Two nights ago I enjoyed a birthday dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, Summer Jo’s in Grants Pass. Advertised as a “Farm, Garden & Restaurant,” it’s the kind of place we love to frequent: there’s a good wine cellar (recognized again this year by Wine Spectator with its Award of Excellence); a menu featuring locally grown and produced foods prepared and presented in unique and interesting ways; a relaxed, pleasant ambiance; and knowledgeable and friendly staff. Housed in an old farmhouse about a mile outside town, the restaurant is surrounded by five acres of organic herb and vegetable gardens which provide inspiration and produce for the establishment’s menus. In the warmer months, you can sit outside at tables on the lawn under old fruit trees and enjoy live music (classical guitar on Sundays, bluegrass, pop/folk) or a theatrical performance.

Summer Jo’s offers far more than just breakfast, lunch and dinner Thursdays through Sundays. It always has a stand at the Saturday Growers’ Market in Grants Pass, selling herbs and veggies and fantastic rustic breads. On any other day of the week one can always stop by and pick up fresh-from-the-garden flowers, produce, oils, vinegars and even live plants. Thomas King, the wine curator, oversees ”wine enthusiasm” classes, winemakers’ dinners and a reasonably priced wine club offering unique and sometimes hard-to-come-by domestic and imported wines from all over the globe. All in all, considering it’s location in a place known more for its access to the great outdoors than fine dining, we consider Summer Jo’s to be quite a gem.

We arrived the other night when the temperature outside was still above 90, so we elected to eat indoors. John Trujillo & B Wishes provided the live music outside that night, but unfortunately their music was not channeled into the dining room. After perusing the menu and hearing about the evening’s specials (offerings change frequently to match what’s currently being harvested or caught and always include fresh seafood and vegetarian options), Harry chose the filet mignon with buttermilk mashed potatoes, and I settled on the rack of lamb with purple potatoes and garden vegetables. His fennel and leek soup was aromatic and full of fantastic flavors, and my house salad served up a wonderful mix of fresh young greens and edible flowers lightly kissed with a perfect balsamic vinaigrette. My lamb, from the Anderson Ranch in the Willamette Valley, a five-generation concern providing organic, grass-fed lamb, was amazingly tender and moist (and the accompanying mint sauce complemented it perfectly).

Of course, since this was a birthday celebration, we left room for dessert — always a good idea here. We shared a serving of creme brulee and – my favorite – bread pudding with dried cherries and apricots. It was the lightest bread pudding I’ve ever had, and the fruits, soaked in some sort of fantastic syrup, added both texture and flavor without a lot of weight.

 We left nearly three hours after we arrived, completely satisfied without feeling uncomfortably full. We took a few minutes in the dusky light and afterglow of a fiery sunset to stroll through the herb garden and inhale the wonderful scents released by the sun-warmed plants into the cooling air. What a delightful way to end a perfect evening!

–Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

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