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A variety of clams can be found on the Oregon Coast, including razor clams and bay clam varieties such as butter, littleneck, cockles and gaper clams.

Clams Are for Digging

Just below the surface, the Oregon Coast is teeming with various clam types written by Julie Lee Don’t mind getting a little sandy, muddy and wet? Clamming might be for you! Anyone can dig for clams, and little equipment is needed: a clam shovel, a clam gun, a bucket and some patience. A shellfish license is required as well. The best clamming on the Oregon Coast is done during low tides, and it’s recommended to check with Oregon Health Authority’s website to ensure clam harvesting is open; they follow strict guidelines and constantly survey for potential biotoxins. Razor clams are a foodie’s delight and prized by clam diggers for their size and sweet-tasting meat. Clatsop County is bountiful with this seafood delicacy, with 95 percent of all razor clams deriving from a tight eighteen-mile stretch of beach. Bay clams, a broad grouping that encompasses everything that isn’t a razor clam,…

Oregon clam linguine is simple to make, gourmet in its presentation and delicious to the taste.

Keep Clam and Carry On

written by Thor Ericksonphotography by Tambi Lane The brightness and hum of the fluorescent lights inside Bi-Mart was an awkwardly refreshing break from the dark and rainy weather of Lincoln City. I stopped in to pick up a shellfish license and a “clam shovel” (called a trenching shovel anywhere else in the world). One of the cashiers pointed me in the right direction. Under his red Bi-Mart vest, he wore a t-shirt that said “I Dig Clams” across the front. I knew I was in the right place. The next morning at low tide, shovel and bucket in hand and boots on feet, I set out to Siletz Bay. After asking a few fellow clammers where to go, I ended up north of Schooner Creek where the purple varnish clams (named for the hue inside the shell) were said to be plentiful. I searched the wet sand for the telltale…

Lyf Gildersleeve, president of Flying Fish Company in Portland, takes his son, Miles, and the family to Oregon lakes for old-fashioned angling.

Trout Fishing in Oregon

One man’s journey from child angler to fishmonger businessman and sustainable seafood advocate written by Julie Lee Trout is Oregon’s most popular fish to catch and eat, with several trout species, both indigenous and adopted decades ago, to pursue. The most common is rainbow trout, which is widely stocked and distributed throughout the state. Redband trout are native to Central Oregon and historically found throughout waters connected to the Deschutes River. Paulina Lake, also in Central Oregon, boasts the state record trophy brown trout, weighing in at more than 28 pounds. Trout is generally found in cool streams and lakes, making Oregon a hot spot for this culinary delicacy. Historically, trout was a favorite of Europeans who noted catching it on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in 1792, but rainbow trout is native only to North America’s lakes and rivers and a favorite of anglers. Lyf Gildersleeve, president of Flying Fish Company…

Smoked Trout Pâte is always great to have at the ready for hors d’oeuvres or a luxurious snack.

Fisherman’s Blues

written by Thor Ericksonphotography by Tambi Lane “I’ve got one!” my friend Thomas yelled from his fishing float tube. “Stop paddling!” he yelled, while frantically reeling in the rainbow trout that he had been waiting for all weekend. Thomas’ flippers had fallen off and were now most likely at the bottom of Paulina Lake. I had hooked up a rope to his float and was paddling furiously, towing him back to shore with my kayak in the sudden rain and ferocious headwind. On cue, my eight-year-old son, also paddling against the wind, threw up his paddle. “I can’t do it anymore,” he said, joining the increasingly impossible tow rope. As I paddled on, feeling as if I was training for “The World’s Strongest Man” competition, I reflected on my friendship with Thomas. Despite the day’s mishaps, Thomas is one of the best fishermen I know. In fact, he’s exceptional at…

At Fish Sauce, send your palate on a trip with, clockwise from top left, chuối chiên; pork bánh mì; bún vermicelli; gỏi cuốn; Botta’s Favorite with grilled shrimp, fried egg, jasmine rice and núớc mắm; and the Fortune & Glory cocktail with rum, mint, hibiscus and lime.

The Global Flavors of Portland

In America’s darling of the dining scene, the world lands on your fork written by Julie Lee When the culinary scene in Portland amped up in the early 2000s, the keystone to international recognition was flavorful dishes that chefs created which were ingenious to anywhere but the Northwest. The secret to the recipe, though, was the collective passion to source local ingredients. Of the more renowned chefs, Andy Ricker became internationally famous for what he could do with a chicken wing. Pok Pok was one of the first of many foodie favorites that started as a food truck, garnered international acclaim, and put Portland front and center on the gastronomic map for occasional diners and food snobs alike. In the pandemic’s wake, the restaurant industry has suffered dearly, with decades of hard work and fame wiped out. While Portland lost some renowned chefs including Ricker, many food carts, restaurants and…

Von Ebert Brewing’s Pearl District pub is a perfect spot for sampling its award-guzzling brews such as Volatile Substance IPA.

Pour It On

The new year is brewing with excitement written by Beau Eastes Hello 2022, we couldn’t be more excited to see you. After a year in which we saw iconic institutions like Portland Brewing and Bailey’s Taphouse close, as well as the cancellation of most of the state’s annual beer festivals, we’re looking forward to the new year like a bearded man in flannel loves a super danky double IPA. Here’s what we’re giddy about as we roll into 2022: VON EBERT’S ENCORE Arguably no craft brewer in Oregon had a better 2021 than Portland-based Von Ebert Brewing. Less than four years old, Von Ebert was named the 2021 Medium Sized Brewery of the Year by the Oregon Beer Awards, claimed gold in the uber-competitive American IPA category at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival with their Volatile Substance IPA, all the while expanding their popular Heritage Beer Series. It’s a…

Aesthete teas sprung from a family tradition of leveraging its folk healing properties.

Aesthete Tea

written by Lauren Sharp The product of a mother daughter partnership, Aesthete is a brand defined by the appreciation of art, nature and beauty with the goal of bringing people together through carefully crafted herbal teas. Owner Briana Thornton and their mother, herbalist Maggie Cassidy, have formed a collaboration that keeps the traditions of folk healing alive in southwest Portland and beyond. The inspiration for Aesthete, a loose-leaf tea purveyor and teahouse, is deep in Thorton’s roots. Growing up, their mother Maggie was constantly mixing her own herbal teas as part of her own studies in herbalism and natural healing. Thorton gained a new appreciation for her mother’s teas while working at a faced-paced advertising agency. Their mother often sent care packages with custom blends offering a range of physical and mental health benefits. Thornton’s friends and colleagues quickly noticed her unusual, aromatic teas and urged them to go into…

Tacos with fresh rockfish, plentiful year-round, offer a winter getaway for the palate.

A Rockfish by Any Other Name

written by Thor Ericksonphotography by Tambi Lane Order rockfish at a restaurant in New York, and you’ll likely get a striped bass. Place the same order in California, and you could end up with a vermilion rockfish. Here in Oregon, rockfish can be anything from quillback, pygmy, shortbelly, longspine, yellow-eye, to widow, canary, chilipepper, thornyhead and the old standby—red snapper. Oregon sport and commercial fishermen regularly catch more than twenty-five species of rockfish. Many of these rockfish have similar characteristics and are difficult to tell apart. According to the Food and Drug Administration, a single fish species can go by multiple names from the time it’s caught until the time it ends up on your plate, and many kinds of fish can legally be sold under a single name. The good news is that all these species of Oregon rockfish taste relatively the same. The flesh is versatile and can…

Put your palate in Chef Joel Lui-Kwan’s command at Lovely Rita with the “off menu” prix-fixe dinner, the chef’s selection of starters, main dishes and dessert.

Lovely Rita

written by Lauren Sharp Teeming with ’60s glam—bronze fixtures, velvet chairs, walnut dining tables— this spot at The Hoxton hotel is the place for an evening cocktail and small plates or prix-fixe dining. Adjacent to Portland’s Old Town Chinatown, it was scheduled to open in early 2020, Lovely Rita opened October 15. Just like the lovely meter maid of the song invoked by its name, the space will be devoted to work (and lounging) during the day, transforming into a sultry dining destination for dinner. Of course, the hyper-local rotating beer, spirits and wine menu will be available throughout the day. Chef Joel Lui-Kwan took the creative lead on the Pacific Northwest concept, overseeing the food throughout the hotel, which besides Lovely Rita, includes the breakfast and lunch cafe Little Rita and the rooftop bar, Tope. Lui-Kwan’s menu embraces smoked fish, oysters, pan-roasted meats, seasonal vegetables and artisan charcuterie sourced…