Sea, Salt & Soil collaboration dinner at The Schooner

An evening of small plates inspired by Jacobsen Salt and paired with wines from Patricia Green Cellars.

That’s how the team at The Schooner described the multi-course collaboration dinner held on their patio in late fall of 2019. The meal was much more than that, however. The Schooner is a hidden gen of a restaurant, situated right on the edge of Netarts Bay, only a couple of miles from Jacobsen Salt’s production facility.

The kitchen highlights the bounty of Netarts Bay, featuring oysters, clams, local veg and yes, Jacobsen Salt.

On this night, the menu included fire roasted artichokes, greens with fresh figs and local cheese and Jacobsen’s hot honey, stuffed shrimp with lemon, oysters with honey-pickled blueberry-bourbon mignonette, a smoked oyster deviled egg, beef tenderloin in port wine reduction, diver scallops with smoked squash and potato stacks. Oh, and for dessert? A savory caramel corn and peach pastry with ginger frozen custard. Patricia Green Cellars wines were paired with each course and Ben Jacobsen was on hand to talk with everyone about his salt and how it’s made.

All of it sounds — and was — amazing, but what’s interesting is how the salt was incorporated. Small jars of various flavors of Jacobsen Salt — black garlic, chile-lime, rosemary, lemon, habanero, Pinot Noir and San Pablo worm with chile — were arranged in front of patrons and they were encouraged to mix and match, choosing which flavors to add to their dishes.