February--What's happening in Salem?

Happy February to all of you!
Be sure to keep checking this post throughout the month, as we will continue to add events as we receive information. A quick way to find this list is to click the "Events" tab on the toolbar up above.
If you don't see your event listed, please send us an email with all the details or the link.

Use Eatsalem's tabs at the top of the page to find out what our favorite places are to eat, if you're looking for restaurant coupons or just need a link for hours & locations.

• First Wednesday (StateStreetBlog) downtown 5-8 pm, Feb. 3
• Ninkasi Event, Venti's Taphouse, Feb 22 
• Santiam Wine Co. hosts Matthew Price Band Feb. 11, 6-9pm
• Orupa- Thursday, February 2, we are holding a four course Cubanisimo wine dinner for $50 a person! See you all there! 503 588 3639
• Chef/Owner Bernard Malherbe of Crooked House Bistro will be hosting Chef Jeff James as guest Chef for the evening. Jeff is the former owner of j.james restaurant and currently the Wild Pear restaurant and catering. Jeff will be cooking Crooked House favorites as well as featuring his own specials from starters through dessert. Please make reservations early by calling the Crooked House bistro at 503-385-8851 or book online at crookedhousebistro.com  Saturday February 11 
• Have you made your reservations for Valentine's Day yet? Check out some options here.

• Family visiting? Check out "best places to eat" for ideas on where to take them or "movie times" to see the latest releases
• Brunch? Eola Hills Winery, Ragin River Steak House and Orchard Heights Winery are good choices.
• Looking for live music? Check out Roxxy NW, Christo's Lounge, Boon's Treasury, IKE Box, Governor's Cup
• There's always something going on at Clockworks Cafe
• In the mood for some improv? Capitol City Theater
• Salem Public Market is open EVERY Saturday, 8:30 am - 2pm
• Gilgamesh Brewing's  Seasonal Store and Ale House in the Reed Opera House is open until the end of January.
• Ready for something different? Check out "Dinner at the Rafns'". Cooking classes soon!
• Willamette Queen Sternwheeler has a regular schedule and special events
• Cooking classes:  Lullu's tutto cucina, La Margarita, Kelly's Home Center, Happy Curry Foods, Carl's Cuisine-503 363-1612
• Salem has 4 wine bars with regularly scheduled tastings/events: Santiam Wine Co., Grand Vines & Papa di vinos, Westside Wine Store, plus Wandering Aengus cider tasting house and Willamette Valley Cheese tasting room
• Click on the following links for each theatre's calendar: The Elsinore,  Historic Grand Theatre's, Pentacle Theatre
• Salem has two independent movie theaters: Northern Lights Theater Pub, Salem Cinema
• A list of Salem's numerous, must see, art galleries.
• Check Salem Creative Network to find out what's going on downtown.
• And of course, Travel Salem and numerous mid-valley wineries to explore

Venti's Gilgamesh Beer Pairing Dinner

I'd love to go into great detail about the gift of "Venti's Gilgamesh Beer Pairing Dinner" for which I received tickets in my stocking from dear old St. Nick at Christmas.  I'd love to share the details, I really would. But a picture is worth a thousand words.  And by my calculation, 16 pictures are worth 16,000 words.



Go ahead.  Ask me why there are 4,000 words worth of pictures of the cheesecake.
twitter.com/VegansNightmare

Valentine's Day Specials 2012 in Salem Oregon

Extreme Chocolates Truffles (click pic for link)

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."  -Virginia Woolf

Willamette Valley Grill- We will be doing a 5 course Valentine's dinner. Click here for our menu.

Caruso's Italian Cafe- Valentine's Day, 4 course Champagne dinner, $50 a person, on Tuesday, February 14th. Please click here to see menu and details. We request that you DO NOT make reservations via email. Email is not checked on a daily basis and technical issues sometimes occur that could result in problems regarding your reservation. Please call 503-393-8272 for reservations

Jonathan’s- We're serving a 4 course dinner, $39.95 a person. Call to make a reservation 503 689-1051 (Click here for menu)

Roberts Crossing- Valentines Day is coming! Your Valentine would love dinner at Roberts! Call for reservations. 503-584-1035,  3635 River Rd S, Salem, OR 97302

Cascade Baking Co.- Cherry Heart Puffs, Chocolate-Raspberry Turnovers, and heart shaped Sugar Cookies will be available for Valentine's Day. The puffs and turnovers are made with our in-house puff pastry. Cherry Heart Puffs are heart shaped with cherries in the center. Tops are sprinkled with powdered sugar. Chocolate-Raspberry Turnovers are classic turnovers covered with powdered sugar and chocolate pieces. 229 State Street, downtown Salem. 503 589 0491

Willamette Sternwheeler- planning Valentine weekend of events. Romantic dinners will be served for Saturday Night, a Sunday Brunch for those who wish to take a daylight cruise, and of course, dinner on Tuesday, the 14th, where we will be entertained by the enchanting David Hastings at the piano. Our prices are $48.00 for dinner or brunch. We will introduce some new menu items, we will have more gluten free pasta and bread, and desserts. We get more requests for vegetarian items, so we will put those on all our menus as well. Please call for reservation, as that is a very busy weekend we we do restrict the number of reservations so no one feels rushed or cramped in their dining experience. Call for reservations 503 371-1103

Gamberetti's- Gamberetti's valentine celebration starts Friday - Tuesday night with lobster cioppino for 15.95 , Sweet heart wine flight will also run the same days with a Valpolicella, a Ripasso and finish with Amarone all from the same grape with history ! 17.00 ( such a deal a glass of amarone alone will run you that much ) You will also be able to make any dinner a 3 course by adding a caesar salad and white chocolate raspberry mousse tart for additional 3.00. Tuesday we will also have a several more tantalizing specials for you and your loved one ...  503 339-7446

Eola Hills Winery- This year's Valentine's Dinner will be on Tuesday, February 14th. Click here to view menu. Reservations at: 6pm, 6:30pm and 7pm, $99.00 per couple. This popular, romantic feast sells out every year! Be sure to make your reservations today! 800-291-6730

Orchard Heights Winery- Dinner on February 14th, reservations are required and the deadline for those will be February 7th. There will be two seating times one at 6:00 and one at 8:00. $95 per couple and that will include a bottle of Orchard Heights Wine. (Click here for menu) (503) 391-7308

Seven Brides Brewing Grab that special someone and head down to Seven Brides for a romantic and delicious meal. Menu to be released soon. Reservations required. First seating wil be at 5:00pm and the last will be at 9:00pm. 990 N 1ST ST SILVERTON OREGON. 503-874-4677

Willamette Valley Vineyards- Love is in the air and we are sweet on hosting you and your loved one for Valentine's Day Dinner. Join us for a 3 course dinner paired with award winning wines at our romantic Estate Vineyard in Turner. We will have two limited seating times available and reservations are required. Click here for menu 800-344-9463

Northern Lights Theater Pub We are very excited about this special event here at Northern Lights Theatre Pub. Come share a romantic evening with your true love or your friends. Enjoy the most romantic love story of the year. Click here for details

Cubanisimo Vineyards- Join us for a romantic evening at our Annual Valentine’s Wine Dinner held at the Cubanisimo Vineyards Estate House on Saturday February 11th at 6:30 pm. Click here for details (503) 588-1763

Wild Pear- 3 Course VALENTINE’S DAY TO GO DINNER-- A three-course dinner is $28 per person. Packaged for takeout with reheating instructions included. (click here for link to menu)

The Roxxy Northwest Ok, Valentines Day is quickly approaching. Everything is advertised for "couples". So I say, screw that! Lets have a party for the Single and ready to Mingle! Celebrate being single, and maybe.. meet someone who catches your eye while you are at it! What do you say?!?!

Lil's Cupcake Cafe- We are having Valentine's Day cupcakes featuring sweet heart theme. order one dozen for only $19.95 to 24.95 depends on the variety. We also have cake truffles for Valentine's Day.

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Macedonia

I love Greek food. And since my husband is not the biggest fan, I always try to convince my girlfriends to meet at Macedonia. I was successful last week and met fellow Eat Salem contributor, Rebekah for dinner.

While Macedonia also serves Italian food, I have only ever eaten off their Greek menu. My "usual" at Macedonia is to split the Pikilia appetizer (which includes dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), hummus, melitzanosalata (an eggplant dip similar in texture to hummus), feta, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers along with plenty of pita) and order either the Greek salad or a gyro. But, since Rebekah and I are both big fans of dolmas and of lamb and trying something new, we both decided to look at the combination plates.

After going back and forth, Rebekah went with the Mediterranean Plate which included roast leg of lamb, spinach pie, dolmas, tzatziki dip and spinach ladolemano (sauted spinach with garlic) and was served with rice, vegetables and pita.

I went with the Combination Plate which comes with hummus dip, melitzanosalata, spinach pie and a kabob of lamb or chicken, feta cheese, olives and pita.

The melitzanosalata (eggplant dip) is one of my favorite things at Macedonia. It's tangy and delicious and I've never been able to find anyplace that makes it nearly as good. The kabob was cooked to perfection, still rare in the middle and very tender. Rebekah's leg of lamb was taken off the bone and was very tender. We both agreed the spinach pie was excellent and the spinach ladolemano was very good, especially with a bit of tzatziki on pita.

On the flip side, the hummus, which is usually good was very dull and flavorless on the evening we were there, like they had forgotten to add salt. Service was a bit lacking although there were only two other tables occupied and I finally had to flag someone down to get more pita as I had a mountain of melitzanosalata left on my plate and not enough pita to finish it. The decor is dated and a bit frumpy with a heavy floral pattern on the upholstery.

In the end, I am totally willing to overlook the service and the decor because Macedonia serves some of the best Greek food I have ever had. However, I do have a hard time justifying eating dinner here as often as I would like because the prices seem high to me. I'm going to try to start picking up lunch now and then as an affordable alternative to continue to visit Macedonia.



Macedonia
Reed Opera House
Phone: (503) 316-9997
Reed Opera House,
189 Liberty St. NE., First Floor, #111
Salem Oregon

Salem Dining Scene Changes--2012

1/29/12 DeeDeeDiner said . . .
Just saw on yelp that Smile BBQ closed---haven't independently verified however. 3-D

1/27/12 Spoons Bistro said ...
We are saddened to announce the closure of Spoons and are forced to closed our doors to all customers. today will be our last day

1/26/12 MRose said...
Buffalo Wild Wings sports bar will open at old Party Depot site on 3892 Center NE in Salem Ore. by June, company says

1/05/12 Anonymous asked & KandN answered...
"Is rockin rogers moving into the Eola Inn space on hwy 22 in west salem?" Yes, as mentioned below on 12/20/11, they have opened another location in the old Eola Inn building.~KandN

Anonymous also asked:
"Anybody try the taco truck downtown on the corner of Ferry and Commercial street?"

1/04/12 KandN shared...
Just learned that San Diego Taco Co. in Salem is still open. Two other stores (Canby & Hillsboro) are now closed.

12/28/11 Roxie shared ...
Cherry City Café is going out of business. I answered an ad on CL for Cafe out of business - $1 (ne salem). ... So sad.