Sunday, May 13, is Mother's Day.

We're serving breakfast/lunch from 10 to 2
and a special 4-course dinner during our 5 to 8 PM dinner hours.

Here are the menus.

Pizza?


Yep, pizza.


Announcing the Pizza on Earth Series: 
World-cuisine-inspired Artisan Pizzas!

We're redefining ourselves for the winter. We're doing pizzas with a worldbeat theme, showcasing Greek, Portuguese, Japanese, and other international ingredients and styles, plus of course classic Italian pizza. Modest prices. Multiple vegetarian/vegan choices. Salads, soups, desserts, too, of course. Wine, beer, cocktails, and lower-octane drinks.

We kicked it off Friday night to a full house (in a couple of senses of full). Seemed like a fine time was had by all. We're looking forward to your visit!

Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 PM.

Thanks to all who made Wednesday's Tequila and Tapas event a success. This event and last week's Beer Dinner were a couple of experiments in special events, and the response to both was gratifying. We'd love to hear your ideas for special events that you'd enjoy attending.

Choosing to eat organic fruits and vegetables is smart. Fresh, local, organic produce is more nutritious than factory farmed fruits and vegetables, and it tastes better, too. Going organic is also an important safeguard for preserving health. Chemical pesticides and herbicides are known to cause cancer, birth defects, nervous system and brain damage, and developmental problems in children.

But locating and purchasing only organic fruits and vegetables can be a challenge. When you can't go organic, a natural alternative is simply to avoid certain kinds of produce when organic is not available or affordable. The “dirty dozen” are the foods most highly contaminated with pesticides and chemicals — even after washing and peeling. For those fruits and vegetables, at least, the smart policy is “organic or nothing!” Check out this link to find out those fruits and vegetables that contain both the highest and lowest percentages of pesticides.

-Nancy

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, and First Lady Michelle Obama recently launched MyPlate, an iconical visual representation of recommended percentages of food groups.

This colorful plate replaces the venerable Food Pyramid and urges folks to build their meals of fifty percent fruits and vegetables (with vegetables taking up a little bit more of the plate).

I applaud their efforts to update and upgrade this information in an effort to promote healthy eating, a cause for which the First Lady is a tireless advocate.

I'm disappointed, though, that the experts on the website make no distinction between between foods grown organically and those grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizers, between unprocessed dairy products from dairy-fed cows and pasteurized dairy products from confined animals raised on processed feed, between range-fed meats and those from animals raised in crowded quarters, or between organic pasture-fed eggs and battery-produced ones.

Well, at least the site distinguishes between whole grains and refined, recommending that you make sure at least half of your grains are whole.

Good information at the site. I just wish there were more.

-Nancy

"Arguably the best restaurant in Josephine County and among the top farm-to-table restaurants in these parts."

Many thanks to Michael Altman for including Summer Jo's in his recent report titled "Will Bike for Bottles" in Oregon Wine Press. Here is a excerpt of what he wrote about his culinary bicycle excursion around the Rogue region. There's a link to read the full report at the end.

"...If you’re thinking about also visiting the Southern Oregon Coast — close to the California Redwoods and Smith River—for surfing, fishing or beachcombing, Grants Pass is your launch pad. 

That said, assuming you left Portland on a Friday morning, you’d get to Grants Pass early enough in the afternoon to unwind, and ride over to Summer Jo’s — via G Street’s bike lane. It’s arguably the best restaurant in Josephine County and among the top farm-to-table restaurants in these parts, not to mention it has a setting to match.
Though Summer Jo’s menu isn’t vast, it’s diverse, and the food is tasty, fresh and high quality, featuring produce from their farm. Grab a table on the porch, lawn, or inside near the open kitchen. Chef Travis Wyant features fish nightly from Port Orford Sustainable Seafood. 

Recently at Summer Jo’s, I ate lunch accompanied by a two-ounce pour — again, think cycling — of stellar Brandborg 2009 Umpqua Valley Gewürztraminer.  The restaurant’s new wine steward, Andy Phillips, is an industry veteran and cyclist who may have some riding advice as well as regional wine suggestions.
“We’re focusing on a lot of Southern Oregon wines, including Umpqua, and we’ll host wine events regularly on Thursdays,” Phillips said.

Daylight permitting, instead of going directly back to your hotel, detour to nearby All Sports Park by way of a five-mile loop. If you’re lugging little ones or bringing teenagers, this is a stop for fishing, bird watching or turtle spotting from the pond’s pedestrian bridge, a Frisbee toss and a walk by the Rogue River.  It’s a nice size park with ballfields and other amenities. Then it’s a quick ride back to your room to get some rest for Day Two.  The loop is on moderately traveled but relatively safe, flat roads for which a mirror and lights wouldn’t be bad investments, along with a lock and patch kit. Reversing the loop is an option, too. 

In the morning, check out the steadily swelling farmers market in Grants Pass.Oak Leaf Creamery’s booth has wine-worthy cheeses to match Summer Jo’s fresh bread. When I spoke to Oak Leaf owner Dave Peterson, he recommended the Peaceful Mountain Tomme, a farmhouse-style, natural rind, mild, semi-firm pâté,” perfect for pairing with Pinot Gris or Riesling.  His Billy Blue would stand up to a Port-style dessert wine. The Maine transplant has other cheeses, too..."

» Read the full report in Oregon Wine Press

All kindsa goodness is going on at Summer Jo's on Thursday nights. There's Happy Hour (and a half) from 4:30 to 6, when everything at the bar, from drinks to small plates, is under ten bucks. But that's every night, Thursday through Sunday.

On Thursdays we're also doing wine tastings plus live music. And with the weather cooperating finally, the lawn is where you'll want to dine. And taste. And listen to music.

That's our wine director Andy Phillips serving some guests under the umbrellas last night.

John Trujillo and B Wishes are back and making beautiful music on our outdoor stage every Thursday night. Here's a shot of B singing last night. The weather was perfect for dining out on the lawn, and the music really made it a wonderful experience.

by Chef Travis Wyant



My good friend Mike Ryder and I went down to Vegas last week for the wedding of some mutual friends. I want to tell you about the food experience.

The night before the wedding Mike and I went to Gilley's restaurant just outside of Treasure Island. Mike had a burger with fries that he loved and I had the fried chicken with cheddar green chili grits and baked beans. They told us that everything was made in-house and I believed it!! That was best fried chicken I have ever had. The baked beans were good, but the grits would knock your socks off. Normally when I dine out I don't say anything but "keep doing what you're doing," but I had to tell our server how pleased I was with the food and service. He told me that they had hired a four-star chef to create the menu. It was amazing and I can't wait to have that chicken again.

The next night Mike and I went to Bouchon in the Venetian, created by legendary chef Thomas Keller. Thomas Keller has been a huge influence in my culinary career and will continue to be. I couldn't wait to eat.

Now, taking Mike to a higher-end joint like this is like bringing Elvis back from the dead. Mike ordered the frog legs and I ordered the pate. Mike's frog legs came with a solid new-crop potato salad and sauce Gribiche. The Pate De Campagne was made with chicken liver, pork shank, and fat back and was wrapped in bacon. It was served with dijon, watercress, radish, cornichons, and toasted bread. The frog legs were great, some of the best I have had, and they frenched the legs. That impressed the hell of out me. The pate was decent, but I personally would have liked pork liver instead of chicken for the pungency (that's just me, though).

I told everyone at Summer Jo's before we left that I was going to order the steak frites, but somehow our server sold us on the roasted chicken with pea tendrils, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, and this rippin' good chicken jus. Although the service wasn't up to my expectations for a higher-end joint, the food made up for it.

One other thing: don't go to Vegas if you are looking for a solid Oregon beer or wine!!!