Alaskan Food, a Good Reason to Get Walking

We are in the process of re-entering regular life after spending 53 days touring Alaska in 21′ van with our dog. Returning home to hot showers that do not require tokens, laundry that does not require a handful of quarters and having bits of personal time to do what I want, is glorious. Returning home also means facing a multitude of catchup tasks that include hours of labour in the garden to remove weeds and vines that have overtaken the landscape, mail to sort through, family issues to attend to and scrubbing bugs and road grime from the exterior and undercarriage of the van. John is already tackling van cleanup, but I think Alaska may never fully release its hold.

Slipping back into regular life also means finding my way back to walking. I once believed that walking was a stalwart in my life, but I found I too easily tossed it aside for a comfy passenger seat on a road trip that was fully consumed with too much food, too little activity and hours and hours of daily driving. The return to walking is slow but I have no regrets. Reflecting back at the trip, through my many pictures and writings, we had an incredible adventure, worth every bit of the challenging re-entry!

This post is really a story about some of the food that we consumed in Alaska, food that highlights my reason for bringing up walking. While planning this trip, I imagined that we would eat fresh salmon and halibut every chance we could. These are, after all, the foods that can be considered Alaskan cuisine. In reality, when we didn’t cook in our van, we frequently dipped our toes in a less healthy local restaurant and bakery scene and the longer we were gone, the less healthy our choices became. We didn’t turn anything down, french fries, ok, thick, hot creamy chowders, yes please. Hot, homemade loaves of bread for the chowder, pass the butter please.

But number one on our list of foods consumed, the one item we chased across Alaska, was cinnamon rolls. Folks, we are now cinnamon roll aficionados, real experts on the doughy swirl of butter, cinnamon and sugar, devoured with or without raisins but we preferred without. I have now eaten untold number of sweet, gooey cinnamon rolls and have finally had my fill, but I love the memories of each and every one and have no regrets. I should note, so that you not think we are too gluttonous, we rarely ate an entire roll by ourselves, more often we split one. That is not to say we didn’t purchase them two at a time, one to split now, one to split later.

Tetsa Rivers Services and Campground, Historical Milepost 375, Alaska Highway, Alberta, Canada

The most gluttonous experience we had was in northern most Alaska, Prudhoe Bay. The few restaurants in Prudhoe Bay, which are located in a couple of hotel-boarding houses, are centered around feeding the 5,000 oil workers employed in this oil producing community. Visitors and tourists are a side-line.

We had Friday night dinner at The Aurora Hotel, which offered an experience that was completely opposite from the fresh salmon and halibut I once imagined. This was a full-on gluttony experience, an all you can eat cafeteria line serving all kinds of meats and carbohydrates. Mac and cheese, baked beans and pickles stood in for vegetables though I think we caught sight of a salad bar somewhat hidden from plain view. Yep, we dove right in, Friday night was hamburger and hot dog night!

Aurora Hotel, 123 E Lake Colleen Dr, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

We had some pretty great restaurant experiences too. Two that stand out were in Fairbanks and Talkeetna, Alaska.

Blue Roof Bistro, 13 Timberland Dr, Fairbanks, Alaska

One of our favorite finds was the Blue Roof Bistro in Fairbanks. We visited this restaurant twice, once alone, before our trip to Prudhoe Bay and once again with our travel companions when we returned. Blue Roof advertised fresh, local foods and we can testify to the home smoked flavor of the salmon sliders.

Flying Squirrel Bakery and Cafe, 26205 Talkeetna Spur, Mile 11, Talkeetna, Alaska

Flying Squirrel was a spur of the moment choice as we headed out of Talkeetna. Our group had been looking forward to our visit to Talkeetna, a town that is known for its mountaineering community. Most expeditions to Denali are based out of Talkeetna and somehow, we expected to see rugged mountaineering people (whatever they may look like) hanging around town. Instead, we found a multitude of tourists from tour buses and the Alaska Railway, wandering the streets, taking pictures (ok, that may have been me) and filling most restaurants. To make things worse, it was raining and parking was a bear, so we stayed only long enough to pick up a cinnamon roll from Rollin’ in the Dough bakery before we headed out of town. Our group fully expected to drive an hour or so to find a restaurant but out of the bushes, a couple of miles out of Talkeetna, The Flying Squirrel appeared.

The Tanana Valley Farmer’s Market in Fairbanks offered a different type of mostly healthy eating opportunity. We shopped the Farmer’s Market on both trips into Fairbanks, an experience we looked forward to. While we shopped for fresh lettuces and vegetables to make homemade salads in our van, we also picked up delicious slices of almond cake and this one, rather unusual sandwich.

Ukranian Bakery, Tanana Valley Farmer’s Market, 2600 College Rd, Fairbanks, AK

Along with eating cinnamon rolls (or buns) from as many Alaska bakeries as we could talk our travel companions into stopping in, or occasionally finding interesting little restaurants along the way, we went on a clam/seafood chowder binge as soon as we arrived on the coast. Not every bowl of chowder was great, but I can say that every bowl we devoured had some redeeming quality, whether it was the potatoes, the creamy broth or the fish bits. None had the strong seafood taste we craved. The first (and second) bowls we consumed were in different restaurants in Homer, AK. From there, we proceeded to consume the thick bowls of deliciousness in several restaurants in Seward and Valdez.

Captain Pattie’s Fish House, 4241 Homer Spit Rd, Homer Alaska

And finally, we were always in search of a good chai latte. Many of the days on this trip hovered in the low 50’s and were frequently rainy or overcast. Stopping in one of Alaska’s many little coffee shacks and houses for a warm chai latte was a perfect mid-morning to early afternoon warmup. We just could not pass on the lovely, handcrafted drinks that the small establishments offered.

Resurrect Art Coffee House and Bell Tower Bakery, 320 3rd Ave, Seward, Alaska

One of the interesting (history and setting) coffee houses we visited was in Seward, the Resurrect Art Coffee House. Not only did this coffee house offer hot drinks, baked goods and quiches, but it served up a room full of mostly local art for sale. I say mostly because I found a small box of cards that I absolutely loved, only to discover when I got back to the van and internet, that the cards were designed and produced in my own hometown of Knoxville, TN. Can’t believe I drove to Seward to buy my local artwork.

Arctic Cup, Mile 188, 5 Glen Highway, Glennallen, AK

Sitting on the side of the highway, about 17 miles from Glacier View was a little yellow coffee house. The outside temperature hovered in the high 40’s and the coffee house looked so cheery against a grey, misty backdrop that we just couldn’t drive by without stopping. Afterall, anytime is a good time for a steaming hot Chai Latte.

One of the many endearing qualities of Alaska is the availability of craft coffee in any number of small coffee houses, coffee shacks and bakeries. Coffee shacks can be found in otherwise empty gravel lots, even in the smallest of towns, coffee houses are located in most larger towns, and as with Arctic Cup, coffee houses are also located in areas that appear to be miles from civilization. I found it refreshing that the presence of Starbucks was mostly limited to grocery stores.

I am bringing this food centered post to an end. I have so many restaurants and bakeries that I could mention, but some of my most memorable ones are featured. This post started with one idea and over the last day or so I rewrote it as presented. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into our trip to Alaska. In the upcoming weeks, I will write about other aspects of the trip.

Beverly