12 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
PHOTO BY JOSHUA BESSEX
PHOTO BY MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
PHOTO BY MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
For Best Breakfast, readers selected Astoria Coffeehouse & Bis-
tro. Breakfast items include eggs, bacon, biscuits and fruit.
Buttercup in Nehalem makes chowder — such as traditional
clam chowder, left, and Thai veggie chowder, right — to order.
The grain of the fish is apparent in Grizzly’s tuna fish and chips
in Seaside.
The Mouth responds to the Readers’ Choice Awards
Review by MOUTH
OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
Each year I await the Coast Weekend
Readers’ Choice Awards with baited breath.
(They came out last week). Obviously I pay
particular attention to the Dining category;
your votes help me understand what’s entic-
ing to North Coast eaters writ large.
For the most part I find your anointments
strong. I also think the awards are a great
way to keep the conversation going. Below
I’ll highlight a few Readers’ Choice selec-
tions that stood out — both where we agree
and diverge.
Before I do, I’d like to extend the invi-
tation to continue this exchange. Send me
your own personal picks! Choose one or
two categories you feel passionate about
and explain why. If I get enough I’ll turn
them into a column. Email me at mouth@
coastweekend.com
Beyond the Readers’ Choice categories,
there’s still more I want to know. In regu-
lar reviews, I want to know when you feel
I’ve missed something, when I’ve nailed
it and when just I’m flat wrong. I want to
know not only your favorite restaurants,
but your favorite dishes therein. I want to
know your guilty pleasures, your choices for
health-conscious eating, and where you go
to treat yourself.
Also, I’m interested in what restaurants
you’d most like to see reviewed. (Again,
emailing mouth@coastweekend.com is best,
but notes passed through the Astorian’s mail-
box and office will find me.)
So please: Drop me a line. And not just
this week. Let’s continue the conversation
throughout the year.
Now, without further ado: What struck
me from the Readers’ Choice Awards.
BEST BREAKFAST: ASTORIA
COFFEEHOUSE & BISTRO
It’s worth mentioning out front that Asto-
ria had a leg up in the awards — just three of
22 categories were won by restaurants out-
side the city. To that end: No shots at Astoria
Coffeehouse & Bistro. It’s terrific. But if I
woke up on another end of the region I could
find equally fine breakfasts — particularly
Wanda’s in Nehalem and Osprey Cafe in
Seaside. At Wanda’s I love how big portions
meet speedy finesse, and how country meets
the coast. At Osprey I appreciate both the
attention to detail and worldly flourishes.
(And, as we’re dotting the North Coast
regions, I’d love to hear recommendations
on the best breakfast on the Long Beach
Peninsula!)
BEST CHEF: ANDREW
CATALANO, STREET 14 CAFE
Here more than anywhere else, readers,
we are simpatico; there’s hardly a 2016
winner that we agree more on than Street
14’s Andrew Catalano as Best Chef. Cata-
lano excels in three most important realms:
execution, ethic and invention. While some
of Street 14’s dinner dishes employ complex
technique, others are superb because they’re
straightforward. The fine, exceedingly fresh
ingredients the restaurant sources from local
farms require less massaging — and, some-
times, less ego. Working with these local
producers and creating a new menu every
week based on what’s available moment to
moment not only shows off Catalano’s nim-
ble skills, but also provides a dining experi-
ence that’s most reflective of our bountiful
region.
and beer-battered crust that will melt your
tastebuds as it rattles your bank account.
BEST MEXICAN FOOD:
LA CABANA DE RAYA
Carruthers is certainly upscale. And its
boutique hotel lobby-esque, art deco digs
are something to behold. But for some
reason the label “fine dining” doesn’t
quite stick for me. When I think about fine
dining, I think about something a little
more subtle and private, where the food and
service are indeed terrific, but offered with
preternatural, quiet ease. There’s a gran-
diosity and a bubbling scene to Carruthers
that deserves a different descriptor. Call it,
rather: “cosmopolitan.”
La Cabana De Raya is a similar situa-
tion to Bowpicker. I don’t dislike it, and I
get why readers like it. But when I think
about La Cabana De Raya the first thing
that comes to mind is the “mangonada,” a
frosty, creamy, fruity and delicious dessert
cocktail. The food comes second. Not so at
Readers’ Choice runner-up Tacos El Catrin
in Warrenton. Sure, El Catrin doesn’t offer
the usual, quick, affordable comfort food
like La Cabana De Raya — you know: big,
cheap burritos and the like. What Tacos El
Catrin does is expand the truly traditional.
The restaurant goes to significant lengths to
honor those recipes with thoughtful, nuanced
preparation.
BEST FISH AND CHIPS:
THE BOWPICKER
BEST CLAM CHOWDER:
THE DEPOT, SEAVIEW
While my original review of Bowpick-
er — in which I awarded 3 stars — had me
eating outside the charming land-locked boat
more than once, I wonder if it’s time I check
back in. It’s just that the North Coast seem
to love Bowpicker so, even after waiting in
long, snaking lines. I found the atmosphere
charming but the product short of over-
whelming. If I wanted fish and chips I’d go
one of two ways: to Seaside’s Grizzly Tuna,
which offers similar fish at a better value
with an unmatched crunch, or the Public
Coast in Cannon Beach, which delights
on the high end with an exquisite halibut
As heretofore the only restaurant I’ve
awarded five stars, my appreciation for The
Depot is beyond reproach. That said, there’s
no place I’d rather have clam chowder — or,
rather, any chowder — than at Buttercup in
Nehalem. In part, that’s because Buttercup’s
varieties — from vegan to carnivorous —
are regularly rotating. (And to be sure: The
curry-like vegan version is wonderful, as
good as any other.) I love Buttercup too
because, just like The Depot’s, its chowders
are made to order, allowing each ingredient
its individual say. It makes for great conver-
sation.
BEST FINE DINING: CARRUTHERS