Every once in a while, I have to pinch myself when we make plans to go wine tasting on a Sunday afternoon. Nothing beats a day exploring the Willamette Valley, and we are so fortunate that we’ve found ourselves in the heart of wine country. We love living in Dundee!
On Sunday morning we jumped in the car and headed southwest to the the town of Amity. Despite clouds and rain all week, the sun was peaking out between the clouds and the fall leaves were putting on quite a show! I’ve been trying to convince The Renaissance Man that we need to plant an Oregon Vine Maple on our side yard, so I took the opportunity to point them out on our drive…I may have also been obsessively snapping pictures!?
We met our friends around noon at The Blue Goat, which they highly recommended!
As soon as we walked in, I could tell this place was going to be special. The bright colors, open seating, friendly faces, wonderful smells, and general buzz of merriment all hit you at once walking in the door. Who wouldn’t want to eat here?
Despite the fact that we had a day of wine tasting planned, the Bloody Mary on the Brunch Menu looked too good to pass up. It was spicy and the pickled vegetables had my mouth watering. I love the acidic bite of pickled anything…mental note, I need to try and pickle vegetables from our garden next year!
We split a Goat Empanada four ways so that everyone could have a bite before then main dishes arrived. Per our menu, the Goat Empanada is an Argentine-style pastry pocket stuffed with braised goat meat, caramelized onions, roasted roots, currants, and green olive served with house salsa fresca.
The empanada was certainly a fan favorite!
The Renaissance Man ordered two smoked chicken tacos with generous dollops of cheese! They were gone the blink of eye, so I trust that they were enjoyed! Apparently the tortillas came right out of the oven and took these tacos to the next level.
Our friends both ordered the fried green tomato sandwich. Just look at the size of that sandwich and the huge slices of bacon!
I kept it simple and order the salad and soup combo. However, the salad was anything but simple and was comprised of Oakhill’s fresh organic greens, a pickled onion dressing, fresh Briar Rose Chevre and toasted Amity hazelnuts! How about that for locally sourced ingredients?
The squash soup was delightfully spooky…check out the spider web on my soup! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!
The real heart of The Blue Goat seemed to be this giant hand-sculpted earthen oven. We sat at a booth right across from the cob oven and I was mesmerized watching the chef cook so many meals. Open kitchens like this really make a restaurant fun and the heat from the oven kept the whole place nice and toasty.
I can just imagine the glow of the oven on a cold winter night…
If you happen to find yourself in Amity wine tasting or just bumping around the Willamette Valley, be sure to swing by The Blue Goat! The atmosphere was cheery and welcoming, the food is locally source, and the menu is a stand out…it was the perfect place to meet up for an afternoon of wine tasting.
And really, who doesn’t love a blue goat?