Ashland, Sept. 18—
WHAT CAN BE SAID about New Sammy's Cowboy Bistro here that hasn't been said before? It's clearly one of the Five Great Restaurants, with an intelligent, inspired, technically masterful chef in Charlene Rollins and as informed and experienced a sommelier as you could ask for in her husband Vern. The raw materials are as local as possible — vegetables and herbs from the garden behind the restaurant, meats and fish from as nearby as can be. Even the water is local, sweet and clean.
Last September we ate here three days running — you can read about it here, here, and here — and I'd gladly do the same again, but they're closed Monday and Tuesday. We certainly have to get back for lunch: I'm afraid I didn't give dinner the proper attention, as it's hard to focus when you're at a table with eight other diners, after a couple of Martinis at home…
We began with amuses-geule: little cups of white gazpacho with lots of ground almond in a crème-fraîche base. I went on to leek tart served with brandade, romesco sauce, and sautéed Padron peppers, and a small salad with radishes — it sounds over-worked, but everything balanced, adding up to a marvelous course. I went on to lamb chops, because I love them and Charlene knows exactly how far to cook them and how to accompany them, and that's all anyone needs to know. I had a cheese plate for dessert, but by then the entire experience was beginning to dissolve—
Chateau de Chantegrive, Graves, 2006; Cerasuolo di Vittoria, "Pithos" (Azienda Agricola Cos), 2007 (we brought that one along with us); Valpolicella Classico Superiore, Terre di Cariano (Cecilia Beretta), 2006
•New Sammy's Cowboy Bistro , 2210 South Pacific Highway, Talent, OR 97520; tel. (541) 535-2779
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