Alessandro's Summer Special

3-Course Dinner for Two $39

Starter: Mozzarella, tomato & artichoke hearts.

Choice of Entrees: Baked Atlantic fillet of salmon with tomato and asparagus risotto;
Chicken Parmigiana with creamy garlic polenta and sauteed spinach;
or
8oz. Grilled Top Sirloin with roasted truffled potatoes and vegetables.

Desserts: NY style cheese cake with raspberry sauce or Strawberries Romanoff.

Available Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays only, from 6pm to 9pm

120 Commercial Street NE
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 370-9951

Food For Thought Stand In

Women Ending Hunger has come up with a clever visual to demonstrate the amount of hunger that exists in young people in our community. This is a copy and paste from a press release sent in from Neigborhood Harvest of Salem. They need lots of people and it only takes a few minutes.

Join the FOOD FOR THOUGHT STAND-IN, 5-5:20 pm this Wed.

Help form a line of 3,700 empty plates across downtown Salem to bring attention to the 37,000 CHILDREN in Marion and Polk Counties who go to bed hungry.

Call Kat Daniel with Women Ending Hunger at (503) 581-3855 ext. 322 for a place in line, and spread the word.

www.marionpolkfoodshare.org

Blue Willow

Let's put it this way . . . N and I went so you don't have to.
Just call us "sacrificial diners".
You're right. You rarely see a negative review on eatsalem. There are a few, you just have to dig a bit to find them. It's something the eatsalem contributors talk about amongst themselves. We know we should be heading to places we have heard are iffy, but when it's our own belly and our own dollars, it's not an easy decision. Kinda like willing yourself to get under that cold shower--not that I have any experience with that.

I suppose I could be generous and say that this restaurant provides an inexpensive sit down dining option for families. But if I were too tired or too busy to make dinner, I'm pretty sure I'd make a toasted cheese sandwich and open a can of soup if my only choice was Blue Willow.
Too harsh? Maybe you like this type of Chinese food: cheap with large portions. Personally, I've always been fairly picky about my food--more so since I've been with eatsalem.com. I believe that quality ingredients are the key in creating quality menu items. The more items that are made from scratch on site, the more apt my taste buds are going to respond in a positive manner.
Chapter 1--First Impressions.
As N and I stepped out of our car, the first thing we noticed was the nearly full parking lot and the row of visible diners seated near the windows. Once we were inside, it was apparent that the window seats are filled first. It's a technique N and I have seen often. The long continuous bench seat along the south wall, the bamboo chandeliers, the flowered wallpaper and carpet, all reminded me of the first Chinese restaurant I was ever taken to 40 years ago. The restaurant appeared clean, though a little worn around the edges.
Chapter 2--The Food
We were seated quickly. A pot of tea, menus and glasses of water arrived soon after. The tea was warm and had no flavor. I opted for the ice water instead. We decided to order Family Dinner B with hot and sour soup. The soup and then appetizers, spring rolls and barbecued pork, arrived immediately. The hot and sour soup was okay. It did have hot and sour flavors, although not a lot of character or depth overall. The spring roll had a nearly impenetrable exterior shell and was the same diameter as my wrist--daunting, yes daunting is a good word for it.  It was difficult to determine exactly what was inside. It might have been mashed potatoes for all I know, except I did find some slivers of carrot and a fragment of a shrimp body.  On a slightly more positive side, the barbecued pork was moist and the dipping sauce was okay (no heat).

Approximately, 6-8 minutes later our fried rice, Triple Dragon and sweet & sour chicken arrived at our table. I was anticipating what the "delicious sauce" on the Triple Dragon would taste like. (Yes, I was still hopeful.)  Well . . . I understand there are people who enjoy the flavor of soy sauce. I like what soy sauce can contribute to a sauce or dish, but don't enjoy it solo. All I could taste in the "delicious sauce" was soy sauce, nothing else. The sweet & sour chicken had an overly generous amount of breading surrounding the dry chicken breast and the sweet but bland sauce tasted like it had been poured out of a can. The fried rice was the best part of the meal and at that point (yes, I was disappointed and still hungry) it didn't matter that the added mushy peas and diced carrots were most likely canned.
Chapter 3--The Verdict
It felt wrong to fill the 3 to go boxes with food we knew we wouldn't eat, but the family who run the restaurant were very sweet and attentive. I just couldn't bring myself to leave so much food behind. (What a dope!)
Bottom line? We can not recommend Blue Willow. We just can't.

1985 Lancaster Drive Northeast
Salem, OR 97305-1020
(503) 581-3067

Oregon State Fair 2010

8/31/10 

Sling Shot

Stihl Slideshow at the Oregon State Fair

Here's the first Youtube from a concert at the fair. This is ZZ Top performing Sharp Dressed Man. Not bad.

8/27/10
The Oregon State Fair starts today! Yippee! Thanks to some local Tweeters, you can enjoy the fair vicariously from your own computer or smart phone in real time. The following widget is a collection of folks that are walking around the fairgrounds, doing fair stuff, so you don't have to. Actually they're hoping you get so excited reading their tweets, that you rush over there and join them.


Going to the fair in real life can be a lot of fun too. Just be careful because this place can be a serious money drain if you don't have a good strategy going in. The first thing to know is that they have lots of discounts. Click here to see daily specials. If you have kids that like rides, I highly suggest going on the days that they sell $26 unlimited wristbands.(Aug. 31 and Sept. 1) Nothing's worse then having to spend $3-$5 per child for a brief smash up on the bumper cars. Most Salem parents are experts on this fair and know that when you walk through the front door, go straight through like you have blinders on. Walk toward the farm animals at the back of the fair. Do the rides last if you can. It's hard to convince a child to go see baby pigs when their staring at the dizzying sites of a carnival. There are lots of fun free activities to do at the fair, here's some links.
Familyville
Stages
Timbersports
Sports and Recreation
Lastly, go local on the food and drink and take pictures. They have an "Oregon Buffet" this year which is food made with only Oregon ingredients. Yum! Now that's something you won't be able to taste through Twitter. I guess I'll actually have to go. See you there, I'll be by the baby pigs on Wed.


8/20/10
Food and fun is what the Oregon State Fair is all about. That means rides, farm animals and greasy fair food. As always, send us some pics of your eats from this years fair and we will post them right here. eatsalem@gmail.com. We'll monitor youtube for videos and post live cams when we can. This year the headliner is ZZ Top. It should be wild watching the bearded trio from Texas take the stage in Salem. I wonder if these sharp dressed men will be spotted dining in town. I'm guessing if they are not sleeping in the tour bus they will be put up at the Grand Hotel. Probably eating at least once at Bentley's. If any of the band's handlers are reading this, tell the guys to meet us in the basement of Venti's for a tweetup before the show. Just DM @RobMcguire.


Actually, I just did a Twitter search and I don't think they have an account but I did find some cool pics.

She got legs!

Here's one of the guys from the band, Dusty Hill, strolling around what looks like a fairground. I wonder if this was one of those "take your daughter to work" days. Ooops, I guess after saying that he won't want to meet up with us for a drink and a Moroccan Chicken Wrap.

The Oregon State Fair runs from Friday, August 27th to September 6th. The official website is right here.

Eatsalem.com Meetup at Jonathan's

It was great seeing all the folks out last night at Jonathan's. The conversations were so lively, I only had a chance to take a couple of pictures before we started digging into the nicely prepared meals. The first one is my order, the Hot Seafood Salad. Jonathan's knows how to cook seafood, the scallops in this thing just melted in my mouth. I leaned over and got a shot of Sushi Cat's order of Seafood Nachos. This was huge and covered with shrimp. I think SC is going to have leftovers for at least a week. If anyone else has pics from their meal I can post them if you send them to me via email. Did anyone notice State Representative and restaurateur Kevin Cameron having dinner at the table behind us? I always wonder how many of the restaurant industry big shots know about our little blog here. Until next time, happy eating Salem.

Posted 8/25/10
The eatsalem.com gang is getting together Thursday night at 7pm at Jonathan's on High St. downtown to talk restaurants and blogging or whatever. Anyone is welcome to come down and say hello and have a drink or bite with us. Eatsalem.com is a loose affiliation of folks who like to talk about local food.
The blog started out in June of '07 with just one blogger, Salem Man(me) and one reader, KandN(actually that's 2). It has since grown into a community effort in Salem with almost 500 readers a day and 25 contributors. We have always said, more voices will better reflect the reality of the restaurants here in Salem, giving the reader a clearer picture of where to eat.
When people ask why we do this, the answer is easy. It's fun. We are constantly discovering new restaurants in areas of town where we might not normally travel. It has opened up a line of communication between restaurant owners and patrons. Most importantly, it has connected neighbors(literally) and formed friendships.
That's why we're meeting at Jonathan's Thursday. So we can get to know each other better and enjoy the waning days of summer '10.  See you there.

Gilgamesh at Venti's

Come meet the brewers as Venti's puts the Mamba back on tap and we share our second experimental batch of Filbert Lager!* Plus, our Mega Monster Imperial IPA will likely be on tap at that time (it's next in the queue, so let's run them out of the Stone Ruination fast!). Mike & Kari will be there, and there are bound to be more Radtkes to chat with.

We hope to see you there! Let's show Venti's how fast we can blow through our Gilgamesh kegs! :)

August 26 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Venti's

325 Court St NE

Salem, OR

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
The Radtkes
Lee, Eileen, Mike, Kari, Nick, Lani, Matt & Megan

* Haven't had the 2nd batch of Filbert Lager yet? If you had the first, the recipe was changed in order to get even more filbert flavor! We were very pleased with the first one, but this one is even better!

Red Ginger, Name Dropping

It appears from a recently received email, that another Salem area restaurant is struggling. Someone sent me this plea about Red Ginger in Keizer being close to closing. We've had some bad news on here recently about struggling restaurants and I hope that doesn't leave the impression that every restaurant in town is doing poorly. Lots of restaurants are full of customers. There are many factors that go into the success of a restaurant, location being a big one. We eat Thai and Vietnamese food often but are more likely to eat nearby, at places like Langxang and Thai Beer. Red Ginger seems to get lost in the blur of all the white noise of signage along N. River Rd. in Keizer. It's almost like you would need a fireworks display to attract the attention of automobile traffic along that road. I think they are in the old Caruso's building right? They have gotten a couple of good reviews on this site. One from Lavachickie and one from Scott Sadler. Anyway, I hate to see a local business go under and I thought I would drop their name on the site today. Here's the email:

To whom it may concern:

It has come to my attention that Red Ginger is very close to closing their doors! I have had great experiences (and meals) there, and have heard nothing but great things from friends as well. I don't know if you have met the 2 women who run the place, but they are so sweet and do all they can to please their customers. Even their health inspection reports are good! I'd hate to see that place go under!!! So, I'm not sure how your web site works, but I had to at least make a personal plea for a bit of "Red Ginger" name dropping on there. From my conversations with the Chef/Owner I doubt they have any kind of funding for advertising, so this was my 'plug' for them, small as it may be...

Help a small, local business out!
:o)
Thank you for your time,

Downtown Waffles

A couple of us wanted to share our experiences with Downtown Waffles, so this is a two-for-one review deal. Enjoy!

Rebekah's two cents:

After seeing a flurry of tweets about the new waffle cart downtown, I had waffles on the mind. As I was driving home from an appointment through downtown I saw the cart and my stomach and mouth informed me that I must have one. So I found a place to park (miraculously right in front of the cart!) and headed over to check it out.

I ordered a peaches and whip cream waffle and chatted with the owner while it cooked. It took him approximately seven months to get everything in order to start up the business on the streets of Salem, although he thinks he could do it in 3-4 weeks now that he knows the process. Great, I think to myself, open up a few more. Portland has this great food cart scene and its nearby neighbor, Salem, has...uh...not much to speak of. Anyway, I digress.

I love the waffle cart's location on the corner of Liberty and Chemeketa. It's such a busy intersection and there is always something to watch while you're waiting. The owner is a friendly guy who chats it up with customers and non-customers alike. He tells me he uses Bob's Red Mill organic flour. He talks about how many waffles he has to taste to get them perfect (poor, poor guy!). We chat about downtown businesses.When my waffle is sufficiently cooked, he tops it with whip cream and peaches and hands it to me folded in half, wrapped in paper, so I can eat it on the go. It turns out I eat it standing right there because it is just that good.

A Nutella and powdered sugar waffle for another customer. I ate mine too quickly for pictures. Oops! Bad food blogger, bad!

And here is Karen's review:

I had been hearing about the waffle cart for a couple of days, even though it turns out it's been around since early June. Since I work at a coffeeshop downtown Thursday and Friday afternoons, I decided to make a waffle my lunch one day. The cart operator, James, was very friendly, and, as my waffle cooked, we chatted about the ingredients he uses. The waffle I had was very tasty, and the peaches and cream made a great topping. Along with fresh peaches and fresh, homemade whipped cream, James has some other regular toppings, including peanut butter, nutella, marionberry syrup, and now honey butter from The Roadhouse. He envisions a rotating topping that would change with what's in season or available (like the peaches). I love this idea and view it as an excuse to try a new waffle topping regularly. Even so, the list of regularly available toppings is very tempting as it is.

Although the cart is currently located across from Liberty Plaza, he may be moving across in front of Tan Republic during the rainy season, and he has considered moving the cart nearer to the capitol a couple of days a week.

Mmm. Peaches and Cream!

Follow the waffle cart on Twitter @downtownwaffles

Hours are 8-2 Tuesday-Saturday (unless otherwise posted)

LIMEberry, Frozen Yogurt and Espresso

by Lisa Anne
LIMEberry, frozen yogurt and espresso just opened down the street from me. It was a fairly quiet opening down in the Beanery's old spot, near the Sunnyslope Roths' in South Salem.



This small cafe's interior has a bit of a cute retro vibe with bright lime green IKEA chairs and white square tables. The place was spotless, though a little confusing on entrance. I walked in to see a wall of soft-serve ice cream dispensers and the seating area. I wasn't sure if it was self-serve so I went up to the counter where a very helpful woman told us we could fill up a container (they have 3 sizes) and she would charge us $0.40 an ounce for the yogurt and toppings.

I counted around 8 flavor choices (room for 10) and 24 toppings, ranging from chocolate chips to gummy worms, to nerds, to crushed butterfingers. They also serve Alan Bros coffee. It was a bit warm and I was more in the mood for yogurt.

Overall, I thought this place was pretty cool...could have more though and from the looks of the website, they will start selling more than just yogurt, coffee, and Umpqua Oats eventually. LIMEberry feels like it was started by a first time restaurant owner. I hope they do well. Ever since the Beanery left this space, I've been hoping a small coffee shop would open up here.

BTW, I'm wondering if pinkberry , from the show Gossip Girl, was any influence on LIMEberry...?

http://www.limeberryyogurt.com/
Sunnyslope Shopping Center
4555 Liberty Rd S Ste 370
Salem, OR

Hours: 7 a.m. - 9 p.m weekdays, ? a.m. - 9 p.m. weekends
Prices: ~$5.00 person

Dessert at La Capitale

Only one thing could make the first face-to-face meeting between bloggers (Can Opener Boy & Joyful Quarles) better: Dessert at La Capitale! On Tuesday 10th August at 8pm the two wonderments converged, and a great time was had by all.

I'm a cobbler man usually, and (deep breath for a true confession) chocolate is just, well, "OK" for me. I have to admit that my palate is just not that refined with some things. Coffee is one of them. We all had a cup of decaf. I thought it was alright, but my wife and JQ both said it tasted "old". The server was gracious and offered to make a fresh pot after whisking away our old cups. A few minutes later with 3 fresh cups in front of us we sampled again and 2/3 of us pronounced the fresh decaf much better. 1/3 of us (ahem, me.) said "Well, it is hotter, but aside from that, it's alright". If it was beer, or bread, or cheese, it would have been a much different story. But coffee, and chocolate? Not so much. So to stretch myself I got adventurous with the Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce. I am a raspberry sauce fan and figured even if the flourless cake was just OK to me, the raspberry sauce would make up for it. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when the cake was not overly dense and rich, and the chocolate was actually quite flavorful. Not too bittersweet, but just intense enough to make me keep wanting more. But I have to say the sauce was the star. Often a raspberry sauce is overly thin, making it hard it really taste enough in each bite. Or if it is thicker it is because it is syrupy and overly sweet. This sauce was somehow thicker and more robust without being cloyingly sweet. Perhaps it was a reduction, I'm not sure. All I know is that it stuck to my fork and allowed me to have a bit of warm raspberry goo with each bit of wonderful chocolate flourless goodness!

My wife had the Profiteroles. We had no idea what it was and when she heard there was ice cream and chocolate sauce involved she was sold. Three little puff pastries filled with rich ice cream, drizzled with chocolate, atop a small lake of the same yummy chocolate. She said they were sweet and each bite had a good amount of ice cream and pastry. The chocolate sauce really brought the dish together, and the dusting of powdered sugar was a nice touch.

JQ had just come from a photoshoot and needed a bit more sustenance. She ordered the assorted cheeses plate and proudly announced herself to be a cheese-o-holic. I offered that I too was a lover of all things cheesy and we almost had to arm wrestle over who loved cheese more. As I had already ordered, we let it go, but I'm sure there is a re-match in the offing. While presentation was nicely done in the other two, the plating of this was the most captivating. Seen here are Plum Brandy Cabecou (France), Trailhead Tomme (Pt. Townsend, WA) and Fourme d' Ambert (France) -- with Gala apples and candied hazelnuts.

We all enjoyed ourselves so much we ended up closing the place, and deciding we'd have to do it again real soon, perhaps with a larger group!

Salem Cinema House Party Idea

The letter below is from Abby King.

"Many of you know who I am. Even more of you probably know who I am without knowing it. I have worked for and with Loretta for many years. As a matter of fact, September 5, 2010 will mark my 19th anniversary at Salem Cinema.

Do you remember the first movie you ever saw at Salem Cinema? Do you remember how it enchanted and inspired you? I do! Back in the spring of 1991 when I was a sophomore at Willamette, I purchased my first Salem Cinema ticket to see Richard Harris and Tom Berenger in Jim Sheridan's THE FIELD. And I was hooked. I couldn't begin to count the number of Salem Cinema films that I have drawn from emotionally since then.

I also can't begin to imagine the gaping hole that would be left in our community if there were no Salem Cinema.

Over the past week, we've gotten such a warm and encouraging ..." (click here to read the rest)

Smokin Swine BBQ Coming (Back) Soon

UPDATE 9/13/2010:

Hog's Holler Newsletter #2

BBQ Lovers,

Wow! The response to us re-opening has been overwhelming and exciting.

After many hours of thoughtful deliberation and looking to our spiritual source for direction, Kathy and I have decided to open a small BBQ joint as well as having the BBQ wagon out and about. 

A property manager approached us on a possible site and we have begun negotiations. The new joint will allow Kathy and one or maybe two employees to eventually take over the daily operations ( I will oversee the smoking of all meats). When my custom built BBQ wagon arrives, hopefully in early spring, I will hit the streets. The wagon will allow me to explore places like Woodburn, Stayton, Silverton, Dallas, the Monmoth area as well as attend festivals, fairs, public events and private parties. I cannot reveal the exact location of the new joint, but I can tell you it is near downtown with a wonderful BBQ ambiance. Our plan, as of now, is to be up and running by mid December or the first of the year. 

Things are looking great for the future and we can hardly wait for the re-opening of our dream.

Any and all feedback is encouraged.

Thank You all again for your faithful and enthusiastic support!!!!!!!

Ken & Kathy Pickett 

I just received an update from Ken Pickett regarding the future of Smokin Swine BBQ:

Hog's Holler Newsletter #1

August 19, 2010

My first time back was a huge success, thanks to the many people who came for pulled pork sandwiches at the Steam Up in Brooks, Oregon. This local event gave me a chance to see if my style of BBQ is still in demand. The results are in and are a overwhelming "YES"! Now I can move forward with the new Smokin Swine concept.

I felt I was losing control of the situation when we had the restaurant venue. As some of you know I opened a second location in Bend, and things got out of hand. This time around I am going to look at either a concession truck and tow a smoker or a concession trailer with a smoker on board and set-up at different locations around the city, catering and events. Either way I hope to be back making Smokin Swine BBQ in the next few months.

Thanks for your enthusiastic support.

Ken Pickett

smokinsinebbq1 at aol dot com

That's pretty freakin' good news!

BelgiQue Belgian Waffles

That's right!  It's true!  You've been wanting to give them a try
and now . . .

BelgiQue Belgian Waffles have come to the street.
Corner of Liberty and Court in downtown Salem.

Old Europe Inn Closes, Owner to Open New Restaurant

(for more information check-out Orupa's Facebook page)
This is from an email sent in by Hans Afshar owner of Old Europe Inn.. Orupa is under construction at the Water Place Building on Liberty.
Stay tuned for pictures of Orupa's progress --to be posted later today.

As of August 12th, the oldest restaurant in Salem closed its door. (Old Europe Inn ). Thanks people for supporting us since 1984. We will reopen with new location and new name. The new name will be Orupa and it serve new American cuisine, (O STANDS FOR OREGON AND RUPA FOR EUROPE) it is Oregon ingredients with European flair and old tradition, we will be open late September and our new location will be Water Place on 500 Liberty. Our style will be casual upscale serving lunch, dinner and brunch. We get away from fine dining, but we continue serve our fine food. we use 90% organic in our cooking and ingredients. all our bakery will be organic. We serve dessert and bread for those with diabetes.

This Week at Spoons

NW Spoons Bistro is now closed


SPOONS NW BISTRO

Here are a couple of the specials that we will have this week:

Lunch

Roasted Chicken in a Kalamata and Dijon Sauce with Mixed Greens,

Whole Grain Toast and a Tomato-Thyme Compote

quarter chicken 8-, half chicken 11-

Dinner

Fresh Tomato Salad

with Acidic Red Wine and Olive Essence, Arugla and Grilled Baguette 4/6

Roasted Chicken in Natural Au Jus

with Creamed Spinach, Housemade Spaetzel and Herb Gremolata

quarter chicken 11-, half chicken 14

Spice Rubbed Flat Iron Steak

with Sweet Glazed Baby Carrots, Garlic Potato Wedges

and a Chipotle-Aioli Dipping Sauce 12

Dessert

Amaretto Flourless Chocolate Torte, Homeade with Fresh Raspberries 5

Open:

Mondays 11am to 3pm, Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 9pm

Coming Soon...

Happy Hour 4pm to 6pm

Spoons NW Bistro
4093 Commercial St | Salem | OR | 97302
503.581.7554 restaurant http://www.spoonsnwb.com/

Prudence Uncorked - Take Your Dog to Dinner this Saturday!

Our guests know we love to have their four legged friends visit our outdoor seating area any time! But this Saturday, August 21, we’re serving up our famous doggie stew and canine cocktails FREE for ANY donation you make to the Willamette Humane Society! And as an additional enticement --- live classic rock performed outside by Third Time Around! Regular appetizer, cocktail, and dinner service also available indoors or out, with or without the pooch!

Happy Hour starts at 4:30; dinner service at 5:30; pats on the head available round the clock.

Tracy Fjeseth | Co-Owner
Prudence Uncorked
325 High Street SE
Pringle Park Plaza
Salem, OR 97301
503-362-0888

What's Happening at Flight Deck

This week we have a very unique Air Ship (Blimp) coming to the Salem Airport. The blimp is owned by Airship Ventures from California and advertises for Farmers Insurance. They will be using the banquet room here at Flight Deck Restaurant as their base of operations while they are here in Salem. The schedule is weather dependent as they can’t fly under certain weather conditions. Here is the schedule:

Arriving Tuesday, August 17 in the afternoon (after 1pm).
Wednesday, August 18, they will be flying around the area advertising.
Thursday, August 19, they will be flying around the area advertising and doing private rides
Friday, August 20, they are selling rides to the public for about $375 per person. Call 650-969-8100 to reserve your space.
Saturday, August 21, they will be flying around the Portland area returning to Salem in the evening
Sunday, August 22, they are selling rides to the public for about $375 per person. Call 650-969-8100 to reserve your space

Thank you!

Natalie Frajola & Barry Bowers
Owners
Flight Deck Restaurant & Lounge
2680 Aerial Way SE
Salem, OR 97302
503-581-5721
www.FlightDeckRestaurant.com

Is it time Salem?

Salemites, below you'll find the first part of a post from a blog I discovered after the owner commented on  my own blog. "Farmer Brewing" is asking for some input. Click on the link below to share your thoughts.

"I recently commented on a Salem Blog called What’s Up With That after the author had discussed the lack of local brewpubs in downtown Salem. I know what your thinking, McMennamins has two locations in Salem and The Ram is right across from Willamette University so why would Salem need more breweries? However, let’s face it, these establishments are both chains. Don’t get me wrong, I like McMennamins a lot and while The Ram can make good beer I’ve always had my druthers about their food and atmosphere. Really, it comes down to the fact that Salem really doesn’t have it’s own brewpub. Oregon has the largest number of breweries per capita in the country and the Willamette Valley is pretty much the beer capital of the world. So why is it that Salem is a brewery dead zone? ...."  (to read the entire post, click here)

Monday Dinner at Marco Polo

With such busy weekend hours, some restaurants close on Mondays. Thankfully, Marco Polo is not one of them. While they have a lot on their various menus, we'd decided on Chinese food.

We met another couple there and had the usual discussion around Chinese food:

Person 1: "How do you want to do this, shall we each order our own food, or should we all order something to share?"

Person 2: "Why don't we all get something to share?"

Person 3 and Person 4: "Yeah, that sounds good. Let's do that"

Then we all sort of laughed as we wondered -- who ever does anything else?

We decided on some pot stickers to start. They arrived more quickly than we expected, which was good since we were all pretty hungry. Our server brought a small dish of something I first thought was soy sauce. As it turns out it was nicely salty, but also had a bit of a sweet tinge to it as well -- not like a true sweet & sour sauce, but something better. The pot stickers themselves were hot and nicely browned.

We'd had just enough time to polish off the 6 potstickers amongst the four of us, when our entrees arrived.

Garlic Green Beans and Chicken

Broccoli and Beef

Double-Cooked Pork

Garlic Prawns in Black Bean Sauce

And it was nice that the server gave us a choice of brown steamed rice!

Everything was tasty, the drinks were refilled promptly and with a smile, the company was good and the conversation was lively -- and as if all that were not enough, we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

We couldn't have asked for more!

~ Keith

Trader Joe's Beer

Here's some "hair of the dog that bit you" for all the folks waking up from a night of fun at the Pub Crawl. The other day I purchased a six pack of Simpler Times Lager from the Trader Joe's on Bangy Rd. in L.O. for $3. I thought the marketing of this beer was interesting. It doesn't look like beer. In fact, I had to tell my children that it was not for kids. Anyway, the guy at the checkout said it was TJ's answer to Pabst Blue Ribbon. The beer brewed in Monroe Wisconsin was bland and not at all refreshing the way PBR is.

While packing my bag at the store, I hassled the checker about any info on a TJ's coming to Salem. She said she did not know but that many people from Salem ask about it. We must look like we've been stranded on a desert island, eyeballing their food, like it's nourishment that will save our lives.

There are many rumors floating around about a TJ's opening in Salem. Some people think we have been denied because of our demographics which I believe is a bunch of nonsense. I'm starting to believe that it's about how much product they can get on the shelf. This Simpler Time's beer will be very popular in Salem. Does the brewery in Wisconsin have the capacity to stock another Oregon store yet?

So the discussion continues about where to open in Salem. The best locations, in my opinion, are the recently closed Safeway building next to Roth's on Commercial or the long time closed Albertson's building on Commercial across from Winco. It looks like Keizer Station is out of the running, thank goodness. Of course the developers and TJ's corporate will probably want to build a nice shiny new store near I5. Where do you think Joe's should go?

Localvores Delight

This is from Stephen Perkins at Cascade Baking Company

Cascade Baking Company is proud to begin using stone ground organic whole wheat flour grown here in the Willamette Valley. The wheat grain is grown just 30 minutes from Salem, in Tangent. The growers, Greenwillow Farms, have converted their rye grass farm into bread flour wheat. Traditionally wheat grown in the Willamette Valley is soft wheat, used for pastas. Hard wheat, used for breads, typically do not grow here due to the wet growing seasons. Greenwillow Farms have been working with different hard wheat grains to finds varieties that work.

Greenwill farms has been successful in their growing and produce limited quantities of hard red winter wheat (perfect for breads). The farm mills the grain on site with a stone mill. Here at Cascade Baking Company we make one bread from this flour, Willamette Valley Wheat bread. Our attempt at making this bread is to capture the terroir, or geographical conditions that characterizes this wheat. In doing so we use only three ingredients in making this bread, Greenwillow Farms organic wheat flour, water, and sea salt.

Willamette Valley Wheat bread is made daily Monday through Friday. The bread is a 2 lb. loaf, selling for $5.80. Cascade Baking Company is located at 229 State Street, downtown Salem. Phone number is 503 589 0491. Please call to reserve a loaf.

This Week at Spoons

Specials this week:
Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad with Avocado, Orange and Prosciutto
Homemade Strawberry Shortcake

We have also added a local favorite...
Left Coast Cellers 2006 Cali's Cuvee Pinot Noir
Gold Medal, Critics Challenge 2009
Silver Medal, 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

Come eat and enjoy!

Spoons NW Bistro
4093 Commercial St | Salem | OR | 97302
503.581.7554 restaurant http://www.spoonsnwb.com/