12 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
America’s First Foodie Dinner at Sand Trap honors James Beard,
GEARHART’S GREAT GOURMAND
to eat and cook not only better but
with richness and poise.
While his professional life was
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
in New York City and included
frequent trips throughout Europe,
t used to be called the James
Beard remained profoundly con-
nected to Gearhart, where his Port-
Beard Dinner.
land-based family spent summers
But in this, its fifth, year,
when he was a child.
it seems McMenamins Sand
Trap was discouraged from using
“(T)hose busy days on the Ore-
the name of James Beard, the titan- gon Coast,” he wrote in “Delights
ic gourmand whose ties to Gear-
and Prejudices,” “left their mark
hart were deep and formative.
on me,” and “no place on earth
In an introduction to the meal
has done as much to influence my
(now called the America’s First
professional life.”
Foodie Dinner), the host, an
Beard marveled at the coast’s
event manager from McMenam-
abundance, not only of the seafood
ins — itself a large company with
— Dungeness crab, razor clams,
enviable holdings
salmon cheeks
— seemed to
and more — but
suggest that the
the conditions for
‘IT’S
business of Beard
growing astound-
HEARTENING TO ing produce.
is even bigger.
Indeed, the
In Beard’s
SEE A REGIONAL
New York City-
twilight years,
RESTAURANT
based nonprofit
became
PAY HOMAGE TO Gearhart
James Beard
a refuge. He
THE GEARHART
House is nothing
taught culinary
if not big busi-
classes at Seaside
LION.’
ness.
High School and
The James
relished dining
Beard Awards, which began in
at the Ark Restaurant on the Long
1991, six years after Beard’s death, Beach Peninsula. When he died in
are the Oscars for restaurants.
1985, Beard’s ashes were scattered
Categories include Best New
on the Pacific.
Restaurant, Outstanding Baker and
So, while meals honoring or
Restaurant Design. And just like
inspired by Beard would be wel-
come anywhere, they’re especially
their film equivalents, wins are
relevant in Gearhart and on the
career-changing.
I mentioned the upcoming din-
North Coast.
ner to a few friends. Anyone who
The America’s First Foodie
didn’t work in a restaurant was
Dinner was arranged family-style.
mostly unfamiliar with Beard. The About several dozen diners sat at
few non-cooks who recognized the two long tables dotted with tall,
name associated it with the awards, flickering candles. In the Sand
not the man.
Trap’s downstairs rooms for pri-
vate events, it felt a bit like eating
Alongside Julia Child, Beard
was one of America’s first celeb-
at a wedding. (They often cater
rity chefs. The New York Times
them there.) Compared to most of
dubbed him the “Dean of Amer-
the fixed menu meals I’ve attended
ican cookery.” He had a table at
on the coast, this was less intimate.
the Four Seasons, taught, wrote
Usually a restaurant doing a spe-
cial event turns itself over totally
cookbooks and inspired America
Story and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
I
Eaters enjoy the America’s First Foodie Dinner, formerly known as the James
Beard Dinner, at McMenamins Sand Trap.
to the production; this was just a
little corner of the Sand Trap; the
rest of the place hummed away in
regular business.
The meal began with circling
platters of hors d’oeuvres: oysters
on the half shell with champagne
mignonette, puff pastries with
snippets of Dungeness crab and,
most charmingly, Beard’s delight-
fully simple tea sandwiches of
onion and mayonnaise on brioche.
The gooey, creamy little bites are
almost a hack: That bliss need not
be complicated. (Mayonnaise was
a pillar of the Beard household.
At his mother’s boarding house,
mayonnaise was mixed for guests
at the table, to order.)
Each course came with an alco-
hol pairing, included with gratuity
for $100. All but one (an iced-out
digestif of Glenlivet) came from
the McMenamins empire. There
was red, white, brandy and sherry.
(McMenamins also makes beer
and spirits.) The most indelible of
them was, by far, the Alambic, a
brandy with cognac-like heat and
intensity.
It came with the second course,
a charcuterie plate, which featured
a chicken liver mousse named
Julia and James’ — as in Child and
Beard. In the program, Beard was
said to have punched up Child’s
recipe with more sherry. It certain-
ly was smooth.
Besides proffering some
much-needed greens and acids,
the following course — seared
albacore with watercress in a lem-
on-tarragon vinaigrette — felt for
the first and perhaps only time we
were really tasting Oregon, in sea-
son. The watercress were fresh and
earthy, and while this catch was
on the lean side and cut too thin,
we are in the midst of tuna season.
As much as what was on the plate,
that taste of Oregon — the terroir
— extended to the glass, a buttery
chardonnay.
The main course was a lamb
shank osso bucco in a fig-cognac
reduction with fingerling potatoes.
With a fairly dark, intense char, I
found the most tender, succulent
meat in the center. The bone, filled
with marrow and easy to pull out,
provided some insulation from
overcooking and a backstop for the
juices. But when I looked around,
too many diners had only poked
around the outside, leaving the best
part untouched.
Dessert — a supple, wine-
poached pair — garnered the most
rave reviews of the evening.
At times, though, food seemed
of secondary importance. At least
around those I was seated, golf
and business were more exciting
discussions than food. Which felt,
considering the meal’s inspiration,
a little odd. As one diner remarked
after reading the program and
discovering the meal would finish
with a smidgen of Glenlivet: “The
more I learn about this James
Beard guy, the more I like him.”
Such a meal, however, could
stand to teach us much more
about Beard’s taste, technique and
connection to Gearhart. And with a
few tweaks, it could.
The first would be to use more
seafood. In Beard’s estimation,
Dungeness crab is the “Pacific’s
greatest blessing,” he wrote, “to
my mind unequaled by anything
in the shellfish world.” Here,
Dungeness was an afterthought. It
should’ve been a featured course.
Salmon and razor clams, too,
were staples of Beard’s Gearhart
diet. Salmon cheeks, which Beard
and his mother would get from
Astoria, would’ve been a delicate
and exciting addition.
And while room remains for
dishes like lamb, it could’ve
been prepared Beard’s way: with
tarragon and cream, which Beard
wrote, “combine to make a crust
of the meat and a most pleasing
flavor.”
Nonetheless, it’s heartening to
see a regional restaurant pay hom-
age to the Gearhart lion. Here’s
hoping more establishments join in
honoring and drawing inspiration
from his local legacy.
Because James Beard ought
to be thought of as more than just
the name of a prestigious award,
especially around here. CW