Live Oregon

Dining outdoors at Riverside.

Riverside

written by Kerry Newberry photography by Amy Robb When chef Mark DeResta talks about his restaurant kitchen, he describes it as a culinary incubator. For more than fifteen years, he’s leveraged his all-day dining program to bolster surrounding micro-farmers, makers and producers. “We want to help share their story,” said DeResta. Locals in the know beeline to this under-the-radar Hood River spot: Here you can catch sunsets from an outdoor terrace elegantly tiered above the Columbia River, not to mention spy ospreys swooping for fish. But what really sets this hotel restaurant apart is how it’s so deeply rooted to the surrounding community. On a recent morning, DeResta swapped tales with Rebbecah Winnier, a third-generation tribal fisher from the Yakama Nation, as she delivered glistening Chinook salmon she caught hours before from the Columbia River. Soon after, he mingled with other regulars swinging by with everything from organically grown mushrooms…

Hood River Cherry Company owner Katy Klein finds a quiet moment in her Rainier cherry grove.

The Cherry on Top

Spring’s vibrant pink buds produce succulent bites of summer heaven from Hood River written by Julie Lee | photography by Daniel Stark There is something that screams spring when pink buds burst in the sky on cherry trees: bold pink in color, breathtaking against a blue sky, announcing winter’s end. That was especially true this year after Oregon’s seemingly never-ending deluge. It’s a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” window in May, when cherry blossom loyalists will walk, hike and bike around Oregon to breathe in the beauty and abundance of cherry blossoms. There is even a Cherry Blossom Park in Portland, dedicated to nature’s wizardry. Sweet cherries originated in the region between the Black and Caspian Seas and derive their name from the Turkish town of Cerasus. Colonists brought cherries with them in the 1600s, and in 1847, a settler traveling from Iowa to Oregon brought nursery stock, which became the first cherry trees…

Kevin Maloney deftly draws you into a Quixote-like tale that begins in Beaverton.

Pilgrim Power

Humor and drama on the journey to find the meaning of life interview by Cathy Carroll “This is the story of a pilgrim named Kevin Maloney,” we learn in the prologue to the novel The Red-Headed Pilgrim, autobiographical fiction by Kevin Maloney. Our hero hails from Beaverton, “a suburb of Portland the way the Monkees are a suburb of the Beatles.” A twisted JV football drill sends him running for the forest, sparking an existential crisis. His parents line up a therapist who offers him a copy of Siddhartha, and his pilgrimage eventually ensues. Think On the Road meets Napoleon Dynamite in the latest from this Portland-based author. You’ve said that half of writing is skill and half from how you live your life. Can you elaborate? When I was younger, I used to be dazzled by fancy sentences in books. I still am, but as I’ve gotten older, I…

With a shellfish license, anyone can take to crabbing off of docks, such as this one in Bandon.

Catching Crustaceans

’Tis the season for Dungeness delicacy written by Julie Lee Internationally sought for its sweet flavor, Oregon Dungeness crab appeals to all, from foodies to newbies who want to wade a toe into eating seafood. Commercially harvested since the 1800s, Oregon is well known for Dungeness. The Dungeness crab fishery is Oregon’s most valuable “single species” fishery, and Oregon named the Dungeness crab the official state crustacean in 2009. The Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, fully funded by commercial crab fishermen, was established in 1977 to research, educate and promote the image of crab. Tim Novotny was recently named executive director of the commission. “We try to be good industry partners wherever we can,” said Novotny, “supporting our fishermen by inspiring ongoing dialogue with the academic community, keeping abreast of the issues facing our ocean resource, and driving research to help maintain a sustainable fishery. Our fishermen depend on us to…

The Oregon Truffle Festival, going on twenty years, brings pungency to savory and sweet dishes to great delight

Oregon Truffle Festival

written by Kerry Newberry One of the bright spots of a Northwest winter is the Oregon Truffle Festival. Where else can you romp through misty forests on a guided truffle foray, partake in lectures with renowned mycologists and indulge in exceptional wine and truffle dinners? For almost twenty years, fungi and foraging enthusiasts have flocked to this winter fête to celebrate the state’s native black and white truffles. The luxurious ingredient grows wild in Oregon and is prized around the world for the umami flavor it adds to dishes. Most often found flourishing beneath the roots of Douglas fir trees, the fragrant fungi play an exceptional game of hide and seek. One of the best ways to root out the heady mushrooms is with a truffle dog and the festival includes a popular two-day training for dog owners along with The Joriad North American Truffle Dog Competition, the only event…

The Oregon Dungeness crab melt. Just add Coltrane for spice.

The Best Things in Life

written by Thor Erickson photography by Tambi Lane I became enamored with crab as a child. About once a year, my dad would arrive home carrying a bucket overflowing with fresh Dungeness crabs and a baguette tucked under his arm. On these occasions, everyone would stop what they were doing and get busy performing their assigned tasks. Dad steamed the crabs. Mom made a salad and warmed the baguette. My sisters cut lemons, lined the dinner table with newspapers and found the crab crackers. I got to put on the record album. Dad would shout from our tiny bustling kitchen, “Anything by Cal Tjader or … Coltrane!” “Coltrane it is,” I would shout back. We would spend hours sitting around the table, picking and eating steamed crab from the shell, dipping it in hot butter and talking and laughing. Everyone’s smiling faces glistening with butter and satisfaction. It was at…

Ōkta, a new star in McMinnville’s dining scene, has its own farm nearby.

Ōkta

written by Kerry Newberry Is the most beautiful dish the luminous beautiful dish the luminous ceramic orb cradling Oregon Dungeness crab with silky mushroom custard and stone-ground grits? The whisper thin slices of turnips checkered across rockfish with huckleberry puree and earthy shitake mushrooms—or the sunny meringue snug in a scooped-out lemon sprinkled with lemon thyme leaves? These are but a few of the wonderful and wildly inventive dishes dreamed up by chef Matthew Lightner at Ōkta, the Willamette Valley’s latest epicurean destination. You might know Lightner from Portland’s Castagana, where he built a devoted following with his farm and forage-inspired menu. He then alighted to New York City for a stint at Atera, earning the acclaimed Tribeca restaurant two Michelin stars. His return to Oregon brings this immersive fine-dining experience that taps into all the senses. Each dish resembles a mini work of art—exquisite in presentation with a depth…

Natural fibers and warm colors follow the aesthetic of the Columbia Gorge below this Mosier home.

Natural Beauty

A house in Mosier captures everything special about the Columbia River Gorge written by Melissa Daltonphotography by Christopher Dibble Richard Brown is no stranger to working on esteemed sites. Consider the architect’s deft addition to a 1949 Pietro Belluschi house in Oak Grove—Belluschi being perhaps Oregon’s most famous modern architect and known worldwide. But when the owners of 10 acres near Mosier in the Columbia River Gorge reached out, it wasn’t an existing house that struck awe in Brown. It was the land. “My first thought was, ‘This is a rare opportunity for us to work with a really beautiful site,’” said Brown. “I felt a great responsibility to be respectful, in order to take advantage of as many aspects of it as we can.” The Columbia River Gorge is indeed dramatic: a canyon 80 miles long and 4,000 feet deep in spots, cut by the Columbia River and marking…

Chris Martini's first wood-burning hot tub on Mount Hood

DIY: Wood-Fired Hot Tubs

Photography by Northwest Timber Tubs A few years ago, Chris Martini’s friends asked for help with a project. They had bought property at the base of Mount Hood and wanted to build a hot tub there. The only catch? The tub needed to be completely off-grid and fueled by a wood-fired stove. Having extensive experience as a carpenter, and most recently managing production for a teardrop trailer company for five years, Martini thought the project sounded like a fun design challenge. “They sent me pictures of some fairly crude designs from the internet that they had found. Real simple stuff of an old tub with a copper coil set-up on the outside,” said Martini. “But the issue with that set-up is that it takes forever to heat up.” Martini got to designing and building, not only the tub, but the platform beneath it, the stove insert, and a retractable roof…