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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2015)
comers will get the opportunity to practice and expand upon developing skill sets, as students of Seaside High School’s Culinary Arts Program will design and prepare Friday night’s Brewer’s Dinner. Inviting the students to cook — and for the Culinary Arts Program to reap the proceeds after food and logistical costs — was Griffin’s sec- ond big addition to the 2015 festival. It came to him last year at the Oregon Governor’s Confer- ence on Tourism in Sunriver. The ban- quet meal, served to many hundreds of attendees, had been prepared by the Sea- side students. “I was struck by the quality of it,” said Griffin. “I thought, why can’t we have the kids do that at the Brewer’s Dinner in Sea- side?” “I thought it was a great idea,” added Duffy. “We want to acknowledge this great culinary program here, that it’s a pipeline for kids to get to make exciting foods.” Griffin figured too that students cycling through the program would keep the meal fresh. “What people are looking for in brewer’s GLQQHUV´VDLG*ULI¿Q³LVWKDWWKH\ZDQWVRPH- thing new and something cool.” For the dinner, students of the Culinary Arts program, led by Chef Chris Holen of %DNHG $ODVND ZLOO GHVLJQ DQG VHUYH ¿YH courses to be paired with beers from brew- eries along the North Coast, including Buoy Beer, Fort George, Pelican, Bill’s Tavern and Seaside Brewing Company. Selection of those SDLULQJVZLOOUHPDLQXSWR*ULI¿QDQGKLVFRQ- temporaries. “I just sent the menu out to the breweries to suggest what beers they would think would pair best with the different courses,” said Grif- ¿Q$VRISUHVVWLPHWKRVHVHOHFWLRQVKDYH\HW to be made. The choices must be made from among a multitude. “This is where beer actually gets a little PRUH VRSKLVWLFDWHG WKDQ ZLQH´ VDLG *ULI¿Q “There’s a lot more styles of beer.” “For example,” he added, “I got an email from Ken at Pelican, who suggested a beer for the second course, a soup that had a fancy cheddar kind of basing. In the notes he said, ‘I would not use an IPA unless this white ched- GDUZDVWKHGRPLQDQWÀDYRULQWKHVRXS¶´ However tantalizing the brewed pairings may be, the culinary students are creating the bigger buzz. Twice as many tickets —125 — were available this year, and they went fast: As of press time, the event sold out. *ULI¿Q PHDQZKLOH IHHOV ORFDO LQWHUHVW blooming. “I notice a lot of younger folks who are big community movers and shakers wanting to be DSDUWRILW´*ULI¿QVDLGRIWKHGLQQHU³%HIRUH it was a little bit more passive. Now people DUH NLQG RI ¿JKWLQJ for spots. We’ve got a big buy-in from lo- cal businesses who have the opportunity to sponsor tables, and they’re jumping at it.” All of this excites the Culinary Arts pro- gram students, who ZLOO QRW RQO\ EHQH¿W from the funds raised, but will be tested on their execution Friday evening. It is, in effect, WKH FODVV¶ ¿QDO H[DP Photo by Andrew Tonry And while the students might be sweating, Jimmy Griffin, co-owner of Seaside Brewing Company, approached the Seaside Chamber of Commerce with some ideas to make this *ULI¿Q FRXOGQ¶W EH happier. “Now it’s more than just enjoying a fan- tastic meal and a bunch of fantastic beers,” he said. “You get all of that plus you get to help kids in your own community. It’s a lot more symbiotic than just a dinner.” Saturday’s events too have charitable aims. $IWHUFRVWVWLFNHWDQGWDVWLQJVDOHVZLOOEHQH¿W the Seaside Food Bank. $V VXFK *ULI¿Q VDLG DOO SDUWLFLSDWLQJ breweries are essentially donating their prod- uct in exchange for marketing and out-reach opportunities. ³,W¶V D UHDOO\ XQLTXH GHDO´ VDLG *ULI¿Q “They get to support the community, they get Submitted photo to come out and tell their story, and they get Photo by Joshua Bessex Last year’s Pouring at the Coast Brewer’s Dinner featured corned to do it in the coolest place in the world, on the North Coast of Oregon. So everybody Seaside Brewing Company brewer Vince Berg checks in on the beef croquettes with horseradish mustard sauce. This year, the five- course menu will be prepared by Seaside Culinary Arts students. Mutha Hefer beer he’s brewing. wins, all the way around.” ‘A lot of the young breweries are self-distributing, and they haven’t reached the valley yet. So a lot of the people who are coming out will get to try those beers for the first time. That makes it really cool for people.’ Submitted photot Pourinng at the Coast takes place in the Seaside Convention Center. This year the festival features over 35 breweries, food vendors and live music. March 5, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 9