11 | September | 2010 | healthy laps

farm to fork – dundee, or

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Jen

Farm to Fork has been our favorite dinner while on vacation, so it definitely deserved it’s own post!

Situated in the lobby of the Inn at Red Hills, you would almost never know this gem was here! Dundee, OR does not have too many restaurants, but the ones that they do have are apparently all very good.

They pride themselves on serving only local and seasonal ingredients. The menu changes daily in order to accommodate those needs. Every ingredient that they use comes from very close by. Some, like the hazelnuts, come from a farm less than .5 miles away!

The decor of the restaurant is very fun. They have a bar in the back with lower tables surrounding a fire place. In the main dining area, all of the tables are antiques and are slightly different. In the front of the restaurant they sell many of the local products that they use, as well as, local jams, dried fruits, nuts, etc. I love the vibe!

I started our with the seasonal salad. Simington Farms Mixed Lettuces with House Vinaigrette, Toasted Hazelnuts, Herbed Chevre Crouton.

Brant started with the special salad of the day – Tomato Salad with Homemade Mozzarella.

For my entree, I decided on the pasta when I found out it was homemade pasta! Tagliatelle with tomatoes, corn, basil and parmigiana cheese.

For dessert, we split the Chocolate Pudding with peanut brittle and the Blueberry-Orange Sorbet with biscotti.

Our dinner was phenomenal! The food was simple and as fresh as you could get. Why can’t we have places like this in Boston?!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Restaurant Reviews | Tagged: farm to fork, local, oregon, seasonal, vegetables | 3 Comments »

wine tasting – willamette valley, oregon

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Jen

On Tuesday morning, we hit the road to drive down to Oregon for a few days. We split the trip up into 3 parts – Seattle, Portland, Seattle. It has been working out great so far. It is so nice to be able to take it easy, but see everything we want to see as well.

We arrived in Dundee, Oregon around noon-time, grabbed a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant and spent the afternoon wine tasting in the Willamette Valley. It was wonderful! The Willamette Valley is known for their Pinot Noir grapes, so we made sure to try the majority of those.

We started at Argyle, right on the main drag in Dundee.

Argyle is known for their sparkling wines, so they offered a tasting that combined everything.

Their sparkling and dessert wines were delicious, but we didn’t love any of the Pinot’s.

After finishing our tasting, we headed up the road to our favorite vineyard – Sokol Blosser.

The views of the vineyards were stunning!

The vineyard was started by a husband and wife team in 1977, who purchased 87 acres for their grapes. They have different sections that grow different types of grapes and produce a variety of wines.

We really enjoyed their wines, especially the Pinot Noir.