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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2016)
4A • May 20, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Views from the Rock Crossing my fi ngers for the return of the blue herons Feeling like a grown-up at the Sokol Blosser Winemaker Dinner B R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Chef Aaron Bedard and staff at the winemaker’s dinner. T he Stephanie Inn’s reputation precedes it and anyone looking for the most luxe look at Cannon Beach would be wise to take the plunge. Located in the southern part of town, tucked on a side street off Hemlock by the ocean, you can almost feel the luxury lapping as you walk up the stairs. The Sokol Blosser Winemaker Dinner is a regular event pairing the restaurant’s extraordinary cuisines and the wines of Sokol Blosser. Being in the CANNON SHOTS upstairs dining R.J. MARX room makes you feel like a grown-up, but not in that stuffy way. Rather you know you are about to have something demanding of your senses, your experiences and your fine taste. Chefs and sommelier ratchet up the game — we are moving to another level and expectations run high. When you are eating here, you feel you have arrived. The atmosphere is as elegant as the cuisine is sophisticated. With staff attentive but not too solicitous. Everything strikes the right balance — the Japanese have a word for it, “umami,” sometimes defined as that uniquely perfect degree of “mouth-feel.” ‘Camaraderie’ I met Aaron Bedard on location in his dining room a week after the dinner, because I don’t like to mix business and indulgences. We sat down prior to the lunch hour in the dining room in one of those glorious Cannon Beach days where the sky is as azure blue as the Mediterra- nean Sea. Bedard’s upbringing is unlikely for a master of haute cuisine — he’s from La Grande, Oregon, where dining choices in- clude Denny’s and the Rusty Spur Cafe. Bedard was raised in the restaurant business — his father ran a chain of KFCs. “When I was 14 I started working in restaurants just to make money and keep busy,” he said. “I learned a good, solid work ethic.” He also learned he didn’t want to worked in that style of food and service. “I also realized I didn’t want to be in that style of restaurant environment. I wanted to be in a little more refi ned food and ser- vice. This fi t into that really well.” After graduating Western Culinary Insti- tute Cordon Bleu, Bedard came to Cannon Beach an intern under Executive Chef Crystal Corbin. “I didn’t have that much of a palate until I got training and working here at the hotel, under some really fantastic chefs to guide me,” Bedard said. Bedard is the “Iron Chef Goes Coast- al” People’s Choice award winner for his short-rib ravioli, a dish fl avored with Boursin cheese and Dijon mustard. Fresh homemade pasta, of course, and a bleu cheese cream sauce complement the dish. While the restaurant gets “a lot of guests” from the hotel, everyone is wel- come. Laurence Thomson is the restaurant’s sous chef. Publisher Steve Forrester Editor R.J. Marx Reporter Lyra Fontaine Advertising Manager Betty Smith Production Manager John D. Bruijn Circulation Manager Heather Ramsdell Advertising Sales Laura Kaim On the menu at Sokol Blosser Winemaker’s Dinner COURSE 1: Spring salmon ceviche, fresh cucumber, red onions, cilantro and fried corn tortilla paired with Evolution Brut Spar- kling COURSE 2: Fennel dusted halibut fi let, shaved asparagus, toasted almonds and Bee Local Honey beurre blanc paired with 2013 Müller-Thurgau COURSE 3: Intermezzo: Raspberry and rosé sorbet COURSE 4: Marinated lamb loin, Humboldt fog & morel mush- room risotto, sautéed spinach, baby carrots and Dijon reduc- tion sauce paired with 2013 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir COURSE 5: Caramel fl an, dried apricot compote, caramel tuile cookie and candied Marcona almonds paired with 2013 White Riesling. irds concentrate on three things, eating, procreating and grooming. And depend- ing on what time of year it is, these things may trade places as the number one im- portant thing. This time of year, we all know that producing eggs is number one on most birds’ minds. I have had the pleasure of putting up a va- riety of nesting opportunities for different spe- cies of birds. My wonderful husband has BIRD NOTES made it pos- SUSAN BOAC sible to rehab a wood duck house and place it in a tree across the creek and to put up a fabulous purple community living situation. No nesting action yet, but there has been some interest! I am particularly pleased that the great blue herons look like they are taking up their sum- mer residence across the creek from my house. As I write this the herons are fl ying all around the neighborhood and landing in trees and the Neawanna! Last summer, Neal Maine monitored this heron rookery and reported that 11 babies hatched in 7 nests. I am crossing my fi ngers for that kind of productivity again. The picture I have sent along with this col- umn is of a dance I caught “on tape” at the La- goon ponds in February 2016. To see the video, please visit the North Oregon Coast Facebook page. Watch for baby birds in the next few months. Most fl edglings spend several days on the ground before they can fl y. They are well attended by their parents, so no need to “safe” them. Please consider keeping your cats indoors for the months of May, June and early July to help keep our bird populations healthy. Thanks. Join a growing group for birding adventures in the Cannon Beach area. We meet the fi rst Sunday of the month at the Lagoon Trail park- ing lot on Second Street at 9 a.m. As a group, we decide where the best birding is and bird until about 11. Bring binoculars and wear ap- propriate clothing. Everyone is welcome! Our next two dates are June 5 and July 3 Susan has spent her life enjoying the great outdoors from the lakes and woods of North- ern Minnesota, Mount Adams in Washington and now the Oregon beach environs. After spending many pleasurable hours driving her avid birder parents around, she has taken up birding as a passion, to the mixed emotions of her husband Scott. The Boacs reside on Neawanna Creek in Seaside where their back- yard is a birder’s paradise. PUBLIC MEETINGS R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Caramel fl an, dried apri- cot compote, caramel tuile cookie and candied Mar- cona almonds. Fennel dusted halibut fi let with shaved asparagus, toasted almonds and Bee Local Honey beurre blanc. Stephanie Inn Executive Chef Aaron Bedard off ers a spring menu presenting local ingredients. “We do get a lot of guests from the hotel,” Bedard said. “We’re attached to the hotel and we’re very service-oriented for the hotel. But I think our clientele is some- one looking to experience fantastic service, Northwest cuisine in a nice romantic, quiet, professional environment.” Bedard, 39, lives in Seaside and is the father of three. He defi nes Northwest cuisine as taking fresh, local ingredients and preparing them simply. “We have such beautiful ingredi- ents, I try to just kind of let them sing a little, let that be the highlight,” Bedard said. The Cannon Beach atmosphere is more free-spirited than East Coast dining experi- ences and more “rustic” than the Portland restaurant scene, he said. “That’s one of the reasons I like it. It’s a slower pace. It’s really nice.” There are more than a couple celeb- rity chefs in Cannon Beach — Jonathan Hoffman, John Newman and Will LeRoux immediately come to mind. “We don’t necessarily have a scene, but the culture here is kind of tight,” Bedard said. “I know almost every chef in town, and we all kind of take care of each other, which is really awesome.” “Sometimes you run out of something,” he added. “I can call Chef Newman. We borrow back and forth. The camaraderie is really nice to have.” Locally, Bedard said he loves to dine at the Irish Table, and he likes the loose at- mosphere of the Hardware Store. “It’s very modern and the food is fantastic there.” Chef Dave Bonnett of the Hardware Store (aka “Screw and Brew) and Bedard LETTER POLICY The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication. Letters must be 400 words or less and must be 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon signed by the author and include a phone number 97138 for verifi cation. We also request that submissions be limited to one letter per month. Send to 1555 503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738-9285 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138, drop them Web: www.cannonbeachgazette.com off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738- Email: editor@cannonbeachgazette.com 9285, or email rmarx@seasidesignal.com CANNON BEACH GAZETTE The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other week by EO Media Group. helped judge the 2015 American Legion Chili Cook-Off, and Bedard is one of the biggest supporters of the Cannon Beach Farmers’ Market, returning in June. Bedard said he welcomed the arrival of Public Coast and Pelican Brewing, adding Cannon Beach as a destination to the brew- pub scene. With new restaurants coming, Bedard said he sees a need for him and his staff to “hit the high mark.” “We’re striving for the last 5 percent,” he said. “The 95 percent is pretty good, but it’s the last 5 percent that really pushes us above. We have to watch the salt and pep- per, we have to watch the cooking — every single day.” The restaurant’s spring menu features spring salmon — “the best this time of year coming out of the cold water, with just a little more fat to it, a little more butter fl avor,” Bedard said. “We’re also featur- ing morel mushrooms, sweet asparagus, rhubarb — all of our local stuff that’s in season now. “We have a lot of fantastic feedback,” Bedard said. “Our guests are really great. We also get criticism/feedback too, which is good, because it keeps us in check. We know we’re still not perfect. We have to strive for greatness everyday. If we’re learning from those mistakes, we’re grow- ing still.” It made me think how lucky we are to have such great restaurants at our finger- tips. Even if we can only afford to go to a Stephanie Inn once a month or every six months, such a splurge is good for the soul. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Annually: $40.50 in county, $58.00 in and out of county. Postage Paid at: Cannon Beach, OR 97110 POSTMASTER Send address changes to Cannon Beach Gazette, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Copyright 2015 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. Thursday, May 26 Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Friday, May 27 Cannon Beach Emergency Preparedness Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Monday, May 30 Memorial Day, City Hall closed. Tuesday, June 7 Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Monday, June 13 Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset Blvd. Tuesday, June 14 Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Monday, June 21 Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Tuesday, July 5 Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave. Tuesday, July 12 Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Tuesday, Aug. 2 Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Monday, Aug. 8 Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave. Tuesday, Aug. 9 Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Tuesday, Sept. 6 Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING