Jennifer Burns Bright

25 Culinary Adventures on Oregon’s North Coast, forthcoming 2020 from TCVA. A travel guide for hands-on activities and discoveries of coastal cuisine, travel, outdoor fun, and wildlife.

Near Haines, a northern outpost in Southeast Alaska, one of the largest gatherings in the world of bald eagles takes place each winter on the Chilkat River. Unusual upwellings in the river creates an ice-free stretch for late salmon to migrate...and eagles to eat them.

After scouring the coastline’s shacks, bistros, carts, and fisher-owned markets from Astoria to Brookings, we’ve rounded up the indispensable spots frying up supreme baskets of fried piscine nuggets. Presented here from north to south, fish and chip stops in notable settings made the list, especially those featuring wild fish sourced off the Oregon shores — ling cod, rockfish, albacore.

Scout for whales, hunt for agates, or quaff local microbrews in a cozy coastal haven.

The fierce waters around the mouth of the Columbia River thwarted explorers for hundreds of years. Winter storms halted the famous Corps of Discovery in 1805, and hundreds of ships since then have met their end navigating through the treacherously shallow, shifting river channels. Jutting out as a long, narrow arm into the unpredictable “Graveyard of the Pacific” to the west and north and the Columbia to the south, Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula shouldn’t be as welcoming as it is.

interview by Jennifer Burns Bright
Nestled in the Tiger Mountain foothills 40 miles from Seattle, Sunny Diaz and her dog, Stella, hunt truffles professionally from November to March. Formerly in health care, Diaz made the shift, she said, “out of sheer hedonism.” It turns out she’s a visionary businesswoman, and the truffle career took off. In the past few years, she’s increasingly focused on working with chefs, both with special truffle dinners and leading forays specifically geared to culin...

Sidebar on great places to watch winter storms batter the Oregon north and central coast.

A weekend trip to explore the bays, forests and food paradise of Oregon's Tillamook County.

Nothing beats freshly caught seafood on the Oregon coast, but without knowing which restaurants support local fishermen and farmers, diners may be surprised that dinner has traveled farther than they have. This guide highlights 15 quirky restaurants along coastal Highway 101 from Astoria to Brookings — from fine dining to little hut — that stand out for culinary chops, Oregon Coast seafood, great views, and inventive, award-winning chefs.

Join host and producer Jennifer Burns Bright for a new Coast Community Radio food show: A Fine Kettle of Fish, all about seafood in the Lower Columbia region. On April 29, 2019, she interviewed fisherman Rob Seitz, owner of South Bay Wild Fish House in Astoria, about petrale sole. Seitz is also a fisher poet and performs at the annual Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria each February.

In a modern version of an ancient Roman recipe, albacore tuna grills up moist and pretty in healthy summer wraps using marinated Swiss chard.

Roundup of some of the best local seafood restaurants on the Oregon Coast for AAA's Via magazine, based on frequent trips up and down the coast for my seafood discussions for Oregon Humanities.

The Olympia oyster boasts a flavor so intriguingly odd, so unlike other oysters, it has aficionados searching for words. Chef Maylin Chavez, who owns Olympia Oyster Bar in Portland, Oregon, calls it "sweet like a carrot," but also "savory like a shiitake or chicken bouillon" and, most quirkily, "sneaky like a radish."

Feature spread on Oregon's wild and scenic South Coast.

Weekender feature on Vancouver, Washington.