CONTACT:

Carol Zahorsky
Public Relations for Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau
360.446.3645
carol-at-zahorskypr.com

OR

Una Boyle
Executive Director
Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau
800.451.2542
una@funbeach.com

ILWACO, Wash. – July 31, 2007 – Anticipating an abundance of wild mushrooms on the Long Beach Peninsula this fall, the region’s most notable chefs, cooks and innkeepers will present the Wild Mushroom Celebration. Tastings, wine-paired dinners, cooking classes and more will be offered on the 28-mile long spit of sand and dunes from October 12 through 31, 2007.

The Celebration showcases the bounty of the region and the talents of its culinary community. Besides a plentiful supply and wide variety of wild mushrooms, chefs will build experiences around freshly caught fish, prized Willapa Bay oysters, Dungeness crab, wild berries, locally-grown organic greens, and other ingredients fresh from the source. For more details, recipes and photographs, please access www.funbeach.com/mushroom.

Highlights of the Wild Mushroom Celebration will include the following:

• A five-course chef’s tasting menu featuring wild mushrooms at The Port Bistro, for the duration of the celebration. The cost is $55 per person. Matched wines will be available by the glass. A three-course lunch tasting menu will also be offered. The lunch cost is $30 per person. For reservations, please call 360.642.8447;
  
  
• Boreas Bed and Breakfast Inn’s Wild Mushroom Celebration Package for the weekend of October 12 and 13. The package includes two nights accommodations, two three-course brunches (served at 9:30AM), a three-course Walla Walla Wine and Wild Mushroom Dinner at The Port Bistro, and breakfast with forager extraordinaire Veronica Williams, followed by an informal wild mushroom discussion at 11AM on Sunday, Oct. 14. The talk is open to the public. The package price is $530 per couple including taxes and restaurant gratuity. Those wishing to stay a third night can do so at a special rate of $140 plus tax. Call 360.642.8069;
  
  
• Pacific Northwest cookbook author and wild mushroom connoisseur Cynthia Nims as the special guest of The Shelburne Inn on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 1 to 4PM. Nims will do a cooking demonstration from and book signing of her cookbook, Wild Mushrooms. Guests will be able to sample the prepared dishes. Cost is $55 plus tax and includes a copy of the cookbook. To reserve a seat, please call 360.642.2442;
  
  
• On Sunday, Oct. 21, at 5PM, Chef Cheri Walker of 42nd Street Café and Patrick Hub of Olympic Wine Merchants co-host a five-course Wild Mushroom and Wine Dinner. Rum Topf of chanterelle mushrooms and macerated dried fruits in puff pastry will be among the offerings. For more details and reservations, please call 360.642.2323;
  
  
• Redolent fungi of the Willapa Hills paired with gutsy bold Washington wines for a six-course/five-wine Willapa Wild Mushroom Winemaker’s Dinner at the Shoalwater Restaurant on Friday, Oct. 26, at 7:30PM. Cost is $85 per person (exclusive of tax and gratuity) and reservations are required. Please call 360.642.4142;
  
  
• Chef Maurizio Paparo, of the Excelsior Inn and Ristorante Italiano, Eugene, returns to China Beach Retreat to wow guests with another extraordinary Italian feast built on wild mushrooms. Pasta Farcita, Polenta con Funghi and Quail Stuffed with Wild Mushrooms and Sausage will be among the offerings. The dinner will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 6:30PM. Cost is $65 plus tax per person including wine. For reservations, please call 360.642.2442;
  
  
• The Depot’s wild mushroom winemaker dinner on Friday, October 12, with details to follow.

When sea air stimulates the appetite, the Long Beach Peninsula satisfies with a mouthwatering mélange of restaurants. Ranging from casual bistros to distinctive dining rooms, they share a devotion to the abundance of fresh local ingredients thriving in this fertile region. From one end of the peninsula to the other, food-savvy travelers find fascinating opportunities for viewing edibles at their very source – and savoring them on the plate. For event and destination information, please go to www.funbeach.com.

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