This was found on the Backporch Coffee Roasters' blog today:

Well some exciting news is instore for all you coffee folks. Deschutes Brewery has just announced the release of the new "Backporch Imperial Porter" which will be served at the downtown pub on the X tap. We are so excited to be paired with such a fine company to create such a beautifully paired beverage. Thanks to those at Deschutes who made this possible (Patrick). Get some while you can and make sure to tell them how much you like it.

Okay, let me just say, "Yum!" If it's like the Imperial Porter Deschutes now has on tap at the pub, it'll probably weigh in at around 8% alcohol.

Incidentally, Backporch Coffee is located on the westside in the old Royal Blend location: 1075 NW Newport Avenue, next to Newport Avenue Market.

As reported on the front page of today's Bulletin (online version only available to subscribers, unfortunately) and here on KTVZ.com, Trader Joe's will officially be opening a store on the north side of Bend, in the Cascade Village Shopping Center.

Here are the pertinent details:

• No opening or construction dates have been released yet
• They'll build a 13,000 square foot building in the south end of the Center, in front of Food 4 Less
• The existing building next to the planned location will be demolished
• Expect all the typical Trader Joe's offerings

Not much to go on yet, but at least there is finally some confirmation.

The current issue of The Source Weekly has a "Dine on a Dime" cheap eating guide that I thought was worth writing about—but you won't find it online. Go pick up an issue before it's gone if you want the full article.

Their guidelines are places that serve at least three meal menu items for under $7. Their list includes:

• The Brown Bag
• Cafe Sintra
• Corey's Bar and Grill
• The D&D
• Devore's
• Hans
• Longboard Louie's
• Pizza Mondo
• Taco Stand
• Chan's Chinese
• Demetri's Greek Cusina
• Pilot Butte Drive-in
• Black Horse Saloon
• Yoko's

And a whole bunch more. I was pretty impressed at how extensive/inclusive it is—we'll definitely keep it around for reference. Makes me want to head down to the D&D for some deep-fried goodness.

I'm getting all beery on these last couple of posts, I notice.

Just a note to list the current tap lineups at two of our breweries (in the spirit of Deschutes' Now Pouring page): Silver Moon Brewing and Bend Brewing Company.

Over at Silver Moon, there is:

• Hound's Tooth Amber Ale
• Badlands Bitter
• Snake Bite Porter
• Bridge Creek Pilsner
• A seasonal—some kind of nut brown ale, I believe

And at the BBC:

• High Desert Hefeweizen
• Metolius Golden Ale
• Elk Lake IPA
• Outback Old Ale
• Pinnacle Porter
• Axe Head Red
• Amber Ale
• Scotch Ale on nitro
• HopHead Imperial IPA

Spotted in an ad in The Source: Eagle Crest Resort is hosting a Winter Brewfest on Saturday, March 3rd. It runs from 12pm until 7pm, and prices are pretty much the brewfest "standard": $5 for entry which includes a stein and three tasting tickets; additional tickets are $1 each.

Breweries that are advertised as participating are:

• Deschutes Brewery
• Silver Moon Brewing
• Lagunitas
• Pyramid Brewing
• New Belgium Brewing
• Mac's Ale (MacTarnahan's)
• Full Sail
• Kona Brewing
• Allagash

For more information, contact Eagle Crest Resort:

1522 Cline Falls Rd.
Redmond, OR 97756
(541) 923-2453

Okay, I love Zydeco and all, I think it's one of the best restaurants in town, but I have to say, they have possibly the worst men's room layout of any place I've been. Why is that, you ask?

Well, as you open the door, the first thing you see—as well as any diners sitting at the table looking down the hall—is the urinal. Right there in the open door. There is zero privacy for anyone using it. Here's a diagram I whipped up to give you an idea of what I mean:

You walk in and pow! There it is.

It's been like this for awhile... all they'd have to do is turn the door around so that it opens on the other side, shielding the urinal from view. Why hasn't anybody thought of this?

Apparently just within this past week, Mercury Diner has changed its name and is now an Italian restaurant. I'm unclear if they are under new ownership, but the new restaurant is named "Zucca." Literally, this happened just within this past week or so; we ate there only a few weeks ago and it was still under the Mercury Diner name.

This comes as a bit of a shock; I thought Mercury Diner was pretty good and was somewhat popular. Very strange. At any rate, they are at the same address: 1444 NW College Way, just off the Newport Avenue-College Way roundabout and next to La Rosa and Kava.

Bend, Overall, by Scott Cook, is a guidebook with an emphasis on outdoor adventures. Published in 2004, it's fairly up-to-date and you should be able to manage each of the "adventures" with no real changes from the book.

The book is divided into 53 featured outings/destinations, several driving tours, and maps. Each of the outings features exact directions for both driving and hiking, helpful tips like whether dogs are allowed and the price (if any), and is peppered liberally with photographs and tidbits of history and trivia. Cook has an easy-to-read writing style that works well here in an "insider's guide" book, and he clearly has an excellent knowledge of the Central Oregon area.

Overall, it's a very good book and is eminently appropriate to tourists and locals alike who want to see what the "Central Oregon lifestyle" is all about. However, if you're looking for a book that also recommends and reviews restaurants, lodging, shopping, etc., then this is not the book you're looking for.

The book was published locally and doesn't appear to have an ISBN number; because of that, you won't find it on Amazon.com. I did find it on Powell's (my first link above), and here's a link to it on REI's website. Otherwise, you should be able to find it at our local bookstores, and of course the library has it as well. Price? Well, locally (and on REI) it looks to be $14.95, but Powell's at this writing is selling it for $8.95—a pretty good deal.

Yesterday we had lunch at Baltazar's, the new(ish) Mexican seafood fine dining restaurant, located on the west side. It was excellent! I'd only been hearing good things about the place, with the only caveat being "it's expensive."

The restaurant itself is very spacious and clean. Warm wood and latté colors, some marine-themed artwork, and an open architecture are all very inviting. The location on the west side is decent, too, though they could really use more parking.

We only saw the lunch menu, but there were twenty-something items on it, ranging in price from $10 to $15. Plenty of seafood, also the usual other meats and a vegetarian dish or three. I had the lobster enchilada ($11) which was very good. My wife had a chicken mole dish with some very sweet and chocolaty mole sauce (not spicy like La Rosa's).

Service was good, but a little "laid back," as my wife said. It wasn't slow, really, but they didn't seem hurried, and the only time we really had to wait was for them to pick up the bill.

Overall, excellent. And they're easy to find, too: the corner of 14th/Century Drive and Knoll Avenue, next to the old John Dough's location (whatever happened to John Dough's, anyway?).

They don't have a website (yet) that I can find, but I do have some other pointers for you: the Bend Oregon Restaurants review (also a lunch review) and the review from The Source Weekly.

Baltazar's
1465 SW Knoll Ave.
Bend, OR 97702
(541) 382-6622

Well, there's something happing in Bend for Mardi Gras besides mask making (the lack of events which I bemoaned here): JC's Bar & Grill is having a Mardi Gras party on the 20th.

It starts at 8pm, and they say they have "tons of beads of all shapes and sizes."

The Sparrow Bakery is serving up some Valentines Day treats this holiday season: erotic baked goods.

Yes, you read that right. They have a special menu divided into a "G-rated" section and "X-rated" section for "one day only." You'll probably want to place an order ahead of time if you want something in particular, otherwise you can stop in on the 14th and it's first come, first served.

(One interesting thing on the menu (don't worry, G-rated): an entire Valentine Supper To Go, for $58. It's a dinner for two, and includes shrimp spring rolls, miso soup, and a seared ahi plate. Sadly, I'm two days late in blogging it: order had to be in by Saturday the 10th.)

First heads-up appeared here in The Source Weekly.

The Sparrow Bakery is located at 50 SE Scott Street, just east off the Colorado Street exit from the Parkway—kind of in that industrial part of town just over the tracks.

Just a reminder about this Saturday, February 17th's Renegade Rollergirls event, details I blogged here. Doors open at 6pm at the Indoor Sports Center; tickets are $10 and $15 for VIP. If you didn't yet have plans for Saturday night, now you do!

I just found out today that The Redmond Spokesman—Redmond's local weekly newspaper—has a blog, where they seem to be posting both bullet-point summaries of their news and longer articles. Good deal; they actually have a domain name but no site or other online presence out there—nice to see they've set up something.

And, their blog gives them a leg-up on the Bulletin, too—they have an RSS feed so their content can be syndicated and read in news aggregators. The Bulletin doesn't do that; I have a cobbled-together RSS feed for the Bulletin that slurps their free headlines, but that's just a workaround. Plus, most of the Bulletin's online content is behind a paywall anyway.

+1 Redmond Spokesman.

According to Elise Michael's blog entry today:

And, thinking I should call to make reservations first, I find out THEY'RE CLOSED. Like, FOR GOOD.

And in the comments, Jen points to this Bulletin article:

Give last rites to Mangia! Pasta!, the popular Italian cafe in The Forum shopping center off Northeast 27th Street. It closed Jan. 17. A popular place for families with children, it had cut out its lunch schedule in recent months and was only serving dinners. Co-owner Erika Hemingway said the driving force behind the closure was the increasingly high cost of the space.

News to me.

Deschutes Brewery's website has a nice feature that I've completely overlooked in the past: their Now Pouring page, which lists the beers currently on tap at the brewpub.

It was updated three days ago, on the 3rd, and if they keep it reasonably up to date (every few days), that's pretty valuable; they always have a bunch of seasonals or specials on tap that they don't otherwise advertise, and you don't know what they are unless you go. None of the other local breweries offer this on their sites, as near as I can find.

I'll keep an eye on this and see if they keep it updated regularly.

Mardi Gras—Fat Tuesday—is coming up on February 20th this year, but after a quick sweep tonight I can only find one thing going on locally that's related: Make your own Mardi Gras mask on February 10th.

Is that all? Really? Seems like there must be something going on somewhere. Odd. I'll keep digging.

Yep, it's all over the news and I can't seem to get away with it: Flights to Las Vegas will be starting March 29—with one-way flights as low as $59. But those cheap flights are simply the initial promotion.

To kick off the twice-a-week service, which starts March 29, Allegiant Air is offering limited introductory fares as low as $59 one-way.

"We are extremely pleased to extend the Allegiant brand of low-fare, non-stop jet service to Central Oregon," said Maurice Gallagher, Allegiant Air president and CEO.

The new flights will operate Thursdays and Sundays between Roberts Field and McCarran International Airport. Flights on the airline's 150-seat MD-80s will leave Redmond at 6:45 p.m., arriving in Las Vegas at 7:30 p.m. Flights leaving Las Vegas will depart at 4:20 p.m. and arrive in Redmond at 6:05 p.m. (all local times).

Allegiant's $59 one-way introductory fare must be purchased by Feb. 24 and is valid through Aug. 15. The airline said the introductory fares are not available on all flights, but regular one-way fares on the route start as low as $79 one-way.

What I'm wondering is, how many people from Las Vegas are going to come here?

"What happens in Central Oregon stays in Central Oregon..."