by LINDEN GROSS, One Stop Writing Shop
A top-notch restaurant not only needs a talented chef at the helm, it needs a staff that can produce that food in her absence. The Oxford’s 10Below delivers on both fronts thanks to Executive Chef Ingrid Rohrer, a California Culinary Academy graduate who moved to Bend after working at Bon Appétit Management Company as well as in kitchens across Northern California.
We started our meal with some of the most memorable scallops I’ve had. Ever. Dusted in porcinis and served with white trumpet mushrooms in a white wine cream sauce, the silver-dollar-sized scallops were crusty on the outside, succulent on the inside and absolutely delicious. “This is the reason you fall in love with scallops,” I announced. The tablemate sitting kitty corner to me was barely listening. “That sauce and I, we have a thing going on,” she announced dreamily. Truly a match made in heaven.
We also grazed on lightly-breaded, crispy masa-fried calamari served with a homemade lemon chipotle aioli dipping sauce that had a lovely smoky undertone, as well as oyster shooters coated in cornmeal and flash fried, then topped with a bright tomato-guajillo salsa. Both quite tasty, cooked perfectly, and fresh as could be.
The buffalo carpaccio marinated with beet powder and served with orange-pomegranate molasses and bits of Pierre Robert triple-cream cheese was less of a hit with the table. One fellow diner found the meat gamey. I didn’t, but I didn’t care for the sweetness of the meat, undoubtedly due at least in part to the beet powder marinade. On the other hand, the man at our table enjoyed the dish and what he perceived as its jerky-like flavor. “It’s a dude thing,” he announced.
We tried two salads, both as beautifully plated as everything else we’d been served to that point. The roasted beet salad with sweet heirloom tomatoes, arugula, pine nuts and Humboldt Fog cheese in a delicious orange-pomegranate molasses and tangerine vinaigrette once again proved a bit on the sweet side for me, but I’m sure my dad would have loved the triple play of sweet on sweet on sweet.
Having said that, I have to confess that the homemade candied pepper bacon on the iceberg lettuce wedge served with creamy gorgonzola dressing was positively addicting. We actually asked for more of both the bacon and the dressing. Go big or go home, as they say. And to think that my tablemates and I had actually debated about skipping that salad. My advice? Indulge. You won’t regret it.
We shared three different entrees, starting with two Oregon beef tenderloin filets wrapped in bacon and topped with a blackberry-gorgonzola demi-glace. At nine to ten ounces each, the filets were the biggest any of us have ever seen served in a restaurant. We all quickly concluded that they were also the most tender we’d had as well.
“That’s one of the best filets I’ve had,” said each of my friends including one who lived in Chicago for seven years. That’s saying something.
The chef’s daily special—seared yellow fin tuna with an Indian twist and related accompaniments—managed to encrust pungent South Asian spices onto the moist fish without overpowering its delicate flavor. That takes a deft hand.
We also sampled the wild salmon filet topped with mushroom duxelle, wrapped in Swiss chard leaves instead of parchment paper and steamed. “You can really taste the salmon,” one of my friends said. “The chard is really interesting. And there are nice kicks of lemon [from the accompanying passion fruit gastrique].”
We finished the meal with an assortment of desserts plated so beautifully it reminded me of a Kandinskimobile. Our hands-down favorites were the earthy cardamom carrot cake with candied ginger and the fun and absolutely delicious homemade ice cream and sorbet sampler. The flavors on the latter change daily, but our medley, which included blueberry cheesecake as well as peanut butter ice creams along with a cabernet-blackberry sorbetanda lemongrass, apple and agave one, will give you an idea of the delectable creativity at work at 10Below.
10 Below
10 NW Minnesota Avenue, Bend
Phone: (541) 382-1010
Executive Chef: Ingrid Rohrer
Hours: 6am–11pm
(midnight on Friday & Saturday)
with dinner from 5–10pm nightly
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