NEW Deschutes Brew Pub Menu

Deschutes Brewery's New Menu

I know you're as excited as I am that the Deschutes Brew Pub unveiled their new menu today. Aside from the new flashier look there are some new menu items. Personally I could go without the "hand drawn" arrows and "hand written" notes of "Options and Extras" as it reminds me too much of the Red Robins (oh lordy) menu but I am excited to try some of the new dishes.

New items on the menu include Crab fritters, Mexican Tuna Tartare, and Cascade Ale & Toasted Chile Cheese dip on the appetizer menu; Oregon Bay Shrimp Salad, and Brewery Falafel Salad for the salad section.

For burgers they brought back the Cajun Burger and added an Elk Burger.

Brewery Specialties have added four Spent Grain Pizzas; Roasted Oregon Chicken Breast, Sweet Plum Tomatoes, Oregon Bay Shrimp, and a House-made Italian Sausage.

New to the Specialty Sandwiches are the Roast Beef wif Creamy Blue Cheese & Horseradish, Grilled Curry Chicken Sandwich, and the Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich. I know a friend of mine used to love getting the jerk chicken but i don’t see that on the menu anymore...not sure if it's been gone or if this is a new thing.

On the dessert menu, I don't know if it's new or not but I don't remember ever seeing a Black Butte Porter Chocolate Cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust.

My french dip is still there so I'm happy. I want to try that Elk Burger, Roast Beef sammy, Sausage pizza...ah hell, I'm going to end up trying it all.

I'll have to swing by tomorrow night to say goodbye to Marcus. Heard it's your last day...could have told me, bro. Got's to slap that rock one last time!

Deschutes Beer Pub
1044 NW Bond Street, between Franklin and Greenwood
Bend, OR 97701
541-382-9242

The Grove is Closing July 7th

The Grove will close July 7th

According to the Source Weekly:

"Erica Reilly, co-owner of The Grove, confirmed rumors this afternoon that the longtime epicenter of downtown Bend's club scene will close to the public on Saturday, July 7."

Sorry Keeneye, I know we had a deal that I'd review the Grove instead of sending Whitey the half full meal card but I am not sure if I want to go there now that they are closing. I mean, wont they run out of stuff and phone in the service? I mean why try that hard when you know your job is over in a week?

Maybe I'll get out there before they close to live up to my end of the bargain.

deep Restaurant - Bend Oregon

deep Restaurant

When we heard about a new Japanese restaurant called deep opening up in Bend, the wife and I couldn't wait to try it out. We are big fans of good Sushi so when we are out of town we grub it up. In Bend we will normally head to Kanpai for happy hour.

We started with some drinks and the special appetizer of Hamachi Kama (the collar of a yellowtail tuna) which was delicious and a good portion. The wife is very good at finding every scrap of meat on this sucker and we have to keep sending the staff away when they try to take it from us too soon. They see it as done but the wife knows there is more meat hiding in there...and she's always right. The seasoning was spot on, salty, peppery perfection.

We ordered some nigiri and a specialty roll, the Golden Dragon: Crisp Soft Shell Crab with Mango, Peanuts and Thai Chili Sauce. I would have preferred that the sweet chili sauce was presented more on the side of the roll instead of putting the roll directly on top of the sauce as I like to be in control of the amount of sauce used.

We also ordered the Sashimi Salad with Cucumber, Crisp Salmon Skin and Sesame-Daikon Vinaigrette. For an $11 salad, the three pieces of sashimi makes it worth while.

And one of the main reasons I wanted to go to deep was for David's Crisp and Angry Lobster:


Again, the sauce was all over the place but I rather enjoyed it's flavor, the wife did not. The presentation was pretty cool as you can see. This plate is not filling by any means and for $22 I guess it's more about the presentation than anything. The lobster actually was a bit dried out. I'm not sure how they prepare it but it seems to have been boiled, cut into chunks for easy eating but then seasoned and flash fried to give it that crispiness.

I thought it was a clever way of presenting lobster but I think once was good enough.

I know everyone is apparently sweating deep and praising Jody for bringing sushi and another fine dining establishment to Bend but I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a complaint, critique, or some smart ass thing to say.

The service was great overall but one thing I think they REALLY need to work on is the timing of the plates. I'm used to ordering everything that we want right off the bat and with sushi and Japanese cuisine in general, you don't really follow the appetizer, main, dessert style. There are small, hot, and cold plates, sushi rolls, nigiri, sashimi, and so on.

We placed our order for an appetizer, cold plate, a few pieces of nigiri, a specialty roll, and the angry lobster. The plates start coming, first the Hamachi Collar, then the nigiri and specialty roll. Now our tiny table (and the tables are insanely small) is full. On this tiny table we now have our drinks, our individual plates, the dishes to dip you sushi in (where you put the wasabi and soy), a couple of rocks (for resting your chopsticks on which are useless to me once a plate arrives or you mix your wasabi and soy sauce), and three rather large plates with the items above.

That's enough for now but while we're chatting and enjoying what we have, the Sashimi salad comes out. We haven't finished the Hamachi yet (which might be our bad but I explained that we really go to town on that one). So we have to stop what we're doing for roughly 2 minutes while we adjust everything on the table to accommodate the salad. It was extremely cramped and rather uncomfortable.

I just wish the pace at which the dishes were brought to the table would have been spread out evenly. Other than that and the fact that it's rather expensive (see their menu) I don't have any other complaints. We'll be back but it will be more for special occasions unless they offer a happy hour.

Wait, I just read on their menu that they have Tempura Bacon...I'll be there tonight!

deep
821 n.w. wall street, suite 100
bend, oregon 97701
telephone: 541.323.9841
fax: 541.323.9843
hours of operation:
open 5 p.m. daily
http://www.deepbend.com/

Jake's Diner and CO Veterans Outreach BBQ

Found this announcement posted by the Diner Life and wanted to make sure to pass along the information. I support the Central Oregon Veterans Outreach plus I love ribs. Sounds win win to me:

"Jake’s Diner and COVO (Central Oregon Veterans Outreach) are once again partnering for their third annual Fourth of July BBQ.

Blues artist Richard Taelour and son Ted along with their band will perform in Jake’s parking lot from 6PM till 8PM. BBQ ribs and chicken will be served by members of COVO starting at 6PM.All profits from the event will go to COVO to assist them in finding shelter and help for homeless veterans.

Everyone is welcome to stick around after the event and watch the fireworks from the Jake’s parking lot.

Jake's Diner is located at 2210 NE Hwy 20 right behind Thomas Sales & Service. For more information, please call Lyle Hicks at 419-6021"

Chan's Chinese Restaurant - Bend Oregon

Chan’s Chinese Restaurant

We finally gave Chan’s a try since Szechuan is no longer an option for us and Double Happiness has moved out East. The wife was running a bit late so I got the sampler appetizer. Most of the dish was as good as expected, the BBQ pork, the prawns, the egg rolls were all just fine. Now this little nugget wrapped in the foil was not so good. I have no idea what paper wrapped chicken is supposed to look like but paper and aluminum foil are not the same...are they? I did not like it. I do not recommend that stuff.



When the wife arrived we ordered the Calamari. Not good. The breading was oily and lacked flavor. It was described as salt and pepper calamari but I think it could have used more salt and less pepper. The squid was rubbery and tough. 0-2 there Chan’s.



The twice cooked pork, the mandarin chicken, and the beer were all great and we had enough leftovers for a couple meals. The hot and sour soup was also ok, I liked Szechuan’s better but, then again, there was that one time.




So if you have a large group to feed, or are in the need for some average Chinese food, Chan's is for you. I need to go back to Double Happiness again.

Chan's Chinese Restaurant
1005 SE 3rd Street
Bend Oregon 97702
http://www.chanschinese.com/

100th Post from Bend Oregon Restaurants

Bend Oregon Restaurants 100th Post

I wanted to take this opportunity to give an update or two and say thanks to the loyal readers of this silly little blog. So far the ads have generated $71.74 for NeighborImpact. I can only get the money to them once the Adwords account reaches $100. So hopefully by the end of the year I'll be able to cut them a check.
Thank you for all of those that have visited, emailed, commented, not commented, and shared the URL of this blog with your friends and families. To make sharing the address of this blog easier, I have redirected BendEats.com to this site. So you can simply say, "Hey, go check out BendEats.com" or "That dummy at BendEats.com has no idea what he's talking about, La Rosa has the best chips and salsa, not El Caporal." Either way, more people will visit. And no, El Cap rules!

Over the past year I have posted reviews of food eaten at about 54 Bend Oregon Restaurants including fast food joints, chain restaurants, and restaurants that are no longer in business. Supposedly there are more than 290 restaurants in Bend so this may take a while to get to all of them. I hope to get to them all one day but it gets expensive. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up, I love going out to eat if that's not obvious.

Thanks again for visiting, keep the emails and comments coming...I love the feedback!

BOR

Outback Steakhouse - Bend Oregon

Outback Steakhouse

Still in my pursuit of the Best Wings in Bend Oregon, I found myself staring at the menu at Outback Steakhouse again and trying to figure out what I wanted to waste my money on. First I recommend a 24 ounce beer or some other hard liquor to help make me feel more tolerant of throwing my money away.

After looking over the menu again and again I flipped to the back side and realized they have hamburgers. I don't think I have ever seen anyone get a burger there and didn't realize they actually have them. The burger I got was actually really good and if I have to go there again, that's what I'm getting.

We decided to get an appetizer of their whateveroo wings:


The flavor of the wings was good and they DID NOT charge for ranch (Hardy's). But when we found one of the drums to be undercooked, that put a damper on our appetizer. Then it became an issue trying to guess if the rest were cooked as the lighting in there is so dim, I couldn't see well enough to know for sure. They looked cooked and they were hot as the sun. Oh well, no one got sick.

Can you get bird flu from undercooked wings? I wonder if anything could live in my belly after 48 ounces of Fosters.

Outback Steakhouse
269 Se Reed Market Rd
Bend, OR
(541) 383-8104

Other Outback Steakhouse Reviews:

HackBend

Deschutes Brewery’s 3rd Annual Barrel Tasting

Deschutes Brewery’s Barrel Tasting

Much better food options and quantity of food this year at the 3rd Annual Barrel Tasting in the Deschutes Brewery Mountain Room.

The first taste of food was the Poached Shrimp and Margarita Salsa on a Fried Wonton which was ok. I would have preferred a little more shrimp and a little less mango. The poached shrimp is in the photo below on the bottom right corner:

In the photo above we also have the Veggie Crisp Stack with Goat Cheese Spread which I graciously let the wife enjoy. She should thank me, I'm so generous.

The photos I was able to take of the Grilled Beef Tenderloin on Focaccia Toast Points did not come out at all but the beef was delicious and tender like a tenderloin should be.

The Smoked Chicken Mini Pizzas with Brie, Caramelized Apples and Onions, Scallions was more than a mouthful. The brie and apples complimented the smoked chicken nicely. I enjoyed this mini pizza quite a bit although the presentation was laking...it ate gooood:


Spicy Pork Wraps Action Station with Corn, Cucumbers, Tomato, and Cilantro:

Good stuff. I like wraps like these, crisp lettuce, fresh ingredients, yummy spicy pork, hot sauce. All good things.

I like going to the events held at the Mountain Room, they are always worth the price of admission. For beer, I agree with the brewerman and will say the Bourbon Porters were my favorites especially the Nitro:

"The Nitro Bourbon Porter was too easy to drink. Excellent roasty notes butting up against the sweet bourbon flavor. The velvety mouthfeel from the Nitro presentation made the beer surprisingly refreshing despite the big flavors present in the beer."

I'm not sure how he remembered all that, if it wasn't for the photos, I couldn't even tell you where I was Saturday night. Beer aged in Makers Mark Barrels...you can't expect anyone to remember much the next day can you?

Deschutes Brewery Mountain Room
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/Banquets/Upcoming+Events/default.aspx

Bite of Bend Blew Chunks

Bite of Bend 2007

I was looking forward to the Bite of Bend this year especially because it was going to be in Downtown Bend. Last year's Bite was in the Old Mill. It was a HOT day without any shade so being Downtown should be more fun like when they run the festivals down there.

Uhhh, after walking through the cramped in food court we were asking ourselves where are the restaurants? For the most part the only "restaurants" that showed up were caterers, taco stands, Thai, and some BBQ. There were a few places like Baldys, Staccato, Hans, and 28 that were offering samples of their meals.

The whole festival was poorly organized, boring, and disappointing. I left hungry and sad. I am still trying to figure out what happened. It's the Bite of Bend, doesn't that mean that Bend restaurants should be there dishing out samples of their cuisine? Where were the good restaurants? Was it because the event was downtown that most of the downtown restaurants decided on not having a booth?
Oh and the beer "garden" was the worst. It was written up in the Source as Beer, Wine, and Spirits...what are spirits? I thought that spirits referred to hard liquor but there wasn't any, just beer and wine.

Slow moving lines and few options when you finally made it to the front made me pissy. That's really the best you could do? Why not just fill a garbage can with ice and sell PBR pounders for a $1?

If I was a tourist and went to the Bite of Bend, I would start to get my plans to move here and open a restaurant together. Cause if this is the best Bend has to offer, any restaurant would be successful.

$2.50 Fish Taco from La Costa's taco stand:


$6 Duck and Prawn skewer from Kokanee Cafe:


$5 Pulled pork sandwich from Oregon Dan's BBQ:


$1 Lemon Tart from Staccato (she gave me two since these were the size of a quarter at best):


Highlight of the day was the $1.50 Beef Tongue taco from Rico's taco stand/gut truck:


Photo of the Iron Chef competition with an annoying announcer and no way of possibly seeing what's going on. How about a TV monitor or even a mirror so we could see what's up?


There were many people on stilts walking around and then these two ladies that were dressed as French Poodles. I'm confused. I don't know what this is or how it made me feel:




Lame.

Subway Daily Special

I was unable to find the Subway Daily Special menu that was up to date anywhere online. So here is the Subway Daily Specials menu as of June 14, 07:

Monday - Roast Beef
Tuesday - Turkey Breast and Ham
Wednesday - Tuna
Thursday - Meetball Marinara
Friday - Spicy Italian
Saturday - Cold Cut Combo
Sunday - Turkey Breast

I have no idea if this is the same for all of the Subway shops across the nation but in Bend Oregon, this is the Subway Daily Special.


Anyway, there are a few Subway's in Bend, ENJOY!:

61419 S Highway 97
541.383.3961

515 NE Bellevue Dr
541.330.1155

1288 SW Simpson
541.382.4420

62929 N Highway 97
541.388.8847

El Caporal - Bend Oregon

It has been a while since I mentioned El Caporal West. For Bend Oregon Mexican restaurants, I honestly don't think it gets any better than El Caporal in Downtown Bend.

Is El Caporal the best Mexican restaurant in Bend serving up the most authentic Mexican Cuisine available? Probably not. But for the friendly and speedy service, the kid friendly environment, the huge portions, not to mention the BEST CHIPS AND SALSA IN BEND OREGON, I'd say it's worth the visit.

When I'm looking for a quick lunch I could try to go to many places for something served in a plastic basket or on a paper plate or in a to-go bag. Or for only $8 I could have all the chips and salsa I could take, free refills on water, and a huge chicken burrito covered with cheese and enchilada sauce served with beans and rice at El Caporal...yeah, I'll take that in a heartbeat.


I honestly believe that this is one of the best deals in Downtown Bend Oregon.

El Caporal West
744 NW Bond Street
Downtown Bend, Oregon
541-322-8916

I'm Gonna Git You Zucca

Zucca - Bend Oregon

The crew from Zucca decided to open up for lunch but instead of the Italian Kitchen they have a Hawaiian BBQ out front serving up Beef Brisket Sandwiches, Spare Ribs (I tried to get just one rib but they didn't have change for a hundred), and Kolua Pork Sandwiches with cole slaw and a soda for $6.

It's not a bad deal and about what I'd expect to pay for a pulled pork sandwich at one of the festivals in town. The portion of Kolua Pork was ample and it was very tender and juicy. Even now I can smell the smoke from the grill. Why is that not a cologne for men? Grill Smoke for Men. Perfect Father's day gift.

They were some of the nicest fellas ever, just happy to be outside, skateboarding, cooking and serving up da kine, brah (no idea if I even typed that correctly, probably no). Although, I would have preferred the guys to wear some plastic serving gloves as I didn't notice any hand washing station available.

Left the camera at the house on accident so you get the cell phone image...sorry.

Zucca Italian Kitchen
1444 NW College Way - Ste. 1
Bend Oregon
541-330-0037
In the old Mercury Diner spot by La Rosa

Where would you eat?

Where would you eat if you only had three days in Bend Oregon?

An out of state visitor to the Bend Oregon Restaurants blog emailed and asked for some advice on dinner options for three days in July. So I started thinking of where I'd go if I had only three days in Bend and was looking for dinner for two adults and an 8 yr old child with a preferred budget of around $12-$20 per entree.
Considering the child...Baltazar's is out of the question. If you have any thoughts (not about Baltazar's), feel free to post or email and I'll send them along to our soon to be visitor. Following is what I'd recommend but if you ask me tomorrow, I might have a different plan.

Friday night I'd take it fairly easy and hit up Big Island Kona Mix Plate for their prime rib special:

This photo shows the 10 ounce prime rib with some Shoyu Spare Ribs which were also the special for that Friday. Prime Rib is always the Friday special but I'll take anything Shoyu style. Wednesday's are the Shoyu Chicken which is insanely good. Slow cooked over night, the chicken and these ribs had the meat just falling off the bone. So tender, just like me. If you go for just the prime rib I believe the price is $14 for the 8 ounce and a couple bucks more for the 10 ounce. If you do get the prime rib, ask them to slice it for you since you eat with plastic ware. For the prices that they are charging, I'd really like to get away from the plastic ware and the styrofoam to-go containers.

They do have their full menu on their myspace page...don't even get me started on how silly it is to JUST have the myspace page and abandon their actual site. Not everyone has a myspace account. Anyway, the menu is accomodating for adults and kids. Opt for the Potato Mac as one of your sides.

For dessert I would definitely swing by the Blacksmith for the dessert sampler for two (it'll be plenty for all three of you) and a Spanish coffee:

On Saturday I would totally do the tourist move and go to Deschutes. Their daily specials menu is awesome but if nothing on the specials is right for you, I recommend the French Dip for only $8:


For dessert walk a block down to Goodies for some treats.

On Sunday I would head over to the west side for Baldy's to get some of the best ribs I've ever had:


You won't have room for dessert. There you have it. Locals, let me know if you agree / disagree / don't care for tourists / want to dance / like me / whatever.

NFNS Spoiler

If you Tivo'ed last night's Next Food Network Star and have not watched it yet, then stop reading. I wonder if Tivo is going to get upset as their brand becomes the verb for recording a tv show as Google does not want you to say "Google it" but the fact remains, I Tivo'ed the NFNS and enjoyed watching tonights episode commercial free (I love the 30 second skip hack from Big Marv).



Here comes the spoiler so watch out you lazy Tivo users...

Congratulations Rory, my preseason pick, for a stunning victory with her baby back ribs!!! It's amazing to think that her ribs will be on the cover of Bon Appetit magazine!! I was really shocked when she thought of the idea of taking her rib recipe that normally takes 5 hours to properly cook and adapting it to a 90 minute turn around. I wouldn't try it. I'm a slow and low type of guy. My ribs take around 6 hours if I'm rushing them.

Congrats again Rory!!!

XOXO

-BOR

deep - Bend Oregon

I was forwarded the following press release about deep, a new restaurant in downtown Bend featuring modern Japanese cuisine from the chef/owner of Merenda Restaurant and Wine Bar. I can't wait to try the Crisp and Angry Lobster...that just sounds right.

Bend, OR—Jody Denton, chef/owner of Merenda Restaurant and Wine Bar, will open Deep, his second restaurant in downtown Bend in late May, 2007. Deep will feature modern Japanese cuisine, inventive, contemporary dishes along with creative and traditional sushi. Located in the heart of downtown, ½ block from Merenda on Wall Street, Deep’s opening adds another chapter to Denton ’s long and distinguished career as he strives to raise the bar once again in Bend.

“Deep has been in my mind for a long time. I knew that one day I’d be able to do it. And to have it downtown is really important. This is where most locals and visitors come to dine. It’s the energetic heart of the city. "

The restaurant will seat 100 people within its main dining room and bar as well as its upstairs private dining room. High ceilings, a glass and steel water canopy that suspends above the dining room, and an overall modern design will make Deep wholly original to Bend’s ever-growing restaurant scene. “I’m extremely excited with how the architecture turned out,” says Denton. “Atmosphere is so much of a restaurant’s capacity to provide an experience. That, along with the food and service, makes for the total event that eating out should offer.”

Deep will be open seven nights a week and recommends reservations, which will be available only after the opening date. For more information, please contact Jody Denton at 541-323-9841 or visit www.deepbend.com

A FEW ITEMS COLD DISHES
Kumamoto Oysters with Cucumber Lime Ice
Tuna, Cucumber and Avocado Sashimi Roll with Truffle Ponzu
Hamachi Carpaccio with Jalapeño Ponzu
Hot Oil Seared Snapper Sashimi with Chilies and Scallions
Monkfish Pate with Miso-Dijon Sauce
Oregon Kobe Beef Tatake with Toasted Garlic
Sashimi Salad with Cucumber, Crisp Salmon Skin and Sesame Daikon Vinaigrette
Green Salad with Yuzu Vinaigrette

HOT DISHES
Stir Fried Edamame with Togarashi and Garlic
Awase Miso Soup with Shiitake Mushrooms
Shrimp Tempura Udon with Oxtail Broth
Yuzu Pepper Shrimp with Three Mushrooms
Oregon Kobe Beef and a Hot River Rock
David’s Crisp and Angry Lobster
Sweet Miso Cured Black Cod
Chili Crusted Calamari and Scallions
Crispy Air Dried Duck Salad
Lacquered Pork Short Ribs
Grilled Oregon Kobe Beef Steak

Kebaba Grand Opening?

I am not sure why this is considered a Grand Opening as I thought Kebaba has been open for quite a while. I'm not sure how this works but I wrote about my visit to Kebaba back in November of 06. Now I'll have to go back since they are now doing the Grand Opening. That's how they get ya!

This just in from the awesome Dave via "the awesome Dale Largent"...

"This Saturday: Kebaba is having their grand opening celebration (amazing Middle Eastern food). (Newport Avenue just a bit East of Newport Market - but on the other side of the road). I am performing there from 4:30 - 8:00 or so with Julie Southwell, David Bowers and the Bijou Project belly dance troupe. I will be dishing it out on doumbek, tar and riq...

Come on down for great food, music, dance, and join the celebration..."

DALE LARGENT - Handdrums, Percussion

After playing the piano from age 5, Dale began the study of western percussion in Illinois' public schools at age 7. He has been drumming ever since. Junior High brought Interlochen Music Academy where he received a full scholarship for his marimba and xylophone work. High School brought two years of performance with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Greater Chicago and playing the traps for a Dixeland jazz band. Dale also performed with several Chicagoland community orchestras.


Kebaba
Modern Middle Eastern Food
541-318-6224
1004 NW Newport Avenue
Bend Oregon 97701
http://www.kebaba.com/

All American Deli and Ice Cream - Bend Oregon

All American Deli and Ice Cream

"Lieutenant Dan, I got you some ice cream. Lieutenant Daaaan, ice creeeeaaaammmmm!"

All American Deli and Ice Cream is a fairly new ice cream / deli place over on College Way across from the fan favorite La Rosa. It wasn't anything to write home to mom about but all I had was the Oreo Shake so what do I know.

What I do know is that I had to keep checking my back pocket to make sure that my wallet was still there as the thugs behind the counter scared me. One kid wasn't even in uniform and with his flat billed baseball cap and what not, I honestly thought the place was getting robbed. Maybe it was close to closing for them, I didn't check. Maybe he had already changed out of his uniform and was just helping out his fellow employee.

All I know is that I'm getting old. I'm not in tune with the kids these days. They're punks...the lot of them.

The shake was pretty good and I did leave with my wallet and without incident. I think I might have over reacted:


They also serve panini's and other deli sandwiches but I have not had the opportunity to try any of them. Maybe if I go back at lunch I can avoid the Thugtastic crew and get helped by some All American girlies.

All American Deli and Ice Cream
1740 NW Pence LN
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 385-3330
http://allamericanicecream.com/

Donate your canned food for Hungry All Year Long

Hungry All Year Long Food Drive

While I was checking out the NeighborImpact (Formally COCAAN) site I stumbled upon the Hungry All Year Long food drive that Summit 1031 Exchange is conducting. I am a fan of NeighborImpact and will gladly donate some food to one of the many drop box locations soon.

Back in the day and much tougher times, we'd donate the items stuffed wayyyy back in the cupboard that was covered in dust like the can of three bean salad or the cream of unknown or the can that wasn't even labeled. It's all we could afford to part with. So I contacted Laura at Summit 1031 Exchange to ask what sort of food is the best to donate.

"The best food items to donate are high protein foods like, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Hearty Stews etc. Food that, if this is the only meal a person will get that day, it will stick to their ribs." Laura informed me.

Makes sense to me! I am sure they will still accept that dusty can of cranberries from Thanksgiving but if you CAN, please join in and drop by one of the many drop box locations that are listed on the Summit site below and give em what you CAN. HA! Get it? Can...like a can of something edible....man that's gold. Its as good as the Jump to Conclusions mat.

http://www.summit1031.com/Hungry/default.aspx
"During the month of June, Summit is teaming up with Neighbor Impact to hold a food-drive called, "Hungry All Year Long." We are very excited about this opportunity to give back to the community.

Neighbor Impact receives approximately 40,000 pounds of food donations during the holiday season while during the summer months, donations drop to about 7,000 pounds. Furthermore, when school is in session, hungry children receive meal assistance through the schools. However, during the summertime, these kids need an alternative source for meal assistance. Neighbor Impact is that source."

Jake’s Diner - Holdem for Habitat

Jake's Diner

(541) 382-0118
2210 Ne Highway 20
Bend, OR 97701

Found this announcement of Jake's Diner holding a Texas Holdem Tourney every Monday for a $5 entry fee with all proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity on a new CO Blog called the Diner Life:"Every Monday night, Jake’s Diner holds a Texas Holdem Tournament with all proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity. To date, nearly $6000 has been raised to help build homes for local people.

On Monday, June 11th , there will be a special night which will include officers from Habitat and some of the new soon to be Habitat homeowners. Sign ups will begin at 5PM and the tournament will start at 6:30. The charge for the event is the same as every Monday night which is $5."

I'm going to try to get out there for one of these tournaments soon!

Zydeco - Bend Oregon

Zydeco Kitchen & Cocktails

Zydeco has been getting quite a lot of coverage in this blog recently with the our first ever Price My Dinner competition. Here's the rest of the meal.

For starters we couldn't quite decide on which of the special appetizers to have so we went with both. I thought we were getting something special on this visit and figured we had better try them while we had the chance. But during the competition I received an email from a participant who asked "Were the special appetizers tuna and clams"?

This took me by surprise and I thought that maybe I had been spotted, cover blown. I wrote back curiously and the response was "Seems like there are always tuna and clams on the specials".

Interesting. Why not just put em on the menu as standard? Maybe it's the way that they are prepared each time that are different and that makes them special.

The wife and I agreed that we could have gone with a little less of the extra bits that came with the clams. The flavor was spot on and we really enjoyed the broth. But after one or two with the tomato, capers, and green olive we ended up scraping them off and just enjoying the clams in the sauce.

I should have taken a photo of the large portion of bread that is hidden in the middle of this dish. I felt it was a bit misleading. I saw a mountain of clams at first but sadly realized that it was about half as many as I originally expected. Oh well.

Turns out people actually eat the bread. I tried a bite of the bread that was drenched with the clam broth. It was good but I'd rather dip my bread in vs having it soaking in the broth. The wife grubbed it up.


The ahi tuna was amazing and just like I like it, 98% raw. The tuna has a mustard sauce lightly drizzled over a it and the sauce was amazing. I'd cut one of the slices in half and the wife would quickly grab the mustard topped piece leaving me the scraps to wipe up off the plate. It was good enough to remember fighting over the last little bit.


Above is the mystery steak from the aforementioned competition. A huge portion of bone in KC Strip with a couple of shrimps, potatoes, and asparagus. The steak was amazingly good and as I've mentioned before, amazingly expensive. The shrimp on top was resting on a pat of horseradish butter. Spreading the butter over all of the steak while it was piping hot gave the entire steak a delicious buttery flavor.


The wife's dinner off the regular menu. Pan-Roasted Steelhead lemon-caper sauce and roasted vegetables. No bacon? Not deep fried? Eh. While I tease, her dinner was actually very good. The lemon caper sauce complimented the steelhead perfectly.

All in all, our meal was fabulous and I will go back for another meal as soon as possible. I would like to taste the Acadian Flatbread and the Ribs that have been recommended to me a couple times. The service was amazing. Everyone that stopped by our table was extremely friendly and made sure we had everything we needed. Holly was our server and she rocked. Top notch service at Zydeco for sure.

Zydeco Kitchen and Cocktails
1085 SE 3rd st
Bend, OR
541-312-2899
http://www.zydecokitchen.com/

Next Food Network Star

the Next Food Network Star

I LOVE the Next Food Network Star. Sunday night was the premier episode for the third season of FoodTVs reality show. Unfortunately there is not a contestant from Oregon this season. There is a contestant from Seattle and pretty much everyone else is from LA or NY with a couple of exemptions. One of those exemptions is my preseason favorite Rory...mainly because she contacted me via myspace to introduce herself and let me know of the season opener. But after reviewing the contestant videos, I am fully behind Rory to win.

Now, I am a bad luck charm and I told Rory this...every time I pick who I think will win, they don't. They usually won't make it past day one. But I'm a simple guy and Rory cooks simple meals, cute as a button, from the Vegas of Texas (no idea what that means as I just made it up), and uses sarcasm as a weapon. How can I pass that up?

While watching the show I have a couple other people I am hoping will go far including JAG, Nikki, and Tommy. Tommy is a guy I could see hanging out with BUT, that cigar hanging out of his mouth on TV does NOT look good. It didn't look right for Charles Koppelman while he was on Martha Stewart's Apprentice and it doesn't work for you. Dude, you don't have the good looks as most of the other contestants have, don't add a nasty cigar to your accessories list when you're trying to be a winning personality on the Food Network. I have never seen a chef chill back with a cigar on their show while talking to anyone. Never.

Chef Bourdain was a chain smoker on that show he had on the travel channel but he's Anthony Bourdain. You're Tommy. He can and will do what evah he wants to do. You can't.

I won't spoil anything today but if you like reality shows and food, Next Food Network Star is for you. Even if you don't like reality shows this is still worth watching if you like cooking shows.

Anyway, it's fun TV. I like it.

Become Rory's myspace friend, to it for me.