What's New in Allyson's Kitchen: February 2008

Wow! Thank you to everyone that showed up to the Allyson's Kitchen Grand Opening this last weekend in Bend. We hope it was as exciting for all of you as for the rest of us. Great wine and delicious food can't help but add to an already entertaining evening of meeting many new friends and neighbors, culinary enthusiasts and seasoned gourmets, young and young at heart alike.

Allyson is already fielding questions to the tune of "When can I sign up for Cooking Classes in Bend?" - and we hope you can fend off your appetites until April, 2008 - when we begin to host our Confident Cooking Series in Bend, Oregon. As we line up our classes, you can view the Cooking Class Schedule for our Ashland store at AllysonsKitchen.com for ideas of what is to come.

Read more in an article from the Bend Bulletin.

Dear Friends:

We are extremely pleased to announce the grand opening of our second store, Allyson’s Kitchen in Bend, Oregon – scheduled for the weekend of Friday, February 22 through Sunday, February 24, 2008.

375 SW Powerhouse Drive
Bend, OR 97702

Ribbon Cutting with Bend Chamber of Commerce
Thursday, Feb. 21 at 4:30p.m.

Complimentary Wine Tasting
Friday, Feb. 22 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Grand Opening Activities continue
Saturday, Feb. 23, Sunday, Feb. 24.

Balsamic, Olive Oil and other Gourmet Food Tastings
Sat. and Sun. from 1:00 - 5:00 pm,

Cooking Demonstrations
Friday evening and Saturday afternoon

Our deli counter is much bigger than the Ashland location, and features a gleaming Rotisserie on one side which will be very busy roasting free range chickens, whole ducks and stuffed Cornish game hens. We have a full back kitchen too, where our chefs will prepare all of our delicious soups and gourmet-to-go items

Upstairs on the mezzanine, we’ve built a beautiful demonstration kitchen for our cooking classes, with more seating and better views of the counter island and six burner range that also features a built-in grill. We hope to start our regular cooking classes starting at the end of March 2008. Just as important, we have a big stock room and separate office space for our staff!

The wine shop is located directly under our mezzanine in a cozy room that looks very much like our store in Ashland. In front of our deli counter, we’ve got more tables and chairs to accommodate all of our guests and an expanded area just outside our doors with more outdoor seating for our summer visitors.

And, while it is a brand new building, we are still incorporating many of the features that make our Ashland store so charming. Lots of wood fixtures, our signature stained concrete floors and warm lighting to make the experience all the more enriching. The new store will become as much a part of the Bend community as our Ashland store, with Friday night wine tastings and year-round cooking classes and more.

I know many of our Ashland customers also have second homes in Bend, and we hope that you will also consider our Bend store as your home away from home. And, for all of our new Bend customers, we hope you’ll take a moment to introduce yourself and get to know our dedicated staff. We’ve hired a great team of passionate foodies who are excited about the grand opening too!

It’s been an incredible journey and we are thrilled to be at this stage. Thank you for all of your encouragement and your support. We wouldn’t be able to do this without you.

We’ve got a fabulous line-up of cooking classes inside – and I know many of you are itching to start using all of your kitchen essentials that you received as holiday gifts. The class line-up for this quarter includes several hands-on classes including Sushi, Knife Skills and Italian Cuisine. Our Thai cooking class is also back by popular demand, plus a new class on Asian Cuisine from Chef Ibong Sbjeda from Kobe restaurant.

It’s a delicious time here at Allyson’s! Hope to see you in my kitchen, soon!