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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 2017)
4A • March 24, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Views from the Rock time for Why you should eat your Almost sunny wines! next meal in Seaside I R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Dining at fi reside is one of the appeals of Maggie’s on the Prom. R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Dining with a view of Tillamook Head at Maggie’s on the Prom. Salmon by chef Jason Lancaster. Jason Lancaster S easide isn’t just taffy and antelope jerky these days. Take a seat at Maggie’s on the Prom and gaze at Tillamook Head while dining on Cedar River Farms fi let mignon or Columbia River Chinook salmon with yuzu sake butter sauce. Maggie’s new chef Jason Lancaster, 40, said he always wanted to live on the Oregon Coast. Upon arrival in Astoria fi ve years ago, the Seattle native joined the Bridgewater Cafe as a sous chef and graduated to chef de cuisine. At the Cove at the Peninsula Golf Course in Long Beach, Washington, he enhanced his reputation with accolades that included an Iron Chef Goes Coastal award and a “Gerry Frank’s Picks” selection. When the Cove golf course property sold, Lancaster turned to his hobbies of surfi ng and traveling while casting a net for his next opportunity. The timing was right as longtime acquaintances Andy and Sadie Mercer of Maggie’s on the Prom were in the search for a leader in the kitchen. “When the job opened they asked me if I was interested in doing it,” Lancaster said. “I’ve always loved this place, so I jumped on it.” Lancaster said he plans to use fresh, local ingredients while offering “a nice eclectic menu.” “I like to take a lot of different ingre- dients and put them in a contemporary environment,” he said. Lancaster seeks to focus on fresh, local products, provided by connections among regional foragers and fi shermen. “I have a good network,” he said. “I really want to showcase what we have here in Oregon and Washington in a contemporary environment like this restaurant. We have amazing products here — the freshest fi sh, mushrooms, fruit, huckleberries. You don’t even need to search for it. It comes through your back door.” The uniqueness of the Oregon and Washington product “really sets us apart,” Lancaster said. “That’s one thing I really want to bring to the table here — CANNON SHOTS R.J. MARX ‘I would love for us to be on the forefront of the culinary scene in Seaside.’ Jason Lancaster emphasis on fresh, wild, the best possible products I can put on the plate.” Lancaster said he hopes his kitchen will be in “the realm of Bridgewater, Carruthers, all the really hot dining places in Astoria. I really want to achieve that.” Maggie’s serves three meals seven days a week, providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for diners and hotel guests. Breakfasts begin with eggs, toast, sausage, crab Benedict, “pretty much your standard breakfast fare with a little bit of a twist, a creative twist,” Lancaster said. “It’s not your typical breakfast, but it’s very approachable.” A huckleberry cheesecake is a star for dessert, along with a stout brownie and blackberry cobbler. “Our desserts are very simple,” Lancaster said. “They’re made daily and we use good ingredients. I’m hoping in the new few months to get a pastry chef. That’s in the works right now.” What’s for dinner? “Today I’m making the Columbia River Chinook salmon with yuzu sake butter sauce with bok choy risotto,” he said. “That’s a little bit of an Asian infl uence there. I’m using Asian ingre- dients in French techniques and local fi sh. That’s what we try to achieve there. Ingredients outside of the box but still using proper techniques and cooking too.” Looking ahead, Lancaster said he plans to serve a Northwest bouillabaisse using an in-house fi sh stock. “It’s pretty spectacular,” he said. “It will contain all local fi sh from Oregon and Washington, Alaskan when we can — but emphasis on fi sh from here.” When he’s not in the kitchen, inspira- tion comes from Lancaster’s hobbies of surfi ng, hiking and traveling. “I’m a pretty avid traveler,” he said. “When I’m not working, between jobs, I go surfi ng. It actually provides inspira- tion in the kitchen because you’re travel- ing and eating cool food and you think, ‘Wow, I can do this!’ It really adds depth to your menu when you’re experiencing different cultures and eating different food.” As for Seaside, it’s not just the fast- food stop between Cannon Beach and the North Coast anymore. “I would love for us to be on the fore- front of the culinary scene in Seaside,” Lancaster said. “We already have a great reputation here. We have the reputation for being the best dining in Seaside. We have the view, the dining room, a great wait staff and very talented kitchen, so we’ve really busted out.” Chefs throughout the region are a close-knit group. “Working in Astoria, in Long Beach, there was a nice community,” Lancaster said. “In Seaside I’m sure I’ll forge those relationships also. I feel there’s a good bond between chefs from Cannon Beach all the way to Astoria. We know each other, what we’re up to. “I want people to come check us out,” he added. “We’re going to be doing some cool stuff, with emphasis on local ingredients and really cool food that’s not really offered in Seaside. I encourage people to come check us out and see what they think. In the next six months, it’s going to be very eclectic, pulling very different fl avors from around the world into our little box here.” Maggie’s is located at 581 S. Prom in Seaside; 503-738-6403. The restau- rant is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; maggiesontheprom.com. PUBLIC MEETINGS Friday, March 24 Cannon Beach Planning Commis- sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Wednesday, March 29 Cannon Beach Tourism and Arts Commission, 1 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Friday, March 31 Cannon Beach Emergency Pre- Publisher David F. Pero Editor R.J. Marx Sales/Advertising Manager Betty Smith paredness Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Tuesday, April 4 Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Tuesday, April 11 Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Production Manager John D. Bruijn Classifi ed Sales Jamie Ramsdell Advertising Sales Holly Larkins Brandy Stewart Contributing writers Rebecca Herren Katherine Lacaze Eve Marx Nancy McCarthy Tuesday, April 18 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Cannon Beach Public Works Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Thursday, April 27 Thursday, April 20 Cannon Beach Parks and Commu- nity Services Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Cannon Beach Design Review Board, CANNON BEACH GAZETTE The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other week by EO Media Group. 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon 97138 503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738-9285 www.cannonbeachgazette.com • email: editor@cannonbeachgazette.com Cannon Beach Planning Commis- sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Friday, April 28 Friday, April 28 Cannon Beach Emergency Pre- paredness Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. 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 2017 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. t might be rainy and windy as I write these words, but my thoughts have already shifted ahead to the eventual return of sunshine and warmer temperatures to the Oregon Coast. Spring is here. Before long, my grill will come out of its slumbers to do its thing on a nightly basis. Being a white wine lover, I get to put the arduous months of red wine behind me and embrace the UNCORKED RAMBLINGS joys of a good STEVEN SINKLER glass of vino that doesn’t go overboard on al- cohol or tannin. In spring, I’m looking for refreshing wines, with racy acidity and fruit (not sweetness) as these complement spring’s spirit of renewal. If you haven’t tried a glass of Grüner-Veltliner before, you’re in for a treat. “Grüner,” as it’s commonly referred to, is a crisp white wine packed with fl avors of orange blossoms, peaches and honey. The signature white wine of Austria, Grüner Veltliner is fi nding a home in Oregon. Amazingly, Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards, located in Roseburg, specializes in Grüner Veltliner. Stephen Reustle’s Estate Grüner Veltliner delivers classic aromas of citrus, honeysuckle and white pepper that satisfy the taste buds. This fresh, thirst-quenching wine is a perfect food friendly companion to a spinach or kale salad, sea- food or a dinner with asparagus or artichokes. For those of you who are looking for a full-bodied white wine but are in the ABC (Anything But Chardon- nay) club, I recommend Pudding River Viognier. Made in Salem by winemaker Sean Driggers, Pudding River Viognier is a Wine Shack favorite because this expres- sive wine delivers enticing aromas of apricots, pineapple and peaches with a well-balanced acidity. This wine goes well with chicken, scallops and crab, cheese plates and spicy Asian entrées. Of course, it’s impossible for me to write about spring wines without mentioning rosé! If you’ve been following my column, you know rosé is quite possibly my favorite wine. I can drink rosé when it’s warm and sunny outside, or when it’s cold and rainy. In fact, I might prefer rosé when it’s nasty outside, as it brings a touch of sunshine into my day whenever it’s in my glass. It seems like every winery in Oregon has fi nally caught on that wine drinkers want rosé. No longer the sweet, syrupy wine of bygone days, most locally produced rosé is crisp, dry and packed with aromas of strawberries. Delish! If I had to pick a favorite (other than Puffi n Rosé, which I’ll be writing about in my next column), I would choose Sokol Blosser Rosé of Pinot Noir, which in my opinion is the fl agship of Oregon rosé. Made from 100 percent estate pinot noir, this salmon-colored wine offers classic rosé fl avors of strawberry and rhubarb. What sets Sokol Blosser Rosé apart from the others is the wine’s intense and pleasing aromatics which reach out and invite you to the party. Personally, I prefer this expressive style of rosé over one which is subtle or delicate. Although spring is the perfect time to get reac- quainted with white wine, I can’t forget about my many red wine drinking friends. Let’s put the big cabs and merlots behind us for now and instead, try a medium- bodied red wine. J Scott’s Grenache offers delicious red fruit fl avors of raspberry and strawberry, with a hint of white pepper. If you haven’t had grenache before, it’s a lighter red wine, similar to pinot noir. Grenache is typ- ically focused on red fruit fl avors and doesn’t develop the black fruit and mushroom fl avors like pinot noir. J Scott Grenache would be perfect with burgers, grilled veggies and salmon. Spring is the perfect season for trying something new and these wines will not disappoint. Sunny and warm days are heading our way, really. Please remember to drink responsibly. Never drink and drive. LETTERS A tragedy in the making The proposed sale of the Elliott State Forest is a tragedy in the making. Public lands are to be held in the public trust. They are islands of biodiversity. If this sale proceeds, the decision to privatize surely will be felt in the way in which the Oregon Department of Forestry manages our remaining public forests. It is diffi cult to ignore what the sale of the Elliott might mean for harvest levels in the Clatsop State Forest or the Tillamook State Forest, if we expect to maintain current levels of revenue dedicated to the Common School Fund. On a related subject, the Linn County lawsuit to intensify harvest levels in our state forests is proof that for the profi t seekers, more can never be enough. The phrase “sustainable timber harvest” ought to be stricken from the lexicon whenever or wherever harvest levels are debated. The expression is so time-worn it has lost all meaning. We may have sustainable harvests, or we may have sustainable timber, but in the whole, the two ideals are a contradiction and a misconception. The photo on page one March 7 of Astoria District For- ester Dan Goody and the fi rst growth Douglas Fir stump illustrates perfectly how far we have come in the past 75 years (“Forestry to reassess some fi re fees,” The Daily As- torian). The stump itself stands as a monument to the folly we know as sustainable timber harvests. We cannot continue to cut trees faster than they grow, particularly the trees we have stocking public lands. The very idea that the Elliot State Forest could be privatized confi rms that the relatively modest and conservative stew- ardship practiced by the Oregon Department of Forestry can be seen as a value-added and sustainable manner of forestry. Gary Durheim Cannon Beach THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING