3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2017
A Finni family recipe
Astoria now
has an Italian
food cart
Obama expands
Cascade-Siskiyou
National Monument
Associated Press
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
In August, John Finni, his
wife, Jen, and the couple’s two
young children moved to Asto-
ria to be near his father, Joe.
It was through Finni’s fam-
ily and professional history
that he decided to open Finni’s
Fine Foods, an Italian food cart
on the west end of Astoria that
opened last month.
Finni’s family emigrated
three generations back from
northern Italy. His grandpar-
ents, John and Millie, owned
Finni’s Ristorante in Califor-
nia’s Central Valley, where
Finni said he and his family all
spent time working.
When he moved to Asto-
ria, Finni, who had managed
a Qdoba Mexican Eats restau-
rant in Colorado and worked
for many years in the food
service industry, went to work
as a server at Baked Alaska.
Hosting one day, Finni said,
he read a story about how his
employer started small and
built up over time. He started
A&F Foods, a limited liabil-
ity corporation partnership
with a friend and former col-
league from his time working
for BP, Troy Anderson. Finni
said Anderson, who works in
Mongolia, is a silent partner,
while he operates the food
cart.
“I’ve always wanted to start
my own business,” he said,
adding he takes the greatest
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
John Finni opened Finni’s Fine Foods at the food cart pod near the Astoria Roundabout
last month.
pleasure in satisfied customers.
“For one reason or another it
just never panned out. I started
looking into the aspect of it,
and I was like, ‘God, I never
would have thought of open-
ing a food cart, to be honest
with you.’”
Finni said he started look-
ing at local culinary options,
and noticed a lack of Ital-
ian restaurants. He had a cart
custom-constructed in Port-
land, with a full kitchen and
a built-in fire suppression
system.
Finni describes his restau-
rant as fine dining, but out of
a food cart. The cart focuses
on pastas, sandwiches, breads
and soups. He said most of the
recipes come from his fam-
ily and his “Zia” (Italian for
aunt), an elderly woman who
worked at the family restau-
rant in California for many
years. The sausage he uses in
his sandwiches and pasta, he
said, is nicknamed “deathbed
sausage” for how his grandfa-
ther conveyed the recipe to his
father.
Finni said his grandfather,
who had heartburn but was
convinced he was dying of a
heart attack, called his father to
the hospital one day and asked
for a piece of paper to write
something important on.
“My dad, of course, he’ll
tell you, ‘God, he’s telling me
where the family fortune is,’”
Finni said. “And my grandfa-
ther starts writing, and it’s a
sausage recipe. We as a fam-
ily termed it as ‘deathbed sau-
sage,’ because here my grand-
father thought he was on his
deathbed and wanted to pass it
on to the family.”
Finni grinds his own sau-
sage each week, and makes his
own sauces, minestrone and
clam chowder. “Everything is
built on flavors,” said Finni,
quick to give out a sample but
secretive about the ingredients.
Finni said he originally
intended to be the first food
cart at the Astoria Station next
to Reach Break Brewing. But
Finni said he found a better fit
and more exposure in the small
food cart pod at the former
gas station at 490 W. Marine
Drive, which has hosted long-
time Mexican food truck El
Asadero and some short-
er-lived carts. Finni’s Fine
Foods is open from 11 a.m. to
8 p.m. Monday through Satur-
day, and available to travel.
Wanted in Seaside: City councilor to represent Ward 1
Councilors
sworn in,
vacancy
remains
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — There were
some new seating arrange-
ments at the Seaside City
Council meeting this week.
At the far left, former plan-
ning commissioner Tom Horn-
ing was the newest councilor.
On the other end, a vacant
council seat remained awaiting
a replacement for Mayor Jay
Barber, who was appointed to
the city’s top spot in Decem-
ber after the death of former
Mayor Don Larson.
City Manager Mark Win-
stanley administered the oath
of office Monday night to two
returning councilors, Randy
Frank and Seth Morrisey, and
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
City Manager Mark Winstanley swears in Tom Horning,
Sean Morrisey and Randy Frank.
one new one, Horning.
Tita Montero, the senior
member of the council, was
nominated and unanimously
elected council president.
At his first meeting Horn-
ing reiterated a goal put forth
during his campaign: enhanced
tsunami preparedness.
“One of the things I’ve
noticed since the election is
that people are coming out of
the woodwork from all over,”
Horning said. “Everybody’s
focusing very much toward
tsunami preparedness and I
think there’s a great oppor-
tunity for Seaside to lead the
rest of the Coast toward a high
level of preparedness.”
With an opening to fill,
councilors invited residents
of Ward 1 to apply for the seat
formerly occupied by Barber.
Barber had served two years of
his four-year council term.
Applicants must live in
Seaside’s Ward 1 and have
resided in the city for at least
one year. Candidates must
submit a written questionnaire
and gather at least 10 support-
ing signatures from Ward 1
residents.
A 30-day filing deadline is
expected, Winstanley said.
Lower Columbia Preservation Society to debut new office space
The Daily Astorian
The Lower Columbia Pres-
ervation Society will be host-
ing an open house 5 to 8 p.m.
Saturday at their new office
space at 389 12th St. in Astoria.
The preservation soci-
ety moved into the space, on
the corner of 12th and Duane
streets in the Hotel Elliott, in
November. Their office was
previously located inside their
historic building, the Francis
Apartments, on Franklin Ave-
nue. During the open house —
which coincides with Astoria’s
Second Saturday Art Walk —
visitors will meet board mem-
bers, enjoy the new space and
learn how to get involved with
the preservation society.
Attendees will also find out
about the organization’s pres-
ervation advocacy activities,
including proposed changes to
Astoria’s development code,
and their work in advocating
for thoughtful design review in
the waterfront bridges project.
W A NTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Photos and other docu-
mentation of historic preser-
vation projects completed by
students at Clatsop Commu-
nity College will be on dis-
play, as well as information
about field school scholarships
that the preservation society
awarded to students last sum-
mer. The purpose of the Lower
Columbia Preservation Soci-
ety is to preserve, protect and
promote the historic houses
and buildings in the lower
Columbia region of Oregon
and Washington state.
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SEATTLE — The Wash-
ington Supreme Court has
thrown a major wrench in
plans for a big oil terminal
in Grays Harbor, saying the
project must be reviewed
under a 1989 law passed fol-
lowing the Exxon Valdez
spill in Alaska.
The justices on Thurs-
day unanimously reversed a
decision by the state Court
of Appeals that the Ocean
Resources Management Act
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SPOKANE, Wash. —
Conservation groups say
they plan to sue the state of
Washington for allowing
suction dredge mining in riv-
ers and streams that are home
to endangered salmon and
steelhead.
The state Department of
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the state.
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duced bills in the state Leg-
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practice.
Suction dredge mining
uses large, gas-powered vac-
uums to suck up gravel on the
bottom of rivers and streams
in search of gold flakes. The
gravel beds are critical to
salmon spawning.
The Center for Biological
Diversity and the group Cas-
cadia Wildlands have filed a
60-notice of intent to sue the
state in federal court.
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recently renamed Contanda,
wants to expand its existing
methanol facility receive up
to 17.8 million barrels of oil a
year, including from the Bak-
ken region of North Dakota
and Montana, for shipping
to refineries in California and
Puget Sound. A spokesman
did not immediately return an
email seeking comment.
Kristen Boyles, an attor-
ney with Earthjustice, which
represents the tribal and
environmental groups, said
she doesn’t believe the proj-
ect can win approval under
the stringent standards of the
1989 law.
Environmental groups plan
to sue over suction dredging
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ASHLAND — Pres-
ident Barack Obama has
expanded the Cascade-Sis-
kiyou National Monument
in southwestern Oregon to
protect its rich biodiversity.
The
expansion
announced Thursday adds
about 48,000 acres to a land-
scape of rich forests, grass-
lands and shrubs that was
established as a monument
in 2000. It includes about
5,000 acres in Northern
California.
Obama said in his proc-
lamation that the expan-
sion will create a landscape
that will connect vital hab-
itat, protect the watershed
and preserve the area’s
extraordinary biodiversity.
The monument, originally
65,000 acres, is home to rare
plant and animal species.
Conservation groups and
Oregon’s Democratic U.S.
senators praised the decision.
“Today is a great day for
southern Oregon,” U.S. Sen.
Jeff Merkley said in a state-
ment. “The Cascade-Siski-
you area, where three moun-
tain ranges converge creating
a unique and spectacular land-
scape seen nowhere else in
the world, merits the recogni-
tion and expanded protection
that President Obama gave
it today. I deeply appreciate
the time and energy of the
many Oregonians who came
to public meetings and sub-
mitted comments on this pro-
posal. Their thoughtful input
helped to inform the presi-
dent’s final decision on both
the expansion and its bound-
aries, and I will continue
to press to ensure that their
voices are heard as a man-
agement plan for the new
monument area is formed.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
said the monument “pos-
sesses an unrivaled beauty,
with natural wonders in
every corner and a spectac-
ular landscape that hosts
not just diverse ecosystems
but recreation opportunities
known around the world.
That’s why I have worked
for years to protect this Ore-
gon treasure and its irre-
placeable qualities.”
Oregon Public Broad-
casting says detractors have
expressed concern that a
larger monument would hurt
the region’s economy with
limits on logging and graz-
ing. The Oregon Cattle-
man’s Association said in a
news release that the deci-
sion will have a rippling
effect on ranchers, farmers
and outdoor enthusiasts.
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