Bentley’s Grill, the restaurant adjoining the Phoenix Grand Hotel and Salem Conference Center, features a menu that showcases banner Oregon products including Oregon bay shrimp, Rogue Valley bleu cheese, Oregon hazelnuts and more. Chef Derek Ridgway’s innovative Northwest cuisine has earned them a reputation as one of Salem, Oregon’s best restaurants. Here are some of his thoughts on the Fall 2009 menu:
Well as we exit summer and move swiftly into the crisp fall weather, I find my taste changing and looking forward to those slow cooked meats, rich game dishes and roasted vegetables. Don’t get me wrong the tomatoes came and went too soon for me, after 25 yrs in San Diego summer is really short! Our menu is evolving through our specials sheet to reflect this change of season.
The Alaskan Halibut season ends on Nov 15th so we will again be saying good bye to a favorite for the winter, Salmon continues to open and close so we should see some fish for a while yet. Our local Sole is getting scarce for the winter and the fishermen are not anxious to go out for a light catch. As we transition into winter, we will be looking at some sustainable seafood alternatives, such as Steelhead and Trout form the NW and Barramundi, an Aussie native now being produced on the east coast.
Our local foragers have been providing us with nice chanterelles and just a bit of truffles which we are featuring on our menu. On the down side our local growers are “wintering in”. This said we are still getting some really nice Lacinato Kale and Fingerling Potatoes from Allen and Jessie at Coastal Valley Growers.
Our October Game Fest has been a great success and we will continue to feature many of these items on our special sheet. Our best seller has been the Wild Boar Saltimbocca!
