On our two recent trips to Central Oregon, my husband and I took the opportunity to have some lovely dinners out at two great restaurants in Bend. This town of just over 100,000 residents offers much to visitors and citizens alike, located as it is along the Deschutes River and just east of the Cascade Mountains with all the year-round outdoor recreation they offer. Bend has long drawn folks from Portland, Salem and Eugene (on the wetter side of the mountains) to ski, fish, hike, kayak and otherwise explore this beautiful part of the state, but over the past two decades or so, this small city has become known for so much more. The plentiful sunshine and easy lifestyle began to draw software and high tech companies as well as industries as wide-ranging as bioscience, aviation, manufacturing and distilling. Bend is also famous for its craft breweries, beginning with the establishment of Deschutes Brewery in 1988. It now boasts a lively arts and nightlife scene and a welcoming and diverse community.

Our first meal was at Zydeco Kitchen & Cocktails, a restaurant we have visited several times in the past. It opened in 2004, when owners Steve and Cheri Helt decided to bring their deep love of Southern food and hospitality to Bend. The menu features a number of Cajun- and Southern-inspired dishes such as cornmeal fried green tomatoes and jambalaya, but all incorporate seasonal and regional ingredients. The restaurant has grown and expanded over the years, with COVID inspiring a permanent establishment of outdoor seating pushing out onto the sidewalk and parking strip. It’s a good thing, because even on a low-key midweek night such as the one when we visited, the place is full and busy.

Even though we had reservations, we were seated at a small table bordering the bar, where servers and bartenders hustled all evening to keep up with the drink orders and groups of happy patrons. A slightly separate dining room was also full, as were most of the outside tables. The décor has been updated from worn brick walls and basic booth seating to a modern, sophisticated color palette and a host of seating options.

It didn’t take long for us to zero in on our dinner choices: We started with a peach salad, having a base of arugula topped with Little Gem peaches, sheep feta and pepitas tossed with a chive vinaigrette . . . wonderfully refreshing. Harry loves Zydeco’s jambalaya, chock-full of shrimp, crawfish, andouille sausage and fried okra served over basmati rice and with a side of cornbread. I opted for the cavatappi pasta, which also featured shrimp and andouille sausage, along with pickled chilis and sweet peppers.  I always appreciate the rich flavors in these dishes which don’t overpower the palate with too much heat or spice. We enjoyed a bottle from our home cellar — a 2016 Va Piano Syrah from Walla Walla, a perfect accompaniment to the meal. Too full for dessert but unwilling to completely pass up the carrot cake, we took a slice home to enjoy later — a great life decision!

Our second meal in Bend came a few weeks later, when we stopped in at Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge for dinner. This newcomer (it only opened two months ago) had clearly already established itself as a fun, popular place to go for patrons across several generations. The brand-new, standalone building can accommodate quite a crowd both indoors and on its patio, but unfortunately its inadequate parking lot cannot meet the demands of the patronage. We had to park several blocks away; poor planning on the zoning commission’s part and/or the owners, but really our only quibble about our experience. We were here because we had received a gift certificate to Hawkeye’s in a charity auction item we’d bid on earlier in the summer, and after a little research, we learned that the owner of Hawkeye’s also owned a restaurant we’d visited in San Diego a few years ago, Herb & Wood. Having really enjoyed that experience, we had great expectations for Hawkeye’s; we weren’t disappointed.

Brothers James and Brian Malarkey (celebrity chef and TV food show judge and competitor) were raised on a Central Oregon ranch and have returned to their roots in realizing a long-held dream of opening a restaurant in Bend. And make no mistake, this isn’t a bare-bones, honky-tonk, no-frills eatery. The vibe is casual and welcoming, but every detail clearly has been considered, and the food is superb. After passing the patio, we entered next to large garage doors opened to the mild summer evening. To the right of the hostess’s desk lay an expansive waiting/lounge area with a fireplace, large sofas and chairs, and a wall adorned with a wide assortment of guitars. The overall theme is ranch/cowboy but in a fairly understated way. To the left sat the three-sided bar, and beyond that was the main dining room. At the end was a slightly raised stage for the live performances that are booked on most evenings, and down one side of the room were several semi-private canvas dining tents. Again, for a week night, the place was really buzzing; and although we’d made reservations more than a week in advance, our only seating option was a high-top near the bar. Though a little noisy (country music and lots of chatter under a high ceiling with lots of hard surfaces), it proved a great place to watch the action. We even had a bit of a view into the open kitchen and its wood-fired oven. We also enjoyed a brief welcome chat with Brian Malarkey who, our server told us, has been present virtually every evening since the restaurant’s opening and is very hands-on.

More details: Much of the produce and meat come from the brothers’ nearby Tumalo ranch, and the on-site butcher shop and smoker prepare the impressive assortment of cuts on the menu. These range from some less-expensive “Ranch Cuts” to the “Cowboy Cuts,” including everything from an 8-ounce flat iron ($40) to a 32-ounce tomahawk ($140). These come with grilled onions and a choice of a sauce. Sides are additional and large enough for at least two to share. One can start with a choice of at least a dozen hot and cold apps (from simple — campfire cornbread — to elevated: scorched bone marrow & oysters), and other dinner options include some non-steak entrées and several wood-fired pizzas. If you’ve got a crowd (minimum of eight) and something to celebrate, you can always go whole-hog, literally, by requesting the whole roasted pig (with two days’ advance notice), at $115 per person.

We chose to share an 8-ounce filet with a toasted Béarnaise sauce, as we wanted to try a few sides as well. The bottle of 2011 Isenhower Batchelor’s Button Cabernet Sauvignon we brought proved a perfect match with the steak. We opted for the buttery potatoes — — as rich and creamy as they look; roasted baby carrots with a hazelnut sesame relish, Aleppo yogurt sauce and a carrot top pesto; and fabulous truffled mushrooms. And here was another beautiful detail I loved: The handle of the steak knife featured this range scene in relief.

Luckily, we did save room for dessert, as the bourbon date cake was to die for. Served with toasted hazelnuts, whiskey toffee caramel sauce and salted caramel ice cream, it was warm, spicy and moist — just divine.

We thoroughly enjoyed both our dining experiences in Bend, the established spot and the newcomer, both proudly featuring local products and a commitment to serving fine food in a welcoming, lively atmosphere. Check them out if you’re in Bend!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor