Four-course wine tasting dinner at Buckalew’s Restaurant to fund Fisherman’s Cottage repairs

The fifth annual Wine Dinner and Auction at Buckalew’s Restaurant and Tavern to help raise funds for the continuing renovations of the Fisherman’s Cottage, located behind the Long Beach Island Historical Museum in Beach Haven, will be held on Friday, June 5, at 6 p.m. The event will feature a special, four-course menu offering food and wines from Washington state.

Photo via LBI Historical Association
The Fisherman's Cottage was originally built
for families working the seasons in the 1880s.

Hors d’oeuvres will include scallops with bacon jam; eggplant tabbouleh on grilled flatbread with cumin yogurt; baked apple with brie and almonds; coconut shrimp and an antipasto display all paired with Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut N/V. Cream of crab and asparagus soup will go with 2013 Columbia Crest H3 Sauvignon Blanc for the first course. The second course will include smoked trout salad with apricot vinaigrette and 2013 Columbia Valley “Erotica” Riesling. Patrons will have a choice between filet with sweet onion risotto, chanterelles and English peas finished with cranberry port and paired with 2013 Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon, or halibut over farro, ramps and roasted tomatoes finished with a tomato fennel sauce and paired with 2013 Columbia Crest H3 Chardonnay. Dessert will include blackberry crème brulee with muscovado shortbread.

Live and silent auctions will also be available. Expected items include nautical gifts, local artwork, gift certificates to area restaurants, wines and spirits and other items donated by surrounding businesses.

The funds raised from the event – which in past years have been a “significant contribution” within the $4,000 to $7,000 range, according to Ronald Marr, president of the Long Beach Island Historical Association – will be used to help the group begin interior renovations at the cottage. The focus of the repairs has been on exterior items since the group acquired the building and relocated it a block and a half from its original setting in 2010.

“The big thing is we’ve done really no work on the interior, and that’s going to go slowly because the old plaster is in very, very bad shape,” said Marr. “Of course, all of the old paint probably contains some lead, so it’s all going to come off a little bit at a time. Then after that you have to install utilities because it doesn’t have electric or anything. Then insulation and drywall and trim; so there’s quite a bit of work to do,” he explained.

The cottage, originally used by families working the seasons in the local area, was first built in the early 1880s. An addition was later built in the early 1900s, and the building was remodeled in the 1920s to its current condition.

Event tickets cost $80 per person and include gratuity. Reservations are required. Call Buckalew’s at 609-492-1065.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.