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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2016)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016 Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Water under the bridge Compiled by Bob Duke From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers Photos by R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian 10 years ago this week — 2006 Astoria High School may be faced with a serious problem following the 2006 spring sports season. Where in the world are they gonna put all that hardware? The Fighting Fishermen won a baseball title last week, and added a pair of track team championships Friday afternoon in Seaside. They’ll look to add more later this week in state playoff competition, with a good majority of the track team heading off for the state meet which begins Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene. Warrenton and Gearhart leaders considered extensive details of the Clatsop Community College siting process Tuesday night — and afterward came on board with the consensus that John Warren Field is a solid choice. In both communities, CCC President Greg Hamann asked city leaders to embrace the Astoria site on the clear understand- ing that if it doesn’t look feasible, another site — possibly in War- renton — would be given serious consideration. Efforts to create a Columbia-Paciic National Heritage Area took a leap forward Thursday. Four Northwest lawmakers joined forces to introduce legislation designed to preserve the historical treasures of Oregon’s early years and boost tourism and heritage-related businesses. U.S. Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., intro- duced legislation in the Senate Thursday to consider creating a National Her- itage Area along the Lower Columbia River. U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash., introduced identical legislation in the House of Representatives. Smith said it was a natural follow-up from the buzz in the region during the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. 50 years ago — 1966 Washington and Oregon isheries interests will meet with Washington Gov. Dan Evans in Olympia Wednesday, according to Dr. E.W. Har- vey of the Astoria Seafoods laboratory. Washington troll ishermen are mainly responsible for the meeting, Dr. Harvey reported. “They have asked for support from our side of the river,” he noted. Oregon Gov. Mark O. Hat- ield has also been invited to the meeting, slated for 4 p.m. Dr. Harvey said Washing- ton trollers hope to get some support from Washington oficials to alleviate Russian ishing off Washington and Oregon. Medallions commemorating dedication of Astoria Bridge will be used this summer in trade promotion efforts in connec- tion with the dedication. Medal- lion was designed by Rolf Klep. (Photo by Jean Hallaux) TOKELAND, Wash. — Beach dwellers living along the north shore of Willapa harbor have too little time and too much tide, neither of which, of course, wait for anyone. Savagely, with surging precision, the Paciic Ocean is claiming Cape Shoalwater and Toke peninsulas for its own. Today, ocean freighters steam in a channel 90 feet deep where only 18 months ago the homes beach peo- ple stood. Twice a day the never ending tide gushes the full length of Willapa har- bor draining that large bay through the pass at the north end. Cape Shoal- water, which once guarded that pass, no longer deserves its name. It’s little more than a quiet curve in the coastline. An organization know as the Cape Shoalwater — Toke Point Anit-Ero- sion Project is trying to muster forces to hold back the sea. But so far its efforts to stem the tide have been washed out. 75 years ago — 1941 Although much has been said in the last year of Astoria’s hous- ing shortage, more than 55 irst-class new homes within vicinity of the $5,000 class have arisen, are being completed or have been started within the last 12-month period. There is a mountain of evidence supporting the fact of hous- ing inadequacy, especially in the rental ield. The 1940 census lists 1,501 dwelling units for Astoria. As of last weekend, there were listed with the major realtors of the city, one two-room apartment and two houses for rent. President Roosevelt today created the ofice of civilian defense to mobi- lize full powers of civilians for home defense efforts and named Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York as its director. La Guardia will retain his post as mayor of New York. The OCD, which will give every man, woman and child an opportunity to do his or her “bit” for the defense effort, will be organized under the ofice of emergency management on a strictly voluntary basis, the president said. All local salmon canneries now have their own salmon oil extraction plants, six years after the irst experiments in removal of salmon oil from edible trimming were made here. Colored photographs of seining operations on the Columbia River, an Astoria port docks scene, and a splendid and unusual shot of the Astoria col- umn appear in the June issue of National Geographic magazine accompa- nying an article entitled “The Columbia Turns on Power” written by May- nard Owen Williams. Aaron Bedard is the executive chef at Stephanie Inn in Cannon Beach. Chef celebrates world around him SOUTHERN EXPOSURE B y R.J. M aRx C ANNON BEACH — The Stephanie Inn’s reputation precedes it and anyone looking for the most luxe look at Cannon Beach would be wise to take the plunge. Located in the southern part of town, tucked on a side street off Hemlock by the ocean, you can almost feel the luxury lapping as you walk up the stairs. The Sokol Blosser Winemaker Dinner is a regular event pairing the restaurant’s extraordinary cuisines and the wines of Sokol Blosser. Being in the upstair’s dining room makes you feel like a grown-up, but not in that stuffy way. Rather you know you are about to have something demanding of your senses, your experiences and your ine taste. Chefs and sommelier ratchet up the game — we are moving to another level and expectations run high. When you are eating here, you feel you have arrived. The atmosphere is as elegant as the cuisine is sophisti- cated. With staff attentive but not too solicitous. Everything strikes the right bal- ance —the Japanese have a word for it, “umami,” sometimes deined as that uniquely perfect degree of “mouth-feel.” Learning the ropes I met Executive Chef Aaron Bedard on location in his dining room a week after the dinner, because I don’t like to mix business and indulgences. We sat down prior to the lunch hour in the din- ing room in one of those glorious Can- non Beach days where the sky is as azure blue as the Mediterranean Sea. Bedard’s upbringing is unlikely for a master of haute cuisine. He was raised in the restaurant business in La Grande where his father ran a chain of KFCs. “When I was 14, I started work- ing in restaurants just to make money and keep busy,” he said. “I learned a good, solid work ethic. “I also realized I didn’t want to be in that style of restaurant environ- ment. I wanted to be in a little more reined food and service. This it into that really well.” After graduating Western Culinary Institute Cordon Bleu, Bedard came to Cannon Beach an intern under Execu- tive Chef Crystal Corbin. “I didn’t have that much of a palate until I got training and working here at the hotel, under some really fantastic chefs to guide me,” Bedard said. Bedard is the “Iron Chef Goes Coastal” People’s Choice award win- ner for his short-rib ravioli, a dish la- vored with Boursin cheese and Dijon mustard. Fresh homemade pasta, of course, and a bleu cheese cream sauce complement the dish. Chef Aaron Bedard and staff at the winemaker’s dinner. Caramel flan, dried apricot com- pote, caramel tuile cookie and candied Marcona almonds. Bedard’s upbringing is unlikely for a master of haute cuisine. Guests and more While the restaurant gets “a lot of guests” from the hotel, everyone is welcome. “We do get a lot of guests from the hotel,” Bedard said. “We’re attached to the hotel and we’re very service-ori- ented for the hotel. But I think our cli- entele is someone looking to expe- rience fantastic service, Northwest cuisine in a nice romantic, quiet, pro- fessional environment.” Bedard, 39, lives in Seaside and is the father of three. He deines Northwest cuisine as taking fresh, local ingredients and pre- paring them simply. “We have such beautiful ingredients, I try to just kind of let them sing a little, let that be the highlight,” Bedard said. The Cannon Beach atmosphere is more free-spirited than East Coast din- ing experiences and more “rustic” than the Portland restaurant scene, he said. “That’s one of the reasons I like it. It’s a slower pace. It’s really nice.” Celebrity chefs There are more than a couple celebrity chefs in Cannon Beach — Jonathan Hoffman, John Newman and Will LeRoux immediately come to mind. “We don’t necessarily have a scene, but the culture here is kind of tight,” Bedard said. “I know almost every chef in town, and we all kind of take care of each other, which is really awesome.” “Sometimes you run out of some- thing,” he added. “I can call Chef New- man. We borrow back and forth. The camaraderie is really nice to have.” Locally, Bedard said he loves to Fennel dusted halibut fillet with shaved asparagus, toasted almonds and Bee Local Honey beurre blanc. dine at the Irish Table, and he likes the loose atmosphere of the Hardware Store. “It’s very modern and the food is fantastic there.” Chef Dave Bonnett of the Hard- ware Store (aka “Screw and Brew) and Bedard helped judge the 2015 American Legion Chili Cook-Off, and Bedard is one of the biggest supporters of the Cannon Beach Farmers’ Mar- ket, returning in June. Bedard said he welcomed the arrival of Public Coast and Pelican Brewing, adding Cannon Beach as a destination to the brew-pub scene. The ‘high mark’ With new restaurants coming, Bedard said he sees a need for him and his staff to “hit the high mark.” “We’re striving for the last 5 per- cent,” he said. “The 95 percent is pretty good, but it’s the last 5 percent that really pushes us above. We have to watch the salt and pepper, we have to watch the cooking — every single day.” The restaurant’s spring menu fea- tures spring salmon, which is “the best this time of year coming out of the cold water, with just a little more fat to it, a little more butter lavor,” Bedard said. “We’re also featuring morel mushrooms, sweet asparagus, rhubarb — all of our local stuff that’s in season now. “We have a lot of fantastic feed- back. Our guests are really great. We also get criticism/feedback too, which is good because it keeps us in check. We know we’re still not perfect. We have to strive for greatness everyday. If we’re learning from those mistakes, we’re growing still.” It made me think how lucky we are to have such great restaurants at our ingertips. Even if we can only afford to go to a Stephanie Inn once a month or every six months, such a splurge is good for the soul. R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s South County reporter and editor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach Gazette.