One of Bend's most unique restaurants, featuring more than 400 bottled brews in a massive 12-door cooler, is unleashing a new weapon. No, it's not another bottled brew—it's a new chef and a fine-tuned menu. The Broken Top Bottle Shop has welcomed Chef Ingrid Rohrer, who has a rich background in preparing foods with an ethnic influence.
Although the menu has evolved, many popular entrée items remain. According to BTBS owner Diana Fischetti, the restaurant's mission of having something for everyone will not change. The restaurant will continue to serve creative vegan and vegetarian meals, provide gluten free dishes, and continue to smoke meats on site. BTBS will also feature local products. Fischetti says that her restaurant plans to continue its flair for "high-end comfort food using Rohrer's ethnic touch and featuring locally-grown produce as the seasons allow."
Chef Ingrid Rohrer migrated from California and most recently was Executive Chef at 10 Below in Bend's Oxford Hotel. There she built strong relationships with local producers and looks forward to cultivating those ties. Her 30-year restaurant background includes working as executive chef for California's well-known Bon Appétit Management Company, which, while serving thousands of people per week, celebrates the use of local, organic products grown within 150 miles of their vast, nationwide network of cooking facilities. Her past experience includes influence by Mexican, Indian, and Chinese chefs. Ingrid is a graduate of the California Culinary Institute, now Le Cordon Bleu of San Francisco.
New on the menu are half-chicken entrees and wild Chinook salmon. Chicken is cooked on a Traeger, a popular Oregon-manufactured grill. Each side is slow cooked for an hour at 180 degrees and then smoked at very low heat for half an hour. Ribs are also slow cooked for an hour on each side, then smoked for 30 minutes at the end. The wild Chinook is procured from Warm Springs.
Popular items such as the restaurant's famous mac and cheese, a variety of chicken wings, its popular cheeseburger, and signature Caesar salad will continue to be a mainstay on BTBS's menu. The restaurant's popular cheese plate will still be there for you. "50-Cent Wing Sunday" is here to stay. "Thirsty Thursday Tacos" will also continue, and Chef Rohrer says that this is where she gets creative. Using local suppliers, she utilizes fresh produce and meats according to seasonal availability and puts her ethnic influences to work in her creations. The end result is a variety of flavors that change with available ingredients.
There is one other dish that Rohrer says people attempt to order all the time: tri-tip steak and rice. The problem is that it's a menu item meant for dogs. This eclectic restaurant understands that Bend has become one of the most popular towns for pet owners and their dogs. Dogs dine outside on the patio while the good weather lasts, and they are always welcome at the restaurant.
With the holiday season in full swing, BTBS is ramping up a busy slate of events. A free music series—usually heard only on Sunday nights—will change up to include music during the week, allowing the restaurant to mesh with the busy travel schedules of popular musicians. A vegan four-course holiday dinner is being planned for Dec. 16 at 6 pm. Price per meal is $40, and tickets are available at BTBSbend.com. Then it's the return of the Ugly Christmas Sweater for Saturday, Dec. 19. The event, sponsored by Swift Cider, will feature a DJ, Christmas tree, cider samplings, and various prizes.
Owner Diana Fischetti says that she is thrilled to have hired Chef Rohrer and that the restaurant will continue to "dig deep" for creative culinary options for vegans, vegetarians, and meat lovers.
