Little Bites

After breezing through 10 Barrel Brewing's soft opening last week, Quick Bites got a closer look at the new pub's operation this week. Owners Chris Cox and Garrett Wales said business has been brisk for the newest member of Bend's brewpub family.
We returned this week to look over the pub's menu, which features many of the brewpub industry standards like mac and cheese, burgers and salads. However, the pub is also offering a strong line up of pizzas ranging from a plain mozzarella and herb pie ($12/large) to an elaborate prosciutto pesto chicken pizza ($18/large). Other interesting menu items include tempura-fried steak fingers ($8) and steamed manila clams served in 10 Barrel's American Wheat Ale broth.

Despite a recent run of unseasonably warm weather, it's still officially winter, but that didn't prevent Derek and Gregg Yarrow, a pair of Long Island transplants from staking their culinary claim on Mirror Pond plaza. The brothers recently launched a joint venture that might just be the best rolling sausage fest in downtown Bend, apologies to the Classic Car Cruise…
The Yarrow Brothers opened BurlyWurst, an elaborate hot dog-and-sausage cart that would be the envy of any New York street vendor. Using recipes handed down from their German mother that are informed by younger brother Gregg's NYC culinary background, the Yarrows have elevated the wiener to an art form. Garnished with mom's homemade sauerkraut, the Berlin Brat ($4.50) comes served on a toasted bun and is available with slaw or sautéed onions. Or mix 'em all together. The guys are happy to help you customize your order to taste.

10 Below and the Oxford Hotel are set to officially open this week. Located in the lower lobby of the hotel, 10 Below gets its name from the hotel's street address (10 NW Minnesota). The menu ($8-25), by Chef Sam Reed, formerly of Sunriver Resort and The Biltmore in Arizona, is sure to please. Local Bendite Todd Lambert joins Reed as Sous Chef at what is likely to be a new hotspot in Bend. The bar features a high-end selection of liquors. The décor alone is worth the trip. Shiny, white antler looking light fixtures adorn the ceiling; a colorful wall of woven lights blurs the line between function and art; sculptural tree stumps, saplings, and cross-sections pay tribute to the eco-friendly, environmentally-conscious tagline of the Oxford Hotel.

It's been what seems like a couple of years since Santiago Casanueva first started pushing yerba maté brews to Bendites and he's won a fair number of converts to his leafy coffee alternative that has long been popular in places like Brazil. Now Casanueva is back in downtown Bend just a few paces from his former digs at St. Clair Place. The Top Leaf Maté bar is now serving at the increasingly hip Tin Pan alley, between Lone Pine Coffee and Thump. It's going to take some sales pitch to get Bendites off coffee as good as Lone Pine and Thump, but if anybody can wean you off the bean, it's Casanueava. Bonus web points to anyone who logs online and checks out Casanueava's DIY “webformercial” that ran under the provocative headline, Bend Oregon What Is Yerba Maté. Extra bonus points and a bag of good old fashioned coffee to anyone who can spot and identify the Source staffer featured in the video. E-mail your best guess to editor@tsweekly.com and put off maté for another week.

My dad, who still doesn't understand why anyone would want to forgo hamburgers, lives by the motto: If it's green, it's trouble; if it's fried, order double. I've been meaning to get his take on items that cross both barriers: like vegetable tempera or the crispy-friend vegetarian spring rolls my husband and I devoured with friends during a trip to Typhoon in downtown Bend.

Editor's note: This is the first in a regular series about vegetarian dining options in Central Oregon from new Source correspondent Nikki Jefford. Look for more features in upcoming issues, including a look at Typhoon's veggie menu.
I suppose vegan sushi is an oxymoron, kinda like when I spread humus and salsa between two tortillas, toast it on the skillet, and call it a quesadilla. “It's called queso,” my husband informs me. “Meaning CHEESE!” Fine, but beanodilla just doesn't have the same ring.
Personally, I prefer the term “vegan sushi” to “rolls” because the latter always conjures up images of doughy balls of dinner bread, not raw slices of cucumber and avocado rolled up in seaweed and rice with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and nearly translucent slivers of ginger.

Beer is the big news this week. (It's recession proof – donchayaknow?) As reported above, a new beer bar is planned for the area around College Way.

Coming soon to a theater near you.

The Central Oregon restaurant merry go round continues as new bars and restaurants are jumping at what they see as a window of opportunity to get in prime lease space even as others drop off.

Pour us a pint, Brother Jon.

Those in the Galveston Avenue neighborhood – referred to as the “Parrilla District” by at least one Source staffer – got another watering hole option this week with the opening of Brother Jon’s Public House.
Operating out of what was the short-lived Mahkanas on Galveston, Brother Jon’s is a venture by Downtowner partner Stephen Barnette and fellow Deschutes pub alum John Machell (along with wife Kristen). Barnette calls Brother Jon’s a “neighborhood pub” with a clean atmosphere, a full bar with choices of microbrews as well as the seemingly obligatory $2 PBR tall can. The menu is pub fare with nothing exceeding the $10 line, underlining the pub’s focus on affordability. Having opened just Monday, Barnette says he’s already noticed a come-one-come-all ethos to his pub.
“Yesterday a couple guys from down the street came by with a guitar and banjo and played out on the back patio. And we’re fine with that sort of thing,” said Barnette, adding that they also have cable sports packages.

We’re not ready to call the Great Bend Restaurant Shakeout over just yet, but lately we’ve been hearing more about restaurants opening than closing. Following a wholesale massacre that brought down dining titans Merenda, Deep, as well as Volo, Bistro Corlise and, earlier, Blue Fish Bistro, the downtown scene is poised for a rebound of sorts. Over on the corner of Minnesota and Wall the former Merenda staff, led by Mike Millette, is putting the finishing touches on their new and retooled restaurant, dubbed 900 Wall. Millette said the business is tentatively scheduled to open its doors on May 6.