Akin to Napa before Robert Parker, rock before disco, Shelby before Mustang, and Austin when it was weird, it will never be cooler than it is right now. Wines stand up to great Burgundies for a fraction of the price. The restaurant scene is a mecca of farm-to-table magic. Chains have yet to swallow the singularly local. The ambiance is verdant and unpretentious, while the people are inviting and passionately dedicated to their craft. This is the moment to explore this extraordinary pocket of the world.

Willamette Valley

For a conveniently located McMinnville base camp, I love the team behind Atticus Hotel and Third Street Flats. Atticus combines thoughtfully curated luxury with modern convenience and historic charm. Third Street Flats offers full-service or self-serve upscale flats inside the swanky historic district. If making your perch in the Dundee Hills, Black Walnut Inn offers a sumptuously appointed villa nestled 1000 feet above the valley floor with vineyard views from the balcony of each room.

Culinary magic awaits you as Willamette is Ground Zero for the farm-to-fork movement. Deep relationships with farms and seasonal produce are integral to the culinary scene here. One of my all-time favorites, Joel Palmer House, is tucked inside a historic home in Dayton and is helmed by a fungi-foraging chef who incorporates his finds across a tasting menu. It’s umami-laden alchemy that’s simply unforgettable. Before dinner, visit Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum and Howard Hughes’ Hercules “Sprouse Goose,” the gargantuan, wooden flying boat built for WWII.

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

A James Beard semi-finalist two years running, Okta is nestled in McMinnville’s 100-year-old hardware store and delivers farm-to-table haute cuisine from their farm, in-house larder, and local purveyors. The ideal lunch spot amidst marathon wine tasting is Dayton’s Loam, which delivers elevated seasonal brunch and lunch. Chef Kari Kihara brilliantly composes local bounty with global panache in McMinnville’s Hayward. Newberg’s Victorian charmer, The Painted Lady, delivers a destination-worthy Nouvelle French spin on New American cuisine, one of the most captivating gastronomic experiences in the Pacific Northwest.

Now, on to the star of the show. My favorite US wine region is Willamette Valley, without question! The complex geology, climate, and dedicated winemakers deliver some of the most astonishing price-to-quality in the world. At the end of the last ice age, the Missoula Floods swept up the sediment of an ancient seabed with volcanic lava and unleashed geologic magic onto the Willamette Valley, resulting in a dizzying array of soil types that make this unique pocket of vineyards the most terroir-driven site on our shores. With a pitch-perfect climate akin to France’s Burgundy, Willamette can capture the ethereal grace of pinot noir and chardonnay for a remarkable price.

And it all started with one man.

Ron Zimmerman David Lett Eyrie Vineyards 1975 SE Block Pinot Noir July 2005

A true American pioneer, David Lett staked his claim to Willamette in 1965, armed with a few Burgundian clones and an unlikely dream. David’s son continues to craft world-class wine at the helm of The Eyrie Vineyards. Their tasting room is a mandatory destination where verticals showcase the aging potential of their wines and always represent the region at its apex.

White Rose Estate is a boutique Dundee Hills producer that is not commercially distributed and is rarely seen outside Willamette. Still, the terroir-driven expression, elegance, and poise of their pinot noir captures the feminine grace of a great Chambolle-Musigny for a third of their Burgundian equivalent. Soter Vineyards faithfully represent Yamhill-Carlton, Eola Amity Hills, and Ribbon Ridge appellations. With biodynamically farmed fruit, their wines are teeming with life and energy in the glass, and each reveals the distinct character of geologically unique terroir from their breathtaking hilltop estate.

Walter Scott came to my attention through Master Sommelier Brian McClintic’s wine club, which focuses on boutique producers crafting natural wines. Scott is rooted in the Eola Amity Hills, and his terroir-driven wines reveal a heavenly sense of place and stunning expressions of pinot noir and chardonnay. One of the hottest bespoke producers in Willamette, Evening Land is helmed by Indian American Master Sommelier Rajat Parr and celebrated winemaker Sashi Moorman, who craft wine from the historic Seven Springs Vineyard in Eola Amity Hills. Biodynamically dry-farmed and aptly crafted with non-interventionist winemaking, their wines rival some of the finest in Burgundy. Skeptical? Give Jason Wise’s documentary Somm 3 a whirl to witness three of the world’s most sensitive palates taste Parr’s wines blind.

Wherever your journey takes you, Willamette is destined to charm, inspire, and invigorate. Bon journée!

The author

The post The Golden Age of Willamette Valley first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

In response to a Tanglewood Mom’s query about the best desserts in town posed by Heather Mabry, we went through the delicious list of responses and tallied the responses. So here, for the record, are

THE TOP TEN DESSERTS IN FORT WORTH, as voted on by Tanglewood Moms.

In descending order, the top ten margaritas in Fort Worth are

10. Cork & Pig – Key Lime Pie

9. Twigs – Drunken Donuts

8. Rise No3 – Dessert Soufflés

TIE for 7, 6

Del Frisco’s – Lemon Cake

Charleston’s – Bread Pudding

5. The Tavern – Key Lime Pie

4. Del Frisco’s – Coconut Cream Pie

TIE for 3 and 2

Lili’s Bistro – Donuts & Coffee

Swiss Pastry – Black Forest Cake

And, the winner is…

[drum roll]

1. Eddie V’s Banana’s Foster! By a landslide this tasty and classic southern dessert with origins in New Orleans is a Fort Worth favorite!

Interested in the best brunch patios in Fort Worth, As Determined by Tanglewood Moms? Click here!

The post Fort Worth’s Top Ten Desserts, As Determined by the Tanglewood Moms Group first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Thanksgiving is in one week, and if you’re like me, you will have hordes of people descending upon you to gather ‘round a great feast. And if you’re like me, you haven’t gotten around to figuring out the menu.

This is why I’m thankful for Central Market this year! They have everything I need – from breakfast to feed to the kidlets in front of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (which, happily, keeps them out of the kitchen!) to appetizers to serve with pre-dinner drinks to mains and sides to desserts to beverages, both adult and not.

When I’m racing around the house on Thanksgiving morning, cooking and cleaning and panicking, it’s so convenient to be able to put breakfast on the table for people to pick at while they’re watching the parade. I’m partial to the migas casserole and mixed fruit salad, but Central Market is ready with all sorts of yummies to tempt any sleepy palate. My younger child LOVES every kind of muffin they carry. Whatever I end up getting will disappear quickly!

In our family, we always have a cocktail hour so that the guests can talk while the cook finishes up in the kitchen. Because Thanksgiving dinner is so bountiful, I usually only get some nibbles from the olive bar and some roasted nuts from the Bulk Department, but Central Market’s appetizer/hors d’oeuvres selection is so amazing, I’m tempted to do a tapas Thanksgiving.

I do know that I’m cooking the turkey this year. We’ve ordered a free-range heritage turkey for our feast, but I will admit I was tempted by the hams, the beef tenderloins, and the rib roasts available. However, my family loves roast turkey for Thanksgiving, so roast turkey it is! (I love the smell of roasting turkey, but if you don’t want to cook, Central Market has roasted turkeys, hams, and beef tenderloins that only need reheating to be the perfect centerpiece for your meal.)

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a multitude of sides, and Central Market has everything you need to accommodate any taste or diet out there. They have FIVE kinds of stuffing. Four kinds of potatoes. Five sauces. Not to mention rolls, breads, soups, salads, and roasted vegetables of every variety. I’m tempted to get the roasted beets with pistachios and shallot vinaigrette, but I’m afraid that they wouldn’t make it to the table.

Of course, the crowning glory of any Thanksgiving table is the desserts. I will admit freely that I’m not a baker. When I was cooking professionally, nothing made the blood in my veins turn to ice more quickly than having to do pastry work. Now, I don’t have to bake! I just order from Central Market. This year, I’m serving a hummingbird cake, a pumpkin chiffon pie, and an almond cherry buttermilk pie. And since my younger daughter’s birthday is the day after Thanksgiving, I’ll just pick up the cupcakes for her party at the same time. Talk about convenience!

And talking of convenience, don’t forget Central Market Curbside! It’s so very easy to order online and pull into one of the dedicated parking spaces to get what you need. If jostling through shoppers isn’t your think, you NEED to try this!

Whatever you choose for Thanksgiving dinner, we here at Tanglewood Moms hope that you and your loved ones have a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of love and laughter and gratitude for all our many blessings!

The post Giving Thanks for Central Market first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

photo courtesy of Clay Pigeon

The centerpiece of the appetizer was a hefty bone, roasted and split longways down its shaft. The first whiff reminded me of Korean spare ribs. The oily, lightly charred delicacy was served with several perfectly toasted slices of sourdough bread and a light fennel and parsley salad. Being a bone marrow novice, I carefully spooned the rich marrow and spread it over the bread. (It seemed like a good idea.) Bone marrow packs a culinary punch. Dense beefy flavors melded into a smoky, herb-laden experience. Having met my adventure quota for the day, I ordered something more familiar.

photo courtesy of Clay Pigeon

Clay Pigeon recently unveiled a new menu, which includes the bone marrow and my next choice — the CP Burger. I felt like I had won the burger lottery. The beef was grilled to medium. The soft and juicy patty formed half of the burger’s girth, a welcome respite from oversized buns commonly served elsewhere. The toppings (lettuce, tomato, pickled red onions, and a buttery aioli) complemented without distracted from the meat. I was able to finish the burger without being overly stuffed. (I did take the fries to go, though.)

Chef Marcus Paslay graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2006 and cooked in some of the finest restaurants around the country. However, his Texas roots pulled him home, and he opened Clay Pigeon in 2013 as an homage to his memories of hunting and harvesting from the land. Since its grand opening, Clay Pigeon has won accolades from the national and local press and has played no small part in defining Modern Texas Cuisine.

photo courtesy of Clay Pigeon

In addition to being a great place for a pre-rodeo meal or post-rodeo nightcap, Clay Pigeon is offering a four-course Valentine’s Day menu for $75 (plus tax and gratuity). Reservations are recommended, as seating is limited.

Don’t forget that Marcas Paslay also owns newcomer Piattello Italian Kitchen. I ventured out to the already award-winning restaurant, nestled in the Waterside development, for a recent Tanglewood Moms article. While the cuisine is very different from Clay Pigeon’s, Paslay’s love to bringing people together around a table full of local foods prepared with real care as evident at Piattello as it is at Clay Pigeon.

photo courtesy of Clay Pigeon

Clay Pigeon deserves kudos for more than its warm environs and welcoming staff. The chefs approach their craft as true artisans. With only one visit, I can see why I’d heard about this place for so long.

Edward Brown is a writing tutor and piano teacher. He is also an award-winning writer for the Fort Worth Weekly and volunteers for numerous Fort Worth nonprofits.

The post Clay Pigeon’s New Menu Delights with Old and New Favorites first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.