The daily Astorian., August 27, 2020, Page 2, Image 2

Chef brings New Orleans infl uence to Astoria
Popular chefs team up at
Silver Salmon Grille
BY MORGAN GRINDY
John Sowa has introduced the authen-
tic fl avors of New Orleans to many cities.
Astoria will be his last.
Sowa’s restaurant and bar, Sweet Basil’s
Cafe, was a beloved spot in Cannon Beach
before it became another casualty of the
coronavirus pandemic after it closed in
May.
Now, Sowa is making his mark at Asto-
ria’s Silver Salmon Grille with his long-
time friend, chef Jeff Martin. He brings 40
years of experience as a chef and his vibrant
Cajun menu to the restaurant.
“We ate at each other’s places back then.
He would come have Cajun food and I’d
come up here and have seafood,” Sowa
said.
The duo reopened Silver Salmon in June
with Sowa’s Cajun and part of Martin’s sea-
food menu.
Learning from the pro s
Sowa learned how to cook authentic
Creole and Cajun dishes from well-known
New Orleans chefs Paul Prudhomme and
Peter Lutzen.
“I’m a hands-on kinda guy. I just
enjoyed being in the kitchen learning
from the old pro s. The old Italians; the old
Cajun s,” Sowa said. “I fell in love with
Cajun cooking. It was just so unusual to me
... As a kid coming from Brooklyn, New
York, the food was so unusual and the peo-
ple were so friendly. T he whole scene just
came together.”
In the early 90 s, Sowa opened a restau-
rant in Long Island that specialized in
Cajun and Creole food, where Lutzen later
joined him.
“It became a scene on Long Island. We
had all the old beatniks coming out, and
we’d have to close the place down because
they wouldn’t leave,” Sowa said.
Sowa eventually sold his Long Island
restaurant and decided he’d had enough of
the East Coast’s fast-paced, brisk life.
“I just got burnt out. New York just burnt
me out,” Sowa said. “So, in ‘99 we just
made a leap of faith to go west.”
Sowa and his wife, Deb, moved to Sea-
side, where she grew up. They bought the
Morgan Grindy
See Page 5
Chef John Sowa is teaming up with Silver Salmon Grille’s chef Jeff Martin to bring Cajun and
seafood meals to patrons.
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