I was fortunate to be able to attend last week the Lifewise Oregon Berry Festival Gala Berry Dinner 2015 at OMSI with Chef Ryan Morgan and Chef Jim Dodge. I was excited and very curious to see the many savory ways to incorporate berries into a multi course dinner instead of the usual suspects of berry smoothies and cocktails, pies and ice cream. The menu looked very impressive, with wine pairings or dry sparkling pairing available for each of the four courses.
The dinner took place on the OMSI terrace, which gave us a view of the Tillikum Bridge as the sun slowly set behind the rest of the Portland cityscape along the Willamette River during dinner.
During the Hors d’oeuvre time as we mingled, cocktail pairings by the Eastside Distilling & Commissary Syrups included this Portland Potato Vodka with Strawberry and Cucumber and Lime, as well as Below Deck Silver Rum with Marionberry, Cacao, Ginger and Lemon. No-Li Brewhouse Mosh Pit Tart Cherry and Cranberry Ale offered a beer pairing option to cocktails.
Hors d’ oeuvres
Blueberry and blue cheese empanada with ginger and green onion chimmi – this was definitely my favorite of the three as it really put the berry front and center and was such a unique combination of flavors that is so creative to put together, very impressive.
Smoked pork, raspberry glaze, herbed salsa is a combo I’d like to see more often. BBQ is often about the spice and sweetness through tomato, but you can get fabulous sweetness for your bbq meats from berries too!
Cured salmon and shrimp salad with herbs and blackberries in butter lettuce offered an appetizer that was probably the healthiest of the three
Salad course
Herbs, flowers and silky greens with honey, up in your face chevre and marionberries was presented beautifully and paired with Adelsheim Vineyards 2014 Pinot Gris
Main course
Chicken barbacoa, pickled strawberries, cotija cheese, blackberry serrano sauce served over duck smashed potatoes topped with shaved kale slaw Holy moly was this amazing! My only complaint was that the plating was not consistent – which resulted in my table looking around to find the most photogenic one since the saucing varied so much.
This course was paired with side by side tastings of Pinot Noir that included Foris Vineyard 2011 Pinot Noir from Rogue Valley with the same year but different area, Seufert Winery 2011 Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley.
Dessert
Boysenberry cassata, yuzu butter chiffon cake, soft cream, boysenberry sauce I admit I had never heard of a cassata before this course, and it turns out it’s a Sicilian Italian dessert that starts with a small cake (here a very thin layer of that butter chiffon cake) with a big layer of a softer ricotta cake that’s very soft, almost remisicent of a cheesecake that is softer like whipped cream.
It even came with a little raspberry spritzer to polish off the berrylicious dinner experience of the Oregon Berry Festival Gala Berry Dinner 2015
One of the important things I learned is that while now in the summer it’s easy to support our local farmers with the fresh local berries, you can continue to support them year round by buying frozen local berries in the freezer section. The berries are processed and frozen (or canned, or jarred, etc.) often mere hours after being picked. So even as you thaw the berries they will be significantly fresher still from imported berries. Furthermore, Oregon Berries benefit from a especially friendly climate here and soil type which makes them taste different (better!) so you will notice a difference in berry flavors!
Which of these courses sounded most delectable to you?
Disclosure: I attended the dinner as part of a media pass of the Oregon Berry Festival courtesy of the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.
That smoked pork, raspberry glazed salsa sounds awesome. Looks like such a fun dinner!
I was impressed during the entire dinner!
Oh my gosh. How fun! I’m so jealous. That all sounds amazing, especially all those drinks!! And what a fun venue.
It definitely was a fun venue, though we were all scurrying from the sun (and the heat) because of the 90+ degrees, thank goodness they had tents for shade, and it was perfect once the sun moved out of the way
This looks absolutely amazing – So jealous!!! Berries and wine, is there anything better? Well… Maybe cheesecake and chevre with wine and berries… Perfect!
Looks like an amazing meal all around! Oregon berries are definitely the best!
Wow! What a feast! I love Oregon berries. Ever since moving here from California, I have been indulging in black berries and marionberries like never before. Thanks for sharing, cheers!
Thanks for visiting, and I agree that I’ve never loved berries more than having tried and tasted Oregon berries
Blueberry and blue cheese empanada with ginger and green onion chimmi – my head just exploded. Yum!
Thanks for the tip on supporting our berry farmers in winter too. So important to buy local!
I know, I was wondering how the Blueberry and blue cheese empanadas would be and after one bite, I kept darting my eyes around trying to get more!
You had me at blueberry and bleu cheese empanada…..
It was one I questioned when I saw it listed on the menu as I wasn’t sure how it would go together, but you’re it totally had me swooning on first bite
There really isnt anything better than Oregon berries in the summer! This looked like such a cool event!!
I would definitely encourage you going to the Oregon Berry Fest next year, it’s free and had a lot of recipes (and samples!) for using Oregon berries that were really unique but easy!
Gorgeous! I love how versatile berries are in both sweet and savory dishes. The cheese and berry pairings sound delicious. I honestly wouldn’t have thought to pair blueberries and blue cheese, but will have to try it!
That’s interesting about frozen berries. We always U-pick some during the summer and freeze. But if I run out again during the winter, I will buy them “local” from the store. Good thought.
I wish I had a big enough freezer to save more things – I’ve never done a U-pick because it isn’t worth it when I can’t use them fast enough but can’t freeze them either (and no way to preserving, that’s way too much work!) and I figure by buying the ones locally frozen or preserved I’m just helping my local farmers and producers more AND saving myself work, 2 birds with one stone
The empanadas look phenomenal! Sounds like it was a fun dinner – I’m a big fan of blackberries and goat cheese – yum!!