By Dina Mishev The Washington Post Fri., April 20, 2018 Locals have dubbed Bend “Beer Town USA” and “Beervana.” There are more than 20 craft breweries in this central Oregon high desert town of 91,000. But man cannot subsist on beer alone, even if it’s some of the best beer in the country. Whether the city’s brewers have set a high bar for quality or because Bend producers and growers benefit from the highest average number of sunny days in the state — 158, with an additional 105 days that are “mostly sunny” — restaurants here innovate and execute far above what you’d expect in a former mill town. Work up your appetite by walking along the Deschutes River, which flows through downtown, hiking a nearby volcano or mountain biking; there are hundreds of kilometres of trails in the area. Try not to stuff yourself with the samples of baked goods that are often out near the pastry case just inside the entrance of McKay Cottage even if you’re here at 9 a.m. on the weekend and there’s a 45-minute wait for a table. You’ll want the room to eat every last bite of Carlton’s Benny ($13.50), which tweaks the traditional dish by using a rosemary English muffin and Dijon hollandaise. If you prefer your breakfast sweet, go ahead and get a pecan sticky bun, or go big with the French toast ($10.95), which doesn’t bother with standard bread: McKay Cottage uses croissants. Order the whole plate topped with bananas… [Read full story]
Leave a Reply