Feeling the Heat: Blacksmith beer tasting rolls, Tour at Thump

The dog days are here and with the prevalence of new eateries in Central Oregon there are bound to be a few that succumb to the heat of competition. Ernesto's is calling it quits after a decade of serving big portions of traditional Americanized Italian fare. The building that once housed a church and then Le Bistro (the popular French restaurant owned by Chef Axel Hoch) will hopefully be put to good use as another restaurant. On its second go around, Makahna's is reportedly going under and has closed the doors on its recently opened location on Galveston. Makahna's originally opened on Greenwood in the space currently occupied by Super Burrito.
 
Over on Newport, Kebaba has launched a line of Middle-Eastern food that will be appearing in the deli sections of local grocery stores. A traditional hummous, harrissa-spiced red pepper hummous, babaganouj (eggplant spread), and green salsa/hot sauce will be available at Newport Market, Riley's Market (in NW Crossing), Produce Patch, Whole Foods, Jackson's Corner (formerly Delaware Market) and Nature's. Kebaba has also added a rotating tap at the restaurant location that will feature seasonal and rare beers - Saisson du Pont will debut on July 15th and is perfect sipping while enjoying the new air conditioning.

Wrap it up to go. Le Cakery has one of the best enticements a retail spot could ask for: The luscious, sugary aromas of baking cakes. Upon entering the parking lot off of Galveston Avenue, you are struck by the warm, comforting smell that takes you by the nose and leads you to a little pink sliver of a shop staffed by two high-energy ladies cooking, decorating, selling and storing all their goods in about 400 square feet of space.

Ida Green Gurule and Karin Denman met in a Jazzercise class and started brainstorming about opening a specialty bakery. While living in Tacoma, Gurule owned a wholesale bakery specializing in cookies and challah. But this time she wanted to do something a bit different and, at the suggestion of Denman, decided on decorative Bundt cakes and cupcakes, as well as cookies, bars and challah.
Once they returned from a research trip to California, they started testing recipes using their fellow Jazzercise students as guinea pigs. “We would do blind tastings of cupcakes and samples of different cakes to find out what people liked,” explains Gurule.

Wrap it up to go. Le Cakery has one of the best enticements a retail spot could ask for: The luscious, sugary aromas of baking cakes. Upon entering the parking lot off of Galveston Avenue, you are struck by the warm, comforting smell that takes you by the nose and leads you to a little pink sliver of a shop staffed by two high-energy ladies cooking, decorating, selling and storing all their goods in about 400 square feet of space.
 
Ida Green Gurule and Karin Denman met in a Jazzercise class and started brainstorming about opening a specialty bakery. While living in Tacoma, Gurule owned a wholesale bakery specializing in cookies and challah. But this time she wanted to do something a bit different and, at the suggestion of Denman, decided on decorative Bundt cakes and cupcakes, as well as cookies, bars and challah.
Once they returned from a research trip to California, they started testing recipes using their fellow Jazzercise students as guinea pigs. "We would do blind tastings of cupcakes and samples of different cakes to find out what people liked," explains Gurule.