Secret Supper: Noble Rot
Alderbrook Station in Astoria, Oregon, was a perfect cozy hideaway for the Noble Rot Secret Supper. Built on stilts over the Columbia River, this former gillnet factory and boathouse was rich in both history and character.
Guests were welcomed with warm whiskey cocktails and nibbled on appetizers while gazing out over the majestic river. The menu, which celebrated autumn's bounty and a return to deeper flavors, began with a leek and celeriac bisque with crème fraîche and a heavenly heap of fresh shaved truffles from Foods in Season.
A mixed chicory salad with roasted squash, pickled currants and a warm apple cider vinaigrette was followed by coq au vin, starring plump pastured Marion Acres poultry that we braised with red wine, bacon, fall vegetables and wild mushrooms.
The cheese course of Vermont Creamery bijou with honeycomb and pomegranate jewels was pure alchemy paired with a French Sauternes, setting the stage for the pure pleasure of Eva's dessert of maple roasted winter squash pie topped with honeyed crème fraîche and candied spiced nuts.
Guests who had become friends over the course of the meal exchanged goodbye hugs and headed out into the blustery evening, bolstered by the warm afterglow of good food, wine and conversation.
Photos by Eva Kosmas Flores
