Category Archives: Chefs

Oregon Travels, Part III: Jory Restaurant

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Squab breast and confit fried leg at Jory restaurant.
Squab breast and confit fried leg at Jory restaurant.

Newberg, OR — A private dining room behind closed doors holds work colleagues relaxing at a sit-down, the terrace is occupied by high schoolers in tuxes and gowns posing for prom photos, and a large table by the floor-to-ceiling windows is celebrating a birthday. From the get-go, you know that the Jory at The Allison Inn & Spa in the Willamette Valley is the place that people flock to for special occasions.

As for me, it was an invitation by Travel Oregon do dine last month that brought me to this fine-dining establishment, where the tables are candle-lit and come with warm towels overlaid with a sprig of rosemary from its own garden for your hands.

Indeed, the bounty from the 1.5-acre chef’s garden and greenhouse on the property is featured in the restaurant’s dishes. That includes 300 pounds of honey produced annually by its bee hives.

The executive chef is Jack Strong, formerly of the Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, who co-authored the cookbook, “The New Native American Cuisine.” He grew up on the Oregon coast as a member of the Siletz tribe.

The entrance to Jory.
The entrance to Jory.
A view into the kitchen.
A view into the kitchen.

While his cooking at Jory can lean into modernist techniques at times, he also is a proponent of indigenous foods of the Pacific Northwest. Book a nine-course private Chef’s Table dinner and he’ll even prepare a special native foods tasting menu focused on indigenous culinary traditions.

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Oregon Travels, Part II: The Painted Lady Restaurant

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Pan-roasted ling cod at The Painted Lady Restaurant.
Pan-roasted ling cod at The Painted Lady Restaurant.

Newberg, OR — The stately Queen Anne-style Victorian on South College St. at East Second Street has endured a long while.

But it took husband and wife, Chef Allen Routt and General Manager Jessica Bagley-Routt to inject new life and spirit into this house that was built in 1895.

Last week, the couple celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Painted Lady Restaurant, the charming, fine-dining establishment they opened here after renovating this 130-year-old gem in Oregon Wine Country.

These days with so many increasing challenges, it gets harder and harder to maintain a business. That the Routts have managed to do so at such a high level is a true testament to their dedication to quality and standards.

Routt, who began cooking at age 16, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and interned with Chef Bradley Ogden at San Francisco’s One Market. That led to cooking stints at such iconic establishments as the Inn at Chef Patrick O’Connell’s The Inn at Little Washington, Chef Jean-Louis Palladin’s Pesce, and Chef Mark Militello’s Mark’s South Beach (where he would meet his future wife), then becoming executive chef at Brannan’s Grill in Calistoga.

The Victorian turned fine-dining restaurant.
The Victorian turned fine-dining restaurant.

His wife, who was raised in Southern Oregon, graduated with top honors from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, where she interned at acclaimed Higgins restaurant, before helping open Mark’s South Beach. She eventually took a job at Chef Hiro Sone’s Terra restaurant in St. Helena before becoming a sous chef at Brix restaurant in Napa.

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Prime Time for Asparagus with Cannellini Beans, Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette & Pickled Mustard Seeds

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Jazz up your asparagus game with a perfect cooking technique, plus flavorful garnishes.
Jazz up your asparagus game with a perfect cooking technique, plus flavorful garnishes.

When it comes to asparagus, I typically prefer grilling or roasting whole spears because the high heat caramelizes them, bringing their natural sweetness to the forefront.

But Katie Reicher, executive chef of pioneering Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, has taught me another method, one with impeccable timing that renders the spears yielding yet not droopy, and tender but with still a little bite.

Her way is pan-steaming, complete with a genius move — blitzing the tough asparagus ends that are usually discarded with a little water in a blender instead to create the cooking liquid. It gets poured into a ripping hot pan with the asparagus, where it steams and simmers before evaporating and leaving them perfectly done.

Not only are you not wasting any part of the pricey asparagus this way, but you’re imparting more flavor, too.

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Late-Night Fried Chicken at Michelin-Starred Ssal

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Behold the glorious, late-night fried chicken at Ssal.
Behold the glorious, late-night fried chicken at Ssal.

There are times when fried chicken means a napkin tucked into your collar and Wet Ones at the ready as you dig your hand into a cardboard bucket of the stuff.

But there are other times when fried chicken is savored in a chic minimalist dining room with mood lighting, a glass of French Champagne, and a tin of osetra caviar with a mother-of-pearl spoon to complete the picture.

If an elevated fried chicken dinner, one with Korean flourishes, is what you crave, Michelin-starred Ssal in San Francisco has now got you covered.

Chef-Owner Junsoo Bae.
Chef-Owner Junsoo Bae.

Your appetite just has to hold out until after its usual tasting menu service concludes and its yasik or Korean late-night eating culture menu takes over afterwards on weeknights. Although in South Korea that usually means midnight, you won’t have to wait quite that long here, but just until about 9 p.m. or 9:30 p.m.

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Get Saucy — No Matter Your Dietary Restrictions

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I used Get Saucy's Tikka Masala on shrimp and asparagus.
I used Get Saucy’s Tikka Masala on shrimp and asparagus.

After being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2018, Brian Bentow went on a low-inflammation elimination diet and became symptom-free without the need for medication.

However, he began to miss certain favorite foods, especially ones with global flavors. So he joined with Chef Suhan Lee, a Marine veteran who went to culinary school after he developed IBS symptoms following antibiotic treatments when he was injured in Iraq.

Together, they have created Get Saucy, a ready-to-cook line of sauces made with organic and non-GMO ingredients. Free of the top nine allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame), Get Saucy follows in accordance with paleo, autoimmune protocol, low inflammation, and gluten-free diets.

While a number of sauces are in the pipeline, the first one to debut is Tikka Masala, which is available in a three-pack of 16-ounce jars on the Get Saucy website for $45. I had a chance to try a sample recently.

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