Each February, fleets of Oregon restaurants and bars unite with seaweed and seafood advocates to share the flavors of the Oregon Coast. Visitors and residents can experience the Winter Waters series as they partner with local chefs, artists and venues. The annual series brings conservation, collaboration and cuisine from Oregon’s oceans inland. Here’s how you can learn about sea cuisine events all month long.
Promoting and Conserving Sea Plants and Local Seafood
Winter Waters was formed when seaweed advocates Alanna Kieffer and Rachelle Hacmac connected with Oregon Coast food systems value chain coordinator Kristen Penner. Their collaborative project culminates in an annual series of events to increase public awareness. Winter Waters aims to protect seaweed and promote locally sourced ingredients with the help of Oregon’s artists, makers and chefs.
The main beneficiary of the festival, the Oregon Kelp Alliance, researches one kind of seaweed. Rising sea temperatures and a boom in the population of purple sea urchins, which eat kelp, threaten Oregon’s kelp forests. Winter Waters helps the alliance raise awareness of this problem and the solutions its working on through this annual seaweed-centric seafood series.
Join in the Fun at an Event
Winter Waters hosts events that present seaweed in fresh mediums and meals. Participants can experience everything from fine dining in Portland to casual meals and hands-on art classes. The team behind Winter Waters partners with many of Oregon’s talented creatives and offers new connections every year. Each collaboration brings their own way to use, eat and understand seaweed.
Winter Waters is a multimedia experience. Before sitting down to enjoy a seaweed-infused feast, visitors might watch films, chat with experts and tour fisheries. Kieffer, Hacmac and Penner have developed a network of knowledgeable naturalists passionate about our oceans and sharing their interests with visitors.
The sold-out Albacore on the Line, for example, brought food professionals together for a chef-led tasting of dishes highlighting Oregon-caught albacore tuna. A Seafaring Speakeasy brought sustainable food bites, cooking demonstrations and education to a Portland audience.
Most of the two dozen events happen along the Coast from Seaside to Brookings, from a wine-pairing experience in Lincoln City to a seafood tasting and Dungeness crab picking demonstration in Gold Beach. There are also port tours and rare opportunities be part of Oregon’s small, resilient fishing communities to learn directly from the people who make Oregon seafood possible every day.
Check the current lineup for this year’s events, and book early since many sell out.
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Sample Local Sea Fare
Food is at the core of Winter Waters. The program serves dishes of seaweed and seafood to diners across the state. Rather than farming Oregon’s wild kelp forests, the team works with Oregon Seaweed’s sustainable farms in Garibaldi and Bandon to offer cultivated dulse seaweed to participating restaurants. Freshly farmed dulse is highly nutritional in proteins, vitamins and minerals; carbon-negative (needing only sea water and sunshine to grow) and considered to one of the most earth-friendly vegetables in the world.
Guests can order specials from local eateries or experience multi-course meals at some of Oregon’s finest dining destinations. Wherever you end up, you’ll find seaweed at the center of each serving. Steamed, fried or crumbled on top, partnering chefs will show new ways to use this versatile, local ingredient.
Top Chef finalist Shota Nakajima, who attended a previous Winter Waters dinner at Takibi, says the program is valuable because it raises awareness for “incredible sustainable products that are healthy and delicious.” As a chef, Nakajima loves letting his ingredients lead his creative process, and that’s what Winter Waters partners do with every dish.
How to Support Local Fishing Families and Seafood Producers
Many Winter Waters events are low-cost or offer a sliding pay scale. Several events are free to attend and provide ways to support the cause. If you cannot join, there are many ways to help.
One alternative is to donate direcly to organizations like the Oregon Kelp Alliance. This nonprofit is the beneficiary of Winter Waters, which develops and supports collaborative projects to better understand and protect kelp. This multi-sector partnership works to preserve wild Oregon kelp forests.
Visitors can also seek locally sourced seaweed and seafood at home or while traveling. Many Oregon restaurants partner with local fishermen and farmers to offer locally sourced ingredients, and feature seaweed-focused menu specials during the month of February. You can also support local communities by visiting the stops along Oregon’s Food Trails.
