Join us for the second annual Discovery West PorchFest, a roving neighborhood music festival celebrating live music, local flavor, and community connection. Explore three stages throughout the neighborhood featuring an eclectic lineup of talented musicians from across the Pacific Northwest, with performances spanning a variety of genres and styles.
Along the way, enjoy food and drinks from local vendors, explore new homes in the neighborhood, and soak up the vibrant atmosphere as music fills the streets of Discovery West. Gather with friends, discover a new favorite artist, and experience an unforgettable evening of music and community. For details on live performances and food vendors, click here.
A spirit of choice blends with a fresh mixer to create flavor. Soft light shimmers on the glass, casting long shadows as the flower petal garnish sets the mood. If flavor is the way to the heart, then styling is the way to the imagination, and both bring liquid to the lips. In Alyson Brown’s world, creating the perfect, full-flavored summer cocktail is only the beginning. Brown is the author of The Flower-Infused Cocktail and owner of Alyson Brown Studio at the Stacks in the Old Mill. Her beverage styling and photography have found their way into half a dozen books and in myriad ad campaigns. Her ability to create a narrative by photographing a glass of liquid has driven her success. “Light, to me,” she said, “goes a long way in telling a story.”
Now, after creating hundreds of sets, unique moods and beverage experiences through light and shadow, Brown has learned a thing—or 10—about how to style cocktails. More importantly, she has mastered the art of the elevated drink and offers recommendations for ditching the red plastic party cup at home.
Alyson Brown shares her cocktail recipes. Photo by Tina Paymaster
Alyson Brown’s Three Rules for Better Cocktails
The First Rule: Batch It
While she promotes simplicity, when Brown hosts an event, she wants “people to leave with a memory and not feel like they wanted more.”
When she puts out the effort to make her own ingredients, she makes a large batch ahead of time and stores it in a container that makes it easy to serve.
Infused simple syrups are the easiest. By planning ahead, one can layer sugar with flowers, coffee beans and vanilla beans and store for a couple of weeks. When it’s time to make the tonic, sift the sugar to remove the ingredients, then mix equal parts of the infused sugar with hot water, stir and let cool.
With all the premade mixers at her disposal, she can also pivot for easy mocktail variations.
The Flower-Infused Cocktail
The Second Rule: Garnish It
A garnish goes a long way, making even simple drinks look fancy. “Add a few edible flower petals,” said Brown, “or a dehydrated lime on top to make it sexy.” Despite being known for creating elaborate garnishes, she admits that making your drink look cooler “can be as simple as the position of your cocktail pick.”
The Third Rule: Set the Mood
With every photo she snaps, she connects the sipper to the drink and the occasion. To take this idea home, Brown considers the beverage’s color and which flower best creates the mood. However, it all starts with the right glass to create an experience. “Even sparkling water in a champagne flute feels nice,” she said. Brown’s final bit of advice is to create an interactive cocktail adventure. Set out different garnishes, flowers, herbs and citrus. For summer brunch parties, she recommends a “make your own Bloody Mary bar.” By setting out skewers “with fried squash blossoms, bacon, shrimp, cucumbers, peppers, asparagus, green apple” and more in a choose-your-own fashion, every drinker can explore their own stylish flavor profiles. “It’s like a charcuterie board for cocktails,” she said. You’ll also need some basic bar tools to start: a jigger for measuring spirits, a muddler for crushing ingredients, a simple cocktail shaker and some acrylic cocktail glasses for outdoors. Lastly, remember this is all about fun and connection. After all, “flavor is the way to the heart,” she said.
Alyson Brown shares her cocktail recipes. Photo by Tina Paymaster
Recipes
White Jasmine Sangria
Ingredients
1 bottle of dry white wine
1 cup of triple sec
12-ounce bottle of ginger ale
Juice from 1 cantaloupe
1 cup jasmine ginger green tea syrup
1/3 cup jasmine flower water
1 lime, sliced
4 kumquats, sliced
Jasmine Green Tea Simple Syrup
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons loose jasmine green tea
1-inch piece of ginger, chopped
Bring water to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the loose jasmine tea. Steep for three minutes and strain, reserving the liquid. Add the sugar and bring back to a simmer. Once the sugar has dissolved completely and the syrup has thickened, remove from the heat. Add the ginger, cover and steep for 30 minutes. Cool completely. Store in the refrigerator and use within one week.
Mixology
In a pitcher or glass serving container, combine wine, triple sec, ginger ale, cantaloupe juice, jasmine ginger green tea simple syrup, jasmine flower water and fruit slices. Stir gently. Serve over ice. Garnish with fruit slices.
Mocktail Option
Make it a mocktail by subbing with a nonalcoholic white wine, such as Giesen 0% Sauvignon Blanc, and fresh-squeezed orange juice in place of the triple sec.
Spin Spin Sugar
Ingredients
2 ounces bourbon
1 ounce dry vermouth
1 ounce Concord grape shrub
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes cardamom bitters
Pinch of cinnamon
Lemon slice
Lemon peel
Sugar-dusted grapes
Cornflower Sugar
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornflower petals
Rub a lemon slice over the rim of a chilled glass and roll it into the cornflower sugar.
Mixology
Shake bourbon, vermouth, shrub, bitters and cinnamon with ice, strain and pour into a prepared glass with fresh ice. Express a lemon peel over the glass and finish with sugar-dusted grapes.
Aviator Glasses
Aviator Glasses
Ingredients
1½ ounces blanco tequila
½ ounce maraschino liqueur
¼ ounce crème de violette
¾ ounce lime juice
Grapefruit slice
Mixology
Pour the tequila, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette and lime juice into a shaker over ice and shake for 30 seconds. Strain into a glass over ice and garnish with violet flowers and a grapefruit slice.
Pablo’s Daughter. Photo by Tina Paymaster
Pablo’s Daughter
Ingredients
2 ounces blanco tequila
1 ounce grapefruit juice
1 ounce mandarin juice
½ ounce lime juice
½ ounce grapefruit rosemary simple syrup
¼ ounce Campari
Grapefruit bubbly water
Grapefruit slice
Mandarin slice
Stem of alyssum
Grapefruit Rosemary Simple Syrup
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
½ peeled grapefruit, sliced
1 sprig rosemary
Combine sugar and water in a small pot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved completely, add the grapefruit and stir for one minute, lightly mashing the fruit. Remove from the heat. Add the rosemary, cover and steep for 30 minutes. Cool completely. Use within one week.
Mixology
Add tequila, grapefruit juice, mandarin juice, lime juice, simple syrup and Campari to an ice-filled shaker and shake until chilled. Strain into a glass over ice and top with bubbly water. Garnish with sliced grapefruit, mandarin and a stem of alyssum.
High Desert Food & Farm Alliance (HDFFA) is inviting the community to experience Central Oregon’s local food scene like never before at the inaugural High Desert Food Trail Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, September 19.
This first-of-its-kind, family-friendly event transforms the High Desert Food Trail into an interactive adventure, where teams will travel throughout the Sisters and Tumalo area, visiting over 15 local farms and food businesses while competing in a friendly scavenger hunt for a grand prize.
At each stop, teams will complete fun activities and solve clues bringing them one step closer to completing the hunt. Along the way, participants will enjoy exclusive experiences, meet local food producers, discover hidden gems, and gain a deeper appreciation for the people who grow and produce the food that nourishes Central Oregon.
Teams that successfully complete the scavenger hunt will be eligible to compete for top prizes from local businesses, adding an extra layer of excitement to a day already filled with exploration, discovery, and local flavor. The scavenger hunt encourages participants to explore the region, support local businesses, and create lasting memories with family and friends while celebrating Central Oregon’s vibrant food community.
For all information and to purchase your tickets, click here.
Spend an unforgettable summer evening on Boundless Farmstead, in collaboration with the Open Arts Center, where local food, art, music, and community come together in a beautiful rural setting. Stroll through the fields with a refreshing handcrafted cocktail in hand, enjoy a behind-the-scenes guided farm tour with farmers David & Megan Kellner-Rode, and discover the stories of the people growing food in our region.
Throughout the evening, relax to live music while browsing a featured collection for sale from local artist, Rachel Binah, celebrating the creativity that thrives alongside our local agricultural community. Rachel’s artwork is also being featured at the Open Arts Center Gallery, opening August 7th and running throughout the month of August and September, so be sure to check her out there as well! Bid on a unique and sought after piece in a silent art auction, with proceeds supporting programs that strengthen local farms and improve access to fresh, nutritious food for neighbors across Central Oregon.
Thoughtfully prepared seasonal bites showcasing locally grown and prepared ingredients, will be served as you mingle with fellow community members. Whether you’re passionate about local food, inspired by the arts, or simply looking for a memorable evening in a stunning farm setting, this one-of-a-kind event offers a meaningful way to connect with the people and places that make our region so special.
Raise a glass, explore the farm, support local art and music, sustainability, and help cultivate a stronger, more resilient local food system. Raise a glass, explore the farm, support local art and music, sustainability, and help cultivate a stronger, more resilient local food system. For all information, click here.
It’s round #3 for our Pop-Up collaboration with Swig & Stone Rolling Wood-Fired Pizza. Their beautiful wood-fired pies pair perfectly with our hand-selected wine and craft beer offerings, and the community vibe is pretty awesome, too. Don’t miss this one – and come early for the best seating. No reservations required. Click here for all information and more events from Viaggio Wine Merchant.
Summer days in Bend don’t need an ambitious itinerary—they just need a few great stops in the right order. Start with a nourishing breakfast, spend the afternoon beside an alpine lake and finish the day with cocktails overlooking the Deschutes. It’s the kind of day that captures what locals love most about summer in Central Oregon: good food, time outside and an easy pace that invites you to linger.
Here’s how to spend a full day eating your way through Bend and beyond.
Breakfast: Restore and Refuel at Fix & Repeat
The season spills from the front doors at Fix & Repeat, a vegan cafe that throws open its garage-door walls the moment the weather allows. Morning light warms the patio tables at this restaurant along Arizona Avenue in a scene that feels, for all its naturalness, miraculous. Co-owner Leila Carter has compared the café to the “Cheers” of smoothie bars—and she’d know. Carter is often in the shop before it opens, juicing and prepping alongside a staff that, in many cases, has been part of the team since the beginning. She and co-owner Kristen O’Neill met while living on Maui and, coincidentally, moved to Bend on the same day. They purchased the café in January 2020 and have remained committed to its founding mission: helping people restore their bodies with plant-based food so they can get back out and do what they love. Hike. Bike. Float the Deschutes. Nourish. Repeat.
Try the electric-cyan Blue Breeze smoothie where coconut milk meets fresh-squeezed orange juice, pineapple, mango and lemon with a hint of maple syrup, vanilla protein and blue spirulina. The glowing color resembles a swatch of the morning sky and comes courtesy of the spirulina—a blue-green algae superfood.
The Acai bowl is dense, blended with house made peanut butter, almond milk, banana, vanilla protein powder and, for an Oregon touch, marionberries. This base is topped with goji granola—also made in house—plus banana, berries, coconut and cacao nibs.
Lunch at the Boathouse at Suttle Lodge
Lunch: Lakeside Dining at The Boathouse at Suttle Lodge
Summer at The Boathouse is akin to refined summer camp. Open seasonally along Suttle Lake, the spot has everything someone could ask for in a lakeside eatery, which is probably why you’ll find loads of hikers, swimmers, paddle boarders and road-trippers filling the tables inside and out. Sit dockside and you’ll see boats bobbing, dogs drying off in the sun after a swim, and birdsong drifting through the trees, all within a lunch break.
The Boathouse offers cuisine that may seem humble with its counter service and menu board, but surprises with invention once the plates land on their royal blue serving trays. The Famous Fish Sandwich is a potato chip-crusted trout slice of heaven. It even earned national attention after appearing on Hulu’s “Eater’s Guide to the World.” This is not the kind of trout-by-the-lake situation that The Parent Trap’s Hallie and Annie tried to pawn off onto Meredith Blake during their camping trip. The full-length fried fish extends well beyond the sesame-dense bun sandwiching it—which is great news because the trout is delicious. Also in the sandwich are the classic LPO (lettuce, pickle, onion) fixings, an acidic tartar dressing called Fish Trap Sauce and a wedge of lemon on the side.
If in need of some veg, the cold noodle salad comes with rice noodles, tahini, pickled onion and cucumber, shredded carrot, jalapeno, herbs and a chili crunch sauce that adds punch and texture to the dish. It pairs quite perfectly with the specialty Lawn Margarita, which is poured over a full mound of nugget ice.
Enjoying a hot dog at a Bend Elks game at Vince Genna Stadium
Afternoon: Bend Elks Baseball at Vince Genna Stadium
Carrying a hot dog up stadium bleachers is a distinct summer joy. As long as the Bend Elks are playing at home, it is the perfect occasion to snag one for $5. These are the long days Bendites crave during winter’s 4 p.m. sunsets.
At Vince Genna Stadium, the menu is as old school as the venue itself, which dates to the ‘40s: hot dogs with choose-your-own toppings, pretzels with cheese sauce, hamburgers, Cracker Jacks and warm peanuts. For drinks, the lineup includes Bend brews, Cascade Lakes’ Left Field Lager and Deschutes Anytime Lemonade Shandy, plus Corvallis-made 2 Towns Cider and Craftwell Cocktails in flavors like hibiscus lemonade. There’s something for fans to holler about when stadium entertainers sprint past the stands with a sign reading “CHEER FOR CHEAP BEER.” Just remember to get your drinks before the 7th inning when beer sales wrap up.
If the main queues have you missing too much of the action, the BBQ Deck near third base usually offers a swifter route to the ordering counter. A full hot dog toppings bar stands by with onions, pickles and a specialty Dijon mustard. Between innings, the ball game stays alive with band music—a plucking banjo, brassy calls of a trombone and the like—while quick field competitions between ticket holders keep things moving. Local tips: The Elks take the field right on time, so arrive early if you want to make first pitch. Bring a baseball cap, too. The setting sun makes for an idyllic golden hour, but it aims directly into the stands. And exercise caution in the parking lot—foul balls have a notorious habit of finding windshields.
Dining at Currents at Riverhouse Lodge
Evening: Cocktails Along the Deschutes at Currents
Currents at Riverhouse Lodge epitomizes everything Bend has to offer when it comes to closing the day out right. Few Bend patios sit as close to the Deschutes River as Currents. The location hangs over the riverbank, close enough to hear sounds of the river above the clinking glasses, table talk and live music.
Firepits line the deck if you want to settle in, and s’more kits are available for a sweet treat to extend sundown. Walk the footbridge off the patio for a closer look at the rushing water and, if you time it right, you’ll catch anglers casting in the Deschutes while the sky warms into pinks and golds behind them. The passageways leading to the bridge, and the bridge itself, are lined with murals by local Bend artist Janessa Rose, whose team spent two months completing the work. Painted in the same pinks, yellows, blues and golds of the scene around it, the works depict the vitality of the Deschutes corridor with its eagles, otters, fish, waterfalls, wildflowers and mountains.
The Currents bar menu focuses on bright, seasonal flavors. Its Spicy Hibiscus Margarita uses spicy bitters and a house made citrus stock with a hibiscus-infused tequila. The Cherry Mezcal Mule is crisp and smokey, and made for nights when the heat sticks around—adding fruity Maraschino liqueur to a classic cocktail for a bit of dog day nostalgia.
Throughout Central Oregon, the high-spirited environment is just as essential to a summer dining experience as the cuisine. These long, sun-drenched days define the meal—from smoothies and grain bowls to beer and hot dogs, some things simply taste better outside.
