Where’s the best Independence Day party in Ashland?
Right here! Local 31 Pub and Creekside Pizza are teaming up to create a fantastic celebration! Just follow the parade down to Water Street where the fun will be starting! Red, White and Blue Batch Cocktails, music by The Jefferson State Pipe Band and the “Human Juke Box himself,” Robbie DaCosta and the Boys will be providing the free music all afternoon! If it’s hot like it was last year, you are going to want to be Under the Bridge! Of course, both Local 31 Pub and Creekside Pizza will be serving their regular great menus! It’s a party that you won’t want to miss!
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It may be too late to add for consideration, but I just watched a documentary about Jacksonville, OR which is just West of Medford, and it was so interesting I’m going to have to make a trip myself soon. Looks like they have some good dining choices. https://jacksonvilleoregon.org/
I’ve been to Medford but not often enough to give restaurant advice. I hope you have a blast and can’t wait to hear how it goes. The weather should be lovely.
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What was the documentary?
2 recent additions to Jacksonville. Unfortunately, Al’s dad died and he’s back in Turkey at the moment. J-ville is the gateway to the applegate valley which is filled with wineries and stuff. The back way to Grants Pass and a beautiful drive.
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It was a YouTube documentary about the history of Jacksonville that popped up this morning in my feed. I love when the algorithm gods are smiling. https://www.youtube.com/@historicjacksonvilleinc.8580
That’s good to know about Black Barn Farm, I will come back to this thread when I go in the not to distant future, hopefully.
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Cool! Also home to our main outdoor venue.
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Yesterday was our soft opening at Zi Spice and I’m beyond grateful to everyone who stopped by, showed love, and supported local. Your presence meant the world. Truly, thank you.
We’re back at it today from 7am to 2pm, and we’d love to see you again as we fine-tune everything ahead of our full launch.
We’ll have a few main dishes available, like the Orange Blossom French Toast (house-made gluten-free bread) and Saffron Labneh Bowl with Poached Nectarines.
Yes, we’ll be open on the 4th of July.
Come celebrate with us!
With love,
Razia
At the corner of Gresham and east Main.
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I have returned, and am happy to report that we had a lovely time. Ashland is an adorable town. Of the plays we saw, all were very good, with Into the Woods being a particular standout. I thought the re-staging of The Importance of Being Earnest to colonial Malaysia worked particularly well and was an effective way to include an appropriately diverse cast. The production of The Merry Wives of Windsor was well done, but it’s obvious to me now why it is one of the “less regarded” works. The plot is essentially an entire town deciding to play pranks on one another of various levels of mean-spiritedness.
I was particularly impressed by the Allen Elizabethan Theater, with multiple levels and innovative use of video. Having it open to the changing light really made for a great viewing experience.
We arrived Thursday afternoon, and the first thing we saw was the Lithia Park water fountain:
It contains high levels of lithium salts, and as a result tastes like super salty ocean water crossed with the worst sulfurous well water you’ve ever encountered. The plus side is that if you try even the barest taste of it, everything else you eat on the trip will be absolutely epicurian in comparison. I recommend encouraging newcomers to try it and filming their reactions.
That out of the way, we wandered down to Creekside Pizza for some perfectly acceptable bar slices on lunch special:
Something like $12 for a slice, salad, and soft drink. Add a beer for $4. Sit out on the patio if it’s nice.
Dinner was at Nama. The space was a u-shaped counter, and managed to pull off that ‘hard-surface minimalist’ aesthetic while NOT being so loud and reverb heavy as to make dinner conversation impossible. Which is a problem I’ve run into far too often. Without question the priciest meal of the trip, but boy, what a meal:
The menu
Oyster Shooter Trio
If there was any off note, it was here. The ponzu and ikura and dabs of chili oil were fine, but frankly overpowered the oyster itself. If I had it to do again, I’d have gotten the plain half dozen. Again, not that these were bad in any way. I just think there were better options.
Dungeness Crab Sando
This is great. Creamy whipped cheese, tempura crunch, chili crisp, with rich crabmeat on a soft brioche roll.
Scallop Tiradito and Hiramasa Sashimi
I really liked these. The scallop was so tender it just dissolved on your tongue. The puree was bright and the red powder was some sort of freeze-dried fruit that emphasized the sweetness of the scallops. The snapper had a nice, fresh, firm texture. The green streak is finely powdered nori.
Hiramasa collar with sushi rice
Perfectly roasted fish, just the right amount of charred smokiness with a light soy glaze. The rice is heavily seasoned with vinegar and garnished with nori and tempura flakes.
Dungeness Crab Ramen
Sauteed crabmeat in a thin, creamy, umami sauce, tossed with thick, chewy ramen noodles. Just as good as all those words sound.
The next night was dinner at Hearsay, a much more traditional upscale dinner place. The sort you’d take the parents or Grandma for an anniversary.
Pesto prawn penne. Fine, if not particularly noteworthy.
My partner chose more wisely. Halibut on a parsnip puree. Really flavorful fish. Nice and moist and flaky.
Desserts fared better.
House-made salted caramel ice cream. Excellent.
Lemon chiffon roulade. The cake was light and fluffy. The lemon curd was bright and zingy. Whipped cream was… whipped and creamy.
Lunch the next day was a split grilled cheese sandwich from the Rogue Creamery cheese shop. Cheddar, Oregon Blue with a drizzle of honey on (I think) panini-pressed brioche. OMG. How have I not been putting honey on my grilled cheese all this time??
Dinner at Thai Pepper. Not particularly fancy, but a slight cut above your average pad thai place.
Crab creamcheese rolls. Like crab rangoons but springroll wrappers instead of wontons. And a sweet chili sauce that tasted house made, and had some actual heat to it.
Crispy pan-fried noodles with spinach and peanut sauce. Loved the crunchy edges.
Drunken Noodles, but a particularly good version. A nice touch of charred, smokey flavor to everything.
On the way out of town, we also stopped at Little Shop of Bagels, and I was fairly impressed at what were ACTUAL bagels (as opposed to fake steam-oven white bread like Noah’s).
Then there was the matter of CHEESE. We stopped at both the Oregon Cheese Cave and the Rogue Creamery cheese shop, and spent ENTIRELY too much, to wit:
back row, left to right: Rogue Creamery Chocolate Stout 2 year cheddar, Rogue Creamery Jefferson 1 year cheddar, Face Rock Creamery Extra Aged cheddar (Bandon, OR), Rogue River Blue (the award winner)
front row, left to right: Mama Terra Micro Creamery fresh goat cheese, Rogue Creamery Caveman Blue (a washed rind blue. extra mushroom-y umami funkiness, another hunk of Rogue River Blue, Cascadia Creamery Cloud Cap Cheddar, Vela Cheese Co (Sonoma CA) Dry Jack.
And not to be left out:
Regular salted and extra crunchy salted french butters, and dark chocolate bon-bons from the Cheese Cave. @bbqboy, I believe the proprietor of the Cheese Cave said the bon-bons were from ZiSpice. They are fantastic. Creamy, super smooth very dark ganache with crunchy little salt crystals. Absolutely indulgent.
Thus ends the visit. Had a wonderful time.
Misc observations: Next time, we’ll leave additional time and take the Volcanic Legacy trail that branches off at Weed, CA (land of amusing tshirt shops) and goes up through Klamath Falls and ends circling Crater Lake.
Also, it’s abundantly clear that Ashland is the cute tourist/college town and economic driver of the area, and Medford is where a lot of the regular people actually do their regular people things. Also, Medford might have the most weed dispensaries per quare mile that I’ve seen in almost any community. They even have them in the nicer looking strip malls!
Here in CA, dispensaries are almost always in the more industrial or lower economic class neighborhoods. It was a shock to see one in the same retail space as a grocery store and a Starbucks.
Can’t wait to go back. You all really came through on the recommendations!
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Totally agree about the Lithia Park fountain. I was there many years ago with a middle school class to see some plays (all fabulous). We hung around the fountain and one of our most charming students encouraged clueless tourists to try the water, which is truly horrible. I’m ashamed to admit I was laughing as hard as the students were. 
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“I said a final goodbye to my grandfather today.
At 13, Robert Picard was fascinated by the American GIs that rebuilt our hometown of Le Havre in 1944, Normandie. He then had a love for American films and dreamed of driving Route 66.
He also always had a camembert sitting in its box on the counter. I fell truly on love with cheese when he made Poulet aux Moines (chicken smoother in Comté cheese).
He gave me my blue eyes and ridged nails, unconditional love, and my American Dream. (And those gorgeous plates, displayed in my shop)
I gave him American great-grandsons.
Mon papy will be missing from my life.”
@Lectroid
Thought you might enjoy this from Melodie
from the Cheese Cave.
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A lovely memory
