Last week, Janet Filips, editor of The Oregonian’s Downtown Monthly, featured Ten 01 in its monthly fresh sheet. In it, she highlights the corn-bisque with Oregon crab, garnished with lemon crème fraîche and Willamette Valley chives (”M-m-m, ooh” as she put it) and Ten 01’s three course power lunch that caters to the busy professional who can now escape the office and enjoy a satisfying 30-minute, sit down lunch. Janet turned the spot light onto Ten 01’s executive chef, Jack Yoss who came to Ten 01 from LA’s chic W hotel and eight years at Wolfgang Puck’s San Francisco hot spot, Postrio, behind him.

Ten 01 in Downtown Monthly

When I was in high school one of my friends discovered she had celiac, an autoimmune intestinal disorder aggravated by eating gluten. After being diagnosed, she changed her diet and was able to manage her symptoms, but on the downside she was unable to have traditional gluten filled foods like bread, pasta, and brownies.

More and more Americans are being diagnosed with the disease. In a recent story, USA Today reported that there are currently 110,000 diagnosed cases of celiac disease in the U.S., up from 40,000 cased in 2003. (You can see the complete article here.)

Because traditional beers are made using malt and barley, beer has long been considered one of the main no-nos of a gluten free diet.

Well, Deschutes Brewery is planning to change that. The brewery has plans to release a new Gluten Free Golden Ale. Using sorghum, brown rice, and roasted chestnuts instead of malted barley or wheat as the sources of extract to avoid gluten, the brewers were able to create a flavor very similar to the crystal malt used in many of their other signature beers.

Although the brewery has produced a small batch of low gluten beer before, the Deschutes brewers were so fastidious in brewing the Gluten Free that they not only double cleaned the brewing equipment, but also grew the yeast culture used to ferment the beer from a single cell using only sorghum as its nutritional source.

Oregon’s celiacs can check out this new hand-crafted brew on draft at the Deschutes Brewery and Public Houses in Bend and Portland at the end of the month. You can check out the complete pub menu here.

Mmmmm, beer.

Spicy Chicken Salad

He doesn’t have his own Food Network show and his name isn’t on plates in Macy’s, but kids love to learn about food from this guy. Matthew Locricchio wears many hats – chef, teacher and award-winning author. He is the real deal. His cookbooks whisk kids away on a global adventure, connect them to cultures and build their confidence through pure and authentic recipes. With the success of his first international cookbook for kids, Locricchio is gearing up to release The 2nd International Cookbook for Kids in October 2008.

Shrimp with Feta Cheese and Tomatoes

Locricchio’s first international cookbook for kids featured “the big four” of world cooking – China, France, Italy and Mexico. In 2005, it was the winner of several awards including the Disney Adventures Magazine Award for Best Hands-On Book and the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for the Best Cookbook for Children and Families in the USA. The 2nd International Cookbook for Kids maintains the same high standards and design of the first book but includes “the next big four” of world cooking – Brazil, Greece, India and Thailand.

Finished! Shrimp with Feta Cheese and Tomatoes

We received one of Locricchio’s advanced cookbooks and took full advantage of the recipes. I chose to make the Spicy Chicken Salad (Thailand), the Shrimp with Feta Cheese and Tomatoes (Greece) and the Brazil Nut Cookies. These recipes are more advanced than the typical kids cookbooks I remember from my childhood and what I’ve seen in the bookstores today, but they are all easy to follow. This would be a great gift for the holidays for your child or grandchild and a great resource to teach kids about culture through food.

Lota chose to try out the Hearts of Palm salad (Brazil)…

It’s me Lota. Maybe I’m just a kid at heart, because I truly enjoyed reading each and every step of the simple-to-make Hearts of Palm Salad, but most importantly I LOVED eating it.

This is a 10 minute recipe that may be designed for budding chefs that can still count their age on two hands, but it could just as easily be a last minute dish for entertaining people closer to middle age. So for my purposes, I’ve renamed this dish “The Kid-At-Hearts of Palm Salad.” The simplicity is surprising, because the complementary flavors in the salad are actually complex and the presentation is gorgeous.

This is officially my new summer potluck dish. It’s easy to prepare, beautiful, a little exotic and pleasing to palates of all ages. Try it and you’ll like it, I swear… cross my heart.

Hotel Monaco Portland is offering visitors the opportunity to create their own outdoor adventure. Their “Carless Vacation” package, that was in USA Today’s August 18th issue, takes full advantage of the the Hotel Monaco’s downtown location and proximity to Portland’s renowned public transportation systems, including the MAX light rail, Portland streetcar, bus lines and bike paths. “Carless Vacation” minimizes the carbon footprint guests leave in Portland and includes public transit ticket reimbursement and a variety of eco-friendly activities to enjoy during the stay.

Hotel Monaco Portland in USA Today

Hotel Monaco also offers a multitude of other outdoor activities to choose from, giving their guests the opportunity to create their own outdoor experience in Portland. American Way magazine included Hotel Monaco’s options of kiteboarding and geocaching in their August 15th issue.

Hotel Monaco Portland in American Way

Indie winemakers to move inside city limits! This fall, Boedecker Cellars and Grochau Cellars will team up and open a shared winery and tasting room, called the Portland Wine Project, in Northwest Portland’s industrial district. Check out Mike Thelin’s article in Portland Monthly’s August issue.

Portland Wine Project in Portland Monthly's August issue

Congratulations to Erica Landon, Wine Director of Ten 01, who was just named Portland Monthly’s Best Sommelier. This month, Erica and the Ten 01 team also received Wine Spectator’s 2008 Best of Award of Excellence in the magazine’s August Restaurant Awards issue.

Check out Portland Monthly's August Issue

Hotel Vintage Plaza was listed as one of Travel + Leisure’s “Top 10 Hotel’s Under $250” and “Top 100 Continental U.S. and Canada Hotels” in the magazine’s August World’s Best Awards.

HVP mentioned in Travel + Leisure twice this month!

Dinner on a vineyard. Lots of good people, good wine and what has become for some, a great summer tradition. This is an evening at Plate & Pitchfork

Pre-dinner vineyard tour with A to Z's vineyard manager

These are the vitals:

Saturday, August 2 at Jacob-Hart Vineyard in Newberg
Chef Vito Dilullo from Ciao Vito and Chef Rich Meyer from Higgins
Wines from A to Z Wineworks, Rex Hill Vineyards and Francis Tannahill
Featuring produce from OakHill Organics.
Tickets for this evening are $125 per person.

Dinner began at 6pm. The cashmere blanket, deep mustard scarf, grey wool sweater got wrapped around my shoulders by the time the bay shrimp arrived.

Carrots were the star of the evening. Sausages were delicious too but sometimes a perfect carrot can sweep me off my feet.

Thank god for summer evenings of cool breezes, volunteers from Oregon Tilthe, a local momentum that creates endless opportunities for eating near dirt, and a trunk filled with blankets.

My love affair with Oregon is in full swing this week.