Food & Drink

Flavor piled high at Zydeco.Like so many of the best things in life, Zydeco isn't exactly as it
seems. You wouldn't guess that behind a modest façade tucked away among
car dealerships on Business 97 you'd find a country-Zen dining room
awash in sage tones and minimalist art or the subtly swanky lacquered
terra cotta bar dotted with colorful specialty cocktails sitting
beneath hanging droplet lights. And the food, too, is unexpected:
high-flown in execution yet completely down to earth in concept and
attitude. And rather than offering Cajun cuisine, as the name suggests
(it's actually a tribute to a family dog), the menu is American with a
pan-southern emphasis. All around, Zydeco is a series of happy
paradoxes, combining northwestern refinement with robust southern
flavors, urban sophistication with southern hospitality, and upscale
fare served up in impressively southern portions.

Flavor piled high at Zydeco.Like so many of the best things in life, Zydeco isn’t exactly as it
seems. You wouldn’t guess that behind a modest façade tucked away among
car dealerships on Business 97 you’d find a country-Zen dining room
awash in sage tones and minimalist art or the subtly swanky lacquered
terra cotta bar dotted with colorful specialty cocktails sitting
beneath hanging droplet lights. And the food, too, is unexpected:
high-flown in execution yet completely down to earth in concept and
attitude. And rather than offering Cajun cuisine, as the name suggests
(it’s actually a tribute to a family dog), the menu is American with a
pan-southern emphasis. All around, Zydeco is a series of happy
paradoxes, combining northwestern refinement with robust southern
flavors, urban sophistication with southern hospitality, and upscale
fare served up in impressively southern portions.

Winter weather is finally here. And the shortest day of the year is fast approaching.

Winter weather is finally here. And the shortest day of the year is fast approaching.

Nuthin’ fancy at the Cowboy Dinner TreeSilver Lake, Oregon is a place where the word cowboy means a job, not a style of dress. And for bonafide cowboy cuisine, the Cowboy Dinner Tree is The Real McCoy. The legendary, albeit out of the way, steakhouse is set off of one of Oregon’s Scenic Byways in the heart of the Oregon Outback.

It’s rugged country for sure. But it’s also a place where you can drive for many miles undisturbed in your thoughts as you reflect on the hearty souls who decided to take up ranching in this land of sagebrush, mountain lions and ferocious winds. The desolate landscape is surprisingly refreshing, and I enjoy its uncomplicated terrain in the same way I appreciate the simple, authentic food at the Cowboy Dinner Tree.
No Morton’s of Chicago is this. For $23.50 you get either a steak or chicken dinner. Sound mundane? Just wait. The steak is an aged top sirloin that is portioned into a true Cowboy Cut of 26 to 30 ounces. Twelve to 24 hours before it is served, the steak gets a special dry rub. What has now become your dinner steak is cooked over an outdoor barbeque to medium rare once you’re seated.

Nuthin' fancy at the Cowboy Dinner TreeSilver Lake, Oregon is a place where the word cowboy means a job, not a style of dress. And for bonafide cowboy cuisine, the Cowboy Dinner Tree is The Real McCoy. The legendary, albeit out of the way, steakhouse is set off of one of Oregon's Scenic Byways in the heart of the Oregon Outback.

It's rugged country for sure. But it's also a place where you can drive for many miles undisturbed in your thoughts as you reflect on the hearty souls who decided to take up ranching in this land of sagebrush, mountain lions and ferocious winds. The desolate landscape is surprisingly refreshing, and I enjoy its uncomplicated terrain in the same way I appreciate the simple, authentic food at the Cowboy Dinner Tree.
No Morton's of Chicago is this. For $23.50 you get either a steak or chicken dinner. Sound mundane? Just wait. The steak is an aged top sirloin that is portioned into a true Cowboy Cut of 26 to 30 ounces. Twelve to 24 hours before it is served, the steak gets a special dry rub. What has now become your dinner steak is cooked over an outdoor barbeque to medium rare once you're seated.

To anyone who has been there, Bistro Corlise happy hour may sound like an oxymoron or some sort of ruse. It's hard to imagine enjoying such a pedestrian tradition as happy hour at a place that is the epitome of fine dining.

Fish and a smile, what else can you ask for?At Bend Fish Company, no energy is squandered on the superficial. It’s
all about the food. Besides the stylized fish in the logo, the only
other decorative touches in the place are a plastic blue marlin mounted
on the wall and a small collection of toy dinosaurs displayed in the
window of the sushi counter. Instead of fine china and candles, you get
red-checkered paper and fluorescent lights. If it’s warm enough, you
can opt out of the cafeteria-like interior and take a table on the
patio, but even then you’ll have to settle for a view of the
Blockbuster across the street. However, if you love seafood, you won’t
mind the lack of ambience. You may hardly even notice. Your eyes will
be immediately drawn to the extensive and rather eclectic menu of
seafood favorites from around the world, and for those who prefer their
own preparations, the beautiful filets of fresh fish, shrimp, scallops,
and other delicacies are for sale behind the glass in the front.

Fish and a smile, what else can you ask for?At Bend Fish Company, no energy is squandered on the superficial. It's
all about the food. Besides the stylized fish in the logo, the only
other decorative touches in the place are a plastic blue marlin mounted
on the wall and a small collection of toy dinosaurs displayed in the
window of the sushi counter. Instead of fine china and candles, you get
red-checkered paper and fluorescent lights. If it's warm enough, you
can opt out of the cafeteria-like interior and take a table on the
patio, but even then you'll have to settle for a view of the
Blockbuster across the street. However, if you love seafood, you won't
mind the lack of ambience. You may hardly even notice. Your eyes will
be immediately drawn to the extensive and rather eclectic menu of
seafood favorites from around the world, and for those who prefer their
own preparations, the beautiful filets of fresh fish, shrimp, scallops,
and other delicacies are for sale behind the glass in the front.

It’s been a brutal year for the restaurant industry. Nationwide, restaurants and bars shed more than 11,000 jobs in October as the country marched deeper into recession.
Last month’s dismal numbers represented the fourth straight month of job cuts for the restaurant industry – something that hasn’t happened in 45 years, according to the National Restaurant Association. While consumers have been cutting back on eating out as their discretionary income dries up, the industry has been able to mask some of the slumping performance through price increases, but even that couldn’t hold a drop in sales revenue last month – the first backslide that the industry has seen in 17 years, according to the restaurant association.