Meet the Chefs + Artists of the Seafaring Speakeasy
The Blue Foods Forum returns to Portland on February 1–2, bringing together impact investors, funders, producers, nonprofits, researchers, policymakers, and creatives to explore the future of Oregon’s blue foods economy.
This year’s Forum centers around several events, including the Seafaring Speakeasy — an immersive, creative gathering that blends food, drink, art, and storytelling; and the Seafaring Symposium — a deeper, day-long convening focused on systems change, investment, workforce equity, food sovereignty, and scalable innovation across the seafood value chain. View the full event lineup here, and make sure you are registered!
Creative drinks and Oregon-caught seafood prepared by chefs from across the state including:
Maylin Chávez of Nácar Merroir y Terroir
Chef Maylin Chávez will serve Netarts oysters along with a Smoked Oregon Sablefish Chowder.
Chef Maylin is a passionate advocate for sustainable seafood and ocean health, drawing inspiration from her culinary roots in Baja and the United States. Known for blending Pacific Northwest flavors with Baja traditions, her work has been featured by Bon Appétit, Sunset Magazine, and The Food Network. Renowned as a pioneer in the sustainable aquatic food industry, Chef Maylin Chávez is highly sought after by prestigious blue food brands to passionately advocate for and promote their products.
Sablefish from Chelsea Rose Seafood
Oysters from:
Haystack Shellfish - Netarts Bay, OR
Oregon Oyster Farm - Yaquina Bay, OR
How do sablefish (black cod) interact with the kelp forest?
Juvenile sablefish stay in shallow, nearshore nursery areas, including kelp forests, for 1 to 2 years before traveling out to deep, cool waters far offshore.
Jack Strong of Allison Inn with Chef Patrick Clarke and the culinary and tribal students from Siletz Valley School
Chef Jack Strong is the chef at The Allison and a proud member of the Siletz Tribe, whose culinary work is deeply informed by Indigenous heritage, seasonality, and place. His cooking blends refined technique with ancestral inspiration, highlighting native ingredients, traditional food ways, and thoughtful storytelling through food.
Chef Patrick Clarke, Culinary Director at Siletz Valley School
Chef Patrick Clarke serves as the Culinary Director for the Siletz Valley School, where he leads an innovative program that blends classical French technique with Indigenous food traditions rooted in the local region. His approach to culinary education emphasizes experiential learning, teaching students to understand food from its source to the plate.
Recognized for his impact and leadership, Chef Clarke was named the Small School Association’s 2025 Teacher of the Year,
Demos at 6:00pm and 7:30pm
This collaborative culinary team will demonstrate the making of a Salmon Tartare with a dulse seaweed vinaigrette and confit Ozette potato dish highlighting tribal-caught salmon sourced from Portland based Lukas Angus of
7 Waters Sovereign Foods.
How do salmonids interact with kelp forests?
Juvenile salmonids often move through shallow coastal zones near kelp beds shortly after leaving rivers. These areas provide abundant prey and some protection from predators, in the early phases of life.
Jacob Harth formerly of Erizo and Nevør Shellfish Farms
Chef Jacob Harth places strong emphasis on ingredients gathered from the sea, valuing traceability, seasonality, and ethical sourcing. His experience with commercially foraged shellfish and other unique wild foods informs a cooking style that highlights natural flavors while honoring the labor and knowledge behind each ingredient. Those who know him from Nevør Shellfish should be excited to experience another ocean delicacy from Jacob!
Chef Joseph Papas of Ok Omens
Chef Joseph Papas Chef Joseph Papas is the Executive Chef at Ok Omens, where he leads the kitchen in crafting innovative, seasonal menus that highlight fresh, high-quality ingredients. With over a decade of experience in fine dining and contemporary cuisine, he has honed his skills in top kitchens across the U.S., earning a reputation for creativity, precision, and transforming simple ingredients into memorable dishes.
Oregon Purple Urchin
Alongside Netarts oysters served with finger lime and a seaweed gelee, Chefs Jacob and Joseph will prepare purple sea urchin with dulse and sansho pepper, served in the shell.
This dish will be utilizing uni from dive-collected sea urchins sourced from OoNee Sea Urchin Ranch in Newport, OR.
Oysters from:
Pearl Point Oyster Co & JAndy Oyster Co -
Netarts Bay, OR
How do purple urchins interact with kelp forests?
Purple urchins graze directly on kelp, shaping the balance of Oregon’s kelp forests with their spiny appetites. A native species to the Oregon coast, but with a loss of predators, urchin populations have skyrocketed in recent years, contributing to the loss of kelp along our shores.
Chef Kari Shaughnessy, Hayward
Kari will be serving Dungeness crab onigiri with Oregon dulse and nori seaweed.
Kari Shaughnessy began her culinary career at 15 and trained in acclaimed kitchens across the country, from San Francisco Michelin starred restaurants to Maine and Oregon wine country. Her background includes roles at Marla Bakery, Frances, and the Michelin starred Sons and Daughters.
In 2023, she founded Hayward in Carlton, Oregon, earning recognition for its New Northwest Fare, deep local sourcing, and seasonal, farm led cooking rooted in fermentation and whole animal butchery. Within a year, Hayward became a finalist for the 2024 James Beard Best New Restaurant award, with Kari later named a 2025 James Beard Best Chef Northwest semifinalist and included on USA Today’s Best Restaurants list.
How do crab interact with kelp forests?
Dungeness crab roam the sandy bottoms and rocky edges beneath Oregon’s kelp forests, using the drifting fronds above as shelter from predators.
Chef U'ilaniku'ulei Vele,
Departure
Chef U’i will be serving a kombu cured Oregon rockfish with yuzu, daikon, dulse seaweed, and nori.
Chef U'ilaniku'ulei Vele brings a bold, culturally rich vision to the kitchen at Departure Restaurant & Lounge, the acclaimed pan-Asian rooftop destination atop The Nines hotel in downtown Portland. Known for its inventive fusion of Northwest ingredients with dynamic flavors from across East and Southeast Asia, Departure’s menu reflects Chef U’i’s deep commitment to community, creativity, and culinary excellence.
How do rockfish interact with kelp forests?
Rockfish make their homes among rocky reefs at the base of kelp forests, where towering kelp provides cover and abundant food particularly for baby rockfish. Some rockfish live for decades, becoming long-standing residents of Oregon’s
underwater forests.
Alec Hess and Olivia Starkie, Merrow
At 7pm, Alec and Olivia will be demonstrating Potato Pavé with canned albacore tuna belly tonnato, fresh albacore, smoked shoyu, green garlic,
and rau ram.
Having both trained in New York kitchens with a strong emphasis on seasonality and relationships with farmers and seafood purveyors, Olivia and Alec work with an ethos of trying to get to know who is growing and catching their food, and working within their local food system. Their food reflects a shared love of all things briny, vegetal and herbaceous that can be found within the Pacific Northwest.
How do Albacore tuna interact with kelp forests?
Albacore tuna travel the open waters beyond the kelp forest, but can often be found around drifting kelp patties far offshore.
Coming from Seattle and San Diego, learn about our featured artists of the evening!
Jasmine Novack, Artist
Step into a kelp forest without getting wet! We are honored to feature an immersive kelp installation by Jasmine Novack, a Seattle based cold water scuba diver, underwater photographer, and oil painter represented by the SAM Gallery at the Seattle Art Museum.
This installation is a byproduct of her painting practice. Jasmine documents her dives as reference material, then stitches together that footage to recreate the experience of swimming through a kelp forest. The result is both meditative and transportive, offering viewers a rare chance to feel what it is like beneath the surface.
Oriana Poindexter, Artist
Oriana Poindexter is an American Italian photographic artist and marine scientist whose work bridges photography, marine biodiversity, and conservation. Through diving, specimen collection, and both traditional and alternative photographic processes, she creates works that document changing ocean ecosystems and explore the human relationship with the sea.
She holds a master’s degree from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. Her work has been featured in major publications and exhibited widely in museums and aquariums in the United States and Europe, with a current solo exhibition on view at the Catalina Museum for Art and History.
Low Tide Bar by PDX Bitters
Portland Bitters Project
Cindy Capparelli, founder of Portland Bitters Project, started this journey out of a love for flavor and the magic of crafting sensory experiences. Her goal is to make it easy for anyone to create better, more flavorful cocktails—and enjoy the wonder of a great drink.
Thank you for coming!
Hosted by the Oregon Ocean Cluster in close collaboration with our Winter Waters team and partners including Ecotrust, Oregon Kelp Alliance, Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, New Seasons Market, King Tide Events, and many other partners, this community-building event sparked lively dialogues about interconnected ecosystems, circular economies, and the future of coastal food systems. We