Free Music Downloads from The Bend Bulletin

Ben Salmon, music writer from the Bulletin sent me the following info on the latest addition to the Bulletin's website. They have posted 15 songs from local artists and 15 songs from bands from all over. Of course my favorite has to be God Bless the Taco Stand by Mark Ransom and The Mostest. All the songs are available for free download and the best part, you don't have to login to get it.

I have been listening to these songs and so far I am loving the Person People's Oregonize the best.

"Visit The Bulletin to download The Bulletin's free two-disc compilation Near/Far,containing 30 MP3s from Central Oregon and national acts. Nosubscription required. Includes songs from The Shins, Arcade Fire, Aesop Rock, Band of Horses, plus Person People, The Roe, The Mostest,Coyo and more."

Chow - Bend Oregon

CHOW

My stomach was empty and I was ready to chow down on some serious grub at the new CHOW restaurant located on Newport Avenue. Before going I had not heard from anyone if the place was any good, what type of food they serve or anything. So when I drove by and saw the massive metal CHOW sign and the big metal OPEN signs, I really thought I was going to dine on some serious grub like a West Side Jake's. Much to my surprise our waitress placed a tiny sandwich and small stack of fries before me. This isn't CHOW, it's more like SNACK or BITE.

The food was delicious, just tiny. For a big sucker like me, I need quantity and quality, not just quality. Seems that more and more restaurants in Bend are serving much smaller portions but their prices are increasing rapidly.

Currently CHOW is only offering breakfast and lunch from 7am - 2pm and appears to be geared more towards the healthy crowd than they are to a meat and potatoes guy like me. There are meat dishes like the roasted pork sandwich I had on my visit.


The sweet potatoe fries were ok, some were hella crispy and others were super soft...it was sort of weird. They didn't need or warrant any dipping sauces as the flavor was like a dessert of potaoes instead of french fries. The roasted pork was great...all 6 bites. $8

The wife selected from the breakfast menu and opted for the pumpkin waffle and a sausage patty. Waffle - $7, sausage - $3. Both were great and the sausage was pretty thick, but after $10, you'd think you'd be full. Let me get another waffle at least. Something.




The menu states that they will be offering dinners sometime in the future. I'll try to get back to try that menu, but for now, there are plenty of other options for breakfast and / or a quick, filling lunch on the West side. I know CHOW has just opened so maybe things will change as they get some more services under their belt. The service was awesome and our food came in a timely manner which is great for a restaurant just starting out....but those portions are just too small for the money in my opinion.

CHOW
1110 NW Newport Ave
Bend, OR 97701
541.728.0256
http://www.chowbend.com/

Blacksmith Restaurant

Blacksmith

The new Blacksmith restaurant has quickly become my favorite bar in Bend Oregon. I like going to the other places in Bend but with the atmosphere, nice televisions, quality selection of beers on tap as well as bottles, bar menu, happy hour pricing, Poem and Dave behind the bar, "Al-B-Sure" working the tables, Gavin and his crew in the kitchen...this place has won me over big time.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Blacksmith for their pre opening (which I'm willing to do for anyone who'd like to invite me) and enjoyed many appetizers of Gavin's New Ranch Cuisine and drinks. Later in the week I was able to make it for dinner and have been back to visit the new bar menu which is killer.

Congratulations to Gavin and the Blacksmith team. I can't recommend the Blacksmith enough for private parties, happy hour, dinner, just drinks, or whatever enough. The place flat out rocks. (Note: I have not been compensated for this uncharacteristically glowing review...when a place rocks, it rocks).

Here are some photos given to me and a couple I took myself like the one of my pork chop which used to be my favorite. Now I'm loving the Purist Steak...effing awesome.










Blacksmith restaurant
211 NW Greenwood Ave,
Bend, Oregon 97701
541.318.0588
http://www.bendblacksmith.com/

Jen's Garden - Sisters Oregon

Jen's Garden

Jen's Garden is probably the only restaurant in Sisters that I'd actually drive to Sisters for. Seriously, its that good. A little pricey but a great fine dining experience that is worth the trip. Of course I have not been to that many restaurants in Sisters so the bar has been set really high.

Jen's Garden offers a menu that which you can make order ala cart or just enjoy the Prix Fixe menu for $49. If you get a main course, you're already spending $25 so for another $24 you get four more courses. I love Prix Fixe menus because I end up trying a dish that I normally wouldn't order.

On top of the $49 for the five course meal, you can select the Wine Flight for an additional $20. You'll receive about a half glass of wine that's paired with each course. Works out to be about 2.5 glasses of wine. I recommend this if you enjoy wine but don't really know what to order. On my visit the first two courses were paired with some white wines which I'm normally not going to order on my own. But they were delicious with each course.

On to the photos (which are not the best and don't do the food justice, I apologize).

First Course - (Your choice from the following)
Fresh Dungeness Crab and Spinach Salad over a Artichoke, Mushroom and Red Pepper Terrine…10
Provençal Pork Confit in Brioche with Fresh Thyme Au Jus …10

When given the option, I normally will not select the more expensive option of seafood as the portions tend to be smaller. So I chose the pork.

Tender, juicy pork in a bun with a tasty au jus which I mopped up with the bun. I was really happy with my selection of the pork especially when I saw the crab salad. It looked good, just not for me.

Fish Course - La Bourride: Saffron and Fennel Broth with Fresh Seafood…11


The prawn and the clams were (in the excited Oprah voice) fabulous! There was a light broth which I could have mopped up with the crustini that was hiding under the prawn but I opted out.

Main Course - (Your choice from the following)
Roulade of Fresh Fish of the Day with Roasted Vegetable Flan and Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc…25
Coriander Crusted Rack of Lamb with Tsatsiki, Marsala Demi and Curried Lentils…25
Grilled Cascade Natural Beef Tenderloin with Cranberry Demi and Butternut Mashed Potatoes…25
Coq au Vin: Red Wine Braised Chicken Breast with Creamy Blue Cheese Polenta…25

The fish of the day was snapper...I decided on the tenderloin.

The tenderloin was very good but the cranberry sauce was very thick and sweet. It was good but the tenderloin was awesome without it. I ended up making a demi moat using the mashed potatoes to create a wall around my steak to keep the cranberry out. Then I would take a scoop of potato and dip it in the cranberry demi. This allowed me to taste the sauce with the spuds but kept my steak pure.

Salad Course
Mixed Greens with Raclette Cheese, Oven Dried Grapes, Fried Capers, Cashews and Balsamic Vinaigrette…7


I love salad towards the end of the meal instead of at the beginning. This salad is the perfect example of something that I wouldn't order on a menu after reading the description. But man, it was so good. The oven dried grapes were slightly wilted but still bursted with flavor and went great with the Raclette Cheese. The fried capers were like little balls of salt that countered the vinaigrette perfectly. It was a damn good salad, and you know I'm not a salad fan at all.

Dessert - (Your choice from the following)
Chocolate, Caramel and Pistachio Tart with Chantilly Cream…6
Spiced Pear and Dried Cherry Crisp with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream…6

The wife took my dessert while I enjoyed another glass of wine.

Overall, great meal, awesome presentation on each course, service was incredible. I felt pampered and loved the pace of dinner and enjoyed every sampling of wine with each course. My only complaint...Jen's Garden is in Sisters. Come on. I mean come on!

Jen's Garden
403 East Hood Ave.
Sisters, OR 97759

Open: 5p.m.-Close
Wednesday through Sunday

Call 549-2699 for reservations
http://www.intimatecottagecuisine.com/

Typhoon - Bend Oregon

Typhoon is phinally here! With three Thai restaurants in Bend already, why is it that Bendites have been waiting eagerly at the windows of Typhoon for it to open like that lady in the old Mervins after Thanksgiving sale commercials with her face all pressed on the glass saying "Open, open, open" over and over again?
I have not been to any of the Typhoon restaurants and was dying to find out what all the hype was about. The wife and I tried to get some reservations for a Saturday night but nothing open until after 8:30...crazy. I like the early bird special so I can be in bed by 7:30 so we settled for Sunday.

We started off with the Nibble Platter appetizer which comes with Veggie Spring Rolls, Chicken Satay, Lemongrass Pork, Bags of Gold, Kra-thong Tong and Fried Wontons.

Veggie Spring Rolls - good, for being veggies...the wife liked them.
Chicken Satay - chicken on a stick, tender and flavorful, excellent when dipped in any of the three sauces
Lemongrass Pork - pork on a stick, tender and flavorful, excellent when dipped in any of the three sauces
Bags of Gold - first time having these and since they were also fried, quite good
Kra-thong Tong - like a mini chicken pot pie but with a tough sounding name KRA THONG TONG!!!
Fried Wontons - Its a fried wonton, what do you want, dip it and enjoy

We love the appetizers like this so you can get a sampling of a variety of dishes.
Next we went with the Crab Phad Thai off of the specials menu. I love shell fish and I am always looking for some great Phad Thai. Crab in the Phad Thai is something new for me but blended nicely and there was a good portion of crab in the noodles. The noodles were prepared perfectly and the ground peanuts were a nice touch.

Five-Spice Crispy Duck - Served with steamed buns, cinnamon plum sauce, green onions and cilantro. Now I don't get duck very often but the times I've had it, it was juicy and tender. I figure this duck would be the same but with a nice crispy skin.

The buns were nice and soft and we tried desperately to pull the duck apart to build little sandwiches. Unfortunately the duck was really dry and tough. We didnt say anything cause we didn't really know if this was how it was supposed to be prepared or not. Either way, we didn't care for it at all. It was like duck jerky.

Next up was the Pineapple Curry. The pineapple gave the spicy curry this subtle sweetness which was a great addition.

We enjoyed our dinner very much aside from the overcooked duck. For the dishes above, a cup of tea (from their insanely huge menu of teas) and a couple Tsing Tao beers, we only spent $76. I thought we'd spend a lot more.

After having such a good first experience for dinner, I wanted to try one of the other curry's and went back for lunch a couple days later. On this visit I tried the Panang Curry. Not so sweet and more peanutty, I was excited. But what I received was a small cup of curry for $9 and a scoop of rice.

I wish I put a spoon or something with this photo cause it was sooo small. You can see how one of the peppers is taking up half of the cup. I was hoping for about twice as much as I received for that price. It tasted great, but I left hungry.

Typhoon is great for dinner, but right now I'd rather go to Toomies for the lunch special over this cup o curry.

Typhoon! Bend
Franklin Crossing Building
550 NW Franklin Ave., Suite 148,
Bend, OR 97701
541-385-8885
http://www.typhoonrestaurants.com/

A few minutes with Gavin McMichael

Just before the Blacksmith Restaurant closed down for renovation, I was able to get a few minutes to talk with Gavin McMichael, Executive Chef and Co-Owner, about what to expect with the new restaurant/bar. I realized that I have never really reviewed a meal at the Blacksmith on this blog even though I have been there for dinner many times. I did review one of the desserts once but I just haven’t made it there for dinner over the last year or so (since starting this blog).


I told Gavin that I hadn’t been back for dinner in a long time because the wife and I started thinking of the Blacksmith as a special occasion restaurant. Somewhere I would go to celebrate an anniversary, a promotion, or a birthday. Gavin totally agreed. He said that many people had type casted the restaurant as “special occasion”.

To remedy the situation, the Blacksmith will relaunch December 10th with many of the same classic dishes but with the option to get smaller plates. I'm thinking American Tapas or in the Blacksmith’s case New American Tapas. But unlike any tapas I have come across that stick to Spanish or Mediterranean dishes, you can get small plates of items like the Pork Chop with Mac’n’cheese (by far my favorite on the menu). This will allow patrons to sample 3 or 4 of the main courses and sharing them with their significant others instead of stuffing themselves with one main entree.

For the wife and I, this is great news. She’s convinced me that ordering more appetizers instead of two main courses is the way to go. You get to try much more. That’s why I love going to things like the Deschutes Beer Dinner…you get to try things that you normally wouldn’t.

So the new menu will have appetizers and then your main courses like normal, but you can order any of the main attractions in appetizer portions for a reduced price. You’ll still get all the same stuff that comes with the main dish, just smaller portions of it. Again I can’t be more excited about this as previously, it would break my wallet while expanding my belly trying to eat a full entree.

Also coming with the relaunch is a killer bar where the main entrance used to be. Now you can swing by for lunch or a quick bite after work, sit at the bar, watch the game on one of two 42” flat screen TVs while sipping on one of many specialty drinks, a glass of wine from a huge selection, or one of 12 draft beers.

Blacksmith will also offer a private dining section that can be reserved for special occasions, events, office gatherings/meetings, or whatever.

I am definitely looking forward to checking out the new menu, portions, bar, and dining room (hint hint Gavin) as soon as they open their doors on Monday.

the Blacksmith restaurant
211 NW Greenwood Ave,
Bend, Oregon 97701
541.318.0588
http://www.bendblacksmith.com/

Pizza Mondo - Bend Oregon

Pizza Mondo

It has been a long time since I had a slice of pizza from Pizza Mondo. Being lazy as I tend to be, I didn't want to drive to get some food a couple of weeks ago. We had a lot going and I didn't want to cook anything and make a mess in the kitchen. So we called up Pizza Mondo for some delivery.

It was a rather busy night so when they said that it would take an hour, I didn't think much of it. An hour later, the Run Little Piggy was at our door. They found our place in exactly an hour, with the porch light out...that was impressive.

Run Little Piggy - Attention meat lovers – this is your pie! Our cheese pie piled high with prosciutto, pepperoni, Italian sausage, smoked gouda, mushrooms & black olives.
15” - $16.25 • 18” - $21.75

Many times when we shell out the big bucks to get a pizza from a restaurant other than Papa Murphy's, we are disappointed in the quantity of toppings. Some places just skimp on them and it's annoying. But as you can see, the pizza from Pizza Mondo is covered with a generous amount of pork products and cheese.

The crust was cooked perfectly as well. Another issue we normally have is that the pizza crust can be soggy and undercooked. Not today my friend. Delicious. I can totally see why Pizza Mondo was voted Best Pizza by the Source. Holy cow, I just saw on their site that they've been voted Best Pizza by the Source every year since 98.

We also grabbed up some Mozzarella Breadsticks for $3.75 which were good (for being bread and cheese). The dipping sauce was excellent and I jacked the rest for my pizza crust.


Pizza Mondo
811 NW Wall St
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 330-9093
http://www.pizzamondobend.com/

El Caporal West - Happy Hour Menu

El Caporal West Happy Hour

Normally I will hit up El Caporal West during the week for lunch to enjoy one of the best burritos in Bend. But recently I met up some friends for a margarita and was presented with the Happy Hour menu. From 3-6 daily you can get some cheap eats and great drinks at a reduced price.

I tried the Sope with shredded beef. It was huge and only $3. Not really knowing what a Sope was I felt adventurous and I could spare the $3 to give it a go. Shredded beef, refried beans, lettuce, sour cream, and tomatoes piled up on a hand made corn tortilla. It was piled high with lettuce but who cares, it was only three bucks and after my second Perfecta Margarita (only $6), I didn't really care about much. I'd get it again.

One of my friends scored a big ass quesadilla for only $5. There are plenty of other small bites for reduced prices that you can munch on while getting your drink on. Plus you get the best chips and salsa in all of Bend. I think I've mentioned that before once or twice or more.

Tell em BOR sent you.

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