Green beer and plenty of Blarney will be flowing at JC’s Bar & Grill on St. Patrick’s Day Monday March 17. Live music from KC Flynn will begin around 8:00 PM. Flynn is widely recognized as the most accomplished acoustic guitarist in Central Oregon and he chose to return to a home in Bend after traveling and touring extensively.  JC’s Bar & Grill offers delicious dining, friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere.  It’s a family operation with a loyal clientele. Most nights owners and twin brothers Jeremy and Chris sling drinks and serve up tasty pub grub. The salads are a garden harvest and the chicken strips and burgers are filling and economically priced. Veggie dishes are sumptuous. Locals store their own inscribed beer mugs and the vibe is always mellow. Drink specials are offered every night at the full bar or the wine and beer bar. KC Flynn plays guitar music live every Thursday night. Besides great music and food and a small dancing floor outside seating is available when the weather is nice. Both street and lot parking are available. The bar and grill open for lunches at 11:00 AM Monday through Sunday.  JC’s Bar & Grill is located at 642 NW Franklin Avenue in Bend. For more information call 541.383.3000 or check out the website.

The Bendistillery Martini Bar and Mazama Bistro is among the oldest small-batch distilleries. It has gained the stature of being the country’s most award winning distillery. Occasional live music, fashion shows, mood lighting and the historic location all make the bistro evocative of trendy Manhattan or San Francisco martini bars. Since 1996 they have been reviving the tradition of premium handcrafted American distilled spirits. Only the freshest natural ingredients and pure Cascade Mountain water to create custom gins and vodkas.  

Regulars say for swank and sophistication you can’t beat ending a long day (or night) with a martini. It has a romantic past and a long list of famous fans including James Bond, Cary Grant and Ernest Hemingway. All traveled around the world seeking their favorite “tini” served dry, dirty or shaken. Bendistillery’s menu is varied, and changes seasonally. There are many standards including fresh infused lemon drops. Shaken with ice and served in a sugar-rimmed glass, they compete with the Crater Lake Sunrise for popularity. The staff is efficient and helpful and if guests can’t make up their minds, there are friendly bartenders willing and able to help with details about each drink. Visitors can purchase a bottle of their favorite spirits to take home for a souveneir or a nightcap.

The spirits are distilled locally, but not on the premises. The smell of juniper attracts anyone who loves Central Oregon and the High Desert Juniper gin tastes and smells like the desert, with a rugged smoky taste. Other Gold Medal spirits are the Crater Lake Vodka, Double 100 Vodka (Double Gold winner), Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka (Platinum and Best of Show winner) Mazama Infused Pepper Vodka. The Bendistillery Martini Bar and Sampling Room is its own cocktail laboratory. Bartenders consistently serve up seasonal creations that are tasty and innovative. They also offer a wide choice of boutique spirits from around the country.

The attractive Bendistillery recipe page includes nearly 100 recipes for cocktails, fruit infused vodka and gin cocktails, and hot drink cocktails. Customers often comment on the unique location in the heart of downtown Bend on the Brooks Street alley – just down from the historic Pine Tavern on the Mirror Pond Plaza overlooking Drake Park and the Deschutes River.

The martini bar is open 4:00 PM to closing Monday through Saturday. A patio with a scenic view of a classic High Desert sunset brings hip, young, urban life to downtown Bend weather permitting. Tuesday nights are Fashion Show nights. Each week a different local retailer takes over the Martini Bar to showcase their latest fashions. The show starts at 8:00 PM and always draws a large crowd so it’s advisable to arrive early for a table. Staff or management can explain the Parties To Go Bendistillery have hosted, such as the Pronghorn Golf Course Grand Opening. Other examples of parties and festivals they have catered and attended are available in the Bendistillery Photo Gallery page. For more information, pricing or schedules call 541-318-0200 or visit the Bendistillery web site.

Central Oregon is getting ready for WinterFest. LibertyBank Bend, Les Schwab and Seventh Mountain Resort are getting ready to host WinterFest in downtown Bend starting Friday February 8th through Sunday February 10, 2008. The event center will be located in the area extending from Troy Field to the Library with additional events held at the Seventh Mountain Resort. The closest lodging to Mt. Bachelor in Oregon’s premier ski and snowboard area, the resort will also host a special ice skating performance and other winter activities. WinterFest attracted more than 40,000 visitors in 2007, and is expected to attract more residents and visitors this year. Created as a way to celebrate arts, culture and winter sports in Central Oregon. Seventh Mountain has festival packages available, with amenities such as 3 swimming pools, 3 hot tubs, a fitness center, and tennis and basketball courts. For reservations or information call 800-452-6810 or check out the Seventh Mountain website.

Beginning Friday evening, downtown bustles at the Winter Wine Hop with art, music, foods, and wine sampling. A fireworks show will kick off the weekend followed by entertainment in the festival center, cross country ski competition on Louisiana Street as well as the ever popular U.S. Cellular snowboard and ski rail jam competition on Troy Field.

Saturday, the festival is alive with family entertainment, including a fine food marketplace. The festival hub will feature ice carving competitions, more cross country ski racing and demos, art, and vendors. Later that evening is the ski and snowboard rail competition. The festival pavilion will be jammed with concert goers eager to hear a Northwest favorite, The Blakes.  A band based in Seattle, The Blakes have concert dates scheduled this winter throughout the entire west, from L.A. to Bozeman. They have a new CD out, and plans to tour Europe later in the year. They tell people who are new to their music:  “We don’t try to take the cool retro vibe to an extreme degree - we are as influenced by the Everly Brothers as the Kinks.” They recently opened for Blue October to a sold out crowd at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom. 

Sunday, the festival closes with a full day of activities including snow bicycle racing, shopping in the WinterFest Marketplace, delicious food at the food court as well as numerous children and family activities. The festival culminates with closing ceremonies and a drawing for the WinterFest grand prize — a trip to Hawaii. Admission to WinterFest is free. However, everyone is encouraged to buy a $6.00 WinterFest button for discounted admission into certain events. Buttons may be purchased at all LibertyBank and Les Schwab Tire Centers as well as various Bend locations. A portion of all button sales is donated to Girls Go Outside, a non profit organization based in Bend.  For a complete list of activities or more activities call 541-323-0964 or click on the WinterFest website.

Superbowl Sunday becomes a Super Bloody Mary Extravaganza at The Blacksmith Restaurant in Bend. On Sunday Feb. 3, 2008 Blacksmith will host a Bloody Mary Extravaganza. They invite customers to “build their own” Bloody Marys from a “super selection” of ingredients. The Blacksmith also sports a wide range of custom brews. Other specialties are dishes with a Wild West accent. Flavorful regional recipes and the blending of New World cuisines with Old World techniques has drawn praise from food critics nationwide.  Conde Nast Traveler rated The Blacksmith Restaurant “One of the best new restaurants in the world.” There’s a new bar and lounge with a 62-inch and 54-inch HiDef big screen TVs for Superbowl viewing, and a popular private dining room for parties of up to 45, also with big screen TV. The restaurant sits at the edge of downtown Bend in Oregon’s ranch country at 211 N.W. Greenwood Avenue in the Historic Pearson Blacksmith Shop. Special events are also planned for Valentine’s Day, 2008. For information or reservations call 541/318-0588 or check the Blacksmith Restaurant web site.

McMenamins Old St. Francis School brings romance to Bend couples with a special Valentine Overnight Package — available throughout the Valentine week starting Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 17. The cost is $185-$229 per couple per night (21 and over) and includes:
• Lodging for two in a queen European room
• Dinner at McMenamins Pub
• A bottle of Edgefield Winery’s sparkling wine with two keepsake flutes
• Breakfast the following morning
On Wednesday, February 13 McMenamins and opbmusic.org presents Great Northwest Music Tour featuring the live music of The Everybodyfields. The 7:00 PM concert is free and open to all ages.

The Everybodyfields are from Johnson City, Tennessee. They are a band rapidly gaining a reputation as the front-runners of the newest generation of the alt-country movement. They offer melancholic interpretations of universal human stories set to achingly beautiful melodies, put to life with such instrumentation as lap steel, lead guitar, electric bass, piano and acoustic guitar.

The members of The Everybodyfields cite their influences as country, rock and roll, and folk. Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews front the act, sharing instruments and seamlessly merging their wildly different voices. Quinn’s echoing twang reverberates like a long-lost radio broadcast and provides a hard edge to Andrews pure, soothing tones.

For more information about McMenamins Old St. Francis Valentine packages or The Everybodyfields concert, call 541-382-4228 or toll free 877-661-4228 or visit the Old St. Francis website.

Chef Jody Denton works the wood fire grill and rotisserie at Merenda, the restaurant known for its new twists on country French and Italian cuisine and recipient of a Best of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine in 2004. Merenda offers the choicest Happy Hour menu in town. Happy Hour is from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Bill Keal performs live on Sundays at 6:30 PM Jan. 29, Feb. 10, April 20, May 18 and June 9.  At Merenda all menu products are farmed from organic and sustainable resources in Oregon. Merenda specializes in catering for private parties, such as anniversaries, rehearsal dinners and weddings. A host of original wine dinners featuring wine selections matched to seven courses of regional cuisine inspirations featuring Leonetti Cellars, Ken Wright Cellars, Kermit Lynch Importers and Pepperbridge Winery. Merenda is open 7 days a week from 11:30 AM. Dinner is served from 5:00 PM nightly. For information or reservations call 541-330-2304 or click on the Merenda website.

Central Oregon knows how to celebrate a holiday, and Groove Merchants party sounds will fill the air, not to mention the aroma of classic High Desert dining choices — at Baltazar’s Seafood Ristorante & Spirits in Bend on Dec. 31, New Years Eve. Enjoy a lobster, prawn or scallop dinner served with Baltazar’s famous Grand Cadillac Margaritas. Then take generous helpings of Pop, Jazz, Latin, Funk, R&B, and Soft Rock, mix well with hot vocals and a solid rhythm section, and you have Groove Merchant. It’s the best combination of live music and fine dining in town — the perfect way to end the day that ends the year.

“The absolute BEST “South of the border style” food Bend has to offer,” said Gordon Vasquez, owner of RoundAboutBend.com. “The bar has an intimate setting and a great atmosphere for a date. But it’s kid-friendly too — just ask my 8-year-old.”

Owned by Baltazar C. Chavez, the Ristorante focuses on fine seafood and meats, with a Mexican flair. On a given night they will serve fresh lobster, free-range beef and chicken and locally grown fruits and vegetables, with specialty vegetarian dishes.  For reservations call 541-382.6622 or for information and a map click here.

Two prominent Bend resorts and hotels offer guests holiday packages for lodging and a New Year’s Eve Bonfire on the Snow on December 31, 2007.  Mt. Bachelor Village and McMenamins Old St. Francis School have designs for an expedition that puts visitors smack in the middle of Central Oregon paradise to welcome the New Year. With Bonfire on the Snow packages, guests can celebrate under the night sky and stars with luscious desserts and a hot drink in a stunning old-growth Hemlock forest.  Both hotels offer van service and discounts on holiday packages of various kinds.  Bonfire on the Snow packages include transportation, snowshoes, instruction and hot chocolate

Families that love skiing and snowboarding have traditionally spent holidays at Mt. Bachelor Village because it comes alive with festivities. Many snow enthusiasts praise the lavish space of River Ridge Condominiums with their spectacular Deschutes River views. To reserve lodging at Mt. Bachelor Village call 800-547-5204 or check out the website.

McMenamins Old St. Francis School has music, movies and good food during the New Year’s weekend. Friends and visitors rave about their pub, brewery and bakery, movie theater and elegant Turkish-style soaking pool. For reservations at McMenamins call 541- 382-5174 or Toll Free 877- 661-4228 or visit the McMenamins website.

Lucky guests will snowshoe a short way in the High Cascade Mountains with a tour guide to a serene spot in the forest and then snuggle up to a blazing bonfire. It all takes place in a unique amphitheater that was hand carved into the snow. Naturalists discuss history, ecology, nature and astronomy. Here and on this night nature and the stars are the main attraction. For more information about the New Year’s Eve Bonfire in the Snow, call 541-389-8359 or toll free 800-962-2862 or logon to the Wanderlust Tours web site.

Visitors to Central Oregon love to stomp and shout at the McMenamins New Years Eve Bash in Bend. Both dance floors at the historic Old St. Francis School will be jumping to a couple of Oregon’s most popular bands. Smith & Hayes , and the Moon Mountain Ramblers. Music starts at 9:00 PM on Monday, December 31. Overnight packages may include everything from dinner and drinks to a private party with breakfast the following day. Rental cottages are private with a full list of amenities, such as Cable TV, phone, refrigerator and high speed internet access.  Some can accommodate a family or party of up to ten. All have access to an exquisite soaking pool with lavish ceramic tile work and Turkish style fountains. The on site theater presents recent films, classics, and sporting events. Guests relax in overstuffed sofas and snack on pizza and sip a wide choice of spirits from the full service bar. Families are welcome at matinees. Guests can extend the stay by adding Sunday, Dec. 30 or Tuesday Jan. 1 and receive a 10-percent discount that night. The price for dinner and music only is $250. For information and reservations call (541) 382-5174 or toll free 877-661-4228, or visit Mcmenamins.com.

People who come to Central Oregon for fun know that on New Year’s Eve it all starts at Merenda Restaurant in Bend. Merenda’s aim is to bring a bit of France and Italy to the heart of Central Oregon. For those lucky enough to be living here, or for those passing through, Merenda’s New Years Gala Event 2008 promises to be a bit of heaven as well. With the music provided by the Fabulous Essentials Band, the dance floor will be alive. New Years Eve is the band’s forte, and their 8-piece renditions of current hits, rock n roll classics, and heart-wrenching ballads keeps people on their feet and in someone’s arms. The party kicks off at 8:00 PM and features a champagne toast and complete 5 course dinner.
Merenda hosts two special pre-holiday parties that are both relished by local and visiting wine lovers. A wine and chocolate tasting with appetizers will begin Wed. 12/12/07 at 6:00 PM. The party includes a 5 course dinner. On Wed. 12/19 diners will gather for a 5 course Wine and Truffle Dinner that features tableside shaved truffles. Merenda is open 7 days from 11:30 AM with dinners served from 5:00 PM nightly. Chef Jody Denton suggests trying his newly introduced Happy Hour menu, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM daily. Reservations can be made by calling 541-330-2304 or online at MerendaRestaurant.com.