Fireshouse

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Please join us on Tuesday, September 28th, for our 3rd seasonal Stone Soup Supper Feast benefitting The Woodlawn Children's Garden. We will once again host a 4-course dinner with all proceeds going directly to this very special program. These festive dinners not only aim to raise much needed money to keep the program alive and well but also aim to rally the spirit and resources of our community to ensure the continued growth of the program.
Tickets for the event are $45 for dinner and $55 for dinner with wine.

Every couple of weeks the program coordinator for The Woodlawn Children's Garden, Mara Reynolds, and I touch base to see how things are going. Whether it's just a quick howdy or a sit down to discuss fundraising for the program, it's always a joy. A few weeks ago while spending a few moments planning the upcoming benefit dinner we both agreed it was time for the kids to take another field trip to the Firehouse.
I can clearly remember the first field trip almost two years ago. It all started with a winding trail of children marching their way from the garden, through the neighborhood, and to the restaurant. In their arms were baskets of just picked goods from the garden and on their faces timid smiles, not quite sure what they were going to do with their bounty. Lucky for us, kids love firehouses, so they settled in with the ease that only little ones possess and any worry we had about making this a fun field trip quickly disappeared. That day we made a butternut squash tart, a few pizzas, and some beautiful salads, all with garden ingredients. Everyone helped and everyone ate.
So last week and the week before we held two more field trips, the first for some of the younger children and the second for some of the older (and not as easily impressed with my bad jokes) children. They brought herbs, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, farm fresh eggs and an appetite. We quickly made a menu and set out to work getting the food prepped for our lunch. Once done we set a long table and had a family-style feast that included a shaved summer squash salad with pecorino and almonds, egg pizzas, a tomato and egg tart, and steamed milk for dessert. It was beautiful, simple, and inspiring.
So I thought I'd share with you some of the smiles that come from days like this.

As the season changes so does our approach to the menu. There are some things that will always be on the menu because that is the nature of our restaurant: we cook with wood fire, whether over the grill, in the pizza oven or on the rotisserie, so it's quite likely we'll be roasting chickens, grilling steaks and fish and using the pizza oven for more than just our Neapolitan pizze. But what does change quite often is what we serve with these items, and now, more than ever, changes are happening.
Here in the northwest the seasonal change from spring to summer is a little more obvious because the change in weather is relatively more pronounced than it is during other times in the year. Simply put, it's been HOT. So what we do is try to lighten things up a bit on the menu. Lately that has meant lots of beautiful heirloom lettuces from our garden, juicy tomatoes that are starting to make an appearance, squash blossoms, and some super sweet green beans from Mike Simington.
Also, it's a time for Gretchen to play around with our dessert menu. Gone are the warm rhubarb crisps and chocolate budini and here are the fresh berries from Sauvie Island and various ices creams and semifreddi that help keep us cool after dinner.
So yep, it's an exciting time of the year as we try to fit all that nature and our farmers have to offer onto the menu. Menu decisions are sometimes difficult, such as whether we have a fritto of squash blossoms or a fritto of green tomatoes on this week's menu (green tomatoes by the way) and sometimes the decisions are easy. For instance, sometime last winter JJ and I were finishing up a night's service and eating a dish of roasted rockfish and salmoriglio. It was real dang good, but we both remarked that summertime couldn't come soon enough as the salmoriglio would play very well with slices of fresh tomatoes and grilled fish. Usually my memory isn't the best, but I remembered that night clearly because the dish we imagined was so perfect. So it was the easiest decision in the world to pair some plump tomatoes with grilled Oregon albacore, salmoriglio and bread on this week's menu.
It is now more than anytime during the year that nature and its harvest guide us as we create our menu, and for that, we thank you summer!

Our wine director Scott Frank recently returned from his honeymoon in Puglia with an intriguing thought: Why not direct the focus of the wine menu strictly to the wines of Southern Italy? It made so much sense! So many amazing small crop and biodynamic wines are now being produced in Campania, Puglia, Sicily, and Calabria that it was a no brainer to pursue this direction. We've already added a dozen new selections and we have more to come as we move through our inventory of Northern Italian and French wines. By the beginning of August the change should be complete (some selections from Oregon will be there as well!) and we're very thrilled to bring to you some great wines that you may otherwise not have the opportunity to enjoy.
WOODLAWN COFFEE AND PASTRY
Many of you know that our beloved Pastry Chef Gretchen Glatte and I are teaming up to open Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry to better showcase Gretchen's talents. Well, that's one of the reasons...I've long suspected that she wanted to get out of the Firehouse kitchen and into our new one across the street because she long ago grew tired of my morning banter and forrays into the realm of idiocy. Whatever the case may be, we are very close to opening and she is getting her wish! This week we'll be tiling and installing sinks and then we start moving in equipment. The space is taking shape and looks amazing. Please stay posted as to the shop's happenings at www.woodlawncoffee.com.

Monday marked the beginning of summer and the end of what was an interminably long winter. Spring was in there somewhere, but unlike most years we really didn't get any of the sustained springtime sun that reassures us that summer really is on the way and everything is going to be okay. Instead we got rain mixed with rain, and some cold.

So is it over? Judging by some of the produce that's becoming available I'd wager that it is. Strawberries have had a rough time with all of the rain, but they're becoming more abundant and are tasting beautiful. I had first of the season Washington cherries last week and they were plump and juicy with plenty of flavor. Just today I had the good fortune of spending some time with Mara Reynolds, coordinator of the Woodlawn Children's Garden, at the Firehouse and she was kind enough to share a few handfuls of raspberries from a bucket that she had picked earlier in the day. Raspberries! So yeah, summer is here...it's just deciding to sneak up on us.

Speaking of sneaking up...at the end of this month we will have been open for two years. We had planned to have another big open house fundraiser, this time to raise money for the Oregon Humane Society, but we've decided to postpone the event until the end of July/beginning of August. Between the unpredictable weather, JJ's upcoming wedding and honeymoon, and the work Gretchen and I are doing on Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry to get it up and running, we thought it would be best to hold off so we can dedicate the time and energy needed to make it a memorable party for all of us. Stay tuned though, we will definitely be raising money for the Oregon Humane Society soon!

Two years... Not sure where all of the time has gone, though I'm sure JJ would tell you that much of it was spent spinning over fifteen thousand pizza doughs. FIFTEEN THOUSAND! If you've never watched JJ work a pizza you really should spend a moment the next time you're in. He's smooth, real smooth. It's not the showy spin the dough in the air stuff that wows the kids, but rather it's a motion that is actually three motions in one and it's not easy...unless you're JJ. You would be hard pressed to find a pizzaiolo in Naples that can do it with so little effort and so much finesse.

Other news at Firehouse includes more work being done on the building and in the gardens to get ready for summertime fun. Today I spanned wire across the patio that will hold the outdoor lights that should be arriving any day now. We finally got some tomatoes starts in the ground, thanks to the aforementioned Mara Reynolds. And last but not least, Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry is on its way to being open! Drywall will be finished this weekend and then we paint, install equipment and trim the space out. Finally!

To say that we have been anxious to open our patio would be an understatement. Close to being duped a few weeks ago by Mother Nature, we have reluctantly held off as rain, rain, and more rain kept being forecasted. Well, it's time to roll the dice and we will be opening our patio this coming Saturday. Later than we had expected for sure, but in plenty of time to see the lavender bloom, some apples grow, and enjoy a few new beer and wine selections.
Two new bottles of wine will be on our list this week, both from the Loire Valley, while we have also added a new red glass pour from Italy's Trentino/Alto Adige region.
The Loire selections are: the 2007 Chenin Blanc from Savennieres and the Chateau d'Epire estate, and will surely pair well with all of our small plates, the iron skillet mussels, pizzas, and especially the rotisserie chicken and beautiful rock fish we have coming in this week. Also, a 2008 Cabernet Franc from Chinon made by the Bretons that is made for the pizzas, hanger steak and meatballs. The glass pour, a 2006 Santa Maddalena by Muri-Gries, is full bodied, very aromatic and a joy to drink...so drink!
A couple of new beer selections will also make their way to our list as well. We are so proud to be serving Heater Allen's Pilsner and Schwarz beers from our taps and this weekend we will be replacing the Schwarz with their Isarweizen. Clean and crisp, this will certainly be a great summer beer. Also on tap already is Double Mountain's Hop Lava IPA. And there is more tap news: with a little custom work in the next couple of weeks we will be adding two more taps. We have some ideas of what we want to roll out first, but feel free to share with us your ideas as well.
Surely we can all agree that there hasn't been enough sunshine lately, but tell that to our lettuces growing out back! Our two beds are ready to be harvested and this week we will be adding our garden lettuces to our menu. There are a few heirloom romaines and some butterhead lettuces that are beautifully delicate and a total pleasure to eat. Also, our favorite farmer Mike Simington is bringing some baby chioga beets for us to play around with AND morels are being wood oven roasted and served with English peas with the house-made semolina gnocchi. Spring is finally making its long overdue appearance and we will make the most of it while we can!
Other news? Our two year anniversary is coming up at the end of June and we plan on celebrating in true Firehouse fashion--with plenty of wine and food! This year's Anniversary Open House will be held Sunday, June 27th and this time around we are raising money for the Oregon Humane Society. Live music, beer, wine and of course complimentary food will make this a day to remember, so please join us in raising money for OHS. We will have complete details on next week's Home Page. The last two Open House events have been absolutley wonderful and these charitable parties are the highlights of the Firehouse calendar.

The last two months have been more than a little eventful here at Firehouse. With a myriad of fundraisers, special events, some updates to the restaurant's interior, and the transition to sole ownership of Firehouse, we have been busy, busy, busy.
With the great many changes that we have undergone these last two months Elizabeth and I would like to take a moment to thank the folks that have made this transition seamless and thoroughly enjoyable. First and foremost, our staff. Loyal, patient and crazy enough to take this ride with us, our staff has become like family over the last two years. So Amy, Jesse, Kevin, Captain JJ, Lil' Connor, Steven, Kiri, and our beloved daytime kitchen matriarch Gretchen, thanks to all of you from the bottom of our hearts.
Also, a special thanks to Blythe Woodward. You have been integral in reshaping the beauty of Firehouse. From our new and improved menu and special event graphics to the little touches that are in the works to make Firehouse even more beautiful, comfortable and warm, you are a study in good taste.
And Jen Coughlin...you are the queen of the Woodlawn Neighborhood, working tirelessly to help transform our area into something special. Thanks so much for being such a proponent of Woodlawn, your loyal patronage, and hard work promoting Firehouse and our fundraisers.
It is now, with great anticipation, that we introduce our new website. We hope that it serves you well. We will be using the Home Page as a forum to keep visitors updated on seasonal changes in the menus, wine news, recipes, and general interest news items that we hope you will enjoy.