Man Can Not Live on Seafood Alone

Vista Pub
1009 Chetco Ave.
Brookings, OR





Sometimes a traveling Suit just needs a big juicy burger.

You know what I mean?

Never mind the fact that Brookings is pressed right against the Oregon Coast just south of the spectacular Boardman Scenic Corridor, where delicacies of the sea beckon from the Pacific Ocean just a stone’s throw away.

I knew I should continue doing my suitly “when-in-Rome” duty.

But after four days of traveling the length of Oregon down the Pacific Coast Highway, I’d had enough razor clams, dungeness crab, oysters and halibut to single-handedly create a worldwide seafood depletion crisis.

Local seafood from the Oregon Coast is as spectacular as the scenery.

But today, I just needed a big hunk of red meat.

The Vista Pub was the ideal place to fulfill my carnivorous cravings.

A typical small town local joint, everything at the Vista Pub is local and gourmet in true Oregonian fashion.

And I do mean everything -- from the hamburger buns to the beer.

My friendly and enthusiastic waitress recommended a beer freshly tapped called Raymond’s Big Head Red, an Imperial Red Ale brewed up the road at Chetco Brewing.

“It’s one of my favorites,” she said.

You’ve got to love a chick with good taste in beer.

Always looking for something just a bit different, I gladly took her advice.

Hoppy, but with a nice sweet malty backbone, the Big Head Red reminded me why I love traveling the Pacific Northwest.

I swear you could bar hop to every pub in the state of Oregon and not once get stuck settling for a Budweiser or Miller Lite.

Beer drinkers in this state LOVE their craft beer.

And I love them for it.

Just don’t get into a political discussion.

My burger was a typically Oregonian compilation of delicious locally sourced gourmet components.

Organic beef perfectly cooked to medium-rare juiciness.

Smoked mozzarella from a creamery down the street.

Homemade relish with a tangy remoulade sauce.

Sautéed onions and good thick-cut bacon.

All held together by a big squooshy bun -- baked that morning in a local bakery. Of course.

The result of all these local adjective-laden ingredients?

Burger heaven.

Each beefy bite yielded an appetizing trickle of pink juices.

The relish and sauce added a delicious tangy zip while the gourmet bun was sturdy enough to hold it all together.

I didn’t get much smoky flavor from the smoked mozzarella, the subtlety overwhelmed by all the other more assertive ingredients. But the gooey melted cheese and crisp bacon were nice additions nonetheless.

Instead of fries, I got a cup of Vista Pub’s homemade clam chowder.

Why not?

From Portland to Brookings -- all 434 miles -- I hadn’t passed up a cup of clam chowder once.

Despite my overdose of West Coast seafood, I figured I had to try one last version of this Oregon specialty before I crossed the state line into California.

Vista Pub didn’t disappoint.

There are generally three components to Oregon clam chowder.

Potatoes. Bacon. Clams.

In Suit757’s book, the ratio of those three goes a long way to determining how good the chowder is.

I’ll give you a moment to contemplate which two ingredients Suit757 considers most important.

Yeah. That shouldn’t have taken too long.

As far as I’m concerned, you can leave the potatoes for the fries.

Vista’s chowder exceeded all my demands with massive quantities of big meaty clams and bacon.

You’d think I’d be full after all that. And I was.

But not too full to avoid the temptation of dessert.

You know in a place like this it’s going to be scratch made -- and good.

I mean, it would be a crime to say no to my waitress. Wouldn’t want to disappoint her.

Good call.

The chocolate cake offered up forkfuls of sweet dense decadence -- a perfect cap to my 434 mile Oregon roadtrip.

And what a roadtrip it was.

Breathtaking vistas, windswept cliffs and spectacular fresh seafood plucked right out of the local waters.

But this week proved to me that man is not meant to live on ocean creatures alone.

Sometimes man just needs a big juicy hunk of meat and a slab of chocolate cake.

Thank you, Vista Pub.

Rating: Bought the Shirt!

Serving up Oregon Oysters and Clam Chowder with a View

Roseanna’s Cafe
1490 Pacific Ave. NW
Oceanside, OR





The coast of Oregon is rugged and wild. Beautifully remote, you’re bound to bump into more elk and sea lions than people.

Leave your cell phone in the rental car. There’s hardly any service here anyway.

Don’t worry. You won’t miss it.

Oceanside, Oregon is one of the most spectacular settings on the West Coast.

Monstrous breakers crashing into a cauldron of white foam.

Green cliffs towering high above the surf.

Haystack rocks majestically rising up from the ocean.

That was my view from my windowside table at Roseanna’s Cafe, a rustic little place teetering on the top of a seaside cliff.

Deschutes Black Butte Porter in hand, I perused Roseanna’s menu completely disinterested in whether the food was going to be any good.

I was more than content.

Sipping the dark, sweet, toasty brew out of Bend, Oregon and watching the violence of Mother Nature unfold a couple hundred feet below me, I could have just sat there all day just knocking back West Coast microbrews, riding out this cold, storm-swept fall day.

But a Suit cannot live on beer and gorgeous scenery alone.

The first thing I ordered was Roseanna’s famous clam chowder.

I know New England and Manhattan like to argue about whose namesake clam chowder is best, but I can spare them all a lot of discord and profanity.

The best clam chowder in America is right here along the Oregon coast.

I guess folks in New England can still stake a claim for credit, since Oregon chowder borrows heavily from the New England version.

Every diner, brewpub and mom and pop joint along the Pacific Coast Highway serves up its own version of this thick, creamy soup.

Roseanna’s chowder is the best of the best.

Loaded with meaty clams and oodles of seasoning, the parsley, thyme and other secret ingredients transformed this thick hearty chowder into a party in every bite.

You have to love any chowder sporting more clams than potatoes.

Next up were the “grilled oysters”.

These were huge meaty oysters straight out of Netarts Bay just down the street.

They were coated in a thick well-seasoned breading that really brought out the salty flavor of the local delicacies.

On the side were homemade tarter sauces infinitely better than the crap out of the jar you get served at most seafood joints.

The only downside was that the home fried potatoes on the side looked better than they tasted -- a bit bland, especially compared to the flavor-packed chowder and oysters.

The waitress tried to talk me into some of Roseanna’s delicious-looking homemade desserts, but I was too stuffed to even consider it.

Oh well. Next time.

That’s the great perk of have a job as a traveling Suit.

Sure, the TSA crotch gropings, 757 middle seats and too many trips to Third World outposts like Detroit can be soul-crushing.

But every once in a while, you find a little remote nook of America that you want to come back to.

Mental note: the Oregon Coast and Roseanna’s is worth cashing in some of those frequent flyer miles for.

And next time, I’m saving room for dessert.

Rating: Bought the Shirt!