Going around the Bend in fab eating
Bend’s food scene is so crazy exciting, you’d need months to sample it all. There are breweries where the bites are as good as the beer, laid back Latin spots, small plates cocktail bars and more. Here’s a sampling of just three delicious, offbeat spots to eat, from a motorcycle shop to an Airstream-turned-brick-and-mortar. The Sparrow Bakery, in Bend's Old Ironworks arts district, offers breads, pastries and killer breakfasts. sandwiches with a poached egg, housesmoked bacon, arugula and arugula aioli tucked inside a croissant.
The Sparrow
We suspect this corner in the Old Ironworks part of Bend is bewitched, because no matter where we thought we were going, we kept ending up here. The freeway sign may say Exit 183. It’s the Sparrow Exit and the epicenter of a pastry world where the breakfast buns — dubbed Ocean Rolls, the love child of a croissant and a cardamom-scented cinnamon roll — have a cult following.
The Ocean Rolls sell out every morning, but the breakfast sandwich ($9.50) is also a thing of beauty: A croissant filled with a poached egg, house-smoked bacon, arugula and arugula aioli. Want to split one with your sweetheart? The bakery will help you go halfsies by putting a poached egg on each half for a dollar more.
Details: The original Sparrow is open from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays at 50 S.E. Scott St. The newest outpost, which offers dinner, beer and wine, as well as pastries, is at 2748 Northwest Crossing Drive, Suite 110, Bend. Find details on both at www.thesparrowbakery.net.
Spoken Moto
Apparently, coffee-beer bars are a thing — and Bend’s Spoken Moto, which opened last summer, adds a few more hyphenations to its version. Here, you can order up an espresso or a cortado, choose an IPA from a half dozen taps, browse the vintage motorcycles and shop for dark-wash denim and philanthropic burlap bags.
Did we mention the food trucks? Order at the trucks, and they’ll bring your noshes to you, so you can lunch as you sip. Don’t miss the Himalayan Bites truck’s momos — flavor-packed dumplings, a gyoza cousin with 10 times the oomph — and Scoutpost’s doughnut holes, served with two warm dipping sauces.
Details: Open 8 a.m.- 10 p.m. daily at 310 S.W. Industrial Way, near Crux Fermentation Project and Atlas Cider; www.spokenmoto.com
Spork
Chef-owner Jeff Hunt’s Spork started life as an Airstream food truck, serving up eclectic, flavorpopping fare inspired by Latin American and Asian cuisine. But when he went brick-and-mortar, opening his colorful, laid-back bistro in an unassuming strip mall in 2013, he hit the big time. Lanterns hang from the ceilings, tables and trendy industrial chairs dot the room, and along one wall, booths recall the curved metal frames of a midcentury trailer.
Order at the counter — a Boneyard RPM IPA, perhaps, or a lemongrass-tinged Spork G&T — then dig into Spork’s signature Spicy Fried Chicken ($12) with spicy sweet sambal and kimchi, Peruvian Lomo Saltado ($12) or the swoonworthy Dan Dan Noodles ($9), with ground pork, served in a spicy mixture of black vinegar, chile oil, kimchi, ginger, garlic, soy and tahini. Details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily and until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 937 W. Newport Ave.; www. sporkbend.com.