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THIS YEAR’S HOLIDAY TRENDS FOR TABLE, TREE AND HOME At long last, will Alaska tourism promote its cultural assets?

Jari Piper: Forging a new classical music vibe

Touring Company. Photos by Jeremy Daniel.

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Contents Cultural Affairs

6 Off the beaten path - by Ethan Tyler

10 Sydney Bishop - by Amy Newman

12 Anchorage: the town that can - by Todd Hardesty

16 Alaska Master Cellist Forges New Vibe - by Katie Medred Wildside

18 Sharing Alaska's Wilderness - by Margaret Tyler Travel

24 Encountering the King of the Arctic - by Scott McMurren Locavore

28 Lavelle’s Bistro - by Michaela Goertzen

32 Bringing Tutka Bay to Your Table - by Riza Brown

34 Dining guide

36 Holiday Wine Pairings - by Riza Brown Alaska Living

40 A Partnership: Gustavus Inn

- by Amanda Compton

45 Deck the Halls! - by Amy Newman

True Alaskan

48 True Alaskan: Erik Flora - by Nathaniel Herz

publisher

art director

editor

layout

editorial director

cover photo

Alice Rogoff Aili Peyton Roberta Graham

editorial assistant

Viki Spiroska

Aaron Jansen Kelly Day-Lewis Clark James Mishler Christmas tree from Ozarks Antiques and Home Furnishings advertising manager

contributors

Marcus Biastock, Riza Brown, Amanda Compton, Michaela Goertzen, Todd Hardesty, Nathaniel Herz, Scott McMurren, Katie Medred, Amy Newman, Ethan Tyler, Margaret Tyler

Joy Bax

account executives

Jesse Busick, Ryan Estrada, Linda Gutierrez, Nick Humphreys, Meghan Mackey, Brandi Nelson, David Nolen, Cyndi Ramirez, Emily Rohrabaugh, Kevin Vania, Erika Watsjold

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1째

Cultural Affairs

Photo by Bob Hallinen

Increased interest in cultural tourism gives visitors a glimpse of Alaska heritage and communities the opportunity to share their traditions and lifestyles with others.

by Ethan Tyler

I

Second, the familiarization tour gave the commun October, the Alaska Federation of Natives adnities the opportunity to hear feedback from industry opted a resolution supporting cultural tourism professionals about what tourand asking the state to ists would like to experience create a state tourism publicity and the best way to reach them campaign to promote tourthrough marketing efforts. This ism that provides benefits to type of collaboration is critical Alaska Native artists, businesses, to ensuring that visitors have corporations, tribes and the the best experience possible.

State of Alaska. The resolution Michelle Glass of Vancoucoincided with an effort already ver, British Columbia-based underway through the state’s Entrée Destinations said, “Our Department of Commerce, responsibility to guests wishing Community and Economic to venture into rural communiDevelopment (DCCED). ties is to manage their expectaThis summer, the state hosted Alaska’s first cultural tourism tions. There are limited visitor services, few taxis and rental familiarization trip for tour operators, which served two cars—if any. These communities offer basic accommodations purposes.

First, it brought tour opand experiences that the average traveler just isn’t used to. If erators that specialize in Alaska they know this going in, they cultural tourism to Nome, Left to right: Al Koch, All Alaska Tours, Robert Kotzebue and Savoonga to see will have a much better overall Weeden, Northern Alaska Tour Company; Dru experience.” what accommodations were Garson, State of Alaska; Michelle Glass, Entrée available and experience firstIn some cases, something as Destinations; Chad Carter, Alaska Wildland Adventures; Carolyn Bettes, Forget Me Not simple as the lack of indepenhand the cultural and historic Communications, at Tom Gray’s Fish & Culture offerings those communities dent transportation to and from Camp during the DCCED’s cultural familiarization were marketing to tourists. the airport and popular attractour. Photo courtesy of State of Alaska.

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Cultural Affairs

tions presents opportunities for local entrepreneurs.

The future of Alaska’s tourism industry looks strong. The number of visitors coming to Alaska has steadily grown. From the late 1890s, when the number of tourists arriving by steamship peaked at a few thousand, to 2013 when Alaska hosted nearly 2 million visitors, it’s clear that the lure of the Great Land has not faded over time.

The increases both in overall tourism, and specifically in cultural tourism, represent a unique opportunity for rural Alaska. Sometimes difficult to get to, and often offering far fewer amenities than more established destinations, these locations can attract visitors by instead offering unique and culturally relevant experiences. Giving visitors the chance to see what life is like in faraway places, like St. Lawrence Island or locations in the Interior that are difficult to get to by car or railroad, can make a huge economic difference in diversify-

SPOTLIGHT on Chuck West Alaska tourism pioneer Chuck West organized air tours to Nome and Kotzebue, where visitors got a firsthand look at life in the Arctic in 1946. West would go on to found Cruise West, one of the first companies to cruise Alaska waters and to weave the concept of cultural tourism into their products. In its early years, passengers departing Ketchikan were treated to exclusive presentations by Joe Williams, a Tlingit elder and former mayor of Ketchikan. Williams highlighted Alaska Native culture for visitors, setting the tone and providing context for their trip.

Today, West’s legacy of enriching visitor experience through exposure to Alaska’s culture is common practice in the small cruise industry. Alaskan Dream Cruises, a small cruise ship operator in Southeast Alaska, ensures that every voyage includes a local cultural expedition leader, typically of Alaska Native heritage, who shares stories of family and lifestyle throughout the trip.

“We’re offering our guests a glimpse of the true Alaska,” says Mike Wien, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Alaskan Dream Cruises. “Our passengers are looking for a genuine encounter with the culture of Alaska, and the cultural aspects of our trips are an important part of the overall experience we provide.”

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ing and growing local economies—all while educating visitors on the depth and beauty of the local heritage and lifestyle.

For communities that want to be successful in developing their traveler services, access to specific tour operators can help them to be able to take advantage of the increased demand from travelers wishing to visit rural Alaska.

“We field requests for these kinds of trips on a regular basis,” said Al Koch of Anchorage-based All Alaska Tours. “These regions and people have a vital role to play in the overall Alaska visitor experience; it’s just a matter of pulling some of these components together to better meet the expectations of our clients.”

Urban Alaska also offers opportunity to educate visitors about Native culture and rural communities.

The Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage and the Morris Thompson Cultural Center in Fairbanks allow visitors a chance to experience and better understand Alaska’s history and vibrant culture while staying on the road system.

Similarly, exposure to Native art can be had at gift shops such as the one found in the Alaska Native Medical Center or the Alaska Native Arts Foundation gallery, both in Anchorage. And recent expansions of broadband and wireless Internet options in Western Alaska have given artists the opportunity to share their art with more people than ever before. Coupled with efforts from the state and tourism industry organizations to help support digital literacy and foster sustainable and respectful cultural tourism offerings, communities across Alaska have greater marketing opportunities than ever before.

Sharing our culture and communities with Alaska’s guests results in new jobs, improved infrastructure and cultural engagement. Although development challenges exist, efforts to address them now will provide present and future generations with cultural empowerment and economic opportunity. These types of public-private partnerships are the key to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development’s long-term strategies for growing

SPOTLIGHT on Native Culture

Other recent developments in Alaska tourism continue to enhance our visitors’ cultural experience. In the traditional homeland of the Huna Tlingit people, the Huna Totem Corp. has been sharing its culture with visitors through its extremely popular “Alaska Native Voices” program since 2000. This summer, Alaska Native Voices put on more than 200 cultural Photo courtesy of Icy Strait Point programs at the Glacier Bay Lodge and aboard cruise ships passing through the region. In addition to the programs offered aboard the ships and at the lodge, HTC weaves the region’s rich culture into the programs offered at its Icy Strait Point facility just south of Glacier Bay in the Tlingit village of Huna.

Since 2004, Icy Strait Point has shared the Huna Tlingit culture with guests through a wide array of opportunities that include kayaking, ATV tours, wildlife viewing, tribal dance, and traditional foods.

“Visitors want to know what it’s like to be a part of the community and what it feels like to be part of the family,” said Mark McKernan, director of the Alaska Native Voices program. “Introducing visitors to this culture brings them closer to this place and provides a fuller, richer experience for them.” McKernan also touts the success that these cultural programs have for local hosts. “There are countless benefits to the local guides and presenters,” he said.

and diversifying Alaska’s economy.

By continuing to assist local businesses in overcoming barriers to business while taking advantage of new trends and opportunities, DCCED hopes to spur economic development not only in Alaska’s urban centers, but also in more rural areas.

Alaska is a land full of unique experiences and opportunities, and now more than ever those experiences are available to people all over the world. It’s the next best thing to being lucky enough to actually live here. n

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Cultural Affairs

Sydney Bishop The ‘beautiful little things’ in Halibut Cove

by Amy Newman Photos courtesy of Sydney Bishop

E

verybody is an artist in Halibut Cove, said painter Winters are spent throwing pottery to sell at the Halibut and ceramic artist Sydney Bishop—who moved Cove Experience Gallery, which Bishop and her cousins to the tiny artist’s enclave on Kachemack Bay as a opened in the 1980s. teen—so she had plenty of artistic influence.

Bishop never intended to become a ceramic artist. So Alex Combs, one of the founders of modern art in Alaska, was a resident. So was Bishop’s aunt, painter Diana Tillion, who gained fame for her octopus ink prints.

Alaskan artists Rie Muñoz and Dale DeArmond, friends of Tillion’s, were frequent visitors.

Surrounded by such talent, it was natural that Bishop pursued the arts. She studied black and white photography—a nod to another aunt, early black-and-white

photographer Barbara Morgan—at the San Francisco Academy of Art. But a lack of running water in Halibut Cove left Bishop unable to develop film. So she returned to her roots as a painter, but was quickly “sucked in to” the world of ceramics. *** In summer Bishop runs the Danny J, a small ferry that transports visitors between Homer and Halibut Cove. The remainder of the year she lives in Hawaii.

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many of her friends were potters that she didn’t believe she had anything to add. But she eventually “fell in love with it because of the endless possibilities.”

For the gallery, Bishop creates pieces that are both functional and beautiful. Plates, bowls and platters depict botanical images. Bishop creates them using an impression technique, pressing images to create texture in the clay before each piece is hand-painted and fired.

“They’re not big, they’re not expensive,” Bishop said.

“They’re just beautiful little things.” *** “I can’t paint for the whole year,” Bishop said. “You have to be in the right head space to paint. I have to wait for the inspiration.”

Inspiration comes in the spring, as Bishop prepares to return to Halibut Cove. She uses acrylics to showcase Halibut Cove’s colors and textures, with an emphasis on

Photo by Andrew E. Russell

marine elements. She loves the way the light plays off *** buoys and skiffs, giving them “a persona of their own.”

At 60 years old, Bishop is realistic about how much The paintings are idealized versions of Halibut Cove, longer she can continue as a ceramic artist—eventually where for many months the landscape is gray, muddy she will be unable to lift heavy boxes of clay. She’s begun and hard. learning lapidary and jewelry making, which she hopes will lead her into retirement.

But she never plans to give up painting.

“Even if it’s just doing plein air painting in Halibut Cove, I’ll always paint,” she said. n

“My dreams all spring are of Alaska and Halibut Cove,” she said. “So when I’m painting, I kind of go into this fantasy world in my mind, and it’s basically painting from longing to be there. It’s kind of the best of it.”

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Cultural Affairs

“T

he Town That Can’t Wait for Tomorrow.”

That’s how the Saturday Evening POST described Anchorage in September 1959. Writer William Worden

by Todd penned that in fast growing Anchorage “Wednesday’s bear trail was Thursday morning’s suburb.”

He could have used the same description in 1915 or today.

“For the outsider,” Worden wrote, “this is a place impossible to hate, difficult to love, and too big to spank.” True again.

I’ve been asked to write about the highlights of this

“too big to spank” city and its 100-year history. 1,000 word limit. No problem, right? Let’s begin… on eBay. I found and purchased the March Hardesty 21, 1914 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The front cover illustration showed jubilant Alaska cities, and Seattle, dancing around a totem pole with the U.S. Alaskan railroad shining like the aurora above. President Woodrow Wilson had just signed the bill authorizing the construction of the Alaska railroad.

The newly elected president had told Congress “Alaska, as

a storehouse, should be unlocked. One key to it is a system of railways.” A year later Wilson picked the route: Seward to Fairbanks and a trunk line to the coal fields in the Matanuska Valley. In a historic move, the U.S. government would build and operate a railroad.

One of my favorite photos in my search for Anchorage’s history was labeled “Stampeders arriving at Ship Creek.” It was April 1915. Word had spread, even before President Wilson’s official announcement, that Ship Creek would be a construction camp for the railroad. The photo says it all. Hopeful workers arriving at the mouth of the Left: Between 1940 and 1950 the population of the Anchorage area grew tenfold to just over 30,000 residents. Photo courtesy of Todd Hardesty.

Below: The military buildup began in June 1940 with the creation of Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Field.

First troops arrived June 27. Photo courtesy of Todd Hardesty.

creek. A tent city sprang up like summer dandelions and

by May 1915 some 2,000 men and women were living in white canvas tents along Ship Creek.

This tent city had streets named Broadway, Riverside, Main and Railroad avenues. You could buy furniture, play pool and yes, a part of tent city was reserved for the world’s oldest profession. Sanitation in tent city was an increasing problem—the outgoing tides were the only garbage pickup. So a new town site was quickly surveyed on the south bluff of Ship Creek and an auction was held on July 10, 1915.

Some 2,000 people were on hand as land officer Andrew Christensen offered for sale block 44, lot 1. It’s the southwest corner of Fourth Avenue and C Street. It sold for $825—twice what they expected. When sales closed a week later, 655 business and residential lots had been sold for almost $150,000. That August the New York Times featured an article about the new, modern city with the headline “The Magic Town of Anchorage.” The reporter wrote “that the people have full confidence in Anchorage’s future is shown by the amazing prices paid for building lots. These prices broke all sales records in the United States Land Offices.”

Throughout my search of Anchorage’s history I found a common thread: optimism. When Anchorage was just a field of smoking tree stumps, the Chamber of Commerce

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Cultural Affairs

marshals were in charge of was already meeting. law and order.

In 1916 the Chamber promoted Anchorage as 1920 was the year of transition. We officially “The Outlet on the Inbecame a city and elected let” and “The Key To An Leopold David, a German Empire’s Storehouse.” In immigrant, as our first may1918 we were “The Metropolis of Alaska” and or. Another theme over the century: immigrants finding in the 1930s, the “Nerve a home and making a difCenter of Alaska.” What In the spring of 1915 some two thousand hopeful job ference. Russian immigrant would that make Fairseekers arrived at the mudflats of Ship Creek. The site banks and Juneau? Fingers had just been chosen as a construction camp for the Zachary J. Loussac arrived in 1916. He built a fortune in and feet?

Alaska Railroad. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress. the drug store trade and gave For its first five years, Anchorage was run by the Alaska Engineering Com- it all away. Loussac’s philanthropy led to the building of mission. The engineers laid out our wide downtown the city’s first “Loussac Library” in 1955. Another philstreets and creatively named them alphabetically east to anthropic pioneer family, the Rasmusons, were of Swedwest (skipping J Street) and by numbers north to south. ish origin. Their fortune, earned in the banking business, 61Degrees 1 8/15/14 and 11:22 AM is now shared throughout Anchorage, and Alaska, by the The AECASIbuilt our AD_7.41x4.75_PF.pdf first schools, the hospital, federal

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nonprofit Rasumson Foundation.

July 1923 President Warren G. Harding came to Anchorage to commemorate the completion of the Alaska Railroad.

That same summer land was cleared south of Ninth Avenue for the first air strip (and golf course). Today we call it the “park strip.”

In the 1920s and ’30s Anchorage was a small town: same size as Juneau and Fairbanks, with roughly 3,000 residents. The streets were all dirt. The boys’ basketball team at Anchorage High School was the “Eagles,” the girls’ team was called “The Beauties.”

Evelyn Nygard was a freshman at Anchorage High in 1935. She was friends and classmates with Gabrielle Bagoy, Billy Bitner, Bobby Bailey, Dave and Dan Cuddy. My eBay searches led me to purchase Evelyn’s high school yearbooks and several photos. Thumbing through the ’36 yearbook I learned that Bobby Bailey was “Yell King.” Freshman basketball player Dan Cuddy wrote “hope we go to Fairbanks next year.” Twenty-five young men and women graduated from Anchorage High School in 1936.

Evelyn also saved the souvenir programs for a new event in Anchorage. It was called simply “The Winter Sports Tournament.” Started in 1936, they had bowling, hockey, basketball and skiing. The whole town pretty much closed down and Anchorage became an “open house” for visiting teams and celebrants. Today we know it as the Fur Rendezvous.

Anchorage eventually grew out of its lanky teenage

In June 1923, President Warren G. Harding became the first president to visit Alaska. Photo courtesy of Todd Hardesty.

years becoming the “Big Wild Life” city we know today. The 1940s brought the military and creation of Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Field. Anchorage’s strategic location as “air crossroads of the world” solidified our place in commerce. In the 1950s Anchorage became the headquarters city for the new oil industry and our citizen boosters led the fight for Alaska statehood. As for the next 55 years? Earthquake. Rebuilding. Oil money.

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Cultural Affairs

Alaska master cellist forges new vibe

Photo by Luciana Marcos

Solo cellist Jari Piper seeks to create and explore

by Katie Medred

W

hen he sat down, bow in hand, the room fell silent. Concertgoers on this August afternoon, frozen in anticipation, watched as the young solo cellist prepared to play. He took his time adjusting before he spoke up to introduce himself and his work. He is Jari Piper, 24, a native of Alaska, perhaps best known for his solo work with modern classical and new music and his charming stage presence.

Piper was born and raised in Anchorage and Eagle River, where he embraced music early on as part of the mandatory educational curriculum at his elementary school. He was 10 when he first met the cello, although the instrument was not his first choice. If he’d had his way back then, Piper would’ve chosen the bass, he said.

But he was “too small” for an instrument so large, and cello was the next best thing.

“My life with the cello is because of a series of seemingly arbitrary decisions guided by parents and mentors,” Piper wrote in an email from his current home in Istanbul, Turkey. “Given the choice between cello and piano, I picked the one my brother wasn't doing.”

Piper’s older brother, Ernie, has been a support to him during his DIY career as a musician. Ernie has lived 16

in Turkey in the past and inspired Jari (pronounced Yahree) to join him there.

“Istanbul is the first place I’ve lived not for school,” Jari said. “I’m busking on the streets every day and learning Turkish that way, which is really effective, actually.

I'm kind of hibernating after the tour/CD/grad school trifecta that was this year, so until next spring/summer, I'm just doing a couple concerts playing with some really fantastic musicians here and discovering the joys of unstructured unemployment with my brother.”

Piper likes to joke. He also likes to tell stories and give histories of the works he performs while cradling his instrument. A show with Piper is a bit like attending a favorite professor’s best lecture. He is animated and engaging, but in an ernest manner that is impossible to fake.

He loves the music he chooses to showcase, and while he might be a bit uncomfortable in front of his audience, he never seems to let that interrupt the performance. If anything, it enhances his natural charisma. As a youngster, he said, he’d always wanted to be a schoolteacher. His innate ability to educate is clear in his performance style.

In 2013, Piper graduated from McGill University with a Master of Arts in Music Performance. His bach-

elor’s degree in music was earned the up-and-coming artists, as well as University of Manitoba, years prior, tracks by older more established ones, where he credits Dr. Minna Rose like avant garde composer György Chung with his appreciation, growth Sándor Ligeti and Argentinean Osvaland current acumen on the cello. do Golijov. Track one, “Vex,” written “When the time came to apply to

by Serbian composer Anna Sokolovic, (undergraduate programs),” Piper said. is deliciously serious, with dark and “I was recruited by Minna Chung— somber moments. It doesn’t, however, who taught me at the Fairbanks sumset the mood for the album, which mer music festival— to go to school CD art by Lindsay Fong fluctuates from deep to playful. with her. The conversation went like Following the release of New this: ‘Are you going to college?’ ‘I dunno.’ ‘Well, I’m teach- Work, Piper said he’s “taking a break” and exploring his ing in Winnipeg, Canada, now—you can come study with new homeland, but that he’s looking forward to his next me.’ ‘OK. (Where is Winnipeg?)’ ‘You'd have to be a mu- project. sic major.’ ‘OK.’ The decision making process to continue “I can see myself planning music for a second CD right (with) my master’s wasn't really all that different, I think.” now, but I'm not sure I'm ready to put myself through that Since earning his master’s degree, Piper has released just yet, and besides, I really would love to collaborate with his first album, “New Work for Solo Cello,” a seven-song some other performers for the second one.” n collection of contemporary music written in the 20th and 21st centuries, in the spring of 2014. He said the decision to create “New Work” grew directly out of his experience as a touring musician.

“As soon as I did my first few concerts touring, it became abundantly clear that I needed (a CD), so I just started telling people I was going to At ACENT, our physicians work collaboratively with patients to develop do it until I couldn't back out,” Piper treatment plans that are safe, comfortable said. “I believe the best way I can acand effective. tually serve the classical art form at Our services include: this point in time is to facilitate the • Treatment of the Ear, Nose and Throat creation of new music and record • Audiology and Hearing Devices and perform it and get it out there.

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T

he offices at Alaska Wildland Adventures are cozy. trained in Alaska flora, fauna and natural history. AWA Once single family homes, several small structures guests are travelers seeking an active vacation that takes now headquarter the small eco-tourism company them off the beaten path.

Longtime owner and operator Kirk Hoessle says, in Girdwood. Windows look out into the forest and wet“Although we’ve grown lands, all donning their auand changed over the years, tumn colors.

AWA holds fast to its core This space houses the close-knit family that principle. Alaska is best experienced personally and crafts vacations to inspire respectfully in a style that guests to come to Alaska. showcases the value of the These are the year-round wilderness.” offices that manage the KeA native of Missouri, nai Riverside Lodge on the Hoessle’s personal adventure upper Kenai River, the Kenai Backcountry Lodge in in Alaska began in 1976, when he was hired to lead a the Kenai National Wildcrew of high school students life Refuge and the Kenai Photo of Kirk Hoessle by Marcus Biastock Fjords Glacier Lodge in Kenai Fjords National Park at participating in the Youth Conservation Corps, a federal Aialik Bay. The lodges offer all-inclusive packages and program to combine conservation work on public lands are known for their comfort, great food and incredible with environmental education. Hoessle was assigned to settings. Guests participate in a variety of journeys: fish- a project on Bureau of Land Management land north of ing, kayaking, hiking, and rafting, guided by naturalists Fairbanks. While eager to share the exploration with stu18

Sharing Alaska’s

Wilderness

Kirk Hoessle, co-founder of Girdwood-based Alaska Wildland Adventures, brings a unique angle to backcountry adventure travel.

by Margaret Tyler

Photo courtesy of Alaska Wildland Adventures

dents, Alaska wasn’t in his long-range view.

He sits back and laughs a bit as he reflects on that time, “I went to college to become a camp director, to teach kids about the environment, and when I came up to Alaska, I was among students who knew a lot more about Alaska than I did. I loved working there and with the kids. I came back for several years and eventually became the YCC Director for the Fairbanks District.

“I thought I’d do it forever,” he continued. “Spending summers in Alaska with YCC and winters in Portland, Oregon, teaching environmental education suited me perfectly. I met people who, like me, felt an important connection to the environment.”

He would not be able to continue on much longer with YCC. Change came in 1981, when funding for YCC dried up. Hoessle and his friend Jim Wells decided to come to Alaska to see and do all the things that they had not had time to do the previous summers. They spent the summer hiking in Denali, floating the Kobuk River, and backpacking in Gates of the Arctic National Park.

“Over that summer, I discovered that I loved experiencing the wilderness in Alaska, and I wanted to stay and

share the wilderness with others,” said Hoessle.

Having now identified that goal, Hoessle and Wells went to work for Alaska Campout Adventures, a camping and guided fishing company operating out of Cooper Landing. While the owner embarked on expanding the business elsewhere, the men took over running the operation and guiding fishing trips. The trips were popular and there was a waiting list of people for the camping adventures. In order to accommodate more guests while still maintaining low group numbers they hired more guides and offered staggered, simultaneous trips.

The company purchased an acre lot along the banks of the upper Kenai River, building tent platforms, then cabins, acquiring more land and changing the concept as they went along.

“It was definitely a ‘build as you go experience’—no master plan, no idea how it was going to turn out,” said Hoessle. “We learned a lot through trial and error at that property, and, in many ways, it is my example of how not to build. If we had known we would still be around in thirty years, we would have approached it differently!”

In 1987, Hoessle and Wells bought the company, 19

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by then named Alaska Fishing and Wilderness Adventures. They expanded to operate backcountry trips in McCarthy and Denali National Park, in addition to the original fishing and camping programs in Cooper Landing.

“We had the overall concept right: small group adventure, out-of-the-way location and the opportunity for guests to have a personal connection with the wilderness,” explained Hoessle. “The remaining element was that our guests wanted adventure by day Jim and Kirk in the early days at Kenai Riverside Lodge. Photo courtesy of Kirk and comfort by night, and we had to figure Hoessle. name Alaska Wildland Adventures. out a way to meet their needs.”

“I don’t know if ‘wildland’ was really even a word,” “Over time, we finally stumbled on what the market really wanted: more infrastructure, paired with light ad- he said. “I wanted to call attention to the full experience, and not just wildlife.” venture and really good food,” Hoessle laughs.

AWA guests had been camping at Skilak Lake for Seeking a new identity for the product that they offered, featuring adventure, comfort and a commitment years as a part of their trips. In 1993, a property on the to adult environmental education, Hoessle crafted the lake with a 1930s-era hunting cabin was for sale. It was a

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pivotal opportunity: Alaska Wildland Adventures would have to expand rapidly in order make its payments on the new property. But, if they didn’t buy it, someone else would. After some debate, Hoessle decided to go for it.

The company stretched to afford the property. Cabins, water and waste water systems needed to be built, while balancing Hoessle’s commitment to responsible growth.

Hoessle relied upon his innate sense of community building and resourcefulness to resolve this. How do you build without leaving a large scar on the land? Much of the work needed to be done by hand. The Soldotna High School wrestling team was hired to dig the septic system. Turf was dug up and rolled out of the way during construction, to be rolled back in place later on.

“We spent time and money that we didn’t really have, but figured it out in the end. We learned how to responsibly develop the land so that we could accommodate enough people to make the economics of the place work out,” said Hoessle.

They built from the inside, keeping the footprint of

the construction to a minimum. Because of their efforts, when the project opened, guests thought that all the buildings were historic and original to the property.

This strategy of building from the inside out was utilized again in 2008, when Alaska Wildland Adventures built the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge. The lodge and guest cabins are within the Pederson Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary at Aialik Bay. “We were asked to build this property by Port Graham Corporation, because they had heard about our work at the other properties. The land was untouched, pristine, when we arrived. We cut as few trees as possible, and made our mark on the land as small as we could,” said Hoessle. Four years of meticulous pre-construction planning concluded with one year to build the main lodge, guest cabins and staff housing. A crew of 50 people, some of whom were former AWA guides, gathered to complete the task, understanding Hoessle’s determination to complete the project on his terms.

“We managed the impossible,” Hoessle said. “The

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lodge opened May 31, 2009, and the land looks like it has grown around the buildings, like they have always been there.”

The key to success for AWA through the years has been to stay consistent to its mission. “We can’t grow just for the sake of growing, or we risk losing what we want to create. Our lodges are not for everybody,” Hoessle said,

“AWA guests are people who want to get out and interact with the environment. Our guests, guides, chefs, boat captains all become a part of our AWA family, interacting with the environment together.”

Much has changed in the 32 years that Hoessle has been involved in AWA’s unique angle on Alaska travel and tourism. He now shares his love of the wilderness with his family. Although he is a man who is clearly always working, it is also clearly a source of joy to him. Hoessle’s philosophy requires that he question his motives, checking that he does not inadvertently “sell out” his ideology. In the future, he says, he wants to create a master plan for the Kenai Riverside Lodge, giving it the attention and effort that the other lodges received. As is typical, he plans to consult with his staff and managers, to work out the details as a team.

“There’s always more to be done. We don’t have to get bigger, but there are always ways to Photo courtesy of Alaska Wildland Adventures get better.” n

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Encountering the King of the Arctic

Take a walk on the wild side with Northern Alaska Tour Company’s polar bear expeditions in Kaktovik.

by Scott McMurren

D

uring August and September, the sea ice along Alaska’s Arctic coast is at its lowest point. That’s when giant polar bears lumber ashore in communities like Kaktovik, about 50 miles from the Canadian border.

If you want to see the bears, Northern Alaska Tour Company, based in Fairbanks, offers a day trip that includes your flight, lunch on the ground and a boat trip to see the bears. For longer trips, you can take Ravn Alaska’s scheduled flights and book rooms at one of two hotels in Kaktovik.

“We designed this trip for folks who want to see these giant bears in the wild,” said co-owner Matt Atkinson. “The advantage of having a day trip is that the plane stays with you and minimizes the risk of a weather delay or cancellation.”

ers to stay on their adventures further north of the Arctic Circle. In 2000, they purchased Coldfoot Camp (60 miles north of the Arctic Circle), which is home to the world’s northernmost truck stop.

Today, Coldfoot Camp is part of the backbone of the daily traffic up and down the Dalton Highway. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week for real-life “Ice Road Truckers.” The camp sells fuel and operates a restaurant, post office and hotel. The camp is also uniquely situated for wintertime travelers who want to see the northern lights. Carlson is comfortable flipping burgers for guests at the restaurant, while his co-workers arrange for dogsled rides and Aurora viewing excursions during the winter months. During the summer, the company also operates a camp at the Yukon River crossing.

Guests on the Arctic Circle tour can stop there for lunch or dinner. Further north, the company acquired the old Western Geophysical camp in Prudhoe Bay for travelers who want to overnight there and see the Arctic Ocean.

Between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay, Northern Alaska shows travelers a unique slice of life along the Haul Road. Of course, the trans-Alaska pipeline is front and center, but alongside is rich native heritage—including the migration of salmon and caribou.

For the day trips to Kaktovik, about 625 air miles northnortheast of Fairbanks, Northern Alaska needed more “lift.”

Unique Beginnings Northern Alaska Tour Company got its start in 1986 with Atkinson and co-owners Brett Carlson and Lee Kenaston. They drove travelers north from Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle in a Ford E350 van (198 miles each way).

They could take up to 10 passengers. They fixed meals and snacks in Fairbanks and fashioned a site by the Yukon River for lunch. Both Atkinson and Carlson were still in college—so this was a summer-only project.

In 1991, after Atkinson and Carlson graduated and returned to Fairbanks, they started booking seats with Frontier Flying Service Online resources (now part of Ravn Alaska) so they Northern Alaska Tour Company www.northernalaska.com could drive travelers in one direction and they could fly back. Interest in Polar Bear Expeditions: www.polarbearsalaska.com arctic travel picked up to the point VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgRHj0pquX0 where they needed rooms for travel24

Photos by Scott McMurren

In 2012, they acquired Warbelow’s Air Ventures. Warbe- with the polar bears.

If you didn’t bring your winter coat, you can get one low’s operated 15 Navajo “Chieftains.” It’s the largest fleet of Navajos in the state and one of the largest in the country. of the “Mustang Suits” that you can step into and zip up.

These are like full body armor for outdoor work and are bright orange and very warm.

Polar Bear Expedition After lunch, it’s just a short ride in the van to the boat Travelers report to Northern Alaska’s office at the launch. Northern Alaska works with a variety of boat opFairbanks airport bright and early departure.

You’ll fly north in a Piper Navajo aircraft. For the day erators in the community, including Ketil Ruitan. Ruitan trip to Kaktovik, there is a limit of six travelers. The plane is an Iditarod veteran who leads dog tours in Norway can hold up to nine, but the bear-watching boats are only during the winter. He met his wife after arriving by dog rated for six by the U.S. Coast Guard. The regular itiner- team in Kaktovik more than 20 years ago. During Auary for the trip north includes a stop at Prudhoe Bay to gust and September, he has two boats that he uses for the refuel. At least one of the planes, though, has enough fuel polar bear trips. We sailed on the “Nanuq,” a beautiful 22-foot Hewescraft “Ocean Pro,” with a heated cabin. to fly nonstop to Kaktovik.

It’s about a mile from the boat launch to the Barrier After the flight from Fairbanks and the fuel stop in Prudhoe Bay, travelers land on the strip in Kaktovik. Islands where the polar bears are camped out. The bears Be prepared for chilly, windy weather! On arrival, a van wander up and down the island and then swim over to the takes you from the plane through the town to the Marsh whale boneyard. In early September, the whaling teams of Creek Inn for lunch. You arrive about 11 a.m. and in Kaktovik harvested three whales in three days. That fultime for an orientation and safety brief about your time filled their harvest quota, so the whales were chopped up

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“We designed this trip for folks who want to see these giant bears in the wild. The advantage of having a day trip is that the plane stays with you and minimizes the risk of a weather delay or cancellation.”

and divided. Afterwards, big frontend loaders take the bones offshore.

On our way to the barrier island we cruised by the boneyard and saw one big bear—who swam off as we approached.

Once the captain determines the best spot on the island for viewing, he simply drives the boat up on the beach. But you stay in the boat, in case the bears get curious. Ketil threw the anchor out and everyone got out their cameras. Even though I brought my “big” camera with the 75-300mm lens, I was outgunned. The other photographers on the boat all had 100-400mm lenses, which made for some good close-ups of the bears.

We spotted eight bears on the island and they remained about 150-200 yards away. The most active group was a mother and her two cubs. The cubs were

about 10 months old and looked to weigh about 600—800 pounds each.

Mama was much bigger, as were the other adults we saw.

After about 90 minutes of watching the bears, the light rain turned to snow. Our pilot, Andy Lepkoski, asked Ketil to take him back to the plane. We made a quick trip back to the boat launch to drop Andy off— then returned for another round of bear viewing. About an hour later, Andy called and said it was time to fly. We left a little early to escape any possible icing on the wings. That would have put us into “no fly” territory, perhaps necessitating an overnight stay. We left a little earlier than planned— but it was okay since it was “nap time” for the bears.

All of us were awestruck looking at the bears. There is a natural fascination with large mammals: bears and

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whales, for example. And to see them in the wild—it is a special treat, as long as they are not coming in through your doorway to get into your stash of seal oil.

Managing the interaction between bears and humans is a delicate balance. But the community of Kaktovik takes it seriously, with bear patrols and safety briefings for visitors. And with the increased interest in viewing the bears, shepherding travelers around from the airport, the hotel and the boats has become a good industry. The day trip from Fairbanks sells for $1,399 per person. To stay overnight and go on multiple boat trips costs more. While we were eating lunch at the hotel, we

talked to independent travelers from Oregon, Germany and Switzerland.

While the day trip to Kaktovik to see the polar bears is one option, Northern Alaska offers a good selection of both ground tours and air trips in the arctic. Along the way, the company has come to operate some vital infrastructure: three lodging facilities (Yukon River, Coldfoot and Prudhoe Bay), restaurants, fuel, ground transportation up and down the Dalton Highway and scheduled air service to 12 villages beyond Fairbanks. Additionally, the planes provide on-demand trips to Barrow, Prudhoe Bay and Kaktovik to accommodate travelers. n

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Lavelle’s Bistro

Upscale, fine dining in the heart of Fairbanks.

by Michaela Goertzen

Photo courtesy of Lavelle's Bistro by Brandon Swibold.

L

avelle’s Bistro, located inside the Marriott Fair- said, laughing. “We used to sell a lot of it, but not so banks, has been crafting its upscale menu for the much anymore.”

An indicator of success, for sure. past 13 years. They claim to offer the finest dinThe bistro’s cellar includes over 3,000 bottles of wine ing in the Interior, and for this article, I spoke to Frank from 700 different labels, Eagle just after he, and his and when I asked about wife and co-owner, Kathy Frank’s favorite, he said, apLavelle, returned from a propriately, that it depends tasting trip to France. They on what he’s eating. Ultihad been in Bordeaux for remately, he settled on Syrahs search, gaining inspiration from wine tours, foie gras from Australia. He added that they pair really well samplings and innovative platter presentations—ever with a nice leg of lamb.

Both Frank and Kathy seeking new inspiration for have a background in Fairthis hometown bistro.

Their vision when openbanks food service since the 1970s. Kathy owned the loing the restaurant was to eduOven roasted half duck from the “Discovery” menu cate people about food, wine cal Café de Paris, and Frank Photo by Michaela Geortzen was renowned for sauteeing and pairing the two. He and Kathy, a certified sommelier with an incredible palate for Prince William Sound shrimp at the fair.

During the bistro’s beginning, Frank admitted to loswine, want to help patrons appreciate the finer varieties.

“Friends don’t let friends drink white Zinfandel,” he ing $300 a day for nine months.

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“It was the best education I could have had,” he said.

“I made every mistake in the world, and we’re still in business because we haven’t repeated any of them.”

Today, after 13 successful years in business, “We’re still just mom and pop that happens to rent from a Marriott,” he said When I visited the bistro one Saturday evening for dinner, it was alive with clanging and conversation. The room was filled mostly with couples, two large groups of friends and one other lone diner—a Japanese tourist laden with camera equipment, in search of the northern lights. All were enjoying themselves.

A pert cast of wait staff tended to the diners and added considerable bustle and energy to the room. A hanging pot rack, exposed dishes stacked on a bakers’ rack and an open kitchen completed the bistro style.

The menu included a wine recommendation for every dish, and noted Alaska Grown and Certified Angus Beef products. Lavelle’s also incorporates fresh produce from local Calypso Farms throughout.

The most intriguing item was the 25-ingredient meatloaf, a signature dish. But my favorite part of the menu

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listing was that Lavelle’s isn’t too high-minded to suggest a “glass of milk” with it, in place of a wine recommendation.

I finally chose the oven roasted half duck from the “Discovery” menu ($32.95). The preliminary sourdough baguette came fresh from the oven, and I enjoyed it along with the waiter-recommended red blend during my wait.

The duck was incredibly tender, served on the bone with a raspberry glaze, mashed potatoes, and crisp sautéed vegetables. The vegetables were not over steamed, and the potatoes were perfectly creamy – not gummy and not at all dry. It was an all-around terrific meal.

Since I still had half a glass of perfectly good wine left after the duck, I ordered a slice of chocolate Kahlua cake ($8.50) to accompany it. The eight alternating layers of Kahlua-saturated cake and espresso ganache were a little extravagant, and everything I had hoped.

I dined at the bar on a second occasion, during my after hours on a work trip. I wanted to test some of the

30

bistro’s Alaska seafood selection, and chose a platter of lemon scallops and spinach ($17.95). The five scallops were pan-seared, on a bed of steamed spinach, and finished with a swirl of tangy, white sauce. Again, it was another hit meal, and confirmed to me that Lavelle’s is no one-dish wonder, but consistent throughout.

When Lavelle’s Bistro opened its doors on the fall equinox of 2001—10 days after 9/11—Frank said, “Folks were ready to come out and not be cloistered in their homes.” It was a show of community that gathered people together that night, and it’s what has kept them coming for more than a decade.

He’s proud of the compliments patrons have made: From feeling like they’re in San Francisco or Seattle, to a place locals will treat as a place to come when they’re on “staycation,” Frank said he believes the bistro has become an oasis in a dark and cold atmosphere.

“Having people appreciate you is what makes it worthwhile,” he said. “If not, all you have at the end of the day is a check and a pile of dirty dishes.”

In a telling testament to the bistro’s success, he told the story of one friend and patron who shared with him that she had been disappointed in a recent experience with the restaurant—on her birthday, no less – when she was unable even to get a table.

“Who would’ve thought on a Monday at 40 below you’d need a reservation?” n

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Bringing Tutka Bay to your table Chefs Kirsten and Mandy Dixon’s newest cookbook is a collection of

Photo by Tyrone Potgieter

recipes representing cuisine served at their Kachemak Bay lodge.

by Riza Brown

I

sat down with Kirsten and Mandy Dixon’s newest family collaboration, “The Tutka Bay Lodge Cookbook,” intending to cherry-pick a few recipes and skim through the sea-inspired stories. Two hours and two cups of coffee later, I found that I had read the entire thing, cover to cover.

It started with the monkey bread; unbidden, a memory of my mother’s pull-apart cinnamon-and-sugar company staple popped into my mind. I remembered being lured into the living room with its sweet, yeasty scent. I immediately bookmarked that page and read on, drawn to the homeyness and simplicity of the recipes.

Both Kirsten and Mandy Dixon are professionally trained chefs, and their expertise is apparent on every page.

During the interview, mother and daughter sat in front of wall-to-wall bookcases laden with distinguished tomes; El Bulli, Noma, the Modernist Cuisine series. And yet, they strove to make the recipes accessible and approachable.

“We tested all of these dishes in our home kitchen,” Kirsten said. “My son-in-law, Tyrone Potgieter, shot all of the photos in natural light.” Even without fancy editing 32

and props, the images are striking and gorgeous. Potgieter was also the photographer for the Dixons’ previous cookbook, “The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook,” and the two are complementary. This book focuses on an unfolding day at the lodge rather than a seasonal approach.

I was seduced by breakfast and the affair moved easily into lunch. The dungeness crab melt on sourdough toast, Tutka Bay’s most popular luncheon item, has only a dozen ingredients but overflows with luxury and satiation.

Mandy loves working with seafood and is inspired by baking: “One of my favorite things is the quick Danish dough. It’s flaky and delicious and so versatile. I’m also really loving the salmon bacon right now.”

Mandy grew up in her parents’ lodges, absorbing an appreciation for the Alaskan wild and was inspired to work with everything it has to offer. Tutka Bay Lodge, La Baleine Cafe and Rustic Wild, a home store, fulfill the Dixons’ desires to live and work by the sea after spending more than 30 years near the edge of the Alaska Range. This cookbook represents a sensory experience of Homer’s local flora and fauna to flavor a new collection of Alaskan cuisine.

“My favorite thing this summer was foraging. Our cooking school is an old crabbing ship pulled up onto land and my husband Carl and the boys built a beautiful walkway leading up to it,” said Kirsten. “The area is covered with blueberries, mushrooms, wildflowers, this little white flower called frog’s reading lamp — we put that in everything. We made lots of salad with our own foraged greens; sea green, beach greens. We even made our own sea salt, scooping water out of the bay and putting it in the greenhouse to dehydrate. It has its own unique, salty flavor.”

Mandy is in charge of canning and preserving the crabapples, rhubarb and red currants, as well as the harvest from the gardens and greenhouses at both lodges.

The cookbook’s introduction states that using organic, high-quality ingredients should go without saying.

La Baleine Cafe, on the Homer Spit, reflects this adherence to excellence and also offers dishes that some may consider trendy: gluten-free and vegetarian. “Right now, there is definitely a demand for that kind of food.

But we also have bacon and cheeses,” Mandy assured me.

When asked about their next project, the duo pointed to a collection of La Baleine’s recipes as a likely suspect.

While the recipes are certainly a draw, I was mostly charmed by the beautifully quirky “day-in-the-life-of ” entries that are scattered throughout the cookbook.

Kirsten is a writer. She has written for the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Dispatch and has had pieces published in the Huffington Post and the New York Times.

Tutka Bay often hosts writers’ conferences and Kirsten looks forward to scheduling more.

“We are always learning,” Kirsten said. “We travel, attend trade shows, try to go to education classes once or twice a year. Mandy and I are thinking of going to India in the springtime. The emphasis in our cooking school this year was global cuisine but next year we’ll focus more on Alaskan ingredients. I’d love to teach classes showing people how to take a whole salmon and break it down themselves.”

Tutka Bay’s summer season is over but Winterlake Lodge reopens January 20. It’s a checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail and the family is kept busy cooking for mushers, guests and heli-skiers. Until then, comfort yourself with a nice big batch of monkey bread. n

Brioche Dough The Dixons use this versatile dough for doughnuts and monkey bread in their cookbook, but it also makes an appearance at almost every meal in the form of French toast, herb rolls and dinner bread.

Ingredients: 1/4 cup whole milk, warm to the touch, about 80 degrees F 2 1/2 tsp (1 package) active dry yeast 3 Tbs granulated sugar 1 tsp salt 3 large eggs 2 cups bread flour 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened Put the milk into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Sprinkle in the yeast, sugar and salt. Whisk the mixture together using the whisk attachment. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes.

Change the mixer attachment to the dough hook and add the eggs and flour into the milk mixture. Scrape down the dough and make sure it is all mixed in. Mix the dough for about 20 minutes on medium speed. Add in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time.

Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer.

Cover the dough with a clean towel and set it aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Knead the dough lightly and place it into a clean buttered bowl that is about twice the size of the dough. The dough will be loose and soft. Refrigerate overnight.

Makes 1 pound brioche dough.

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PHO LENA VIETNAMESE / THAI 2904 Spenard Road 277-9777 360 Boniface Parkway 279-9777 pholena.com Pho Lena serves up unique, delicious dishes from Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and other delicacies from the far East.

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ORSO MEDITERRANEAN / SEAFOOD 737 W. 5th Avenue 222-3232 orsoalaska.com Fresh ingredients are prepared with the simple, rustic flavor and techniques of the great culinary regions of the Mediterranean. Pair any item from their bold menu with a handcrafted cocktail or one of the finest Alaskan ales from the Glacier Brew House.

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THE ROCK WOOD FIRED PIZZA & SPIRITS AMERICAN 3401 Penland Parkway 677-6000 therockwfk.com Known for their gourmet wood fired pizza, The Rock also offers an array of pastas, burgers and unique beverages with an edge! This is a great place to bring family and friends for a fun and casual dining experience.

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Locavore

M

y perfect dinner date? Younger, bubbly, effervescent, often dismissed by those with more experience and yet people gravitate toward the sound of its top popping off. Yes, I love a good prosecco. Whenever I get invited to a party, this fun, easy pick is invariably my date. But the holidays are coming up and with them, many opportunities to expand my dating circle.

Chad Culley, resident sommelier at Crush Wine Bistro and Cellar, is a master matchmaker. I confessed my love for all things white (sauvignon blanc, Champagne, gewurztraminer) and Culley assured me that I needn’t be ashamed of my proclivities.

“I really like white wine,” he told me. “I drink 80 percent white wine. A lot of people think that serious wine drinkers should only drink red, but that’s not true.”

Culley is a serious wine guy; just look at the Cellar Wine Club Chronicles, 54 issues strong, every issue but one written by him.

Crush features a different region, vineyard or varietal every month, highlighting the tasting notes of the wines included in that month’s selections, the stats (grapes, methods and pairings), maps and very well-written profiles of the area and history. They are a helpful, succinct guide to navigating the many events that accompany the winter season.

Holiday dinners with family, office parties with col36

leagues, brunches with friends to rehash the drama of the first two events — this social gantlet can be an overwhelming proposition. And with each meal, there is the agony and the ecstasy of deciding on the proper pairing.

Culley is eminently qualified to help you choose your own adventure.

It was a taste of the 1982 Marchesi di Barolo, when he worked as a busser in a Seattle restaurant, that sparked his obsession.

“I was blown away. I didn't have a car so I took the bus around and bought books on wine and read them cover to cover. I went to work at Sullivan’s in Anchorage in ’99 when it opened and started managing the wine list. Nicki Shinners took me under her wing and introduced me to the Anchorage wine scene. From there, I managed Orso and the Brewhouse and then decided that what I really wanted to do was get involved in a boutique bottle shop. Crush was opened in 2008.

I joined Robert DeLucia and Scott Anaya and we built the shop upstairs in 2010. For me, the wine club is really all about education.”

Grab a notepad and pen and prepare to get schooled: The requirements for a good relationship: “I love balance in wine. That’s really important to me. Wine is like a person; it has tissue — the meat and fruit of the wine — and a skeleton — tannin and acid — and I look for those things to be in balance with each other. I don’t want

Holiday Pairings

Serving up holiday fare? Crush sommelier Chad Culley fixes you up with the perfect partner.

by Riza Brown

the tannin to be ripping my face off without a ton of fruit to balance it. I don’t want a wine that’s a giant fruit bomb without any backbone to it. It’s the interplay that makes it interesting.”

Choosing the right partner: “For me, it’s all about the sauces. Is it creamy and rich? Or more tart, like cranberry? With cream sauces, I recommend an Australian wine, Marsanne, a varietal that’s rarely made on its own but this incarnation is full-bodied with great acid, beautiful richness like chardonnay but without the oak and butter. It’s really great with heavier foods. Also Viogniers, which are decadent but still very spicy and holds up well to creaminess. For cranberry sauces, Carignan is good because it’s earthy and medium-bodied with lots of fruit and acid, like the sauce itself.”

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Five dates to liven up the party: 1. Lageder Romigberg. “This wine is made from sciave grapes, which are not for everybody. It’s kind of weird, pinot-esque, very light and pretty and tannic. But the juxtaposition of acid with intense flavors and salt, like carpaccio or charcuterie platters, is fantastic. The nuances of the wine really come out then.”

2. Rickshaw Pinot Noir. “This is great with poultry and ham, not so much

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Locavore

with beef. Pinots are acid-based wines add in baking spices, pineapple without a lot of tannins, so it wouldn’t and key lime pie.” hold up to a steak. The profile is cherry, spice and forest floor, which goes well 4. Zinck Pinot Gris. “Pinot gris is a mutation of pinot noir; it’s not with ham and turkey, traditional holiday dinners. Pinots have lots of acid to actually a white grape, but more stand up to food as long as the food’s not of a gray, greenish grape. This too heavy. You can go on the (Banshee’s) wine is organically grown in Alsace and has a slightly sweet style website and find where all of the grapes but with good acidity. It’s a very come from. This bottle is only $15 dolgood food wine. It stands up to lars and delivers a lot for the price.”

Asian dishes, rich dishes and all 3. Heidi Schrock Gelber Muskatellkinds of different meats.” er. “This Austrian white wine is very versatile. It’s full-bodied, dry, with 5. Grower Champagne. “We’re all about the bubbly in the days very little residual sugar. It’s similar leading up to Christmas. We to chardonnay’s rich and creamy body stole Brewhouse’s 12 days of barley wine and made with some butter and oak, and then our own 12 days of grower Champagne. We offer a different glass of grower Champagne with 2 oysters for $20; this helps boost interest in smaller estate Champagne producGourmet Flavored Pasta Co. features Pappardelle’s Pasta, a large line of handmade pastas from Denver, ers which grow and make their own Colorado. Gluten free and low carb options are also Champagne. I like the idea of proavailable. The pastas are so flavorful all you need is a Alaska’s premier custom frame shop since little olive oil and your favorite grated cheese. moting it. Currently, the sales are 1976. Providing the very best products and services that the industry has to offer. Custom only 3.5 percent of the US market frame designs to enhance your originals, prints, and the rest are these mass-prophotos, posters, textiles and or memorabilia. duced factory Champagnes. You What are you waiting for lets get started creating a special design that will add elegance and get better value for your money personal style to your home or office. from a grower Champagne.” n

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Alaska Living

A partnership

From handshake to hand-picked, Gustavus Inn invests in guests.

by Amanda Compton Photos courtesy of Gustavus Inn

W

ho hasn’t judged a book by its cover?

If you apply the same logic to accommodations and travel experiences—if the exterior grounds and physical location reflect the character of the proprietors and services they offer—than judge away my friend.

Cliché adjectives like “charming” and “quaint” describe the Gustavus Inn but they barely brush the soul of the establishment, and this Inn’s got soul. Soul like a retreat on the East Coast, but without the stuffiness; soul like a hopping southern kitchen but with more activities than just eating; soul like a genuine Alaskan experience without faux log cabins and bear sculptures.

Gustavus is a town of approximately 450 residents in the northern region of Southeast Alaska, on the coast of Icy Strait, the passage of water from the Inside Passage to the Gulf of Alaska. The town is surrounded by Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, rich with abundant marine and terrestrial wildlife.

JoAnn and Dave Lesh have been operating the 14room Gustavus Inn for 35 years. The Inn has been in the Lesh family for almost 50 years but JoAnn and Dave have made it what it is now: a well-kept 14-room establishment with expansive pasture-style grounds full of wild and manicured flora, award-winning food and a classy 40

but homegrown atmosphere.

A large number of the Inn’s guests are repeat customers. According to JoAnn, they’re generally well-traveled, and a lot are self-employed; the kind of people who know what they want.

Dave’s specialty is attention to detail. He makes an effort to learn each guest’s name and to personally bid adieu, but, he points out, he’s not one to pander.

“We actually become friends,” he said. “I treat my guests the way I’d like to be treated. I enjoy it when they are getting what they want.”

The Inn is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The rooms are named after mountains visible from the property and each contain one queen and one twin bed. With the exception of two rooms, each has a private bathroom; one room is handicap-accessible.

Daily small planes travel to Gustavus from various statewide locations and one 737 arrives directly from Seattle each afternoon, continuing straight on to Anchorage. Travel via ferry is also a popular option.

JoAnn and Dave communicate with guests before their arrival to construct a custom itinerary geared for young children, exercise enthusiasts or beach combers.

There are 17 miles of accessible beach and many op-

tions include marine excursions. A naturalist boat tour around Icy Strait visits sea lion colonies and Point Adolphus, known for its high concentration of humpback whales. Halibut and salmon charter trips operate daily, as do guided sea kayak excursions. There are kayak rentals for those inclined to chart their own course. The Leshes will suggest trails based on what berries are ripe or birds are active and they will shuttle guests to Bartlett Cove, the entrance to Glacier Bay, for a guided naturalist hike.

There is a fleet of bikes if guests want to peruse the town or take a picnic lunch down to the beach.

Perhaps the signature feature of the Inn is its food. The property was originally a homestead, developed in the early 1920s, and the can-do attitude persists as it’s an isolated community drawing a breed who value sweat equity.

Illustrations of the Inn’s resourcefulness and a tribute to its history are visible to a discerning eye. An old hay cutter serves as a host for nasturtiums; a former embalming sink from a hospital remodel is the basin below the fish fillet station where Dave often begins evening meal preparations.

Guests are not expected to chop the wood or heat their rooms but the pioneering spirit is incorporated in an uncontrived manner into the Inn’s meals.

A majority of the food is picked from the 50-by-120-foot garden, foraged, caught in the ocean or baked in the newly remodeled kitchen.

French doors open from the dining area onto an outdoor patio with a 360-degree view of four different mountain ranges. The patio faces the setting sun for an hors d’oeuvres hour as staff harvest herbs and vegetables for that evening’s meal. Guests have a chance to mingle, drink beer and wine and exchange stories while walking through the garden, half of which contains flowers. Red currants, raspberries and goose berries percolate throughout the property.

“The Inn is an outlet for fulfillment,” JoAnn said.

Flat bread made from their signature sourdough is a mainstay. It’s served in a variety of ways: with prawn butter, smoked or grilled octopus and fresh basil; high bush cranberry ketchup, caramelized onions and smoked sable fish; or a medley of chopped foraged porcini and golden chanterelle mushrooms with parmesan cheese. They also serve kelp salsa and chips with fresh cilantro, sourdough herb crackers with smoked salmon and sushi and sashimi

made from fish, crab, octopus and caviar.

At 6:30 everyone is seated family-style in the dining room. Steaming dinner rolls with wild strawberry and rhubarb jams are served with a relish plate of olives and wild pickled vegetables. Every night there’s a salad with spinach, lettuce, chard, herbs and blossoms from calendula and dahlia plants. Dave developed a weekly rotating menu, though if a guest is keen on something in particular, say black cod, he’ll serve it twice before the guest leaves. Other evenings expect barbequed or blackened king salmon, ginger steamed sable fish, halibut Caddy Ganty, Dungeness crab or rockfish.

“It just makes sense to serve the bounty of our front yard, which is Icy Strait,” said JoAnn. Indeed, this practice was noted in 2010 when the Inn received the distinguished culinary James Beard Foundation Award, in the America’s Classics division, reserved for establishments that serve “quality food that reflects the character of the community.”

JoAnn said they excel at special diets with a command of delicious gluten free creations and vegetarian options.

“The one thing you’ll never find,” Dave said, “is a guest missing dinner.”

Dan Lesh is one of JoAnn and Dave’s four children.

Though he spent a fair amount of time as a child building forts, the family’s relationship with food maintains a solid grasp on him.

Though Dan’s assisted in cooking for the Inn before, he began taking lead in the kitchen for five nights a week in 2013. He prepares his dad’s tried and true fish features, 41

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Alaska Living

on allowing the natural flavor of locally-sourced ingredients take center stage, versus creating the most complex aesthetically-pleasing dish possible.

“That’s what cooking is for us,” Dan said. “Treating fish well, having a garden. Cooking is just as much about preparing the best ingredient as it is actually cooking. It’s not about a tiny portion that looks good.”

Dan is also proud that he can emphasize not just the region’s rich access to wild food but its abundance.

“We serve food that you can take seconds from,” he said.

“It’s wild and from a healthy ecosystem so it’s abundant. We couldn’t do it without a protected environment.”

From 6 to 9 a.m. a chef is on duty, preparing sourdough pancakes with homemade spruce tip syrup, eggs and bacon. Lunches are made daily, to enjoy on the premises or on the move. Dave makes soups prepared from homemade fish stocks, focaccia made with a potato and parsnip mash sourdough, and sandwiches and salads with fish cakes. The Inn also serves desserts like a chocolate parsnip brownie with chocolate ganache, flourless peanut butter cookies and lemon cake.

“I heard a guest say, ‘I was expecting a really good meal, but I wasn’t expecting an experience,’” Dan recalled. “I thought that captured what we’re going for: not just the good food. People sit down with each other, bike together and walk through the garden. They spend their days seeing what nature has lunch, dinner, weekend brunch, to provide. That’s what brings people handcrafted back, a meaningful day, experienccocktails ing something firsthand versus watching. That to me is what makes it most SIMPLE • FRIENDLY • LOCAL worthwhile, knowing that I’m contrib1049 W. Northern Lights Blvd. uting to a love of food and place.” n 770-7623 (ROAD)

though he’s taken some culinary and creative liberties.

“We express ourselves in food; it’s how we’ve always brought ourselves together,” Dan said. “How we bring others to our place so successfully is in part due to the food.”

He said he returned to Gustavus because the town is calming and grounding, but also because he wanted to return to his roots, quite literally.

Under Dan’s jurisdiction products from the garden, forest and beaches have played a larger role. He makes kimchee from bok choy and beach asparagus, a salt-tolerant plant that grows in small tufts along the coast. It resembles a miniature hybrid of a jade plant and a cactus.

The wild mushroom flatbread is also a creation of his, as is a kohlrabi bagna cauda.

“It’s Italian for ‘warm bath,’” Dan explained. “You cut a bunch of fresh garden vegetables like kohlrabi, young fennel, carrots and green onion and toss it with a sauce of butter, olive oil, garlic and anchovies.”

As a chef at the Inn, Dan explained that he’s focused

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Deck the halls!

Capture the magic of the season with inspiring holiday decorating trends from local retailers.

by Amy Newman

he sweet scent of gingerbread and peppermint.

The roar of a crackling fire. Yes, the holiday season is in full swing, which means it’s time to pull the decorations out of storage and deck the halls with boughs of...well, you know the rest.

But for those wanting to spruce up their holiday decorating beyond holly and mistletoe, we took a peek at what local retailers have on their holiday decorating list this season.

T

ing you to “add a touch of the holiday in the home without taking up big space,” Emerton said.

If you want to brighten up your home’s exterior, look for places beyond the roof line to hang holiday lights, said Brett Olson, owner of AK Christmas Lighting. Stair railings, windows, garage doors, trees and shrubs, even mailbox posts are unexpected spots where you can add a touch of brightness.

If you decorate outdoor greenery, make it stand out even more by hanging lights on every odd numbered tree or shrub, rather than bunching them together.

“There’s something about odd numbers that look better to the eye,” Olson said. “It’s more symmetrical.”

Merry & Bright “All of your holiday decorating for the home looks better with lights,” said Monica Emerton, owner of Green Connection, an Anchorage-based greenhouse and retail store. “It looks more festive.”

A variety of lights on the market, from thin rice lights to crystal chandelier lights, small bulbs and large, make it easy to brighten up your home. Icicle lights are a trend of the past, said Amanda Brimanis of Bells Nursery. Instead, single strands of large, multicolored lights are back in style.

And they’re decorating more than just the tree.

“Creative lighting is becoming more and more of a thing,” said Gretchen Fowler, greenhouse manager at Green Connection. Consider weaving lights through your wreaths, indoor house plants, even mirrors and chandeliers, she said.

Decorating with lights has the added bonus of allow-

O, Christmas Tree For those who celebrate Christmas, the tree is the holiday centerpiece, whether it’s fresh cut or fresh out of the box. And the key to a beautifully decorated tree starts with the tree itself.

“If you’re using a real tree, let it sit for a day with water so the limbs can fall,” Brimanis said. “If you’re using an artificial one, make sure to fluff each branch and curve the ends up.”

Decorate from the top down, placing lights on first.

Ribbon can be draped throughout the tree or formed in to bows and scattered throughout to help make the tree look fuller. Garland comes next, followed by ornaments, which Brimanis said should always be put on last.

When it comes to decorating the tree, there’s a definite trend toward being unique.

“Trees are not red and gold and Santa anymore,” she 45

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Alaska Living

said. “People want to show their personal style.”

That means anything from a tree decorated entirely in pink and white (the color of the year is radiant orchid) to one decorated with tiny high heeled shoes.

But what if you’re torn between having a traditional tree and one that showcases your personality? The experts say you can do both.

If your ornament collection contains a mix of the classic balls and knick-knack style ornaments, scatter some of the larger balls, along with some bows and stars, throughout the tree, Fowler said. Not only will this provide textural differences, but will help the knick-knack ornaments stand out.

Other people accommodate their different styles by putting up multiple trees, with one large tree serving as the showpiece and smaller trees placed throughout the house, Brimanis said. Each tree has its own style and theme, whether based on a single color, particular type of ornament, or overall feel, such as artsy or funky.

“The rules are really going away” as far as decorating trees goes, Emerton said. “If there’s anything going out of style, it’s middle of the road.”

Holiday Touches While the lights and the trees may take center stage, there are plenty of other ways to inject some holiday magic into your home.

“Christmas-themed everything is readily available,” Brimanis said. Home décor like pillows and dishes emblazoned with seasonal scenes, as well as holiday scented candles, soaps and lotions, add a touch of the holidays to every room in the house.

Holiday ribbon can be wrapped around mirrors and other large household items, or used to make decorative bows, Fowler said.

For something a bit more whimsical, create a holiday fairy garden in an indoor or outdoor container using Snow To Go!® – a white powder that instantly transforms into artificial snow with the addition of water and miniature holiday figurines, Fowler said. Or build it in a hanging terrarium for a snow globe effect.

And however you choose to decorate, don’t forget to take a moment to savor the spirit of the season with those you hold dear. n 46

Holiday Lighting Experts recommend getting your holiday light displays up in September or October, before the snow comes. But depending on the type of display, some companies can install lights through December.

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True Alaskan

True Alaskan: Erik Flora

Recently named “Coach of the Year” by the U.S. Olympic Committee, Erik Flora is pushing American cross-country skiing to a higher level, from Anchorage.

by Nathaniel Herz

O

n a recent chilly morning, Erik Flora, the coach for Anchorage Olympic cross-country skiers like Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks, parked his SUV next to the road that heads into Kincaid Park.

Flora got out and stared at the pavement—which to most people would seem an unremarkable stretch, 150 meters of flat road, rolling into a downhill.

Flora, however, looks at roads through a different filter. To him, this section of blacktop is one of Anchorage’s closest summer and autumn analogies to the snowcovered ski trails of Scandinavia, lined with boisterous

on their rollerskis—the wheeled contraptions that crosscountry skiers strap to their boots during the summer to simulate the sensation of sliding on snow.

With Randall and Brooks leading a stream of younger skiers, they fly along the flat stretch, over the top of the hill, and head down, out of sight.

It’s only early October, and nearly two months remain until the start of the competition season for Flora’s athletes. But they’ve all been training full-time since early May, and this workout is one designed to convert some of the endurance the skiers have built up over their summer sessions into speed—what Flora calls “race fitness.”

“They all know the ski season’s coming,” he says.

So does Flora. In fact, as a former competitive athlete and the longtime coach of Alaska Pacific University’s cross-country ski team, Flora knows as well as any of his team members.

He knows that the first year he moved to Anchorage, in the early 1990s, it snowed a foot on the Hillside on Sept.

27. And now, he knows the right combination of workouts to put his team through to get the athletes in shape for their first international races of the season, in northern Finland.

Flora has now lived in Alaska for two decades and Holly Brooks and APU club coach Erik Flora talk at the Laura cross-country ski area in the mountains outside of Sochi, Russia, has spent the last eight years in charge of APU’s crossJan. 7, 2014. Photo Nathaniel Herz / ADN / fasterskier.com country ski team.

The 20 athletes out rollerskiing near Kincaid Park recrowds waving flags and sipping aquavit—a final challenge for elite cross-country racers before they descend a cently amount to just a fraction of Flora’s whole program, which boasts upwards of 200 participants, 14 coaches and a long downhill to the homestretch.

As Flora stands on the side of the road, a group of budget into six figures. The group training with Randall and women emerge from around a corner, speeding along Brooks—while the most visible—stands atop a broad-based 48

Erik Flora director of the APU Nordic Ski Center.

Photo by Bob Hallinen

pyramid of younger athletes, one that Flora hopes will produce replacements for his older athletes when they retire.

It’s a program Flora has built drawing on his own experiences as an athlete in the U.S. and in Norway, and on the time he’s spent as a coach, starting in the late 1990s.

And after a difficult winter last year, which saw Randall fail in her push for a medal at the Olympic Games in Russia, she and Flora are back for four more years, seeking to take American cross-country skiing to a level even higher than the heights to which they’ve already ascended.

“This is what I want to do,” Flora says. “It’s just a matter of having the right athletes and tweaking the plans, and all working together to make this next run.”

Flora, 41, is at the center of that next run.

A former elite cross-country skier who grew up in Oregon, he moved to Anchorage in 1993, after spending a season training at a ski academy in Norway with a future Olympic gold medalist, Tor Arne Hetland.

Flora was looking for a place at sea level, with long winters and early snow—what he viewed as two essential components of a good training program.

Flora’s own Olympic aspirations took a hit when he was in a car accident at Hatcher Pass in 1998, leaving him with what seemed like a career-ending back injury. He took several seasons off from racing, thinking he would become a pilot, before Hetland’s gold medal in the 2002 Olympics inspired Flora to take up competitive skiing again—which in turn led into a full-time coaching career.

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In 2006, Flora took over the APU team, which was first started by Jim Galanes, a three-time Olympic crosscountry skier himself.

Over the past eight seasons, Flora has grown and broadened the program into its current form, relying on his own successes and failures as a competitor to inform the approach he takes with his own athletes.

“His style is just to experiment, to push the boundaries,” Randall says. “Because he’s been able to test some of his theories on himself, as an athlete, that gives him the confidence to experiment with us.

“He’s definitely pushed me outside my comfort zone a little bit,” Randall adds, which she credits with helping her make some athletic breakthroughs.

Today, Flora is an avid booster of his own program, and of Anchorage, where he maintains that his athletes have as good an environment for training as anyone in Norway or Sweden—those European hotbeds of crosscountry skiing that have produced so many Olympic medalists. There’s a glacier near Girdwood that his athletes train on during the summer, while Anchorage’s roads offer diverse terrain for rollerskiing. And the city’s ski trails are unparalleled.

“It’s amazing,” Flora says. “It’s exactly, when I was growing up, what I was looking for.”

The APU ski club now has such breadth and depth that’s it’s not just Randall and Brooks with real chances of success at the international level. One of their female teammates, Sadie Bjornsen, moved from Washington state to Anchorage to train with APU several years ago, and last year broke through, placing fifth in a race in Sweden on the elite World Cup circuit.

Reese Hanneman, a Fairbanks skier who began training with APU several years ago, will also start this winter racing on the World Cup. And there’s a whole pack of younger athletes who tag along in training sessions.

“Having Flora talk to me, and act like he cares—that is such a great feeling,” says Jade Hajdukovich, 18, who moved to Anchorage from Fairbanks last summer to train with the APU team. The team’s workouts, she adds, are “perfect.”

“They have it all planned out for us. It’s awesome,” she says.

It’s skiers like Hajdukovich who Flora will be able to claim as his legacy after Randall and the current generation of athletes stop racing.

“If you have a good philosophy, and good support, that should be able to last far past our careers,” Randall said. “The ideal of it, and the system of it, is a really great thing.” n

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