Travels with Chili: Overnight in Astoria (with Mushrooms)

Mention the word foraging. I dare you.

Chances are if I'm within earshot, I'll "lean in." And I don't mean that in a groovy,  women-in-corporate-boardrooms, outta-my-way-mister sort of way. I mean I'll literally walk over, shove my nose into the conversation and say, "Did I hear something about foraging? For what? Where? And can I come?"

Ranger Sam shows off an Amanita muscaria.

So by the time I got to the end of the sentence "I’m writing to see if you’d like to visit Astoria for a guided mushroom foraging trip…" I was already typing "yes" in reply to the e-mail from my friend Vicky Hastings, whose agency works with the Astoria-Warrenton tourism bureau.

You see, not only do I love hunting for mushrooms, I also adore Astoria. We've been there several times over the years and have watched it turn from a working port city on the Columbia into a great destination for day trips, overnight visits and vacations, all just a 90-minute scenic drive from Portland. Its dining scene has evolved from a few scattered cafés to one with several very good restaurants featuring local seafood, produce, breads, cheese and beer. And a new brewery seems to be popping up every few months to join ranks with the big kahuna that is Fort George Brewery.

The afternoon's haul.

Our first stop was at Fort Stevens State Park to meet Ranger Sam Gibson, a strapping young fellow with a big smile who was leading us on our foraging tour that day. Our group was small, just another couple and us, so we opted for the "off-road" tour that would give us more foraging time and less walking on trails to get to the more accessible—meaning more well-known and thus potentially picked-over—spots.

As we walked to a spot where Ranger Sam had found mushrooms in previous seasons, he gave us some historical background on the park, as well as pointing out some of the different varieties of mushrooms that we would be seeing during the afternoon. He said that the park staff had started offering foraging trips as a way to encourage people to discover its natural beauty during the winter months. (Contact the park office to arrange a tour, and check this guide for other foraging opportunities.)

Commodore Hotel lobby in Astoria.

Tramping up and down hillsides and gradually filling our bags with the large porcini mushrooms that were springing up out of the wet, moss and fern-covered forest floor, I was surprised when Ranger Sam mentioned that these densely forested hills were once barren sand dunes that had been planted with trees in the first half of the 1900s. Which is interesting, since Fort Stevens was originally constructed during the Civil War to protect the mouth of the Columbia River. Featuring eight gun batteries scattered across its more than 4,000 acres, those same trees have now grown to obscure the view of the Columbia from the batteries.

Lovell Taproom at Ft. George Brewery.

Saying goodbye to Ranger Sam back at the parking lot, we made the short drive into Astoria and our room for the night at the Commodore Hotel downtown. A restored 1925-era hotel that seeks to maintain its historic roots, it caters to modern guests with hipster amenities like beer on tap and an Ace Hotel-style lobby for communing. Rooms are updated with modern furniture and tiled bathrooms, but we were tipped off to a noise problem when we found packets of earplugs in the bedside table drawers—windows overlooking the street let in lots of light, but also lots of traffic noise, and the original wooden doors do nothing to keep out noise from the hallway.

IPA at Buoy Beer on the waterfront.

That said, Astoria's downtown district is bustling with activity and the hotel is within a few blocks of some terrific restaurants. We chose to go to Albatross & Co. across the street, chef Eric Bechard's intimate local watering hole-cum-oyster bar that has recently expanded its offerings to include a full dinner menu. Other dinner options nearby include the eclectically themed T. Paul's Urban Café, and Clemente's Cafe and Public House on the waterfront.

More casual dining can be had at any of the many brewpubs, including the aforementioned Fort George Brewery, as well as at Buoy Beer and Wet Dog Café, the taproom for Astoria Brewing Company. But a hidden gem we found this trip is the Lovell Taproom in the building next door to Fort George. An intimate pocket bar with a blazing fireplace, it often has special small-batch beers not found in the main brewpub next door.

Ordering at Street 14 Café.

The next morning we took the most direct route and checked out Street 14 Café, located on the first floor of the hotel. A comfortable cross between an espresso bar and an old-fashioned diner, the coffee is hot and strong and the food is affordable and delicious. If they could only get those well-seasoned waitresses with a coffee pot in one hand and a cigarette dangling from their lips, it would be the perfect throwback.

Travels with Chili: Astoria Redux

I can't say it was better than our Fourth of July camping trip that featured the 14 Dozen Raw Oysters Throwdown (which we demolished, by the way). But when you get a weekend in Astoria that includes a room that may well have one of the most spectacular river views ever, and then get to have fresh-off-the-boat Oregon albacore prepared by the best chefs in town, well, that makes for a pretty memorable getaway.

The room was in the Cannery Pier Hotel which, unlike most hotels with "pier" in the name, is actually built on…yes…a pier sticking out into the Columbia River. As a matter of fact, the balcony of our first-floor room was just a few feet above the water that lapped the pilings supporting the building. The first morning as I stood in my plush hotel-supplied robe drinking a cup of coffee, a giant container ship chugged past a few dozen yards away, an awesome sight when you're just waking up, let me tell you.

In another unusual twist, the bathroom had a claw-foot bathtub discreetly placed behind a cutout in the bathroom wall, allowing the bather a view of the Astoria-Megler Bridge that soars over the hotel (top photo). And for those who prefer to let someone else do the driving, the hotel sports three 40s and 50s-era cars whose driver is happy to squire passengers around town.

On arrival the first afternoon we were desperately in need of some snackage, and found the Bridgewater Bistro conveniently situated on the waterfront next to the hotel. Though we were a little early for happy hour, the big barn-like space and deck with views of the water had a promising small plates menu that was perfect for our needs.

With a beer for Dave and wine for me, we ordered their calamari, boquerones of local anchovies and the oyster sampler. The oysters (above right) were local Willapa Bays, served as shooters with vodka cocktail sauce, smoked (on slaw) and in the shell with a crazy Bloody Mary sorbet. Though I'm not a big fan of mignonette or sauce with my raw oysters, the tomatoey, spicy sorbet complemented the flavor and creamy freshness of the oysters perfectly, and I'm going to be trying to recreate it here at home.

After a quick nap and some claw foot bath action, we decided to walk the mile or so downtown to Clementes where we were meeting our tour group for dinner. It was a clear, balmy evening and the half-hour stroll along the waterfront promenade was just the right preamble (no pun intended) to our dinner.

Gordon and Lisa Clement owned a nearby chowder restaurant and felt there was a need, as well as a market, for a dinner place in Astoria that featured local seafood and organic produce. They began working with area farmers and fishermen to develop their menu, which not only means everything is fresh but also seasonal, a nice fit with Gordon's love of Italian cuisine. He also has a deft hand when it comes to seafood and understands how to make the most of it while doing the least to it, as exemplified by the amazing albacore carpaccio with blood orange infused olive oil (left).

Another chef, Christopher Holen of Baked Alaska, demonstrated his love of local albacore and a bit of his native Alaskan bravado the next day with a dish called Thundermuck Tuna. It's basically a tuna loin dusted with locally roasted coffee grounds, seared rare and served with a honey ginger sesame sauce, balsamic reduction and pickled ginger. Not everyone's cup of tea (or coffee, as the case may be), but certainly original.

At that demonstration we also got a taste of a special lager brewed for Astoria's 200th birthday, a Pre-Prohibition 1811 Lager from Fort George Brewing, presented by affable head brewer Spencer Gotter. A light and refreshing beer with a nice backbone of flavor, he was excited to let us know that it was going to be appearing in stores soon…in cans! For those of you who haven't heard, cans are the new container of choice for many brewers, the technology having vastly improved over the tinny-tasting nastiness that most of us remember.

The one place we didn't make it to was the Blue Scorcher Bakery, a collective business that shares a building with Fort George. It apparently features a wide range of stunning breads and pastries, but it's developing a niche in gluten-free circles for weekly Gluten-Free Fridays with tasty pastries and lunches. Which gives us more than enough reason to go back, hopefully soon!

Travels with Chili: The Water is Wide

Grass needing mowing? Untilled garden? Ring around the bathtub? There was nothing we couldn't ignore for another day considering the long-awaited, prayed-for, highly anticipated sun that was forecast for Sunday. In other words, it was high time to vacate Dodge and head out in Chili for a little R&R.

View Portland to Astoria via the Wahkiakum Ferry in a larger map.

One of the blessings of living in Portland is that the ocean is less than a couple of hours away, so taking a meandering route is totally do-able in for a day trip. So with Rosey and Walker piled in the back, we decided to head to the beach with a stop in Astoria for lunch.

As you might expect, we prefer backroads to freeways and mapped a route out Highway 30 through St. Helens and Rainier. Just beyond Clatskanie* is the town of Westport and the (to us) irresistible lure of the little Wahkiakum* Ferry (right and at top—note Walker peering out the back window). It's been in daily operation since 1962 transporting passengers across the Columbia River between Westport and the town of Cathlamet* in Washington. The dollar-to-pleasure ratio makes the five-buck fare for the 15-minutes spent crossing the river seem like the deal of the century, with passengers getting out of their cars and oohing and aahing at the bald eagles in the trees along the banks.

The road from the ferry landing on Puget Island winds through the town of Cathlamet and up into the hills above the river before dropping down to the Astoria-Megler Bridge. The small towns along the way to the span are dotted with pioneer cemeteries, historic bridges and some promising-looking bed and breakfasts, but we were too hungry for side trips this time.

Though we love the beer at Fort George, we opted instead for the view looking out over the mouth of the Columbia from the Wet Dog Café (left), home to Astoria Brewing Company. Serenaded by All That Jazz, a local brass band (trombones, drums, keyboard and, yes, a tuba) raising money for scholarships for high school music students, we ordered two amber ales to sip while we perused the menues.

The food here is good, basic pub fare, and you've got a choice of cod, salmon, halibut and albacore for their English-style, beer battered fish'n'chips. The order comes with decent plank fries and coleslaw, though I could have done without the spicy salt on the fries, but it was a small annoyance. After scarfing down our lunch and tipping the band, we headed about five miles west to the beach to reward the dogs for being such patient travelers.

Del Rey Beach is one of those very unusual beaches on Oregon's coast where motorized vehicles are allowed, and watching them zooming up and down the beach made me wish for a sneaker wave or sand pit (with or without giant sand worms). On the next trip we'll head to the beach at Gearhart and stop at the to-die-for Pacific Way Bakery and Café.

But there weren't too many of the obnoxious machines, fortunately, and the dogs were oblivious. It was totally worth it to watch Rosey (right), our twelve-year-old, shed years as she ran after birds in the shallows, then fall sound asleep on the trip home.

It was a successful day all around, and we didn't even notice that the grass had grown that much longer while we were away.

* Pronunciation guide:

• Clatskanie: KLAT-skuh-nye
• Wahkiakum: wuh-KYE-uh-kum
• Cathlamet: kath-LAM-uht