By RENEE PATRICK Cascade A&E Editor

Pono is a Hawaiian word meaning righteousness; brothers Ted and Shin Nakato are trying to use this righteousness in their business model at Pono Farm & Fine Meats. In growing, butchering and preparing the naturally raised beef and pork from their farm in Culver, their goal is to provide Central Oregon with a consistent source of quality meat at competitive prices.

The Pono Farm shop operates as a butcher shop and restaurant. Chef Jay Clark uses select cuts from Wagyu and Red Angus beef as well as heritage breeds of Berkshire and Red Wattle pork. Other ingredients in his cooking are sourced locally and will change seasonally.

The Nakato brothers grew up on the east coast in a family entrenched in the restaurant business. Ted has been running several restaurants in North Carolina while Shin and wife Kelli have been farming cattle at the families’ Culver farm for the past nine years. While the two brothers worked together to open the business, Ted has been commuting from North Carolina and hopes to eventually move to Central Oregon.  Shin runs the day to day operations at the farm and the pair have over ten employees between the farm and shop.

The idea for Pono came about as Ted found it increasingly difficult to find a consistent source of quality meat for his restaurants, so the brothers decided to get into the production side of the business. Ted shares, “Folks in Bend like living a healthier lifestyle and help support the local businesses. We want to provide a premium product at a reasonable price…since we are the farmer we try to pass some of the savings on to the customer.”

The cows are raised without the use of hormones, antibiotics or animal based feed. The two farms raise about 200 head of cattle, 120 hogs and some egg-laying chickens to provide the restaurant with fresh free-range eggs. The brothers are proud of their method of raising animals, the cattle are fed a diet comprised of mostly grass and locally grown hay. The pigs are grown slowly and the brothers want to reintroduce the kind of pork that was grown before the days of the genetically enhanced ‘commercial’ pork that grows rapidly with the boost of growth hormones.

I met Ted at the Pono Farm shop over a busy lunch hour to sample a few of the dishes available. The shop was doing brisk business when my lunch companion Kirk and I arrived, and we noticed just about everyone there for lunch also walked out with a package for home.

The brothers try to schedule bringing meat into the shop so it will stay fresh; recent business has them using about one steer and a couple of hogs per week. Even though there is little waste in the process, the Nakatos are looking into donating extra food to a local food bank.

Chef Clark uses a creative touch with the meals, and we could see and taste the seasonal influences in the food we sampled. Pono offers coffee from the local roaster, 11R, water from the farm’s Opal Springs and a variety of sodas without high fructose corn syrup.

We started with the Split Pea Soup with Guanciale. The savory soup was served with a crisp and tasty bite of guanciale, a form of unsmoked Italian bacon, which set the tone for the meal. Next we sampled the Wisconson Bratwurst with Kraut and fries. Having grown up in Wisconsin, I have had my share of brats, and this one was delicious. The fresh sauerkraut was excellent and the fries were lightly sprinkled with sea salt and served with a dejon mustard.  

We tried the Wagyu Cheeseburger next, served with a colorful cucumber salad which was sprinkled with fresh oregano, sun dried tomatoes, and lemon rind. Upon biting into the sandwich, Kirk exclaimed, “This is so much better than any beef I’ve had in a long time.”

My favorite dish was a Skirt Steak and Kilbasa plate special. The cuts were extremely tender and flavorful. Again, the lemon rind was a surprisingly refreshing burst of flavor combined with the sun dried tomato based sauce prepared by Chef Clark.

If that wasn’t enough meat for our meal, we could not pass up the butcher case before leaving and purchased some marinated ribs to throw on the grill at home. The staff was helpful when deciding what cut of meat to choose, and even offered suggestions on preparation.

Look for Pono Farm and Fine Meats to be evolving and filling into their role in Central Oregon’s local food movement over the next few months. There is talk of farm to table dinners, rotating specials and more as the Nakato brothers explore their options.