Bend is a beer town. With eight breweries, many of them award winning, our little city rivals any on the West Coast in terms of quality beer production. And one of the smallest breweries, Bend Brewing Company, is producing some of our region's most well-received beers out of a studio-apartment-sized space above its brewpub on Brooks Street. The brewer behind these creations is Tonya Cornett.
Brew La La: Bend Brewing Company's Tonya Cornett is quietly making award-winning brews
Posted inFood & Drink
Little Bites: Restaurant Round Robin
The Central Oregon restaurant industry has been experiencing a pretty big overhaul lately, with the opening of three new eateries and big changes and additions to four more. Level 2, the new lounge above Saxons in the Old Mill District (formerly the home of the Old Mill Martini Bar), opened its doors over Labor Day weekend. The Aida Chow-run restaurant (the woman behind Szechuan) features “globally inspired cuisine” with prices ranging from $4 – $18. We hear Level 2 is hoping to appeal to the pre- and post-movie and concert crowd with small plates and pastries, as well as cocktails. Finally, a late-night destination in the Old Mill.
Posted inFood & Drink
Howdy, Neighbors! New owners give Riverside Market a much-needed facelift
Neighborhoods are defined not just by their residents, but the shops, cafes and markets that hold them together. Neighborhood businesses are a reflection of the hood's personality – they employ neighbors, act as meeting places, organize get-togethers and events.
Such is the case with Riverside Market, the casual café and corner store between NW Congress Street and NW McCann Avenue in the historic mill-era neighborhood south of Drake Park. In the past, it's seen good times and bad times. At its best, it's been a meeting spot for bridge players and floaters stopping in for a beer after a day on the river. At its seediest, it's been a hangout spot for early-morning drunks and transients, with bathrooms used as makeshift bathhouses. But with its recent purchase by John and Melanie Gaipo, Riverside might have become the friendliest neighborhood market in Bend.
Posted inCulture
When Bryce Met Juli: The sum of Flipped's parts just doesn't add up
Do you remember when you flipped? The time in your life when you stopped thinking boys had cooties and all you could think about was when that cute boy in your math class would finally make a move and kiss you? Rob Reiner's Flipped takes on the coming-of-age tale of first love, where two middle schoolers learn what it means to be head-over-heels.
Posted inCulture
Lame in Every Dimension: 3D action can salvage Afterlife's staggering dullness
Be warned: Resident Evil: Afterlife really isn't a movie, it's a great big video game that you can watch, but not play. Shot in Real-D, rather than the horrible post-shooting 3D conversion process, the cutting-edge effects are of the Avatar variety and are a welcome dose of visual improvement on the fourth installment of this franchise.
Posted inCulture
How The Mighty Have Fallen: Metroid makes an off balance transition to the Wii
During the movie that opens Metroid: Other M, Samus Aran, the bounty hunter star of the franchise, is revealed stretched out in the same aqua blue bodysuit in which she ended the original Metroid. Now, however, she wears high heels and hauls quite a caboose. Maybe it balances the linebacker shoulders her suit of armor has developed. Or maybe the designers of Other M thought it would captivate gamers as they watched Samus sashay through the game’s cut scenes.
Posted inCulture
Wanted: More Thumbs
Sad to say, but “criticizing things” can be a real cutthroat business! If I'm not keeping up with the other TV and movie critics in the country, I could easily find myself at the bottom of a dumpster, licking cheese out of a discarded Dominos box. That's why, in honor of the new Fall season of TV shows, I've decided to institute a new “rating system” – just like every other hack critic employs when they're unable to use “words” to say whether they like something or not. But instead of numbers, stars, pineapples, or other fruit, I'll be rating the new Fall shows with an old standby: THUMBS.
Posted inMusic
Deb Yager: Six Song Austin Demo
Deb Yager didn't start playing guitar until she was in her mid 30s, but you wouldn't know that by listening to the smartly crafted folk numbers on the six-song EP that she recorded in her former hometown of Austin, Texas. Yager has been in Bend for the past five years, playing music with her band Little Fish, which includes her husband, Bo Reynolds, while creating songs of her own on the side.
Posted inCulture
Our Picks for 9/15-9/23: Willie Nelson, Little Shop of Horrors, and more!
I am Indie Open House
thursday 16
With both BendFilm and the Future Filmmakers' 72-Hour Shootout quickly approaching, take this opportunity to find out from the filmmakers what it takes to make an independent film on a dime. Check out high-end video equipment (stuff that puts our flip cameras to shame, for sure); ask the filmmakers questions about their films, careers, and the industry itself. All ages welcome. 5:30pm. Rage Production's Studio, 20727 High Desert Ct, Ste 5.
Posted inNews
The Virtual Office: Inside Oregon’s ever-growing telecommuting culture
Troy McMullin lives in Bend and is a pharmacist by trade. But you won't find him in a white coat behind a counter anywhere in town. Rather, most days McMullin is at his computer in Tech Space Bend in the Old Cigar Building, likely on the phone with his boss in St. Louis. Outside his door, sitting in cubicles and other offices are other Bendites with their heads down, working away for Apple, financial traders, software outfits and other companies across the country and the world.