Food & Drink

With the changing of seasons, I look forward to more daylight, getting back on my bike and the opening of Kokanee Café in Camp Sherman. Just last week, I rode my bike out to Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery, grabbed a popsicle at the General Store on the Metolius River and basked in the late-afternoon sunlight. Later that evening, I met several friends at the Kokanee Cafe for dinner.
As we were led to our table, we noticed several changes and upgrades to the familiar space, including newly painted walls, new art on the walls, high-quality glassware and other changes. We were impressed by the brass-top bar, complete with beer on tap, premium liquor selections and a cocktail list. But thankfully, the chef hadn't changed. Chef Roscoe Roberson, two-time Central Oregon Iron Chef champion, was once again manning the stoves. Gilded with several bottles of good wine and friends that included two chefs (one, the former chef of Kokanee Café), a birthday girl, two all-pro servers/musicians and a couple of foodies, we held court in the covered patio.

The Sullivan family, owners of Cada Dia Cheese in Prineville, make farming look easy. In fact, Pat Sullivan doesn't even consider himself a farmer.
“I'm not a real farmer,” Pat explains, chuckling as he cleans equipment in the cheese-making facility he and his family built from scratch just two years ago.
“I look at the American dairyman and do everything differently. They milk twice a day, I milk once a day. They bring their feed in to the cows, mine harvest their own out in the pasture. I have three acres per cow and milk seasonally, when I have grass,” he says.
Pat's background is in engineering, working most recently in the oil fields of West Texas. He started making cheese in New Mexico and was drawn to Central Oregon because of the similarities in the landscapes.
“It's harsh, grim, big, open country, but it's awesome country,” he exclaimed with another chuckle, “Why do I need those damn trees anyway?”

I’ve learned some lessons about eating sushi over the past several years. First and most important, don’t trust Texas-style sushi – the oversized, unbalanced and less-than-fresh rolls. I also avoid all-you-can-eat sushi unless I can see the coastline from my seat. Happy hours, on the other hand, are a great way to sample different types of sushi. Finally, if you're going to have a drink, you've got some unique options. Many sushi restaurants offer an assortment of Japanese beers, warm and chilled sake, in addition to sake cocktails.
Half-price sushi at TOMO Japanese Restaurant on Monday night is yet another lesson: be in the right place at the right time. TOMO is the southernmost eatery in a family of restaurants that includes Szechuan, SOBA and Five Fusion, owned by siblings Di and Howie Long. Lined with green bamboo walls, a six-seat sushi bar and a private tatami room, TOMO is much more welcoming once inside. For slightly larger parties, if you can snag the tatami room, where guests sit on mats or pillows and eat from a low table, you're golden.

Remember El Jimador?
Wait a minute.

Remember El Jimador?
Wait a minute… remember it? Isn't it right where it's always been, Franklin and Wall?
Well, yes and no. Yes, the name is the same, but pretty much everything else is different… and improved. The service is fast, but not rushed, and friendly. The new menu highlights seafood and quality beef, and the bar's selection of more than 30 tequilas guarantees you won't leave thirsty. This is a mid-priced, family-friendly restaurant with food that now surpasses expectations. As nights warm up and the farmer's market begins to bustle, this is sure to be a prime people-watching spot and a must for outside dining in downtown Bend.

It's human nature to want to pass something down to the next generation. Some people leave behind wealth and prestige for their family to enjoy for generations. Others give us great pieces of literature, sprightly sonatas or inspirational sculpture. My legacy is to give a few the gift of bartending, which can either ensure them a life of easy one-night-stands and a tendency toward alcoholism or it can be their good fortune to never again make minimum wage again, regardless of one's education.
It is not a gift I will bestow on just anyone. The time and effort it takes to teach someone to memorize hundreds of drink recipes, smile under relentless pressure and deal with drunk people takes a special someone. Most importantly, the person must have a sick passion for doing dishes – as most of bartending is washing and polishing the hundreds of glasses that get used every evening.