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Blacksmith Restaurant makes Conde Nast List
The Bulletin
By Cathy Carroll and Kevin Max
Published April 30, 2004
The Blacksmith Restaurant on Greenwood Avenue earned worldwide acclaim this
month when it was named to Conde Nast Traveler’s annual Hot List of the best new
restaurants.
The tiny restaurant in a former blacksmith shop built in 1923 was rated as one
of the world’s 66 top new restaurants, of which 18, are in the U.S. The year-old
restaurant,
co-owned by executive chef Gavin McMichael, joins the ranks of Cafe Boulud by
the renowned chef Daniel Boulud and Per Se in New York City, whose chef is known
for one
of the country’s top restaurants, French Laundry.
“This definitely puts us on the map and puts a spotlight on Bend,” McMichael,
said. “It also put us in some very good company.
Conde Nast Traveler has a circulation of more than 750,000. The Blacksmith is
the only restaurant from the Pacific Northwest to make the list, according to
Tabatha
Simmonds, president of Bend - Based Define Public Relations which represents The
Blacksmth.
McMichael has trained under some of the worlds top gourmet chefs in the south of
France and America’s Southwest. He was the executive sous chef for Stephan Pyles,
who specializes in Southwestern cuisine, and Mark Kiffen, the corporate
executive chef of Star Canyon in Dallas.
McMichael said his years as a chef on yachts for “the rich and shameless” pushed
his culinary creativity.
Buying exotic food and spices in different island ports forced him to learn on
the fly. “Being the chef on a yacht makes a guy somewhat creative in a way you
wouldn’t be if
you were working in a regular kitchen,” he said.
The Blacksmith menu offers comfort food dressed in spices and the haute couture
of creative presentations. “Its signature dishes include “Not Your Mother’s
Meatloaf” with
house-made ketchup, and a cider-brined pork rib chop with two-year-old smoked
cheddar macaroni and cheese, slow braised greens and apple chutney.
McMichael said he was completely surprised by Conde Nast Traveler’s attention.
He didn’t learn of the honor a magazine fact-checker called from Conde Nast
Traveler to
verify a few details.
‘Like many publications of its kind, the food critic operates in anonymity and
restaurateurs seldom know when they are being rated.
Conde Nast Traveler’s designation has caused local and national ripples,
McMichael said. Saturday night was already booked solid; by Thursday and
national food
publications Zagat and StarChefs.com will be visiting in the future, he said.
McMichael moved here on the advice of his brother and after doing his own
research. “When I came out here, it validated the research I had done,” he said.
“Bend will
eventually be on par with Aspen and Vail with the amount of money that’s coming
in here.”
He added that Blacksmith is hoping to expand its existing restaurant on
Greenwood soon.
--Cathy Carroll and
Kevin Max
You really should subscribe to this local newspaper!
Four of us had dinner at The Blacksmith Restaurant on a
recent Friday in May.
We had a great dinner and a fine evening. While we "dressed
up" for the occasion, folks came in regular spiffy Bend attire. We were seated
by our host; the servers were very skilled as befits a world class restaurant.
Here are some photos of our group only. (We shared the desert!) --Bob
Speik
Copyright© 2004 by Robert Speik. All Rights Reserved.
Read more . . .
McMenamins
The
Blacksmith Restaurant
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