An Oregon Coast restaurant known for steaming bowls of clam chowder recently carried a substantial taste of the Pacific Northwest all the way to the nation’s capital.
Mo’s Seafood & Chowder was invited to participate in a Taste of America gathering in Washington, D.C., held as part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The longtime coastal business was one of only four restaurant groups from across the United States selected to serve food at the event.
The opportunity allowed Mo’s to introduce guests from around the country to two flavors closely connected to Oregon: its famous clam chowder and a warm marionberry cobbler.
For some of the people attending, it was their first time tasting a marionberry, the deeply colored blackberry variety developed in Oregon and now closely associated with the state. The berries were baked beneath a crisp cobbler topping, giving guests a sweet introduction to one of the Northwest’s most recognizable fruits.
Mo’s President Billie Jo Edmonds said watching people discover the flavor for the first time became one of the most memorable parts of the trip.
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“We got to introduce people to what a marionberry is,” Edmonds said. “Hearing the joy in people saying, ‘I’ve never had something this wonderful before.’ It’s so fun.”
Serving the cobbler was relatively straightforward. Transporting Mo’s closely guarded clam chowder recipe across the country was another matter entirely.
Rather than hand over the recipe to another kitchen, the company arranged to fly approximately 200 pounds of its original chowder to Washington, D.C.
Event organizers had initially offered to prepare the dish themselves. They told Mo’s that an experienced culinary crew could follow the restaurant’s instructions, serve the chowder and allow the Oregon team to focus on telling the story behind it.
There was just one problem: Mo’s was not about to reveal the recipe.
The chowder formula has remained a closely protected part of the company for decades. Even for a major national event, sharing it was not considered an option. That meant the restaurant had to solve the complicated problem of safely transporting hundreds of pounds of prepared chowder by airplane.
“Logistically, it was a nightmare, but we got it done,” Edmonds said. “And it was fantastic to be able to have our original clam chowder in D.C.”
She explained that while the organizers’ offer to recreate the dish sounded reasonable, the recipe was simply too important and secretive to release.
The effort ultimately allowed guests in Washington to taste the same chowder served every day along the Oregon Coast, rather than an interpretation prepared from written instructions.
For Mo’s, the invitation also represented national recognition for a business that has spent approximately 80 years feeding coastal travelers, local families and generations of Oregonians.
Despite the attention and its decades of history, the company continues to emphasize the welcoming, casual atmosphere that helped make its restaurants Oregon Coast landmarks.
“Come as you are, we are ready for you,” Edmonds said. “Come in your flip flops or your stilettos, we have a place at the table for you.”
That philosophy has followed Mo’s as it has grown from a coastal restaurant into a familiar Oregon name. The company currently operates nine locations. Nearly all are found in communities along the Oregon Coast, with the lone inland exception located inside Portland International Airport.
The Washington, D.C., appearance gave Mo’s a chance to bring a little of that coastal experience to people thousands of miles from Oregon. Between the marionberry cobbler and the 200 pounds of chowder flown across the country, the restaurant made sure guests received an authentic taste of the state without giving away its most closely guarded secret.
