November 13, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 11A
Seaside hosts
‘Iron Chef Goes Coastal’
ANDREW TONRY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Left to right: State Sen. Betsy Johnson, Vitaly Paley, Chris Allen of Food Services of America and Lynne Pelletier and Connie Barnes, who won judges’ seats in the auction.
Winning dish
‘almost like a
little brunch for
dinner’
Best Table presentation. And
among a ¿ eld of six sweets
purveyors, Sea Star Gelato
was selected Best Dessert.
The enthusiastic crowd
clustered around Sea Star’s
Italian gelato cart drawn in
by its cheery red and whited
striped umbrella, swooning
over the “crime of passion
gelato.” The combination of
creamy gelato mixed with
passion fruit and raspber-
ry coulis, laced with crispy
meringue bits earned them
the title of “People’s Choice
Award for Best Dessert of
Clatsop County 2015.”
While ¿ nal tallies were
incomplete at press time,
event organizer Jennifer Ho-
len expects the eighth annual
Iron Chef Goes Coastal to
best previous records of at-
tendance and money raised
for United Way. Last year the
event raised almost $44,000.
Despite coming up just
short in the Iron Chef compe-
tition, being a part of the fes-
tivities was nonetheless mean-
ingful for chef Aaron Bedard.
“I feel good,” he said.
“This is a great event and
it’s really good for the com-
munity.”
By Andrew Tonry
For EO Media Group
I
n a whirlwind of steam and
sizzle, the Iron Chefs went
to work. For a brief, but fu-
rious, hour they whipped, sau-
téed, baked and boiled. And,
Must under the wire of the ¿ nal
buzzer, beneath bright lights
and before expectant eyes,
each two-man team delivered
its own elegantly plated, fra-
grantly enticing, three-course
meal to the judges.
In a competition that was,
as judge and renowned Port-
land restaurateur Vitaly Pa-
ley put it, “neck and neck,”
the team of chefs Jonathan
Hoffman (Chef’s Table ca-
tering) and Sean Whittak-
er (Astoria Coffee House
& Bistro) was declared the
winner Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The victory amounted to
a title defense for Hoffman
and Whittaker, who took
the honor in 2014. That they
were once again paired to-
gether by random selection
offered a head start.
“I think it helped out a
lot,” Whittaker said of their
previous experience in the
competition. “We knew ex-
actly how we did it last year
and it worked, so we thought:
why not do it again?”
Their strategy revolved
around a division of labor.
Whittaker handled the ¿ rst
and second courses — a frisée
salad with roasted squash, ba-
con and a lemon-honey vin-
aigrette and a squash gnocchi
with carbonara cream sauce,
Dungeness crab, seared scal-
lops and a wild mushroom
ragù. Hoffman took care
of the entree — a spaghetti
squash and savory butternut
squash scone, crab cake and
hollandaise sauce topped with
micro-greens, roasted vegeta-
bles, fresh herbs and a squash
puree. Hoffman described it
the dish as “almost like a little
brunch for dinner.”
While the ¿ ve-judge panel
had hardly a bad word to say
about any of the evening’s
dishes, judge Paley was par-
ticularly effusive in his praise
of Hoffman’s entree.
“I know how tough it is
to run back and forth,” Pa-
ley said. “So added kudos
to you. The hollandaise held
perfectly. The scone is prob-
ably one of the best savory
scones I’ve ever had. So this
is an amazing dish.”
Paley’s sentiment meant a
lot to Hoffman.
ANDREW TONRY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Chefs Jonathan Hoff man of Chef’s Table catering and Sean
Whittaker of Astoria Coff ee House & Bistro plate their dishes.
ANDREW TONRY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Abe Bund of Newmans at 988 works his dishes at Iron Chef
Goes Coastal.
“It was really nice to have
someone like him, who’s
had a successful business in
Portland for over 20 years,
tell you that you have a
well-balanced dish two years
in a row,” Hoffman said.
“That was probably one of
my highlights, for sure.”
Secret ingredient?
Squash
But kind words weren’t
kept only for the winning
team. Runners-up Aaron Be-
dard (Stephanie Inn) and Abe
Bund (Newmans at 988,)
were the subject of similar
acclaim, particularly for their
entree — a crispy skin duck
with butter-poached potatoes,
green beans and a butternut
and acorn squash sous-vois.
“I have had a religious ex-
perience in respect to duck,”
said state Sen. Betsy John-
son, a judge. “An epiphany
occurred here — my duck
epiphany. The duck was re-
ally wonderful.”
The evening’s secret
ingredient, revealed only
moments before the com-
petition began, was squash.
Both teams seemed happy
with the choice.
“It’s fall,” said Whittaker.
“We’re all using squash right
now in most of our dishes and
on our menus. So it felt like
an easy one. It wasn’t a dif¿ -
cult ingredient to incorporate
into what I had planned out.”
Judge Paley agreed: squash
was an appropriate choice.
“’Tis the season for
squash,” he said. “I think to
make squash the star takes
effort, and I think it’s a per-
fect ingredient for a com-
petition. It’s a no-brainer if
somebody gives you a steak
or even an egg. To make
something with squash sing
with À avor is really special.”
And in such a close com-
petition, Hoffman’s abun-
dant use of the secret ingre-
dient may well have been
what put them over the top.
“I judged on the criteria
that it was supposed to cen-
ter around the squash,” said
judge Connie Barnes. “One
of the dishes, even though it
was probably tastier, it didn’t
center around the squash.”
As well as use of the se-
cret ingredient, scoring was
based on presentation, cre-
ativity and, of course, taste.
gether the auctions raised
$8,378.
The audience also used
their tastebuds and voted
accordingly in the People’s
Choice Award. Some 600-
plus attendees sampled foods
from nine regional restau-
rants. The ¿ rst and second
place winners of the People’s
Choice Award, Drina Daisy
and The Cove, were separat-
ed by a single vote. Each will
¿ eld a chef in next year’s
Iron Chef competition.
Attendees also honored
Maggie’s on the Prom as the
DEL’S O.K.
Sea Star, Maggie’s
take honors
Auctions offered more
than just a chance to judge.
The opportunity to taste
each team’s three-course
meals went for $375 apiece.
There were also a myriad
of silent auctions, including
vacation packages, culinary
delights and more. All to-
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