A Return to Redmond: Chloe's new location is back where it began

Just months after leaving Redmond and settling in at a new location in the FivePine complex in Sisters, Chloe New American Cuisine got an offer in its old hometown it couldn’t refuse. A space opened up in the Sleep Inn conference center, formerly occupied by Canyons. With its built-in customer base at the hotel and fully equipped dining room and kitchen ready for action, the opportunity was too good to pass up. This time, though, instead of moving, Chef Jerry Phaisavath and wife Elaine Larson decided to expand, and a new Chloe was born. Though Chloe’s loyal Redmond clientele, signature dishes and even Chloe logo are prominent, the new restaurant, named North Redmond Station, has a personality of its own that will likely continue to develop as it adapts to its new surroundings.

The space, from what I can tell, is largely unchanged from its Canyons days. Obviously, a large part of the appeal for taking on the project was that as soon as the new menus were printed it could open for business. That’s understandable, however, after seeing the impeccable décor of the Sisters restaurant with every detail carefully considered, I can only lament what could have been if Phaisavath and Larson had started here from scratch. As it stands, they inherited a comfortable, if not a little corporate, space complete with adjacent bar and rock wall fountain befitting a hotel and conference center, but not on a par with what they are capable of.

That said, everything else at North Redmond Station met the high standards of its sister in Sisters. In fact, the menu is identical or nearly so, and the execution is as impressive. The wine list consists of mostly Oregon, Washington and California bottles many of which are quite affordable. Almost purely for the attractive label spotted on the wine rack at the host station on the way in, we chose a $27 Desert Wind Ruah to accompany our meal. It was a nice medium-bodied red and a great value. For starters, I was all set to order the Grilled Sea Scallops with Basil Pesto ($8) in a citrus butter. (I’m a rebel. I always drink red, even with seafood!) But after two different servers offered unsolicited recommendations for the Chloe Crab Cakes ($10), I changed direction. They did not disappoint. Perfectly firm and dressed with a tomato-ginger jam, the blend of crabmeat, whitefish and scallops made for a winning combination. Set on a pool of balsamic reduction and accompanied by a tasty apple-carrot-radicchio slaw, it’s no wonder the servers were so enthusiastic.

Entrees were equally strong. Now, I almost never order either pasta or chicken in a restaurant. I consider pasta an interloper that would only be taking up precious stomach space that was meant for greater things like bacon and steak. And, to quote wise friend and fellow food writer Brett Martin, chicken is the “chicken” of food. However, this time I made an exception on both fronts after I read the description of the Cajun Fettuccini with Grilled Breast of Chicken ($16). The fettuccini and chicken both rose above their station, but it was the Cajun spiced cream sauce, smoked bacon, andouille sausage, peppers, onions, spinach and shaved parmesan that made the dish. It was delicious. The Pork Chop ($19), a thick, seared center cut, was excellent in a rosemary-balsamic glace, topped with shredded, battered and fried green onions, and served with a lovely little scoop of Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, sautéed broccolini and braised red cabbage.

Service was helpful and solicitous, bordering on giddy. In looking around, other tables seemed to be equally chatty. Perhaps it’s just a Redmond thing and I wouldn’t understand, but more likely, it’s that everyone is just excited to have the folks from Chloe back in town. I can certainly understand why.

North Redmond Station

1857 NW 6th St, Redmond, 316-2029

Lunch 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and dinner 5 – 9 p.m. daily

This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2009.

So, I need to rant a little bit here because I'm still pissed… Ok, so two weeks before Valentine's Day I call Chloe's here in Redmond and make reservations for my girlfriend and I at 6:30 for her special valentine's day evening. Now, I'm not one to get dressed up very much however I though it to be a fairly classy restaurant and I know the girlfriend would be happy to see I put in some effort, so I put on the ole suit and tie for our evening. We show up at Chloe's on Valentine's Day at 6:15 (our reservation was 6:30) and walk in the front door to be greeted by the hostess. After 5 minutes of standing there, and looking around she finally shows up (place is not busy at this time). Ok, great! She asks if we have reservations I said we did and gave her the time of our reservation and my name. Her reply uuuummmm well, you will have to wait till 6:00… . I though, hummm? Ok! As I look at the dining room I can plainly see 4+ open tables. But I thought, what the heck, no big deal, we will just go have a drink at the bar and come check again at 6:30… No big deal… ! So my girlfriend and I head to the bar and sit down. As we sit down I see a girl (presuming to be the bar tender) making a drink. She not once acknowledges us. About that time I food runner comes out with a gests food and comes to her and asks where it goes. She replies, I have no clue, I'm not the bartender tonight. So, they food service guy is standing there like a complete lost nut, holding plates in each hand, looking at all the patrons in eating area of the bar… . Finally after attempting the 3rd table he finds who ordered the food… . By this time the gal that was behind the bar finally leaves… . So we wait… . And wait… . And wait some more… . By now we still have not seen or even been recognized, by anyone other than the hosts when we first walked in. So after seeing it is now 6:30 we decide to go try and get seated at our table. As we walk back out to the hostess booth, we see that the lobby is completely full. I would guess that there is at least 5 different parties all standing there waiting to be seated. So we take our place (standing) in plain view of the hostess for when she returns. After about 3 minutes she finally comes back and proceeds to seat several parties in the lobby. Always walking within an arms length of us, looking at us but never said a word… . After about 15 minutes of her walking back and forth and seating 5 different parties, its only my girlfriend and I standing in the lobby… . As she comes back there are two other couples as walking in the door. She then looks at us, walks right past us, goes to the hostess booth and greets one of the couples and asks if they have a reservation. They replied “yes at 6:30 we are sorry we are late!” she says “ooooo not a problem”! Follow me and walks right past us AGAIN… . So at this point, I am pissed!!! I tell my girlfriend if she comes back, and doesn't seat us or at least tell us something we are out of here… .. Low and behold!!! She comes back, and walks right up to the other couple and greets them… . So this time as we are leaving, I stopped and told her that we are leaving now because her customer service skills suck and we are tired of being ignored. So we walked.
Now, I can put up with quite a bit, but this was completely over the top! Usually, if things go bad you can always go have a drink in the bar, but not this place, because they HAD NO BAR TENDER… . So… If you want to ruin a good well planned night, and be completely ignored, stand around waiting, watch the incompetent food runners take your food all over the restaurant looking for who actually ordered it, and die of thirst, by all means, make a RESERVATION and BE EARLY… . Hunt this place down, and try and spend some of your hard earned money here… . That is if you can even get seated… .
If you have any questions, by all means… . Feel free to email me
Endiracing@yahoo.com

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1 Comment

endiracing says:

February 17, 2011 at 8:43 am

So, I need to rant a little bit here because I'm still pissed… Ok, so two weeks before Valentine's Day I call Chloe's here in Redmond and make reservations for my girlfriend and I at 6:30 for her special valentine's day evening. Now, I'm not one to get dressed up very much however I though it to be a fairly classy restaurant and I know the girlfriend would be happy to see I put in some effort, so I put on the ole suit and tie for our evening. We show up at Chloe's on Valentine's Day at 6:15 (our reservation was 6:30) and walk in the front door to be greeted by the hostess. After 5 minutes of standing there, and looking around she finally shows up (place is not busy at this time). Ok, great! She asks if we have reservations I said we did and gave her the time of our reservation and my name. Her reply uuuummmm well, you will have to wait till 6:00… . I though, hummm? Ok! As I look at the dining room I can plainly see 4+ open tables. But I thought, what the heck, no big deal, we will just go have a drink at the bar and come check again at 6:30… No big deal… ! So my girlfriend and I head to the bar and sit down. As we sit down I see a girl (presuming to be the bar tender) making a drink. She not once acknowledges us. About that time I food runner comes out with a gests food and comes to her and asks where it goes. She replies, I have no clue, I'm not the bartender tonight. So, they food service guy is standing there like a complete lost nut, holding plates in each hand, looking at all the patrons in eating area of the bar… . Finally after attempting the 3rd table he finds who ordered the food… . By this time the gal that was behind the bar finally leaves… . So we wait… . And wait… . And wait some more… . By now we still have not seen or even been recognized, by anyone other than the hosts when we first walked in. So after seeing it is now 6:30 we decide to go try and get seated at our table. As we walk back out to the hostess booth, we see that the lobby is completely full. I would guess that there is at least 5 different parties all standing there waiting to be seated. So we take our place (standing) in plain view of the hostess for when she returns. After about 3 minutes she finally comes back and proceeds to seat several parties in the lobby. Always walking within an arms length of us, looking at us but never said a word… . After about 15 minutes of her walking back and forth and seating 5 different parties, its only my girlfriend and I standing in the lobby… . As she comes back there are two other couples as walking in the door. She then looks at us, walks right past us, goes to the hostess booth and greets one of the couples and asks if they have a reservation. They replied “yes at 6:30 we are sorry we are late!” she says “ooooo not a problem”! Follow me and walks right past us AGAIN… . So at this point, I am pissed!!! I tell my girlfriend if she comes back, and doesn't seat us or at least tell us something we are out of here… .. Low and behold!!! She comes back, and walks right up to the other couple and greets them… . So this time as we are leaving, I stopped and told her that we are leaving now because her customer service skills suck and we are tired of being ignored. So we walked.
Now, I can put up with quite a bit, but this was completely over the top! Usually, if things go bad you can always go have a drink in the bar, but not this place, because they HAD NO BAR TENDER… . So… If you want to ruin a good well planned night, and be completely ignored, stand around waiting, watch the incompetent food runners take your food all over the restaurant looking for who actually ordered it, and die of thirst, by all means, make a RESERVATION and BE EARLY… . Hunt this place down, and try and spend some of your hard earned money here… . That is if you can even get seated… .
If you have any questions, by all means… . Feel free to email me
Endiracing@yahoo.com