The northern Colorado town of Fort Collins (population: 155,000) is one of several medium-sized cities around the United States to earn the name Beer City USA from bloggers and travel magazine articles. In the past, that was almost wholly driven by two large outfits: New Belgium, they of Fat Tire and the Lips of Faith […]
Food & Drink
Posted inFood & Drink
The Tyranny of Good Taste
5 Fusion spoils diners, supports students with James Beard dinner
If you still haven’t gone to a food tasting, don’t believe the skeptics. Vanity Fair called food tastings “tyrannical,” and the New York Times likened the pre-scripted dining experiences to being “a cog in an invisible machine.” Critic Peter Wells wrote, “The night is exhausting, the food is cold, the interruptions are frequent. The courses […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Beer Festival of the Gods
The Great American Beer Fest is like nothing else
It’s seven on a Friday night and the scene around the Deschutes Brewery pub is one of controlled chaos. People from Bend and beyond line up to try some of the new brews off the pilot system, including a smoked gose, a sour Belgian-style quadruple ale, and a variant of Black Butte Porter aged in […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Familiar Faces
Sargent’s offers a classic diner experience
Walking into Sargent’s Café is like stepping into a scene from “That ’70s Show.” Wood paneling, amber glass dividers, and burnt orange pleather booths lend a warm but retro feeling. The walls are speckled with photos of wildlife and western scenes on shiny lacquered wood, including a copy of the “Indian Ten Commandments.” Attentive wait […]
Posted inNews
Indulgences on a Budget
Treat yourself…realistically.
To indulge oneself doesn’t always have to break the bank. Some of the greatest pleasures in life are reasonably priced or even cheaper than that. Here are ten things that cost between absolutely nothing and $165.00 that can either be purchased locally or from Etsy that I (somewhat) guarantee will make your life better (for […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Cooking With Cannabis
Putting the ‘pot’ in crockpots
We’ve all heard about the magic brownie. There has been a comical association between pot and the beloved chocolaty desert for as long as I can remember. Popular culture has latched onto this and taken it for quite the ride. Whether it’s Eric Cartman of “South Park” warning his friends about the dangers of hippies […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Stop and Smell the Beer
Bend’s Bouquet of Beer, the thoughtful gift for craftheads
Like beer? Fed up with all the pesky driving around and going to the store required to purchase beer? If you live in metro Bend, your prayers have been answered. Bouquet of Beer, founded this summer by Andrew Gorman and Daniel Brewster (with a last name like that, it’d be a crime if he wasn’t […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Have Some Football With Your Beer
Riverbend Brewing impresses
Riverbend Brewing Company is a huge surprise. They’ve mostly been flying under the radar since they took over the space from Rivals Sports Bar two years ago, but the word of mouth has been consistently positive. The idea behind the place is a fairly brilliant one: Take the customer base left over from the previous […]
Posted inFood & Drink
When is Craft No Longer Craft?
Buyout deals at Lagunitas and elsewhere give drinkers pause
“Budweiser bought 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend, OR,” wrote Lagunitas Brewing Company founder Tony Magee on Twitter last November (spelling and grammar cleaned up for this article). “Not because they love craft. Because they wanna control craft beer. Friends of 10 Barrel cheer its owners’ ‘success’. I can’t blame them for being scared of doing […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Bend Brunch Begins Beguiling
Sintra simply scintillates
As Bend quickly and quietly continues its transformation into a Portlandia sketch, we are now sinking in to the brunch portion of our metamorphosis. Bend has always been a breakfast town, but herald the crepes and blintzes coming out and the closing times inching closer to 3 pm. Being that I am equally good at […]
