14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Canvassing crab options on North Coast
bank at $54. While the execution
of the pizza, from the medi-
um-thin crust to the cooked-just-
right cheese, was excellent, the
dish didn’t so much highlight the
crab as afford it equanimity. Com-
pared to pepperoni or sausage,
crab keeps its voice down.
Review and Photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
D
uring dark winter months
you can see the boats from
shore, their lights twinkling
on the horizon, fishing for Dunge-
ness crab.
Every year millions of pounds
are pulled from the Pacific coast’s
icy waters, and yet the Dungeness
harvest remains sustainable.
Despite such abundance, many
Oregonians find the seemingly
astronomical prices of Dungeness
crab wholly unappetizing. (For
more on the rising price of crab,
see sidebar.)
Cost be darned, Dungeness
is still found somewhat regular-
ly on local menus, though it is
largely relegated to a handful of
all-too-familiar dishes: crab cakes,
cocktails, melts and the occasion-
al cioppino. Sometimes you’ll
find crab flesh nakedly sprinkled
atop a steak (Oscar style) or salad,
which is as much adorning luxury
product as culinary creativity.
Granted, enjoying crab elemen-
tally — preferably a seasoned,
whole-shell boiling, then cracking
and dunking in butter — is an es-
sential way to celebrate our local
crustacean.
But a catch so emblematic
of our region deserves more. As
much as springer salmon, foraged
mushrooms or seasonable vegeta-
bles, Dungeness crab, too, ought
to be the muse of local chefs.
Dungeness deserves — nay, beck-
ons — to be explored, expanded
and elevated.
With this in mind, I set out in
search of the North Coast’s most
extraordinary Dungeness crab
dishes.
Albatross
My first stop was Albatross in
Astoria for a Dungeness Deviled
Egg ($8).
The egg wore crab like an
expensive crown. But, hey, it’s the
only such crown I’m aware of, and
Albatross & Co.: Dungeness Crab
Deviled Egg
Pacific Way Cafe: Dungeness Crab
Pizza
Bridgewater Bistro: Dungeness
Crab Cheesecake
Castaways Restaurant & Tiki Bar:
Carribean Crab Fritters
that’s something. Served in two
halves, the eggy bowls cupped
a familiar mayonnaise mix with
hints of diced pickle relish. The
crab was dusted with paprika. As
melts prove, the lean, salty, faintly
sweet flesh of crab plays well with
milky creams, and it did so here.
The crabby egg was a silky
smooth protein blast; all killer,
no filler. A fine midday snack, it
perked me up. But there wasn’t
much wonder about it. Imagine it,
and you’re there.
be. Salty, fatty and heart-stop-
pingly creamy, it’s quintessential
New Orleans. Mixed in amidst
the supple, melty cheese filling,
the crab’s effect was as textur-
al as anything, adding a bit of
sinewy suppleness, and a whisper
of cleansing sea. The cake was
cradled by a dusty pecan crust and
surrounded by a meaty mushroom
meunière sauce.
Altogether, the savory cheese-
cake became something decadent
— not because it featured an
expensive ingredient, but for the
envelope of rich flavor.
Bridgwater Bistro
The Savory Crab Cheesecake
at Bridgewater Bistro ($12)
seemed a little further afield,
though the dish has a precedent.
As I was told, Bridgewater
chefs were vacationing in New
Orleans when they spied the Cre-
ole version, made with blue crab.
The chefs figured, as many wise
person with access would: This
would be way better with Dunge-
ness. The recipe begins as normal:
with loads of cream cheese, sour
and heavy creams. When it’s
time for sugar, savory spices are
substituted.
Like a cousin of quiche, the
cake was dainty — as it should
Pacific Way Cafe
At Gearhart’s Pacific Way Cafe
the crab’s effect in the Dungeness
Crab pizza too were subtle, a
kiss of ocean spray amidst more
prominent components. Between
a thick layer of melted mozzarella
and a lightly acidic sun-dried to-
mato and nutty, herby pesto sauce,
the crab was humble. There was
a fair amount of it, though, which
made for the most expensive piz-
za I’ve ever seen (and in Cannon
Beach I’ve seen some ridiculously
expensive pizza).
A 10-inch pie starts at $21,
with an 18-inch large bursting the
Castaways
Of all the dishes I tried during
my search, none shined a brighter
spotlight on our most coveted
crustacean than Castaway’s in
Cannon Beach. The Caribbean
Crab Fritters ($16) not only made
crab the star, but broadened its
essence.
“What I wanted to do with the
crab fritters,” Chef Josh Tuckamn
said, “is everything that crab
cakes around here aren’t.”
In Tuckman’s estimation, that
meant including a lot of crab,
not thickening it with a bunch of
bread. There were bits of binders
in the fritters, including toast-
ed breadcrumbs, goat and jack
cheeses, but there was no doubt:
These things are meaty! Sealed
behind the thick-crusted crunch of
vexingly seasoned panko breading
is a crab that’s juicier, more lively
and irresistible than perhaps any
I’ve had. It’s truly expansive —
wide and sultry.
Tuckman doesn’t stop there.
The two fritters, a little bigger
than golf balls, topped with
swirls of “creoli” (Creole aioli)
are served with a delightfully
colorful, sinus-clearing spicy salsa
of mango, green onion, micro-
greens, blueberries and edible
flowers. The syrupy fruits swirl
with a savory brown Bahamian
stew sauce. Together they balance
deeply, magnificently. And while
you drag bites of fritter through
the swirling sauces, you’ll marvel
at the clever alchemy melding sa-
vory and sweet. But all the while
crab remains the star.
Who will be next, I wonder, to
afford our local delicacy such a
worthwhile stage?
A dive into
Dungeness
Dungeness crab is a microcosm
of the vexing, byzantine global
seafood market. In many ways —
and particularly from local vantage
— the market appears upside down.
According to seafoodhealthfacts.org,
90 percent of the seafood Americans
eat comes from other countries.
Meanwhile, 90 percent of America’s
own catch is exported.
Exports, particularly to China,
have much to do with the rise in
Dungeness prices in the last decade.
Dungeness fishing season, which
peaks from December to April,
coincides with Chinese New Year
(falling between late January and
February). The Chinese have taken
to enjoying Dungeness crab during
the annual celebrations and are pay-
ing top dollar to ship it live, by plane
— far more than American markets.
According to The Oregonian,
during the 2009-10 season, fish-
erman were paid $1.76 per pound
for Dungeness crab by processors.
At the turn of 2017, crab fisher-
man on the Pacific Coast went on
strike when processors backed off
an agreement to pay $3 per pound,
pushing instead for a reduction to
$2.75. The strike ended after 11 days
when the groups settled on a price of
$2.875 per pound.
For reference, a 2-pound crab
contains about a half pound of meat.
At Northwest Wild Products in
Astoria, a pound of Dungeness crab
meat retails for $33. At Bridgewater
Bistro, adding 3 ounces of Dunge-
ness to a dish costs $9.50.
Restaurants likely pay lower than
retail prices, but this much is clear:
The price of putting fresh Dunge-
ness crab on a plate can be prohib-
itive. Which is a shame, especially
when you’re close enough to the
source where you can see the boats
fishing.