We ended up eating at Pizza Capo, Red Hills Market (amazing fried chicken and roast beef sandwiches), La Rambla. Ate last night at the Joel Palmer House (in place of The Painted Lady), and it was extraordinary.
Good choices. I don’t think you missed anything by skipping Painted Lady. It used to be our favorite by a wide margin. The last few times we’ve gone there though have been disappointing. We don’t bother any more.
Just got back from a 4 night trip and thought I’d chime in.
Jory - in the Allison. Pretty space (sort of) that feels impressive but the meal here was just devoid of any passion from the kitchen at all. The service was somewhat formal/awkward, but it was surprising when our first recommendation from the server was to go with the 5 course menu (not 7). Turns out he did us a solid. Two of the dishes (goat cheese tart and rhubarb tart) came out in the exact same frozen mini pie crust… the food was weakly executed and formulaic. Fortunately their wine list is great and offered many excellent and well priced choices. We went with a 16 Allemand Chaillots at $235, which seems less than market to me. Very friendly Somm there who kindly let me buy a bottle off the list to take home.
Joel Palmer House - this was in their tent with a space warmer blowing heated air into the tent. Again pretty formal service but the food was much better and the emphasis on mushroom was not overdone to me. Really tasty dishes across a wide spectrum, and dessert (brought to our table on a ~5 foot wooden board) was an outstanding finale. For boasting the largest selection of Oregon wines in the area, I was very unimpressed by their choices and pricing (think $500 for a 750mL of Thomas). I ordered a 16 00 VGW chard and brought an 88 Pichon Lalande to go with the mushrooms. I’d do the exact same thing over if given the opportunity.
Painted Lady - our 3rd stop and by far my favorite. This was Michelin level food and presentation. Service was a little more warm but still serious in that French Laundry way. Dishes were unique, rich, flavorful, and beautiful. Ordered a delightful Niew Chardonnay off the list and brought an 07 Tattinger Comtes. Wine list was medium sized but well curated. Best dinner by a mile.
Other info - we tasted at Goodfellow (ton of great wines); Championship Bottle (Saul is awesome), Arterberry Maresh (so welcoming and homey), Morgen Long (the legend grows), and Antica Terra (pretty awesome lineup even at the lowest price point, with additional Coravin pours if you like). I really love the model of comparing wines to international favorites.
We stayed at Black Walnut Inn which was marvelous and maybe the highlight of the trip. Thanks to all on this thread and related ones for contributing, it really helped us have a fabulous trip.
We visited Walla Walla and the Willamette in late March. Our two favorite restaurants from that trip were the Joel Palmer House in Dayton and Cuvée Restaurant, in Carlton. Cuvée Restaurant was a first time visit for us. Joel Palmer House was a revisit.
We made a quick trip to Newberg in early February based on Longplay being the winemaker at Rosmarino’s Friday night Winemaker’s dinner. The dinner was sold out and our waitlist never cleared, but we were able to get into their Saturday night wine-pairing dinner and it was outstanding! Also enjoyed Recipe.
Pizza Capo was fantastic. The arancini were superb. And the sausage pizza with kalamata olives, roasted fennel and ricotta was one of the greatest pizzas I’ve ever had.
Nick’s was decent but nothing I would truly rave about. But it seems it’s kind of an institution in town and we’re glad we went. Ken Wright was seated near us and was treated like a rock star.
Stay far away from Jae’s Landing. One of the nastiest persons I’ve ever come across in my life was behind the bar, and she’s apparently a co-owner. (We would never have ended up in that place, but we were looking for somewhere to catch the Celtics game.)
HiFi was pretty cool and had a nice bottle list. It’s not really my kind of atmosphere though, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I’m kind of a blue collar redneck type.
On our way out we ate at Oma’s Hideway in Portland. OMG one of the best meals I’ve ever had. If you like Malaysian style street food you need to make it a point to hit this place up. (Get reservations well ahead of time.)
We had dinner at Thistle in May. Wonderful small menu. Also the Red Hills Kitchen in the Atticus is good. The Horseradish in Carlton is a great lunch spot.
I won’t mention who recommended it! But in fairness to them, (actually a small group of people), we were looking for a place where they might actually put the volume on at the bar, which apparently isn’t easy to find in McMinnville.
Bumping this thread as I am heading out first week of October, any new spots ? Do the old ones listed still apply? First trip to Willamette, any advice is appreciated. FWIW we are staying at the Setting Inn
There are a lot of changes in McMinnville. Nick’s had closed, but has now just reopened under new management. I haven’t been yet. Pinch is a new place just off Third St. that is very good. There is an Indian food place where Community Plate used to be. I’ve been told it’s quite good by someone who spent several weeks in India. There’s also a relatively new Mediterranean/Middle Eastern place in the Atticus. I thought it was OK, though this type of food isn’t in my wheelhouse. I continue to hear really good things about Okta, but I haven’t been yet.
In the Granary District (where the wineries are), Hayward (in Mac Market) was a James Beard finalist for Best New Restaurant this year. I haven’t been yet because I’m not really good at getting reservations more than a couple of days ahead of time. The Alpine Kitchen is now in the Valley Commissary space. I’ve been once, and it’s OK. Also, we have a food truck at the Brewery (Heater Allen) called Brassi’s that is run by a couple Nick’s refugees. They serve wood fired pizza and pasta. I haven’t had the pizza yet, but the pasta is very good and the desserts are excellent.
Humble Spirit in McMinnville was excellent when I went about a year ago. I also went to Okta, which was great, and while I’d recommend it too, at 3X the price of Humble Spirit I can’t honestly say it delivered 3X the experience, but it was still a treat. As Jim said, Rosmarino is worthy of a stop, at least once if not twice. I also think my favorite meal of the trip was Davenport in Portland, which was just outstanding and the top notch champagne list only made it more memorable - highly recommended.
I was just out there in July I can echo Humble Spirit, my favorite place in MAC. Ate at Hayward last year, very good but couldn’t get a reservation this year. Pinch was very good, I also liked Loam in Dayton. Trellis in Dundee was very good too. HiFi in MAC very interesting wine list and vibe, went there several times but didn’t eat there.