One of the Big Ideas I had when I was planning on opening this place was to local source as much as possible. The reality is that I'm not the guy to be doing this - I'm not a kitchen guy - and our chef at the time didn't seek out the contacts. As of the beginning of the month of October we have a new kitchen guy who is going after the local market. Meet Christian. He's the guy with the handful of mushrooms, picked in some classified location in the Willamette National Forest by agents unknown.
Tonight we are serving some sort of mixed texture sautee that includes Bolitas, White and Yellow Chanterelles, Lobster Mushrooms, Hen in the Woods and Cauliflower Mushrooms. Garlic is also rabidly employed. From what I understand the goodies in the boxes are the pick of the crop, with the seconds going to the fancy restaurants and markets in Eugene. Another reason, along with this pint of cask-conditioned session bitter, to boldly state that "you can only get it here."
