Baked Alaska Competes in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off
We’ve got some exciting news for Oregon and the North Coast! Baked Alaska’s Chris Holen will be one of 18 chefs who will compete at the 11th Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off in Louisiana in August.
Christopher Holen is the Executive Chef and Owner of Baked Alaska in Astoria. He grew up outside Anchorage, AK, graduated from The Scottsdale Culinary Institute, and opened Baked Alaska in Astoria in 2000.
“I’m so proud to represent my home city of Astoria and the beautiful state of Oregon, competing against a group of America’s most talented chefs,” Holen said. “Louisiana knows seafood, so I couldn’t think of a better place for the competition!”
If Holen wins, he won’t be the first Oregon chef to take home the top prize. Gregory Gourdet, the executive chef of Departure in Portland won the seafood competition in 2012.
Chef Holen was appointed by Governor Kitzhaber, Seafood Oregon and the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission to represent Oregon in the competition. He’ll also have some help from his Chef de Cuisine, Phil Spencer. The Great American Seafood Cook-Off takes place on Saturday, August 2nd, 2014 in New Orleans, LA.
Baked Alaska is located in Astoria overlooking the Columbia River offering an ever changing view of the ship traffic. They feature an all wild, natural, and sustainable menu. Baked Alaska is open daily serving lunch and dinner from 11:00 am – 10:00 pm.
They held a ‘Pick The Dish’ event on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 allowing their diners to help pick the one dish that could win it all! We will find out soon which item was selected.
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Astoria is a city of about 10,000 residents at the mouth of the Columbia River. This historic port city with an economy focused on fishing and lumber, is now supported by a developing art community and tourism. The Port of Astoria is also a port of call for an increasing number of cruise ships. Astoria has hosted several Hollywood movies including Goonies, Ring Two, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Free Willy Two, Short Circuit and Benji.
