This past Secret Supper was a special one for me, it brought forward a vision that I’d had stuck in my head for over 15 months. In December of 2015, I had a bizarre creative burst that resulted in brainstorming the themes for Fire & Ice, Thicket, Ebb & Flow, and Noble Rot. I’d wanted Thicket to be under a tree for spring, Ebb & Flow to be by a water source, and Noble Rot to incorporate a lot of fermented foods into the menu. For Fire & Ice, though, I’d envisioned a snowy setting with warm fires alongside the table and hot, rich food for everyone to enjoy. I told Christiann all about my ideas over dinner later that month, and we also finalized bringing in Danielle, Mona, and Jaret as a part of the Secret Suppers that same night. It was a very productive evening, indeed! We found a location outside of Mount Hood, but unfortunately all the snow melted a couple weeks before the secret supper. And while the forest setting was still wonderfully wintery and festive, my snowy dream didn’t come to fruition that night. Then last year I met the PR rep for Suttle Lodge at Tournant’s launch party, and started hearing about this beautiful lakeside lodge resort near Bend, Oregon with lots of little cottages and a beautiful stream running alongside it. One location scout and several emails later, and we were all confirmed for hosting our February supper at Suttle Lodge, and I was *hoping* for snow. Well, this year delivered us snow in very generous amounts. So much so that we ended up having to dig out 3 feet of snow to create an area to place the table and benches, as well as a little pathway through the snow to the seating area. It was a lot of work, but it was so worth it to see the look on all our guests’ faces as they lit up with excitement seeing the table for the first time. We told folks that we’d be outdoors in the snow ahead of time, so everyone dressed accordingly, and we handed out hand and foot warmer packets for our guests to place in their pockets and shoes upon arrival to help keep them nice and cozy throughout the supper. We also had some snuggly blankets laid out on the benches from Something Borrowed to help keep folks toasty, too!

To compliment the beautifully snowy scenery that surrounded us at Suttle Lodge, Mona and Jaret of Tournant created a rich, hearty, and piping hot menu for us, including an alpine tartiflette of cheese, bacon, and potato gratin, and a Belgian beef and ale stew made with local pasture-raised beef from Pono Farm and Flemish Kiss wild ale from The Commons Brewery. Oh! And a cheese course that consisted of individual baked ramekins filled with hot and gooey Vermont Creamery’s St. Albans aged cows milk cheese. It was pretttttttty much the greatest. You can peek at the full menu further below! We welcomed guests with hot toddies made with Steven Smith Red Nectar Rooibos and local barrel-aged Reserve Apple Brandy from Clear Creek Distillery, continued the delicious beverage trend with more delicious beer from The Commons Brewery and Alsacienne wines from Mom and Pop Wine Shop, and then wrapped up the evening with Steven Smith Masala Chai tea steeped in coconut milk paired with a delicious marble cake covered in hot butterscotch sauce, hot fudge, and “snowy” white chocolate shavings. The table setting was kept very natural for this supper, with foraged blue-hued evergreens from Gwen of Botanically Inspired and hand-dyed natural indigo linen napkins from Maggie Pate of Nade Studio. The evening would not have been possible without my co-hosts Danielle, Mona, Jaret, and Christiann. This was Christiann’s last collaboration with Secret Supper; she is moving on to some exciting projects, we will miss her energy but are looking forward to following along with her future successes! I want to extend the deepest thanks to our volunteers  Sofia, Alba, Stephanie, Chloe, Jeanette, Gwen, Megan, Meaghen, Gabi, and Jake, and all of our sponsors listed in the post below, for making this evening possible through their generosity and kindness.

We’ve opened ticket sales for our next Supper, Leap, which takes place about 1 and 1/2 hours east of Portland and is going to be a beautiful celebration of the spring season. The details are a secret, but I can leave you with this description…

“Join us for a leap forward as we celebrate the coming of spring and the bounty of fresh vibrant food that comes with it. We’ll be surrounded by the natural beauty of this season, taking it all in with both eyes and nose. The brightness of the local harvest and the energy of spring will come through in every course. We hope you will join us at our tucked away table as we welcome the return of light and all the deliciousness that it provides.”

We’d love to have you join us, you can read more and register via the link below!

{ Secret Supper Tickets }

Thank you to our below sponsors for making the secret supper possible!
Suttle Lodge |  Venue
Tournant | Catering
Nade Studio | Hand-Dyed Natural Indigo Linen Napkins
Vermont Creamery | St. Albans Cheese, Cultured Butter, Creme Fraîche
The Commons Brewery | Petit Classique + Flemish Kiss
Steven Smith Teamaker | Red Nectar + Masala Chai + Assorted Tea Take Home Gifts
Clear Creek Distillery | Reserve Apple Brandy
Something Borrowed Event Rentals | Blankets, Dishes, Glassware
Pono Farm | Pastured-Raised Beef
Mom and Pop Wine Shop | Alscacienne & German Wines
Oblation Papers & Press | Custom Letterpress Menus

MENU

{Brotzeit}

Sauerkraut Flight
Local fermented cabbage and salami
{Käse}

{Vorspeisen}

{Kartoffel}

{Hauptgerichte}

{Nachtische}