When You Watch Kites Fly Without Wind!

It’s The World Kite Museum’s Windless Kite Festival!

Two Days Of Indoor Wineless Kite Flying Competition and Performances
This Saturday And Sunday, January 15 & 16, 2011.

The first 100 people through the doors at this event will receive a Complimentory $10 Off Certificate useable at Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner at the Cafe.  That’s how much we support this event and the World Kite Museum.

You’ll see this young man, who has performed on national television and with others from around the United States, who know the joy and ballet beauty of flying kites without wind.  This is Connor Doran.  He is from Bend, OR.  He made the semi-finals on America’s Got Talent TV show.  Hundreds of thousands have watched his videos on You Tube of those performances as well as his appearance last year when he won the World Kite Museums Windless Kite Festival Competition. 

This year Connor is returning as the Festival’s featured guest.  There will be competions and “special performances” on Saturday and Sunday.  We think so much of this event that if you attend the Festival you’ll receive a Complimetary $10 Off Certificate to use dining with us at Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner any time between now and May 7th, 2011. 

Click on http://kitefestival.com/windless-kite-festival-2/ for all the details about the event, competition and performances.  It is sooo cool. – b

Whale watching could be spectacular this New Year’s weekend with clear skies in our forecast, but prospects look good for the next month.  If you get a great photo or video share it with us on Facebook.  We’ll create a “Whale Wall”.  And you’ll win a free breakfast (one breakfast per entrant).

From late December through to the end of January, close to 2000 whales will be passing by our coast on a massive migration south from their summer feeding water in the Bering and Chukchi seas near Alaska to their breeding and calving lagoons along Baja California.  Then, just before the beginning of February, like clockwork, it all nearly completely stops. You will see almost nothing until around the beginning of March, as they start the trek back to feeding grounds in the north.

The forecast for whale watching is good this year because of lower winds, though other conditions could stir the surf.  Rough surf and high waves make the whales harder to spot. When the surf is smooth, expect to see 10-25 whales per day from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.  Binoculars are advised as most are traveling 3-5 miles offshore.

Happy hunting and Happy New Year!

When you visit the peninsula this time of year you see sights just not available in the summer.  To start with, there’s Ilwaco’s Crab Pot Christmas Tree.  It’s got to be the only – or at least largest, for sure - one in the world.   Then there are the storms and the waves crashing against the rocks of Cape Disappointment and North Head.

Plus, great flavors and warm friends await you at the Cafe.

Christmas Eve dinner starts at 5:00 pm and runs to 8:30 pm. 

Christmas Eve’s Dinner Special Will Be:

New York Strip Roast with a roasted garlic demi-glace, Pork Loin Roast with a ginger and cranberry balsamic sauce, mashed potatoes and winter vegetables.   Of course, the regular menu will also be available.

Do You Love Fresh Oysters Shucked To Order

Direct From The Bay?   Like In This Video?….

Just Fast Forward Through The 15 Second Ad…

At Last, A Chance To Taste

Fresh Oysters Just Plucked Out Of The Bay

And Talk To The Farmer Who Nurtures Their Existence.

This Saturday, Nov. the 27th, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm …

               …Dan Driscoll, founder and owner of Oysterville Sea Farms and C.F.O (Chief Food Officer) of Willabay Specialty Foods will hand shuck his oysters for you  and answer any and all questions about the wonders of Willapa Bay Oysters.  Plus, we will feature fresh oysters all evening as the “Special Entrees” that evening.

                It is Oyster Season.  Oysters are at their peak of flavor starting in November and running into May.  Their texture is the firmest when the weather is the worst.  When it is cold and rainy.  Now even raw oysters almost crunch in your mouth like an apple.   They taste like clean salt water.  And never are they better than when enjoyed at their source.   It is a treat mostly only locals can enjoy.  Yes, you can have them in Seattle, Portland or San Francisco, but they won’t be as fresh because they will have traveled hundreds of miles in a truck or even a plane.  Some of the seawater in their shells will  have been lost, and so, too, some of their flavor.  For one night only, this is an event your taste buds will remember forever.     Reservations are recommend.  Call now: 1-360-642-2323

Here’s An Offer We Think You’ll Like:

Do You Tap Your Feet To Great Music?

Do You Like To Laugh While You Learn?

You Can Have Dinner For Two And Tickets To This Show Next Sunday!

Watch This Video Of The Most Amazing Piano Player We Ever Seen …

                Bob Milne does a benefit concert almost every year for the World Kite Museum.  He performs this Sunday, November 14th at 2:00 pm and You can get two tickets and a three course dinner for  two after the concert for just $100.  You’ll see the only piano player interviewed by the Library of Congress since Jelly Roll Morton  - he is a virtuoso player and the leading authority on the history of piano playing in the US.

Plus, you’ll get a three course meal at the cafe after the concert:

Two house salads

Your choice of one of our Comfort Food Classic Entrees

And two mini-sorbet or house made Ice creams.

                We only have twenty tickets available to sell for this event  (that is tickets for just ten couples!).  To reserve your tickets and make your reservations call the restaurant, 360-642-2323.  We will hold the tickets for you at the door of the Museum  with a certificate for this special dinner offer.    This will be fun.  Call now.

This is what it is like when the weather is perfect.

You won’t find the brilliant fall leaf colors of Vermont, but you will find the bright red of ripe cranberries when you visit during October.  Just turn off the main road and fraction or two of a mile later you will find a bog in the midst of harvest.  The peninsula’s cranberries are prized by Ocean Spray for their pigment.  It really does stand out and brighten your day to see them at their peek.

And you can find these tart delicacies for sale along the road in five gallon bags all month long until the November storms hit and drive the peddlers off the street.   They freeze well if you want to save them until Thanksgiving.  But you can also make a big batch of chutney.  It keeps “forever” in the refrigerator and cans well for gifts.  Our recipe follows:

Cranberry Chutney Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Qt cranberries

1 cup water

1 cup raisons

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbl spoon Cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground clove

2/3 cup diced onion

2/3 cup diced apple

2/3 cup diced celery

TECHNIQUE:

Combine cranberries, raisons, sugar, spices and water in a large sauce pan.  Bring the contents to a boil and then simmer for approximately 15 minutes.  The cranberries should pop and add juice to the “broth”.  Then add the apples, onion and celery to the pan.  Bring all back to boil and then simmer for 15 to 20 more minutes until it thickens.  Then can or cool and store in refrigerator.   

He is Jacob Burden.  He’s our Chef.

And he Wants to remind you that he is creating a special dinner for you this Saturday night,

Our Wild Mushroom Harvest Table Dinner!

Thirty Seats Have Been Reserved.   Only Ten Remain Available!

(Jake joined us in August of 2009 and Cheri proclaimed him

Chef and her replacement one year ago!)

                You really will enjoy this, if you can make it.   Wild mushrooms are at their peak right now.  We have chanterelles, King Boletus,  Matsutake and Saffron Milk Caps on hand right now.  Plus our fall produce is blossoming in these final days of sunshine and cranberry harvest is at full tilt.

                How do you know for sure this will be special?  Cheri is so excited about Jake’s food and the job he has done taking over all of the kitchen’s operations that she is attending as a dinner guest to testify to his excellence, dining with her college harp instructor.  My mother will be there.  And Jake’s parents will be there, too.  We are all that excited.

Here’s what you’ll get:

           1.      You’ll consume wild mushrooms at least five different ways in five different presentations.  Items like these:

          2.      You will enjoy the last of the fall’s fresh produce from Stockhouse Farm on Puget Island, WA.

  3.      You will meet  Diane and Rob Stockhouse, the owners of Stockhouse Farm, who will be our featured guests.

  4.      Cheri will introduce you to Jacob Burden, our chef, the person she respects so much

that she has given him “the keys to the kitchen”.

  5.      Chef Jake will describe the “whys” and “hows” of each course.

  6.      And all bottles of wine will be offered at 33% off our list price! 

 Note: You can spend the day on the beach walking the Discovery Trail, shopping the markets or watching your team’s game.  No need to fight traffic after work to get here or hurry home for work the next day.  Again, seating is limited, so make your plans and call 360-642-2323 now.  Reservations are required.  It’s this Saturday, October 23rd at 5:30 pm. 

Price: $59.00 

Summer is Rose wine’s “Season”.  Rose wines (not the Lancer’s Rose many of us grew up with) are typically intense with cherry, melon and strawberry scented fruitiness and a refreshing crispness.  Served chilled they compliment light summery dishes and snacks and are the  perfect foil for a hot day.

This summer we are featuring five rose wines by the bottle and the glass:  Abacela Vineyards ’09 “Estate Grown” Grenache Rose, Barnard Griffin’s ’09 Rose of Sangiovese, Chinook Vineyards’ ’09 Rose of Cabernet Franc from Yakima Valley, Evesham Wood’s ’09 Rose of Tempranillo and Domaine de Blanes’  ’09 Cotes Catalanes Rose of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan, “Le Clot”, from France.  Matt Kramer raves about Abacela’s  Grenache Rose.  Andy Purdue and Northwest Wine Press find Barnard Griffins’ Rose of Sangiovese a perennial favorite.  Tom Douglas (Dahlia Lounge, Serious Pie, etc) loves Chinook Winery’s Rose of Cabernet Franc’s richness and beautiful nose.  For light and dry try my favorites:  Evesham Wood’s Rose of Tempranillo or the “Le Clot” (it just tastes French: light, dry, elegant).

Remember, also, that they don’t last long.  They are designed to be enjoyed now.  Their shelf life is minimal.  We will celebrate them all summer and then sell  off what is left in September, holding on to one or two which will hold their structure.

WINE AMNESTY THIS WEDNESDAY!
That’s Bastille Day!

Free Corkage For You
When You Bring Your Own Wine To Toast Jean Marc and his French Heritage On Bastille Day! 

Wednesday, July 14, when you wish Jean Marc Happy Bastille Day, you will be granted WINE AMNESTY at 42nd Street Cafe. Guests are invited to bring their own favorite bottle of wine, (French perhaps) to enjoy with dinner. One bottle per couple please!!!