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The interior of 900 Wall Restaurant and Bar has subtle changes including the removal of the ante room at the front of the building and soundproofing in the high ceiling.
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
A new look for an old favorite
900 Wall emerges as a refreshingly improved Merenda
By John Gottberg Anderson / For The Bulletin
Last modified: September 18. 2009 12:56PM PST
I've been asked the question over and over again in the past few months: “So, what do you think about 900 Wall?” And my answer has generally been: “I don't think it's a whole lot different from Merenda.”
In fact, there are some real differences, substantial improvements over the restaurant that for 6½ years was, arguably, downtown Bend's most popular.
Within weeks after chef Jody Denton closed Merenda in early January, several of his former staff members, headed by business manager Michael Millette, announced plans to purchase the space at the corner of Wall Street and Minnesota Avenue.
In what seemed no time, Millette and his ownership team — which includes chef Cliff Eslinger, head waiter Eric Adams, dining room manager Katie Black and wine buyer Marcus Egge — finalized the purchase, renovated the restaurant and reopened in May as the 900 Wall Restaurant and Bar.
New and improved
At first glance, it may appear that not a great deal has changed. But Eslinger is a hands-on chef, and his menu is more focused than Denton's. Service is outstanding and more consistent, and the structural adjustments have made 900 Wall a better place to dine and socialize than Merenda was.
“The only way we could have got away from a Merenda comparison would have been to get completely out of casual fine dining,” Millette said.
“For most people, I think it's like your friend shaved his mustache ... and you can't immediately see what's different. We still have a wish list of a lot of things we want to do by our one-year anniversary. But I don't think we'll ever get away from being compared to Merenda.”
If you haven't been to 900 Wall since Merenda closed, here's what you'll find: The ante room at the front of the restaurant has been removed; light from its window now streams into the bar area. The hostess stand has been relocated to the dining-room entrance.
New large booths against the brick wall on the north side of the dining room, beneath a handsome new triptych painting of the Crooked River Canyon, seat six to eight people. A once-awkward seating area beneath the stairway to the mezzanine dining level has been fully incorporated into the bar.
Complaints about noise have been addressed with the installation of new soundproofing in the high ceiling above the dining room. “The sound engineer estimates it's reduced our noise level by 18 to 22 percent,” Millette said. While diners still may strain to hear a companion's words on a busy night, the improvement is noticeable.
Although it's not obvious to diners, the working kitchen environment has also been upgraded. “We made it a more efficient space as far as cleaning and maintaining,” Millette said. “The line cooks are very happy.”
Outstanding dinner
A recent dinner at 900 Wall was truly outstanding. My companion and I started with a pair of appetizer plates, moved on to entrees and finished with desserts. Service by veteran server Ron Lybeck, supported by other staff, was impeccable and well-informed.
I started with grilled wild-shrimp ceviche with rocoto chiles — tangy round peppers native to the high Andes region of South America. This wasn't a typical marinated ceviche; the shrimp were seared and served in lime and tomato juice with red onions, cilantro, thin cucumber slices and halved cherry tomatoes. It had a very nice flavor.
My companion started with smoked Alaskan king salmon with sliced fennel in an apple-cider vinaigrette. She found the thinly sliced fish to be more like Atlantic lox than the usual chunky Northwest salmon, and it suited her taste perfectly.
For my entree, I ordered pork loin produced by Oregon's Carlton Farms. The menu said it came with semolina gnocchi and heirloom tomatoes. That wasn't incorrect, but the presentation was not what I had envisioned. Most of the time, gnocchi is a pasta best described as small potato dumplings; as served at 900 Wall, it was Romana-style gnocchi, much like a polenta that had been cut into squares and sauteed. A layer of ricotta cheese covered the gnocchi, followed by several tender slices of pork and a ladle of chunky tomato sauce made, no doubt, from heirlooms. The dish was different, to be sure. But it was tasty.
My dining partner, a big fan of 900's flatiron steak with Gorgonzola cheese, this time chose an entree of scallops. They were seared just the right amount of time and presented on polenta with creamed kernel corn, bacon bits and white truffle oil. In the hands of a novice chef, truffle oil can overpower a dish; here at 900, however, it was a perfect complement.
Desserts and lunch
Desserts from pastry chef Shelly DuPlessis were creative and wonderful. A black-and-white cake (warm chocolate cake on a white-chocolate sauce with powdered sugar), served with fresh blackberries and a ruby port sorbet that stood up to the other flavors, was very good.
A Turkish coffee creme brulee was not technically a brulee, as it wasn't topped with burnt sugar. Indeed, this is a dessert for the late-night caffeine lover: A layer of ground coffee topped the custard-like cream. Peppery butter cookies accompanied.
At midday, I enjoy sitting outside 900 Wall at the tables that line the sidewalks. One of my favorite dishes is a chilled corn soup: a scoop of kernel corn with crab meat, diced avocado and basil in a light cream with truffle oil.
Grilled quail, a Wednesday special that may also be available on other days, is offered on a frisee salad with slices of nectarine. Spread-eagled across the greens, the little bird is small and bony, requiring the diner to pick it apart with fingers. It always sounds better than it is; the meat is flavorful, but hardly worth the time it takes to eat.
A guaranteed lunchtime winner, however, is the pulled pork sandwich. It's served on ciabatta bread with grilled onion, cilantro and garlic aioli. Like everything else at 900 Wall, it may be reminiscent of Merenda, but it's a new, improved model.
SMALL BITES
Chef Steven Draheim, who left the Kokanee Cafe two years ago for an executive-chef position in Tucson, Ariz., has returned to Central Oregon to launch Soupçon (pronounced soup-sohn) , a mobile kitchen now serving downtown Bend with gourmet soups to go. Each weekday, Draheim offers a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian soup with grilled-cheese knödels, or German-style dumplings, for $5 and $10. Open 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Northwest corner of Franklin Avenue and Bond Street, Bend; 541-610-7838, www .soupconbend.blogspot.com.
A recipe for garlicky Bedouin salsa, served at Kebaba Modern Middle-Eastern Foods , has been published in the September edition of Gourmet magazine in the “You asked for it” section of reader-requested recipes. According to Gourmet: “While the restaurant serves the ultra-spicy salsa alongside hummus, tsatsiki and baba ghanouj, chef Eric Leyden suggests it as a lively accompaniment to meats and hearty lentil or tomato soups.” 1004 Newport Ave., Bend; 541-318-6224, www.kebaba.com.
RECENT REVIEWS
The Crepe Place (B+): Downtown Bend's lone dedicated creperie does a brisk business, serving sweet and savory pancakes in a subdued and charming atmosphere. Although it's not always speedy, the price is right, and posted messages of positive thoughts complement the friendly service. Open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. 824 N.W. Wall St., Bend; 541-317-5717.
Boondocks (B-): A casual steak-and-seafood restaurant on Sunriver's road to Mount Bachelor, Boondocks offers good steaks (priced $17 to $30) but service that is sometimes inattentive. Its single spacious room with knotty-pine is dominated by a large bar and cocktail-hour decor. Happy hour 3 to 5 p.m. dinner 5 p.m. to close every day. 17363 Spring River Road, Sunriver; 541-593-2275, www .boondocksrestaurant.com.
China Sun Buffet (B): Although Japanese and American dishes are mediocre at this international buffet restaurant, spicier Chinese regional plates, especially in the Szechuan and Hunan styles, are quite good. Remodeled in March 2008, the restaurant is clean, bright and spacious. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. 150 N.E. Bend River Mall Ave., Bend; 541-382-1122, www.chinasunbuffet .com.
John Gottberg
Anderson
can be reached at janderson@bendbulletin.com
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