CHEF EVAN BOLLING
 
 
 
 
The shift at from last week to this one has been electric at the Rogue Valley Growers Market. Just a few days ago, spring still felt a little tentative, and now the tables are suddenly filling as spring really starts to assert itself. All at once, you’re seeing those first vibrant greens, tender shoots, and the early harvests that tell you the season is turning in earnest. 
 
 
Growers are showing up with more each week, and we can feel that momentum in the kitchen immediately. The pace picks up, menus start evolving on the fly, and that energy from the market carries straight to the plate—a welcome surge of spring after the long patience of winter.
 
 
 
 
 
 
We’ve also started bringing in lamb from our sister property, Johan Vineyards, up in the Van Duzer Corridor. Like Cowhorn, it’s Demeter-certified biodynamic, and the sheep there are part of the vineyard itself—grazing the rows, enriching the soils, and helping keep the whole ecosystem in balance. It’s all in the family, which makes it especially exciting to cook with.
 
 
The lamb has that beautiful depth you get from animals raised on pasture in a living farm system, and I’m looking forward to working with some of the braisable cuts—letting them go low and slow and seeing what kind of dishes begin to take shape in the kitchen, maybe even something along the lines of an elevated Sunday roast.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Crab French Toast is back for a second week, this time with beautiful Dungeness coming down from boats harbored in Astoria on Oregon’s far north coast. 
 
 
At the same time, more remarkable seafood has just landed in the kitchen—firefly squid, those tiny, intensely flavored Japanese squid known for their natural bioluminescence, along with pristine Japanese mackerel, a fish prized for its rich, clean flavor and beautiful oil. 
 
 
We’re just starting to work with them now, letting the ingredients lead the way as we see how they want to show up on the menu this weekend.
 
 
Evan Bolling
Chef de Cuisine
 
 
 
 
 
 
KITCHEN & WINE
130 NORTH 5TH STREET
JACKSONVILLE, OREGON
(541) 702-2500
 
VINEYARD & GARDEN
1665 EASTSIDE ROAD
APPLEGATE VALLEY, OREGON
(541) 899-6876