Food & Drink

Chop to it.Ever wonder why your cooking doesn't come out as good as a restaurant chef's dishes? Cooking classes can help shed light on tricks of the trade that turn raw ingredients into delicious meals. I recently attended a cooking demonstration held at Allyson's Kitchen in the Old Mill, and was amazed at how many helpful hints Chef Joe Morgan showered on his audience while simultaneously turning out a 5-course restaurant-quality Italian meal.

The three-hour cooking demonstration, called "An Evening in Italy," was a treat for the senses. Fourteen "students" sat enrapt on tall barstools and tables in front of the long granite countertop that houses Allyson's Kitchen's demonstration kitchen. From our high vantage points, we could see into most of the full galley-style kitchen. A mirror placed at an angle above the countertop allowed us a bird's eye view of what went on in aluminum mixing bowls and ceramic-coated cast iron pots below.

Meat: It's what's for dinner.As teenagers working at Vista Spring Café in Portland, one of the early
arrivals on the city's gourmet pizza scene, Mark Hedford and Brad
Martell were actually thinking about pizza. "We always talked about
opening our own place,"says Hedford. "We thought to ourselves, yeah, we
could really do this."

It would be a while before they revisited the
idea, but neither ever let it go. In 1995, "right after Jerry died,"
according to Hedford, the longtime friends decided to relocate to
Central Oregon to be ski bums for a winter. And a winter turned into
six.

Meat: It’s what’s for dinner.As teenagers working at Vista Spring Café in Portland, one of the early
arrivals on the city’s gourmet pizza scene, Mark Hedford and Brad
Martell were actually thinking about pizza. “We always talked about
opening our own place,”says Hedford. “We thought to ourselves, yeah, we
could really do this.”

It would be a while before they revisited the
idea, but neither ever let it go. In 1995, “right after Jerry died,”
according to Hedford, the longtime friends decided to relocate to
Central Oregon to be ski bums for a winter. And a winter turned into
six.

One unfortunate side effect of alcohol is that normally calm and often times bland people will become uncharacteristically headstrong, violent, and/or maniacal. This weekend seemed to bring out the most unusual in people. On Saturday, two guys dropped by in good spirits, laughing and smiling as they both ordered a beer. About twenty minutes later we found one guy with the other one guy’s hands around his neck. They were just standing there perfectly calm, not talking in raised voices, not trying to punch or fight one another. When we asked if everything was o.k. the guy being strangled cordially replied no, as if we had asked him if he liked his coffee with cream and sugar.

One unfortunate side effect of alcohol is that normally calm and often times bland people will become uncharacteristically headstrong, violent, and/or maniacal. This weekend seemed to bring out the most unusual in people. On Saturday, two guys dropped by in good spirits, laughing and smiling as they both ordered a beer. About twenty minutes later we found one guy with the other one guy's hands around his neck. They were just standing there perfectly calm, not talking in raised voices, not trying to punch or fight one another. When we asked if everything was o.k. the guy being strangled cordially replied no, as if we had asked him if he liked his coffee with cream and sugar.

Art on the plate: Staccato’s Seafood Risotto Among Bend’s fine-dining elite, Staccato lives comfortably in the upper
stratum. But a few things set it apart from its neighbors. First, it’s
an upscale restaurant that cannot be classified as New American,
Pacific Northwest or, my favorite, “eclectic.” Most dishes have a
contemporary twist, but Staccato’s roots are firmly planted in northern
Italian flavors and preparations. Nor does it have that pristine New
American feel. Just as the menu blends the old with the new, so does
the space. Housed in the 100-year-old fire hall downtown, the
4,500-square-foot building has been converted into four dining areas
that have retained much of the old brick-and-stone detail, but have
been doused in a distinctly modern wash and dotted with rustic Italian
accoutrements and racks of Italian and regional wines (Staccato’s list
includes over 250 bottles). You could probably apply that description
to nine out of 10 dishes on the menu: equally influenced by local
ingredients, contemporary flair and traditional Italian recipes.

Art on the plate: Staccato's Seafood Risotto Among Bend's fine-dining elite, Staccato lives comfortably in the upper
stratum. But a few things set it apart from its neighbors. First, it's
an upscale restaurant that cannot be classified as New American,
Pacific Northwest or, my favorite, "eclectic." Most dishes have a
contemporary twist, but Staccato's roots are firmly planted in northern
Italian flavors and preparations. Nor does it have that pristine New
American feel. Just as the menu blends the old with the new, so does
the space. Housed in the 100-year-old fire hall downtown, the
4,500-square-foot building has been converted into four dining areas
that have retained much of the old brick-and-stone detail, but have
been doused in a distinctly modern wash and dotted with rustic Italian
accoutrements and racks of Italian and regional wines (Staccato's list
includes over 250 bottles). You could probably apply that description
to nine out of 10 dishes on the menu: equally influenced by local
ingredients, contemporary flair and traditional Italian recipes.

A tip of the hat and the glass to local brewer Tonya Cornett who has been invited to be a guest brewer at Britain’s J.D.