4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ MARCH 25, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer-
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
E XTRAORDINARY P EOPLE
Marianne Brisbane
C ATHERINE J. R OURKE
For the Siuslaw News
___________________
M
arianne Brisbane may have
left her heart in San
Francisco, but she redis-
covered it in Florence as an “endless-
ly inventive” restaurateur. With pre-
vious establishments such as Spice,
1285 Restobar and Lovejoy’s
Tearoom, as well as current ones like
the Waterfront Depot and Le
Bouchon, Brisbane has brought a
minestrone of innovative menus and
venues to Florence for more than 22
years.
From crab and chowder to steak
and salmon, local restaurant patrons
are always hungry for new culinary
adventures. Instead of jumping on the
common bandwagon of popular
restaurant trends, Brisbane designed
her own unique recipe for success,
earning her the undisputed reputation
as the “restaurateur extraordinaire” of
Bay Street.
“People want service and
ambiance, as well as quality food,”
she said. “Nurturing is such an
important component. It’s about the
love you put into it. My heart and
soul goes into my food.”
An early love of cooking as a child
combined with exposure to the food
of diverse cultures inspired Brisbane
to become a restaurateur later in life.
The self-taught culinary wizard from
the Bay Area attributes her food-and-
beverage prowess to a melting pot of
skills honed from family mentors and
service-oriented professions.
“Cooking was always my greatest
love,” she said. “I started cook-
ing as a child with my grand-
mother.”
Born in Indonesia during the
Japanese occupation, Brisbane
grew up in East Java in the
Dutch East Indies with a “cre-
ative upbringing” and a con-
glomeration of nationalities.
This exposure to Asian and
Armenian flavors set a founda-
tion that would later inspire her
eclectic cuisine.
“We are all given a different
canvas when we come into this
world,” she said. “How we
choose to fill it is our unique
gift. For me, it was cooking.”
Her mother, a teacher and
descendant of six generations
of colonial Dutch, passed
PHOTO BY CATHERINE ROURKE
down her strong administrative Restaurateur
Marianne
Brisbane
skills to her daughter. An believes good food is about the love that
Armenian
father,
Serop goes into it.
Vardanian, was a prolific
painter who loved to cook and
as a home mom for 12 years, then as
instilled his creative passion in her.
a bank officer for seven years and in
Brisbane attributes her culinary
real estate for 17 years.
success to the creative mentorship her
“In all those positions, I had to
parents brought to the table.
make people happy and fulfill their
Her family eventually lived in The
dreams,” she said. “You must have a
Hague until they emigrated from the
servant’s heart to be in food service.”
Netherlands to the U.S. in 1960.
Brisbane and her husband moved
“I attended high school in three
to Florence in 1995 after making an
continents,” she said. “America was
exploratory trip with her father, who
such a culture shock; I was looking
wanted to live on the Oregon coast so
for cowboys and Indians.”
he could paint “the astounding beau-
The family settled in San
ty.”
Francisco, where Brisbane would
“I have a running love affair with
spend the next three decades in vari-
Florence
because it allowed me to
ous careers, slowly preparing her for
bring
my
dreams
to reality,” she said.
a future in food service like a sauce
“There’s
a
distinct
warm and friendly
simmering on the stove. She married
atmosphere
here
and
it’s about the
young and raised two sons, working
people and the diversity of our ori-
gins. Most of us have moved here
from somewhere else and it makes
you friendlier when you have to rein-
vent yourself.”
Brisbane and her husband had
operated a tearoom in San Francisco
and opened Lovejoy’s here in 1996,
later enlarging upon English tea serv-
ice by offering Sunday dinners. After
moving the tearoom to the Pier Point
Inn, they expanded it to a restaurant
and British pub and then moved it
back to its present location in 2004.
That same year, without any pro-
fessional culinary training, she
opened the Waterfront Depot after
renovating the former train station
and kite shop. Brisbane designed the
custom-built bar and installed a
chalkboard menu over the old freight
door.
“I wanted to create an ambiance
where people could find a safe haven
from the storms of everyday life,” she
said. “This included a large comfort-
able bar where they could enjoy a
relaxed meal and engage in friendly
conversation.”
More venues followed with the
12th Street Bakery and the Shed
Bakery, which she later sold along
with the tearoom, making way for
1285 Restobar in 2008.
Brisbane even traveled to Naples
to learn the secret for creating authen-
tic pizza. Then she opened a wine
shop at The Grape Leaf, which
evolved into Spice Bistro in 2012,
offering a fusion of Pacific Northwest
food with the flavors of her
Indonesian heritage. After selling all
these ventures except the Depot, she
opened Le Bouchon Wine Bar &
Kitchen in 2014, serving breakfast,
lunch, Happy Hour and an evening
menu.
Brisbane has worked the line of her
restaurants and is always present at
her establishments, talking with cus-
tomers and nurturing her patrons.
“My operations are a culmination
of a life spent cooking and working in
banking and real estate,” she said.
“But the real secret of my success is
happy employees. With fairness and
sustainable wages, they can perform
well and become part of the fabric
that creates the beautiful carpet of a
restaurant.”
Brisbane has added much flavor to
the culinary and artistic life of Bay
Street with her multifaceted restau-
rants, delis, provision stores and the
Vardanian Gallery. Now, local
oenophiles can look forward to her
newest venture, the Waterfront Wine
Store, which opens in April to pro-
vide breads, cheeses, wines, craft
beers and ready-made lunches, with
seating along the river.
“Food service is not just about
delivering plates and feeding cus-
tomers,” she said. “It’s about making
people happy and that’s my greatest
satisfaction in life.”
Catherine J. Rourke is an
award-winning journalist, author
and book editor who teaches
creative writing at the Florence
Regional Arts Alliance.
Email CJReditor@gmail.com.
LETTERS
G OV . B ROWN SHOULD
RECONSIDER STANCE
I am sorry, but I do not understand or support
our governor Kate Brown saying she will stand
against our president, Constitution and laws of
the federal government to allow illegal immi-
grants when we have violent incidents like
Wednesday’s attack in the UK, as well as other
places in Europe.
I find it hard to believe that so many people
are hoodwinked into believing that portions of
our news is not anti-Trump and pro-Muslim
propaganda.
I have to wonder why Kate Brown supports
having illegal immigrants in our state. I don’t
know what to say to her other than opposing her
agenda for us. I need a common ground. I pre-
sented it the recent Town Hall meeting at the
firehouse and I don’t know how else to ask her
to please reconsider her stance.
Guthrie Wilson
Florence
W HAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
The other day I called the Memory Loss
Respite Center of Florence and got its answer-
ing machine. In their message they said the
words “adult day care,” and a memory I had
completely forgotten about came rushing back.
Decades ago when I first graduated from col-
lege as an elementary school teacher, I found
myself with a summer where I did not have to
work to make ends meet. Not wanting to be
idle, I decided to volunteer in my community. I
took my German Shepard and my fuzzy gray
cat through a training program to became serv-
ice animals.
Upon their graduation, once a week on
Wednesdays, I took my dog and cat to the local
Adult Day Care Center.
I remember how much the participants
enjoyed petting and holding my pets, and how
they loved to share stories about the pets they
had growing up.
Being a young 20-something, I of course
knew what Dementia and Alzheimer’s meant,
but I didn’t comprehend the devastation those
afflictions have on the elderly and their fami-
lies. Nor did I realize how much their caregivers
appreciated having the Adult Day Care Center
and volunteers like me to provide them some
highly needed respite from caregiving.
Now, I’m on the receiving end of this circle.
I take my mother to the Memory Loss Respite
Center (located in the Florence Senior Center)
three times a week. I don’t know where she or I
would be without this service.
But soon, due to a shortage of volunteers, my
mother will only be able to attend her “coffee
club” twice a week. I don’t know if she’ll retain
the cognitive gains she’s made since starting
this program. I hope she does. I also hope that
two days a week is enough to slow the progres-
sion of her Alzheimer’s and keep her from dis-
appearing completely.
If anyone finds themselves with some idle
time, I hope they’ll consider volunteering with
this program and continuing good karma in our
community.
It seems it’s true that what goes around,
comes around.
Juels Larson
Florence
nated by Marilyn Barba, with Pastor Dale
Edwards, through the Cross Road Assembly of
God in Florence.
Every penny of every donation goes directly
to feeding needy children in our area. There is
no overhead for operational services or labor
and all funds go into purchasing supplies for a
child’s weekend nutrition.
The impact of this effort is profound and a
true grassroots solution to a genuine — and
oftentimes unseen — problem in our communi-
ties.
For more information on the program, visit
www.backpackimpact.com to donate or volun-
teer.
Once again, thank you to all the volunteers
and contributors to the Food Backpack 4 Kids
program from the Mapleton and Siuslaw School
Districts.
Your efforts make a difference every week-
end to a child in need in our communities.
Jodi O’Mara,
Superintendent
Mapleton School District
Andy Grzeskowiak,
Superintendent
Siuslaw School District
B ACKPACK 4 K IDS
W E WILL BE WATCHING
The Mapleton and Siuslaw School Districts
would like to thank the tireless volunteers at
Food Backpack 4 Kids with regards to their
efforts to deal with childhood hunger in our
communities.
Each week, more than 100 students in the
Mapleton and Siuslaw school regions receive a
take-home bag with the food they need at home
for the weekend. Many students in our districts
eat most of their meals at school during the
week. These supplemental weekend food dona-
tions keep some students fed until they come
back to school the next week.
The snack bags are a great way to support our
struggling families by providing weekend
snacks for their children.
This charitable act is truly from the heart. The
efforts of a small army of volunteers are coordi-
Congressman Walden (R-OR), you represent
all Oregonians in your position as chair of the
House Energy and Commerce Committee.
You also played a key role as an architect of
the health care repeal bill. I am very concerned
that this bill will seriously impact my adult
daughter who has an intellectual disability and
relies entirely on Medicaid for her very exis-
tence.
This bill will also impact many Oregonians
receiving Medicare, including myself and my
wife. We demand you not vote for this bill. We
will be watching the outcome of this vote very
carefully.
If it passes, there will be many angry
Oregonians.
Michael Allen
Florence
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to
the editor as part of a community discus-
sion of issues on the local, state and
national level.
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letters
are
preferred.
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name, address and phone number; only
name and city will be printed. Letters
should be limited to about 300 words.
Letters are subject to editing for length,
grammar and clarity. Publication of any
letter is not guaranteed and depends on
space available and the volume of letters
received.
Libelous, argumentative and anony-
mous letters or poetry will not be pub-
lished.
P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS :
Election-related letters must address
pertinent or timely issues of interest to our
readers at-large. The newspaper does not
publish partisan letters that promote or
endorse local political candidates based
solely on their record, reputation and qual-
ifications; this constitutes paid political
advertising.
Candidates themselves may not use the
letters to the editor column to outline their
views and platforms or to ask for votes.
This also constitutes paid political advertis-
ing.
As with all letters and advertising con-
tent, the newspaper, at the sole discretion
of the publisher, general manager and edi-
tor, reserves the right to reject any such
letter.
The newspaper is particularly sensitive
to organized “letter-writing campaigns.”
The newspaper reserves the right to reject
any such letter.
Write to: editor@thesiuslawnews.com
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