FEBRUARY 9, 2017 // 23
BOOK SHELF // GLIMPSE // WILDLIFE // POP CULTURE // WORDS // Q&A // FOOD // FUN
Cocktail for a Cause warms
customers, helps Astoria center
By PATRICK WEBB
Anyone fancy a hot
toddy?
The Street 14 Cafe in
Astoria has found a way to
warm its customers while
supporting others who need
help.
Cocktails for a Cause is a
program the cafe’s owners,
Jennifer and Micha Camer-
on-Lattek, started late last
year. The idea is that, each
month, half the amount
charged for a specific cock-
tail is earmarked for a good
cause.
Allyx O’Connor is the
front-of-house manager at
the Astoria cafe, at 1410
Commercial St. She used
to work at the Pickled Fish
restaurant on the Long
Beach Peninsula, which has
used a similar fundraising
technique, and is happy to
acknowledge that’s where
the idea came from.
In January, the cause was
the Astoria Warming Center,
and the cocktail of choice
was a hot toddy. Half the $8
customers pay for the drink
is donated to the center.
“It just made sense
with the winter here,” said
O’Connor. “We wanted
to do something good in
the climate that we are in
right now, and a hot toddy
was a perfect idea. People
really like it — and they are
excited about helping other
people.”
For the record, the hot
toddies at Street 14 Cafe
are made with Astoria’s
Pilot House Distilling’s A-O
American whisky, mulling
spice, lemon and hot water.
Before Christmas,
proceeds from the sale of an-
other beverage raised $350
COLUMBIA BAR
A Perfect Valentine
PHOTO BY DANNY MILLER
PHOTO BY DANNY MILLER
Proceeds from Street 14’s hot toddy have benefited the Astoria
Warming Center.
PHOTO BY JOSHUA BESSEX
Volunteers hand out soup and coffee at the Astoria Warming
Center at First United Methodist Church.
for the National Resource
Defense Council, a nonprofit
that works to ensure the
rights of everyone to clean
air, clean water, and healthy
communities, while protect-
ing wildlife and wild places.
The Astoria Warming
Center moved last year to
from the Astoria Senior
Center, which served as the
site during its renovations,
to the lower level of the First
United Methodist Church,
located at 1076 Franklin
Ave., in Astoria.
Starting in November and
running through the winter,
the free shelter is available
on nights when temperatures
drop or when there is blus-
tery weather.
Alison Coffinbarger,
president of the nonprofit’s
board, said the center is usu-
ally full, serving 30 people
a night. “We are serving the
most vulnerable people,” she
said.
They include many
Allyx O’connor, front-of-
house manager at Street 14
Cafe, came up with the As-
toria cafe’s new Cocktail for
a Cause, based on Pickled
Fish’s similar program in Long
Beach, Washington.
veterans, homeless people
who cannot find space in
other shelters, and even
patients who have just been
discharged from the hospital
but have nowhere to sleep.
Meals, showers and laundry
services are offered — ser-
vices that especially benefit
working people. “We are
able to offer a little bit of
stability,” she said.
Clatsop Community
Action, which helps low-in-
come residents with food
and housing, has estimat-
ed there are about 1,000
homeless people in Clatsop
County.
Coffinbarger welcomes
all donations to the center
and said organizers are in
particular need of blankets.
They can be dropped off at
the center any evening after
7 p.m. (Blankets should
be laundered first.) Any-
one wanting to volunteer,
is asked to email contact
details to astoriawarming-
center@gmail.com
By RYAN HUME
With so much chaos in
the air, it is easy to forget
that Valentine’s Day is right
around the corner and it is
time to celebrate love.
It is also a good time to
remember that where you
throw dollars can make a
difference, even at the bar. I
have written about Pickled
Fish’s Cocktail for a Cause pro-
gram in this column before, a
noble trend that is catching
on. For example, Street 14
Cafe recently began a similar
program, and when it comes
to cocktails benefiting social
change, one can only say the
more the merrier.
The month of February
marks a bit of an expan-
sion for the Pickled Fish’s
Cocktail for a Cause. For the
first time, the Long Beach
restaurant will be donating
to a national organization,
the Human Rights Cam-
paign, which is the largest
civil rights advocacy group
fighting for LGBTQ rights in
the United States.
This limited-time cock-
tail, which is locally sourced,
bubbly and fighting the
good fight, will seduce
you with its tart burst of
cranberry up front, fol-
lowed by an undercurrent
of chocolate notes. It tastes
like a grown-up version of a
cordial cherry.
Pour up a batch, cue the
Al Green and remember
love is love.
Ingredients:
1 ounce vodka*
1/2 ounce Starvation
Alley Cranberry Juice
1/4 ounce simple syrup
3-4 dashes Scrappy’s
Chocolate Bitters
Prosecco
Ice
Chocolate-covered
cranberry on a toothpick
for garnish
Directions:
Stir the vodka, cranber-
ry juice, simple syrup and
bitters in a cocktail shaker
over ice.
Pour into a champagne
coupe and top with the Pro-
secco. Garnish the coupe
with chocolate-covered
cranberry and enjoy.
—Recipe courtesy of
Paige Metka, bartender at
Pickled Fish, Adrift Hotel,
Long Beach, Washington.
Pour provided by Matt
Lessnau, bar manager at
Pickled Fish.
* The Pickled Fish uses
Capitol Vodka as its well.