I spent a lovely evening in nearby Ashland this past week with my dear friend Julie, in town for a brief visit. We strolled the main street, window shopping and perusing the posted menus of the various restaurants we passed, figuring we’d know what we wanted to eat when we saw it. It was a cool evening with heavy rain threatening, but we found our spot without having to employ our umbrella.

Ashland, home to Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, boasts plenty of boutiques, bookstores, galleries and dining establishments, most within a fairly compact downtown area. At this time of year things are fairly quiet, and we were assured of no wait for a table and swift service before we headed up the hill for our play at the Festival.

The Brickroom (self-described as “Ashland’s Gathering Place”) provides breakfast, lunch and dinner daily — along with a wide range of liquid refreshments — from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. on the third floor of a 19th-century brick building oozing charm. One can settle in front of the fireplace on deep leather sofas, sip coffee in comfy armchairs for a cozy conversation, belly up to the lengthy and well-stocked bar, or dine at a table or booth scattered throughout the high-ceilinged room. When the weather warms up, nothing is finer than claiming a table outside on the terrace overlooking burbling Ashland Creek at the back.

The Brickroom hosts a wide range of live musical performances, from blues to folk to hip-hop, but this evening we enjoyed a quiet meal sans entertainment. The menu offers an interesting array of small plates to share, salads, sandwiches, entrées and desserts. A quick scan showed the chef appears to like to throw a little zest and zing into most dishes, with garlic, hot sauces and chilies making an appearance throughout the menu. We found the spicy seared green beans true to their name, perfectly flash-seared with plenty of kick and given a little extra crunch with candied hazelnuts on top. We each ordered the crab and artichoke raviolis in a lovely, creamy, lemony citrus sauce, split a split of wine and called it good.

The theater was only a short stroll away (again, blessedly dry), and we settled in for a delightful adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Kate Hamill’s version opened Off-Broadway in 2014 to great acclaim, and I can easily see why. The pace is brisk as 12 actors nimbly portray the assorted characters, with a revolving group of “Gossips” serving as a sort of Greek chorus to comment on the action and narrate the audience from one scene to another. One is swiftly drawn in to the struggles and heartbreaks of the Dashwood sisters, but there is humor in every scene, and one can’t help but admire the pluck, honor and goodness of Elinor.

The play runs nearly two and a half hours long, but I never once was tempted to look at my watch. The various strands and relationships all wrap up in a most satisfying manner and with a joyful if anachronistic dance/curtain call at the end. We left the theater grinning, making our way to the car unmindful of the few scattered raindrops that dared to dampen our jolly mood.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor