests in order to prepare
workers and visitors for a
Cascadia Subduction Zone
earthquake and possible tsu-
nami. So far, about 30 hotels
along the Oregon Coast are
participating in the program,
Parmelee said.
“The big thing really is,
just open that dialogue. As
See TSUNAMI, Page 7A
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