By Deston Nokes

Mt. Hood’s Timberline Lodge has long been known as Oregon’s second most-visited site after Multnomah Falls. Located on the face of Mt. Hood, just a stone’s throw from Portland, Timberline offers incredible year-round skiing, a rustic ambiance, and a top-notch culinary team.

Timberline Lodge is more than an iconic landmark. It’s a mountain cabin on a grand scale: decidedly rustic, warm and cozy beyond measure. Some may recall that its façade played a starring role as The Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s motion picture, The Shining.

“When Timberline was built during the Great Depression, the concept was to create a place for all of the people,” said Jon Tullis, Timberline spokesman. “The idea was to create ‘Oregon’s Mountain Home,’ and that feeling hasn’t changed one bit.”

But when the economic termites began eating away at the state’s tourism industry in 2008, even Timberline was hard hit. By October, the business downturn was so profound; the lodge had to close its dining room for lunch.

“We had to change our business model and find a way to ride the rising popularity of culinary tourism,” explained Leif Benson, CEC, AAC, Timberline’s executive chef of 30 years. “In Oregon we have incredible wines, meats, fish and produce; and at Timberline, we have the perfect background to showcase it all.”

After talking with different purveyors, Benson started the daily Farmer’s Market Brunch Buffet, which is a selection of distinctive Northwest cuisine every day in Timberline’s main lobby from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The region’s growers, producers and food industry advocates consult on the buffet offerings, and have found that the historic Timberline Lodge is a perfect setting to showcase their foods to a steady stream of culinary tourists.

Each day the brunch offers:

A Chef’s Action Statio’ (carved or presented items)

• Fresh Farmer’s Market salads

• Chef’s daily soup

• Artisan bread

• Local produce

• Vegetable presentations

• Mesclun salad

• Desserts and pastries

• Made-to-order waffle station

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill, strip-mall buffet fare. So far, the brunch has showcased on strawberries, cherries, golden watermelons, sushi, lamb, hazelnuts, pink shrimp, Dungeness crab, albacore tuna, potatoes, pears and local coffee roasters.

“The menu changes all the time to emphasize the season’s bounty,” Benson said. “One week we’ll feature our mushroom foraging industry with chanterelle’s. Another week we’ll showcase artisan cheeses, wild game, Oregon wines or Northwest beef.”

The day I enjoyed brunch, the state’s potato growers were holding court, unveiling purple potato candy and other edible delights. My personal favorite was the lamb chops served by SuDan Lamb.

In one month, Timberline’s concept attracted 10,000 diners. Because of its success, the Farmer’s Market Brunch Buffet is now a daily, year-round event.

“It’s been a great way to get people to visit us ,” Benson said. “At Timberline, you enjoy the food and take away a memory.”

Celebrating what makes Oregon taste so good

Much of Timberline’s success is derived by its partnership with Oregon’s food and wine producers. Each August through November, the Oregon Tourism Commission, also known as Travel Oregon, launches Oregon Bounty, which is a comprehensive campaign to tantalize taste buds in all seven regions of the state.

The Oregon Bounty campaign, which continues until Nov. 30, offers special events and menus urging locals (and lucky visitors) to try new wines, enjoy local produce, order distinctive dinners in fine eateries and attend harvest festivals around the state.

Photos by Deston Nokes.

The centerpiece of the campaign is a colorful, comprehensive Web site. At www.traveloregon.com, users can click on a region and surf specials in lodging, dining, festivals, wineries and breweries. It posts the fixed-price menus at participating restaurants. Also, there is an online recipe book using Oregon meats, fruits cheeses and nuts, all washed down with Oregon vintages.

Visit www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty for details.  Contact Deston at Deston@globalfoodie.com.

by Ron Stern

The dark exterior and 1940s neon sign belies what visitors find inside this Glenwood Springs, Colorado prize. Owner Colleen Stuart has remade what was formerly known as the Riviera Supper Club into her own vision. Now it’s just called the Riviera Restaurant and it’s both visually pleasing and the food is mouth watering.

The interior is surprisingly bright due to its 2005 facelift. Blond, natural hardwood tables and chairs, contemporary glass dishes and walls covered with vibrant paintings from local artists highlight the eatery. This has created a fun and inviting atmosphere conducive to hearty appetites.

My experience started with a pinktinis, a citrus flavored martini using x-rated fusion liqueur vodka. It was tart yet smooth. There are another 28 martinis and one is sure to fit your palate.

Next up was the Riviera signature salad ($6). This ample portion was creatively plated and chilled and simply comprised of Romaine lettuce blended with a smoky home-made bacon gorgonzola ranch dressing. The flavors matched each other perfectly and I can honestly say that this was one of my all time best salads. I would drive the 4 plus hours again just to have this salad.

The coconut tempura shrimp ($8) was my choice for an appetizer. This is a choice I’m always a little reluctant to make so far inland. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the freshness and flavor of these hand-battered, plump sea treasures. Accompanied by a sweet chili-ginger sauce, the sweetness of the sauce and crispy texture of the perfectly fried tempura worked well together.

For my main entrée I had the recommended Colorado rack of lamb with demi-glazed rosemary (seasonal), served with garlic mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. Very few restaurants know how to prepare a good lamb. This one does and mine was tender, flavorful and succulent.

The evening was topped off with a traditional cold, rich, creamy and decadent chocolate mousse.

Dining at the Riviera has the feeling of a cozy art museum. There is even a huge painting of a martini fastened to the ceiling. Colleen Stuart goes to great lengths to ensure that her customers are well attended and that the food is always home-made and fresh. The Riviera is located at 702 Grand Ave. in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. They are open every night from 5 p.m.-10 p.m. and reservations are always a good idea at this popular local eatery.

Contact Ron at: Ron@globalfoodie.com.

Tea Time in Assam

By Susan McKee

Slurp, slosh, spit, repeat. I watched Abir Goyal sample his way through a hundred different lots of tea in the broker’s office in Guwahati, India. This was his second run through. The first was steeped with boiling water. This go-round added milk to the brewed tea, just as it would be drunk by the majority of tea drinkers in India.

He was tasting “dust” – the lowest quality of broken tea leaves that looks like powder. Goyal said that it’s very popular in the south of India because it brews many more cups per kilo than the pricier leaf tea. He said it’s also used in tea bags.

Just like wine tasters, Goyal doesn’t actually swallow what he’s tasting; he just swirls it in his mouth for a bit. Tasting notes are dictated to the clerk following him down the line of teas identified only by number. “Thin,” he’d say. Or “thick” or “smooth,” or other succinct adjectives.

The vocabulary, too, reminded me of wine tasting. Goyal assessed the weight and quality of the tea on his tongue, just like an experienced sommelier, checking for burnt, harsh or coarse overtones. “Malty” is sought after in Assamese teas, “metallic” is not. “Full-bodied” is the top designation, the target combination of strength and colour.

He also looked at the unbrewed tea next to the prepared cup, checking to see if it was well-picked and clean.

Goyal, who is a senior executive with Carritt Moran & Company, is charged with providing guidance for his company’s purchasing agents. Based on his tasting notes, they head to the tea auction in Guwahati and bid for the lots. Carritt Moran, founded in 1877, is the second-largest tea auctioneer firm in the world, handling about one-fourth of the teas sold through the Indian auction system.
I had spent the morning at the Gauhati Tea Auction Centre, watching both the live and the subsequent electronic auction. Assam – the province of which Guwahati (also called Gauhati) is the capital – grows most of the tea exported by India. Some 20 percent of Indian tea passes through this auction house. Watching the auction itself was mesmerising. I had no idea what made one lot of tea worth more than another, but men such as Goyal certainly did.

I was staying with friends, originally from Darjeeling, who’d moved to Assam several years ago. Like many in Guwahati, they invested in a tea plantation, which is called a tea garden here. But they hadn’t visited their property in months; the region had become too dangerous. The entire north-east section of India had been off-limits to foreigners for decades because of an ongoing guerrilla uprising against the central government. Although things had quieted down enough to lift the tourism prohibition, out in the distant reaches of the province things were still a little bit dicey.

My friends said they’d ransomed their manager twice now, that keeping good staff was a problem when kidnapping was a routine occurrence.

I didn’t see any trouble in the tea plantation I visited, however. The Brahmaputra River is bordered by more than a half a million acres of lush green tea gardens growing in the rich alluvial soil. The total production of tea in Assam approaches one million pounds per year.

The tea gardens themselves are beautiful. The emerald green of the waist-high camellia sinensis bushes seems to glow from within. The best tea is picked by hand, and whole villages of migrant workers are imported to do the specialised work. First comes withering, when the freshly picked green leaves are spread out to dry on enormous ventilated trays. The leaves are then processed and graded, with whole leaves at the top of the scale, and the powdery dust at the bottom.

Tea, while a darn good excuse, isn’t the only reason to journey to Assam. There are a couple of significant Hindu pilgrimage sites here and one of the top game preserves in the world.

The Kamakhya Devi temple, known for its animal sacrifices, occupies a prominent hilltop in the middle of town. The Umananda Temple, dedicated to Shiva, is the centrepiece of Peacock Island. Hindu priests and golden langur long-tailed monkeys are the only permanent residents of this small bluff in the Brahmaputra River. Ten rupees (US$.25) buys you a round-trip ferry ride from Kachari Ghat, about 20 minutes each way.

The Assam State Museum, located near the Standard Chartered Bank on the GNB Road, provides a good introduction to the history, culture and art of the region. Just looking around, one can see Burmese, Chinese and Indian influences on the people and the culture.

Although there are many stores selling the distinctive champagne-coloured Assamese silk, if you travel to Sualkuchi (about 32km from Guwahati on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River) you can see the weavers in action. Don’t miss a trip to Kaziranga National Park (www.kaziranganationalpark.com). India’s first wildlife sanctuary, it was established a century ago by the British viceroy to preserve the then-dwindling population of the one-horned Indian rhinoceros. There are now some 1,500 of the majestic beasts roaming free in the park, protected by 400 staff members and 120 anti-poaching camps.

Tigers, sometimes seen on excursions into the park, are considered an especially auspicious omen on one’s visit. It’s an astonishing experience for visitors who can climb aboard elephants for an early morning ride out into the bush in search of wildlife. That’s when I saw my “lucky tigers,” but also lots of swamp deer, hog deer, storks, herons, a group of wild buffalo and, of course, rhinos.

Kaziranga is about 217 dusty, bumpy kilometres by road from Guwahati, so arranging a package tour is the best way to get there.

There are no name-brand hotels in Assam, even in the capital, so don’t expect Western hotel standards. The rooms will be clean, if a bit threadbare, and the occasional insect should not be cause for alarm. There will be two sets of prices – one in rupees for Indian nationals and another in US dollars for foreign nationals.

The best hotel in the Assamese capital is the Dynasty (SS Road, Lakhtokia, Guwahati, tel 91 3612 5104 9699, www.hoteldynastyindia.com). In the heart of the Fancy Bazaar shopping district, it’s close to restaurants and many businesses. The doorman wears an impressive uniform, the lobby floors are marble and the atmosphere is definitely Indian. To get an actual bathtub in your bathroom, you need to request a junior suite. The 76 rooms have minibars, and there’s a fitness centre.

For a spectacular view, ask for a room overlooking the river at the 49-room Brahmaputra Ashok Hotel (tel 91 361 602 281, (www.theashokgroup.com/brahmaputra_hotels.htm) – as long as there’s no noisy party scheduled on the ground-floor patio. It’s on Mahatma Gandhi (“MG”) Road, opposite the High Court in Guwahati.

Contact Susan at Susan@globalfoodie.com. This prolific writer can also be found at:

Roadtrips.Foodie@gmail.com
http://Twitter.com/RoadtripsFoodie
http://RoadTripsforFoodies.com

By Keith Kellett

Outside the newly renovated Hare and Hounds

When I drove through Bowland Bridge, in Cumbria last year, I was saddened to see one of my favourite pubs, Hare and Hounds, abandoned forlorn and boarded up. I wasn’t really surprised, though. Pleasant as it was, Bowland Bridge is a small community of half a dozen houses and is miles from anywhere. It was accessed by only a minor road, served by one bus a week. The only other public facility there is a small Post Office and a general store.

In the past, the Hare and Hounds had a prosperous farming clientele, In those days, any hostelry within walking distance was recognised as one’s “local” and those farmers were prepared to walk a fair distance for a drink and a bit of a craic* with their friends.

However, much has changed in the pub habits of the average Briton. Much of the blame has been laid on television, greater mobility, stricter drink-drive laws and the British Government’s habit to tax anything pleasurable to a fare-thee-well. People rarely just go for a drink these days. To survive, a pub needs to offer something else; a large-screen television, live entertainment and great food. Most places serve food. To stay ahead of the game, pubs must really serve better fare than the opposition. Nuking a pre-cooked, frozen meal in the microwave just isn’t on any more. “Locally Sourced” is a phrase we’re hearing more and more in the realms of pub grub.

Hare and Hounds Cumbria Sausage

You can imagine my delight when I heard from a friend that the Hare and Hounds was back in business–with that locally accessed produce! It was smaller than it used to be, because some of the building was sold to make private residences. But, fresh whitewash, a trim garden and an inviting patio sort of smiled a welcome.

Inside there is an old-world look without looking contrived. The menu won me over with one proviso; please be patient, because each meal was cooked to order, not in bulk. Most of us had ham and eggs, but, as I always do in these parts, ordered Cumberland pork sausage.Yes, you can get Cumberland sausage elsewhere in the UK, but it does taste better in its area of origin. OK, Bowland Bridge was in Westmorland (it’s all Cumbria now, anyway) but we still like our Cumberland sausage. There are those who say true Cumberland sausage comes in a continuous spiral, rather than the more usual links. I don’t really think it matters, as long as the right blend of meat and spices are used; the taste is just the same.

Inside Hare and Hound.

The sausages came on a bed of mashed potato; some say this is the only way to serve them. But, with the potatoes came a delicious onion gravy that really complemented the potatoes and the sausages. And, I made a discovery. As the “designated driver,” I chose apple juice instead of ale. It goes really well with these sausages. In fact, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before — after all, we often eat apple sauce with pork.

Writing about hidden, secret places  such as this of often means it doesn’t stay secret for long. But, better to mention the reopened pub than have it remain  secret … and out of business.

Hare and Hounds
Bowland Bridge
Grange-Over-Sands, Cumbria, LA11 6NN
Telephone: 08721 077 077

*craic is originally a Gaelic term and means a bit of music and fun with great conversation.
Keith Kellett is globalfoodie’s UK correspondent. His email is: Keith@globalfoodie.com