atomu

Rating:

Nov 12, 2006

"Jack Czarnecki, a third-generation restaurateur from Pennsylvania, moved to the wine country an hour south of Portland several years ago. He purchased a crumbling antebellum house, turned it into a beautiful rural Victorian mansion, and now serves a stunning menu filled with dishes that show off mushrooms to great advantage. Czarnecki gathers the wild fungi himself and knows just where the great morels, lobster mushrooms, porcini and matsutakes lie. This is a man who creates such dishes as fried oyster mushrooms and chipotle, soft-shelled crabs and chanterelles, enoki salad with cepe oil, and one of his classics, sautéed morels in kataifi nests. Czarnecki's wife, Heidi, no slouch of a cook herself, conceived a noteworthy three-mushroom tart. Dishes change with great frequency here. Czarnecki loves experimenting with local ingredients; for the ultimate experience, your table can order Jack's Mushroom Madness Menu: You choose your entrée and the other courses are a special surprise. No mushrooms on the dessert menu, but there are truffles. The restaurant has one of the best wine lists of Oregon bottles anywhere, and you'll get excellent, informed advice. If you want to see the perfect marriage between Oregon Pinot Noir and the bounty of forest and field, dine at the Joel Palmer House. And the place could not be more genial."