Feast in the Forest

A celebration of the Columbia Gorge

On a spring day 20 years ago, Skamania Lodge opened and Tina Curry, a local food events creator, looked it over, liked it, and has returned over and over. "She comes out for lunch and we bounce ideas off each other," says Skamania's Resort Executive Chef James Boheim. One of the ideas was something Tina had been contemplating doing at her own home, but felt it needed a bigger venue. When she approached Chef James and Todd Gillespie, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Lodge, they liked the idea. Feast in the Forest was born: wild game dinners in the forest with Skamania Lodge and guest chefs.

"People talk about farm-to-fork, but the official definition for that is products within 800 miles," says James. We liked Tina's idea because it allows us to show people how much the Gorge has to offer and how much of the Lodge's menu comes from the very area we're in. We get quail eggs from Stevenson and goat cheese from Wind Mountain. Most people don't know we have water buffalo in Oregon. We utilize everything we have here in the Gorge and in Oregon and Washington. So Feast in the Forest is a great showcase for what we offer."

"In addition, we wanted to show off this beautiful area," says Tina. "The views from Skamania's grounds are gorgeous: it's surrounded by trees and you can see the Columbia River. How fun to dine outside in the midst of this. Another part of this summer series of dinners is the introduction of Portland chefs at Skamania. There are a plethora of great chefs in Portland and they get noticed while Skamania can get overlooked because it's not downtown. I wanted to mix it up and Skamania has an open door policy in their kitchen; they welcome other chefs." The way James sees it is that it's like having a potluck at your home. "We plan a dinner party and invite our friends (the chefs), and they bring a dish. Then we have a great outdoor dinner together."

John Eisenhart of Pazzo Restaurant, Portland

Tina and her husband run the Northwest Food and Wine Festival and the Monterey Wine Festival, so wine is not an after thought to them. "We love food and wine together, and there are wonderful wines made nearby. A lot of thought gets put into what wines will go with the dishes the chefs are making," explains Tina.

Bringing more attention to Skamania Lodge is a good thing. It's a beautiful place just 45 minutes from downtown Portland and Portland's International Airport. It's 35 minutes from Hood River, Oregon. And just 3-1/2 hours from Seattle (see last month's story about the Lodge). "The dinner and Lodge add to the fun of this event by getting people out of town," says Tina. "It's intimate and unique."

The first dinner was on May 19 and showcased "Gorge Grown" passed hors d'oeuvres by Restaurant Chef Jay Horman of Skamania Lodge; a salmon salad, pine-cured salmon, baby micros, grilled apple thyme vinaigrette by Executive Sous Chef Todd Newville of Skamania Lodge; braised rabbit with candy cap and porcini mushrooms, polenta and young mustard by Executive Chef John Eisenhart of Pazzo; Nicky Farms water buffalo roasted marrow, and braised boneless short rib by Executive Chef Tony Meyers of Serratto (at left); and northwest cheesecake, Wind Mountain goat cheese, hazelnuts, Honey Ridge Farms honey, and candy basil by Pastry Chef Kelly Shamrell of Skamania Lodge.

"Now that we have one under our belt, we're evolving and improving," says James. "The May dinner went very well, and it gave us more ideas. We're more relaxed now and can guide the flow of the evening better. The camaraderie of the chefs was so fun. We're contemplating a few things: maybe adding another course, maybe having some of the vendors there to show the raw product to guests that they'll have at dinner. We'll see. The whole idea is awesome; we love having company to our house!"

Connie Adams/June 2013