Newport Seafood & Wine Festival: 11 Tips to Know Before Your Go

Knowing what to expect and being prepared will make all the difference when you attend the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival.

It all started out like an adventure waiting to happen. My BFF Jenny and I packed up the car for some much needed girltime at the beach, where we planned to spend the weekend tasting some of the best wines around and eating piles of delicious seafood.

Well, we definitely made a memory – no question about that – but we also got a clear-cut reminder that, like Disneyland on a hot August afternoon, expectation and reality are not always the same thing.

Actual conversation that took place the weekend following our trip:

[Setting: Casual dinner gathering of local bloggers and foodies.]

Me: So, guess what I just did last weekend!

I went to the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival.

For the first time.

On Saturday.

Group: Whyeee? What were you thinking?!?

Me: I know. I should have known. I really should have known.

Group: [SMH]

Me: Total frat party.

Group: Accurate.

It’s a lot better if you’re prepared for it though.

True story, folks. Be prepared.

Jenny and I met these enthusiastic ladies while waiting in the shuttle line. They attend the Festival every year together to celebrate their friend’s birthday.

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Let me be clear: the point of this post is not to discourage you from attending the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival – quite the contrary!

It is my hope that this post will give you the information you need so that, when you go, you can have a great time; and (most importantly) avoid having any big, unwelcome surprises along the way.

In other words, this is the post I wish I had read before I went.

🐟 Newport Seafood & Wine Festival 2020 🐟

11 Tips to Know Before Your Go

MOST RECENT POST UPDATE: January 18, 2020

Held annually on the 4th weekend of February, the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival in Newport, Oregon has been attracting visitors from around the world since 1978.

At the Festival, Pacific Northwest wineries pour their finest wines, culinary professionals serve up delectable seafood creations, and local artists and craftsmen showcase a variety of fine art, sculptures, photography, pottery, and jewelry.

Knowing what to expect and being prepared will make all the difference in your experience.

[Note that this is an over-21 event. Children are not allowed, nor are pets unless they are a service animal.]

This is the post I wish I'd read *before* I went to the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival {Newport, Oregon} 🐟 🍷 🎉 #travel #traveloregon @seafoodandwine Click To Tweet

Pre-Festival Prep

1. Book your stay in Newport early.

Each year, the Festival draws some 25,000 additional people to this coastal community of 10,000, making overnight options scarce, so if you want to stay in town, be sure to plan ahead.

Better yet, plan your overnight stay in one of the many nearby coastal towns. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but Newport overnight accommodations during the Festival seem significantly more pricey than they are other times of the year. (Whaaa?!?!) You may find a better deal by staying 20 or 30 minutes north or south of Newport.

2. Purchase your tickets online to save.

You can save between 10% and 20% by purchasing your tickets for the Festival online. Note that Saturday entrance is by E-Ticket only. There is NO GENERAL ADMISSION on Saturday. Standby may be available after 1pm depending on capacity; however, standby tickets are considerably more expensive.

3. Eat a good meal before you go.

This is just common sense, especially if you plan to do a lot of wine tasting. You probably want to avoid spicy or heavily seasoned food in order to keep your taste buds neutral, but it’s a good idea to have something in your stomach.

Speaking of food, I think that the single biggest disappointment about the Festival for me when I attended was due wholly to my incorrect perception that because title of the Festival was Seafood & Wine, that there would be a balance of, well, seafood and wine. Logically, what followed in my mind was that I would have many luscious seafood options from which to choose for a midday meal.

The reality was, not so much. From my perspective, this Festival is all about the Wine: the seafood is just a nice opening act, and an overpriced one at that. With that said, the food vendor list for this year’s festival seems to have been significantly expanded over past years, so it might be a bit more balanced now.

Getting There

4. Take advantage of the shuttle service.

The Newport Seafood & Wine Festival provides a FREE bus shuttle to all patrons of the Festival. The shuttle stops at many of the local hotels, motels and popular Newport neighborhoods. Shuttles stop running 1 hour after the closing of the Festival. On Saturday the hours are extended for service to area restaurants.

Even if you are staying a ways out of town, I suggest parking at one of the shuttle stops and taking the shuttle bus to the actual event location, as parking there can be a significant challenge much of the time.

There are also many private groups that obtain a license to operate as a temporary cab service through the City of Newport. These cab services are available throughout the Festival weekend in addition to the regular cab companies in Newport.

Note that there is parking near the festival grounds, but it is quite limited, especially relative to the festival attendance. Parking at these lots is $5 per day.

5. Go early and leave early.

At peak times of the day (particularly on Saturday) there can be a bit of a wait to get in, so be prepared to chill in line for a little while. (And “chill” you will! Remember, this is the Oregon Coast in February, folks.) The upside to this is that you will have the opportunity to meet some truly interesting characters.

The best days to go to avoid the college partiers are Thursday night or Sunday, the later being the most “adult” day of the Festival. Sunday is also a good day for finding deals, as vendors don’t want to tote all that wine back with them.

11 Things You Need to Know Before Attending the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival | The Good Hearted Woman

This couple, like many, dressed up for the occasion.

When You Go

6. Do not drink all the wine. [Or as my Dad would have said: Don’t be a jackass.]

At one point while Jenny and I were threading our way through the crowds, it seemed as though wine glasses were falling to the ground around us like plates at a Greek wedding, due mostly to the fact that their owners had lost the ability to hold onto a glass properly.

Each time a glass popped and shattered on the asphalt floor, individuals in the nearby crowd expressed one of two distinct reactions: (1) clapping, cheering, and general appreciation for the glass owner’s achievement of apparent inebriation, or (2) head-shaking and eye-rolling at the glass owner’s achievement of apparent inebriation.

Personally, and at risk of sounding old and judgy, the truth is, if you drink all the wine, you will end up looking like a jackass to at least half the crowd. If you’re cool with that, great. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Mulled blueberry wine, made from a novelty wine from Springbank Farm in Lebanon, Oregon was one of my favorite things at the Festival. It was especially welcome on a crisp February afternoon.

7. Keep in mind that the Vendors are people, too.

Vendors can get cranky after a weekend of dealing with ~~drunken revelers and college carousers~~ wine tasters, so if they seem a bit frustrated at times, try to offer a little compassion and a kind word. (You might even get a free tasting out of it 😉)

10 Things You Need to Know Before Attending the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival | The Good Hearted Woman

This Cardwell Hill Cellars vendor was very friendly, and such a good sport for posing for my “exhausted vendor” pic.

Good to Know

8. You probably don’t want to take your teetotaling friends.

I have a lot of friends who don’t consume alcohol under any circumstances. I also attend many food events at which alcohol is served to which I would feel completely comfortable taking them.

This ain’t one of ’em.

The focus of the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival is on Wine first and foremost, and as someone who abstained for much of my adult life, I can tell you: this event just isn’t geared for the non-imbibing demographic; not at all.

In addition to wine and seafood, there are a number of artisan & crafter booths at the Festival, and this was one of my favorites! Mugwump designs & creates handbags, wallets, & other fashion accessories using reclaimed/recycled materials.

9. Actual wine tastings are NOT INCLUDED in the price of your ticket.

If this is your first large-scale wine tasting event, this may come as a surprise. If you plan to do a lot of tasting, come prepared with a pocket full of small bills.

10. Wine awards are (apparently) like soccer trophies: everyone gets one.

However, (and I’m just guessing here) not all awards are created equal.

Now, I’m no wine expert by any stretch, especially when it comes to wine awards. All I can tell you is that practically every bottle I saw on display had some kind of ribbon or medal hanging around its neck.

The Newport Seafood & Wine Festival hands out Gold, Silver, Bronze and Best-In-Show awards, but beyond that there are tons of wine awards on display from countless other competitions.

11. There will be at least four times more people there than you imagine.

If you are one of those people who find crowds a little intimidating (or downright terrifying), I strongly urge you to avoid going on Saturday at all.

Saturday is the busiest day of the Festival (followed closely by Friday evening) and the one that attracts the most revelers as well.

The best time for crowd-shy folks is Thursday night (which is also the media night), or early in the day on Friday or Sunday.

10 Things You Should Know Before Attending the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival.

Image Credit: Oregon Coast Visitors Association [Used with permission.]

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How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken {Step-by-Step}

November 10 By Renée ♥ 95 Comments

This amazing Nashville Hot Chicken recipe (adapted from Hattie B’s famous recipe) results in a crispy, tender, fiery fried chicken with a spicy kick that is positively addictive.

I love fried chicken. I don’t eat it often, but I love it. Back when I was a kid, my BFF’s Gramma Barbara made THE BEST southern fried chicken I’ve ever eaten, or ever hope to eat, in my life. Tender, juicy, crispy, and seasoned just right, Gramma B’s chicken was so finger-licking delicious that it tasted like it had been fried in heaven. It was Perfect.

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My Southern Fried Sensei, Gramma Barbara.

As a young teen, Gramma B kind of adopted me. She was fun and irreverent, and to this day I love her like my own.

Gramma B taught me how to make fried chicken a couple of times, and I think I got the basics down fine, but I could never make it quite as good as she did. I don’t know if was her skillet, or the lard (of course it was the lard) or some other sublime combination of environmental and mystical factors, but her fried chicken was absolutely divine and mine was, at best, pretty darn good.

In my quest to scratch my fried chicken itch, I’ve ordered fried chicken at nearly every place from Portland to Memphis that serves it. While some places turn out a very decent chicken plate, nothing has ever come close to ringing that elusive Gramma B-worthy, southern fried chicken bell for me. There’s always something missing.

Then we went to Nashville and discovered Hot Chicken.

What is Nashville Hot Chicken, and what makes it so awesome?

Nashville Hot Chicken is a hyper-regional specialty with a long, colorful, sordid history involving a philandering man, a jealous woman hell-bent on revenge, and a whole lot ‘a hot pepper juice.

Nashville Hot Chicken is heaven and hell in a one transcendent bite.

The origins of Nashville Hot Chicken is a finely-woven tale that I simply can’t do justice and still keep this post under ten thousand words, so I’m not even going to try. (And I don’t need to, because The Bitter Southerner has done a bang-up job telling the story for us: when you have a minute or ten, I strongly encourage you to read this great post about how Nashville Hot Chicken really came be!)

The minute Mr B and I heard the term “hot chicken,” we were all over it like red beans on rice. We did a little research, and discovered that Nashville’s Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack is the acknowledged home of the original hot chicken, so we made plans to check it out. However, so many of the Nashville locals we asked pointed us toward relative newcomer Hattie B’s that we decided to try it instead. [Like slider-eaters in the Great Southern Slider Debate, hot chicken eaters, we learned, have a fierce loyalty to their chosen chicken fryer!]

Hattie B’s has three locations in Nashville, and reviews said that the lines at West Nashville location (closest to where we were staying) could be very long at peak times. However, we arrived relatively late for a weekday (around 8:30 pm) and had a less than five minute wait: just long enough for us to check out the menu.

After studying the menu for a few minutes, we ordered two small plates, which turned out to be a ton of food! Each plate came with a whole chicken quarter (dark meat for Mr B, light for me) and two sides. Mr B got baked beans and I ordered the potato salad, and we both got coleslaw.

Our chicken arrived in less than ten minutes, stacked in a basket between the traditional slice of white bread, topped with a dill pickle. It only took me one bite to know that Hattie B’s Hot Chicken was absolutely amazing. Possibly addictive.

Hattie B’s Nashville Hot Chicken is the first chicken I’ve eaten in at least twenty years that even comes close to Grandma B’s fried chicken – with one important caveat: instead tasting like chicken sent from heaven, it tastes more like the devil himself cooked up a batch of fried chicken on his day off.

I need that fried chicken recipe!!!

When we got back to our hotel room, I immediately searched for a Nashville Hot Chicken recipe, and was absolutely thrilled to discover Hattie B’s recipe in Lee Brian Schrager’s cookbook Fried & True: More than 50 Recipes for America’s Best Fried Chicken and Sides.

Well, you can bet that it took me less than a Tennessee minute to order it. (Which, come to think of it, is probably substantially longer than a New York minute, but still…)

When my copy of Fried & True arrived, I opened it to find the pages bursting with great recipes, valuable tips and cooking methods, personal stories, and a true love of fried chicken.

🍗 I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup.
Check it out for more great recipes!

How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken – Step-by-Step

The following Nashville Hot Chicken recipe, adapted from the aforementioned recipe in Fried & True, results in a crispy, tender, fiery fried chicken with a spicy kick that will keep you coming back for more.

The recipe itself is relatively straightforward, but after making hot chicken myself, I have some wisdom to pass along that will make the process go more smoothly.

For ingredients and amounts, please refer to the recipe card below.

Step 1: The Dry-Brine

In a medium bowl, toss together the chicken pieces, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Up to 24 hours)

NOTE: The first time I made this chicken, I had a scheduling conflict and ended up dry-brining it for 3 days. (Stuff happens.) It was totally fine.

Step 2: The Dredge-Dip-Dredge

In a 9×9 pan or baking dish, whisk together the milk, eggs, and hot sauce. In a separate 9×9 baking dish, combine the four and salt.

[1] Drag the chicken through the flour mixture, coating evenly.

[2] Dip the floured chicken in the milk mixture.

[3] Drag once again in the flour mixture.
Shake off excess between each step. Allow chicken to rest on drying rack while you prepare the rest of the chicken pieces for frying.

Step 3: The Fry

For this step, you will need either a deep fryer, a large deep skillet, or a deep electric skillet. You will also need tongs, and a deep-fry/meat thermometer. I suggest using using a combination of canola and soybean oil for deep frying.

WARNING: Deep frying can be dangerous! Carefully prepare the area before you begin deep frying. Always make sure that whatever you are deep frying in is stable so that it won’t tip. Always use a tongs, a skimmer, or a deep-fry basket to add and remove chicken pieces from the hot oil. Chicken pieces can slip from forks or spoons and splash hot oil.

REMEMBER! When you add your chicken, it will displace a lot of oil. If you are using a frying pan or electric skillet, it is vital that you DO NOT OVERFILL it with oil or it may or it may overflow when you add the chicken.

KITCHEN TRICK: How to easily figure out the necessary level of the frying oil.

1. Put one batch/fryer full of chicken pieces in a large ziplock bag. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can and seal it shut.
2. Lay the bag of raw chicken pieces flat in the bottom of the frying pan.
3. Add water to the level that you want the oil to be when you deep fry.
4. Remove bag of chicken from the pan.
5. Note level of the water.
6. Pour the water out, and carefully dry out pan.
7. Add oil to that same level.
8. Now you’re ready to fry without fear of overflowing your frying pan!

(Thanks, Archimedes!)

IMPORTANT: The oil needs to maintain an optimal temperature of 325° while the chicken is frying. However, the oil temp will drop at least 25° when you add the chicken, so initially you need to heat the oil up to 340° – 350°.

It is important to maintain a consistent temperature for frying chicken of 325° F. If the temperature of oil in the pan drops down below 300°, the chicken will begin to absorb the cooking oil, resulting in greasy, soggy chicken. If it rises above about 340°, the chicken will cook too quickly on the outside, and not get done in the middle. When fried at the correct temperature, the chicken will come out golden brown, having absorbed very little oil.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep skillet or deep fryer until it is between 340°F – 350°F. The oil needs to be deep enough for the chicken to fully submerge. [If you don’t have a deep enough skillet for deep frying, see HELP below.]
Drop the coated chicken into the hot oil.
Turn the pieces as they brown and do not let them touch each other while frying.
The temperature will drop when you add the chicken. Keep the oil at 325°F while the chicken fries.
Working in batches, use tongs to carefully add the chicken to the hot oil and fry until crispy.

↓↓ This is what your chicken should sound like when it is frying. ↓↓

Estimated cooking times: 15-17 minutes for breast quarters; 18-20 minutes for leg quarters.

Nashville Hot Chicken - Fully Cooked: Temp 165°F

Chicken is done when it registers an internal temperature of 165°F. (Yes, I use a candy thermometer. It goes up to 400 degrees, and it works just fine.)
When done, remove chicken from oil and allow to drain on wire rack.

How to test for doneness without a meat thermometer: Cut into the thickest part of a drumstick. The juices should run clear and the meat should be opaque throughout. If necessary, you can pop slightly underdone fried chicken into a preheated 325°F oven until it is fully cooked.

TIP: I aim to take the chicken off the heat when it registers a temperature of 160°, and allow carryover cooking to bring it up to temperature as it sits on the wire rack.

HELP! What if my chicken isn’t completely submerged in the oil when I fry it?!
This is, technically, deep-fried chicken, so ideally the oil for The Fry needs to be deep enough for the chicken to fully submerge. However, sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way.

You may have noticed that my chicken is sticking out at the top in some of the process images. That’s because I don’t own a deep fryer (I only deep fry about twice a year), and prefer to make hot chicken in my electric skillet because I can control the temperature of the fry oil more accurately than in a stovetop skillet. Unfortunately, my electric skillet isn’t quite deep enough to allow most chicken pieces to completely submerge, so I end up turning the chicken pieces a few times in the process, and it takes a few extra minutes to cook.

If this is you, don’t worry – just use your meat thermometer to keep an eye on the internal temp, and you be fine.

Step 4: The Spicy Coating (Wet Application)

Ladle about a cup of hot frying oil into a heatproof bowl or pan. Whisk in cayenne, brown sugar, and spices. The hot oil will activate the spices. (I use a small saucepan for this in case I need to heat the oil up again before basting a second batch.)

Baste the hot spice mixture over the hot fried chicken. You want the hot oil mixture hot enough that when you baste it over the fried chicken, the skin stays nice and crispy.

**Just how Hot is this Nashville Hot Chicken recipe anyway?**

According to the recipe from which this one is adapted, the spice level for this recipe is gauged as MEDIUM HOT; however, in my experience, it is slightly hotter than medium. (I’d rate it about a 6 or 6.5 on a 1-10 heat scale.)

For one test batch, I used two tablespoons of cayenne instead of three, and the results were (for my tastes) perfect – not painfully spicy, but with solid heat and a decided kick. (About a 4.5.)

Step 5: The Serve

If you want to go traditional, serve your Hot Chicken up over a slice of white bread. Garnish with dill pickle slices.

5 from 5 votes

Nashville Hot Chicken

This amazing Nashville Hot Chicken recipe results in a crispy, tender, fiery fried chicken with a spicy kick that is positively addictive.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Dry-Brine Prep1 d

Total Time1 d 1 hr

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main

Cuisine: Southern

Keyword: chicken, spicy

Servings: large servings

Author: Adapted from Hattie B's recipe in FRIED & TRUE; Lee Brian Schrager

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Dry Brine

1 whole chicken 3 pounds, washed, patted dry, and cut into quarters
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

For the Dip

1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce

For the Dredge

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
Vegetable oil for frying

For the Spicy Coating

1 cup hot frying oil or hot lard
3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Garnish

Dill pickle slices
White bread optional