Opening May 10th
Hours 5pm – close Thursday – Sunday
Open 7 days a week starting June 1st
We are taking reservations for Mother’s Day Dinner

Please Call 541-595-6420 For Reservations

WE ARE ONLY TAKING RESERVATIONS BY PHONE.

Kokanee Café ~ Vaut le Voyage (Translation: It’s Worth the Trip)

LINDEN GROSS-Author

I heard about the Kokanee Café shortly after moving to Bend. Five years later, my dining

companion and I finally made it there with a friend involved in the San Francisco restaurant

scene in tow. “The further we drove out in the woods, the lower my expectations,” he would

confess halfway through dinner. It’s hard to blame him. Who would expect to find such superior dining by the intersection of RFD 1419 and 113?

You know you’re in for something special as soon as the bread hits the table. Instead of being served with butter, it’s accompanied by a mixture of ground fennel and sesame seeds, pine nuts and almonds that you mix in olive oil.

Our starters shared that same sense of distinctive deliciousness. We slurped up one of the day’s specials, a chilled strawberry-peach soup with a star anise-, cinnamon- and lemon balm-accented champagne base that made it light and bright.

The grilled asparagus tart with its perfectly poached egg on flaky phyllo crust, with a caperaioli and shavings of parmesan was as good as it sounded. The crab cakes were lovely, with an almost creamy texture. The evening’s winner, however, was the Japanese-style minced scallop Ceviche topped with Tobiko and served with fried wontons and a seaweed salad. This positively brilliant appetizer isn’t on the menu, but it should be.

“Food should be fun,” says executive chef Roscoe Robertson, whose cuisine is as influenced by

his extensive travels as by his three-year apprenticeship under a French chef. “It should make

you happy.”

No problem there. My pan roasted duck made me positively joyful with its crispy skin and

tender, juicy meat. The lemon broth on the plate countered the richness of the bird and the

earthiness of the accompanying mushroom risotto, while lightly dressed arugula provided the

perfect peppery foil.

“Oh wow,” exclaimed my dining companion upon tasting his 12-ounce rib-eye, served with

demi glace, smoked blue cheese butter and tomato and thyme jam. “This gives new meaning to

tender.” Personally, I could have done without the tomato jam topping, but that’s just because

my palate runs to savory. The other two at the table loved how the sweetness of the jam married

with the bold flavors of the blue cheese butter and the steak.

Finally, the lamb shanks braised with chamomile and apricot and served with pine nuts and

currant relish were succulent and surprisingly delicate in flavor. Of course, I would have been

happy just to feast on the garlic whipped potatoes served with both meat courses. Yum!

Dessert followed.

Three words best describe that experience: Don’t miss out. The dense

chocolate mousse served with a light hazelnut meringue cookie, freshly whipped malted cream

(now there’s a taste sensation) and dots of pinot noir syrup was delicious. But the butterscotch

crème brulée, which was so generous in size that we dubbed it crème brulée on steroids, was like

eating the best butterscotch pudding combined with the best crème and the best brulée you’ve

ever had. Elegant comfort food at its finest on that front.

Toward the end of our scrumptious meal, a couple who had just finished dining at the bar in

jeans and T-shirts stopped by our table. We had assumed from their dress that they were locals.

Despite the recent remodel which has taken the Kokanee Café from country kitchen to sleek in

terms of decor, the restaurant still manages to comfortably blend campers with Bendites out for a

sophisticated evening.

“We’re Mr. And Mrs. Frumster,” the visiting couple joked. Then they got serious. “I’m 58 years

old and this is the best meal I’ve had in my whole life,” the woman announced. After a few

minutes of chitchat, they said goodbye. “Will you marry me?” she asked chef Roscoe as they left

the restaurant. I was tempted to ask the same question myself.

A&E restaurant review August 2011

Linden Gross 541-317-1509

Kokanee Café
25545 SW Forest Service Road; Camp Sherman
Phone: (541) 595-6420
www.kokaneecafe.com
Owner: Peter Lowes
Open May – October (Check for specific dates)
Hours: Dinner: 5 p.m.- close

Photos courtesy of Chuck Greenwood Photography

“We don’t have a website but have done some cool things including helping with the restoration of the Community Hall, the restoration of the picnic shelters built by the CCC along the river, and collecting oral histories of long time residents and visitors and creating a two videos: one on former Black Butte School teacher and important community member Toni Foster, and the other titled “If the trees could speak, Stories of Camp Sherman.”  We are currently starting on a longer video about the history of Camp Sherman.”- Lorie Hancock, Camp ShermanHistorical Society

Let’s hear it for this wonderful group, keep up the great work.

Thursday, June 9
Slack, Free Admission 8 a.m.
Breakfast Concessions open 7 a.m.

Friday, June 10
Les Schwab Family Night
Rodeo Performance 7 p.m.
Family Night, Children 12 and Under FREE

Saturday, June 11
Rodeo parade 9:30 a.m.
Sponsor: Ray’s Food Place
Rodeo Performance 1 p.m.

Saturday Night, June 11
Sponsor: Identity Zone
Rodeo Performance 7 p.m.

Sunday, June 12
Pepsi Day/Tough Enough to Wear Pink
Kiwanis Buckaroo Breakfast 7-11 a.m.
Cowboy Church Service 9 a.m.
Final Rodeo Performance 1 p.m.

Announcers: Wayne Brooks & Curt Robinson
Bullfighters: Rowdy Barry & Danny Newman
Rodeo Clown: J.J. Harrison
Specialty Act: SureShotActs

Sisters Rodeo Grounds is located west of Sisters on Highway 20 (67637 Highway 20, Bend, OR 97701).

http://www.sistersrodeo.com/