Best Places to Eat a Summer Meal in Oregon

Best places for enjoying a summer meal in the garden

written by Jen Stevenson

XICO

For a taste of Mexico City and Oaxaca in a secret urban garden off Portland’s busy Division Street, ask for a patio table at this mecca of masa and mezcal. Chef Kelly Myers’ dinner menu beckons with serrano vinaigrette-tossed squid atop homemade blue corn tostadas, grilled chorizo verde with grilled cactus salad and cinnamon sugar-dusted sopaipillas with blackberry mezcal sauce. The recently revived lunch and brunch menu holds its own— chilaquiles and a Michelada al fresco make for the perfect summer Sunday morning.

3715 SE DIVISION ST. PORTLAND
xicopdx.com

GATHERING TOGETHER FARM

Take a mini summer road trip to this working Philomath farm, where the south Willamette Valley fields and orchards part briefly to accommodate the cozy covered porch cafe and market. The menu changes with the crops, so expect duck breast with boysenberries and Swiss chard one week, risotto with grilled eggplant, chermoula and sweet corn butter the next. Post-meal, browse the farmstand for heirloom tomatoes and free-range eggs, buy a few from- scratch potato doughnuts for later (or now), book one of the monthly wine dinners or sign up for the twenty-one-week CSA—the farm offers a dozen pickup points throughout the state.

25159 GRANGE HALL RD. PHILOMATH
gatheringtogetherfarm.com

DANCIN VINEYARDS

Summer was made for Southern Oregon sipping, especially at Dan and Cindy Marca’s elegant Tuscany-inspired winery tucked into the rolling hills between Medford and charming gold-rush- era Jacksonville. Pick a patio perch overlooking the lush gardens and lunch on antipasti plates piled with local Rogue Creamery blue cheese and Rise Up! artisan baguette, salads made with greens sourced from nearby Dunbar Farms, and a few of the crisp-crusted artisan wood-fired pies, paired with a bottle of award-winning 2015 Coda pinot noir.

4477 S STAGE RD. MEDFORD
dancin.com

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