Little Bites

Bend’s newest Thai restaurant, which opened this week for dinner and lunch in the old Typhoon! location downtown, has raised the bar.
The Seattle-based Chaiseeha family leased the building earlier this summer and has combined art shipped directly from Thailand with items purchased from Typhoon!. We stopped in for lunch on Tuesday.
The space Noi has created feels similar to its predecessor, but with much more gold art on the walls, lending a more traditional Thai feeling to the place, rather than the more urban-inspired mood of the Portland-grown Typhoon!.

Every year, just as September draws to a close and autumn begins, brewers across the Northwest get the call that they’ve been waiting for all season—it’s hop harvest time! Come get your damn hops!
And so starts the annual pilgrimage of brewers to the Willamette Valley and Yakima, Wash., to gather the recently harvested hops that will, later that day, be added to various fresh hop beers. Deschutes, 10 Barrel and Three Creeks already have fresh hop beers on tap and other local brewers are likely to soon follow. If you want them en masse, you’ll find a number of them at the Sisters Fresh Hop Festival on Saturday, despite the Pole Creek Fire.

You know how when you’re in Portland and, after a long night, you realize you’re too drunk and thus find yourself at that doughnut place everyone’s always talking about?
After deliberating over the multitude of Voodoo Doughnuts’ novelty offerings, which are topped with all sorts of zany ingredients, you walk away proudly with a couple of “Old Dirty Bastards,” (a raised yeast doughnut with chocolate frosting, Oreo’s and peanut butter) and think, “Man, I wish we had some late-night shit like this in Bend!”

A new farmers market has popped up in Sunriver. Organizers expect to hold it every Friday through the summer in the parking lot near the old Trouthouse, where Hola! is now located.
Every Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. market goers will find vendors like Kombucha Mama, Mothers and Good Earth Farms selling fresh, primarily local products.
Paradise Produce, which usually sells out of a farm stand near the corner of Century Drive and Commerce Avenue, will provide fresh fruit and berries through the Good Earth Farms booth, as well. Alberti wines have also signed on.

Crux Fermentation Project Holds Grand Opening
Bend’s newest brewery opened Saturday night, June 30, to a crowd of 1,500 or so locals and tourists who helped christen the brewery, munched some barbecue and slipped their own private momento into a time capsule box at the brewery.
Those intending to savor the fruits of former Deschutes brewmaster and Crux co-owner Larry Sidor’s latest labors had to wait, though. Crux went through 25 kegs worth of guest taps Saturday night, but will not begin pouring their own brews until this Friday.

Angel Thai is opening a second location on the westside. The restaurant has been operated out of its Division Street location for about five years after a relocation from La Pine. The new restaurant will open in the former Sumi’s space on College Way near the Chevron gas station.
This second incarnation will be slightly more upscale, said Alley Kelley, an employee of Angel Thai, which is owned by Nicole Srijunyanont and Bee Wongsri. Wongsri also recently opened a food cart that often sets up shop in the Players parking lot.

You’ve probably heard that Letzer’s, the Jewish-style deli known for its sandwiches with a baseball-sized serving of meat in the middle, closed doors awhile back.
But, a new pastrami hook-up has stepped up to the plate and we’re psyched to try Pastrami Old World Deli when it opens downtown for First Friday.
“The food that Letzer had was fantastic,” said Kryste Adams, owner, manager and operator of the new deli, which is located in the former Letzer’s location downtown behind the Re/Max Key Properties office at 431 Franklin Ave.
When Sheridan Letzer decided to retire and closed both his downtown and Division Street locations, Adams and her two partners moved fast to fill the niche.

There is nothing like homemade. Anything made with your own two hands just seems to have an appeal that cannot be matched by processed products. Even when the end result isn’t exactly the best you’ve ever tasted, you’ll find yourself more forgiving of any shortcomings.
This is definitely true for cheese. I adore cheese. Everybody loves cheese. And, it tastes so good when you make it, that you will wonder why you didn’t try this before. Since we are talking about goat this week, I thought I would share an incredibly easy recipe for homemade goat cheese.

Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council launches “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” this Friday with an early evening kick off at local food haven, Jackson's Corner. The campaign aims to make it easier for people to tell what food at a business is locally produced.
A vintagy looking label should start popping up around the area to help identify what foods are locally produced.
Buy Fresh, Buy Local will also put out a directory. So, if you are looking for goat meat or locally grown basil, you can check the directory and know which grocery stores and restaurants are selling that thing.