Rambler
PORTLAND, OREGON | MAY 2026
The grounds of Deep Creek Farmstead are delightfully untamed, full of beautiful pockets begging to be explored. We wandered around the beautiful gardens until we found a lawn perfectly sized for an intimate table, with the titular deep creek babbling just on the other side of the trees. The land and trees all around were bursting with blooms, so we foraged trailing roses to build a table runner on our springtime table set with shades of green. Once set, it seemed to become part of the layered textures of the landscape, visible to anyone who peeked around the arched bushes as guests entered later that afternoon.
We welcomed everyone with a first pour of grower Champagne from The Yes Society, who brought only their most interesting wines to share with the crowd all night. Then, everyone wandered underneath a tunnel of wisteria in its final days of bloom, where a variety of Campari spritzes waited under the floral canopy, dewey and golden like a spring dawn. Meanwhile, Chef Shannon Feltus was finishing her final preparations for a hyper-seasonal Supper featuring ingredients sourced from friends and neighbors, and even from her own garden. We’ve known Shannon for many years, but never gotten to feature her at an event before, so this meal was a long time coming — and well worth the wait. From a spring garden salad to live-fire grilled Wagyu off the Big Green Egg, each course was stunning to behold and a joy to share with friends, new and old, at the table surrounded by springtime blooms.
WELCOME
We started our spring celebration with bright, bitter-sweet spritzes under a tunnel of fragrant wisteria. We offered a choice between the classics: Aperol and Campari, or a local take from Bar West featuring a cordial made from magnolias foraged from Deep Creek Farmstead.
As we passed around first bites, guests wandered through the gardens and down to the creek beyond the treeline.
A MENU BY SHANNON FELTUS
Chef Shannon calls herself a culinary horticulturist, since she feels equally connected to food in the kitchen and the garden. Her menu was rife with local farmers and producers, to humanely raised American Wagyu from her farmer friends to edible garnishes from her home garden. With each course, she aimed to celebrate the fleeting jewels of springtime, and the people who grow and tend to them.
MENU
WELCOME
Champagne Pascal Mazet, Cuvee Unique, 1er Cru, Champagne, France
Oddbird 0.0% blanc de blancs, France
TO EAT
Endive Cup whipped goat cheese, pickled chanterelle local honey, fried shallot
Melon sesame oil, marinated cantaloupe, prosciutto, chili oil
Oyster Shooter Hama Hama oyster, red onion & basil mignonette, wild ramp cocktail sauce
TO DRINK
Aperol Spritz Aperol, Prosecco, soda, orange
Campari Spritz Campari, Prosecco, soda, orange
Bar West Spritz Aperol, saison white flowers vermouth, Deep Creek magnolia cordial, Prosecco, soda
Lapo’s Aperitivo 0.0% Lapo’s, Oddbird Blanc de Blancs, soda, orange
FIRST
Farmhouse Salad field greens, cucumber, carrot, radicchio, tomato, radishes, lemon cucumber, pickled fiddleheads, red onion, lemon basil vinaigrette
Wine: 2023 Weingut Martin Muthenthaler, Ried Schon, Wachau, Austria
Saint Viviana Sauv Blanc (0%)
SECOND
Sumac + Turmeric Brassicas white & gold cauliflower, green romanesco, toasted spice blend, golden raisin chutney, rice & barley medley
Wine: 2022 Champagne Gamet, Clos du Goulot, Coteaux Champenois, Champagne, France
Oddbird GSM (0%)
MAIN
Wagyu Bavette carrot top chimichurri, pickled biquinho peppers; lemon thyme fingerling potatoes, olive oil, herbs
Wine: 2021 Castello di Montepò, Schidione, Toscana IGT, Tuscany, Italy
Misty Cliffs Cab Sauv Merlot Blend (0%)
DESSERT
Beet Root Pannacotta ruby red beet infused cream pannacotta, granulated honey, blossoms
Braulio digestíf
Dromme Calm
WINE PAIRINGS
The Yes Society curated our pairings for the evening, pulling from their exclusive selections of highly sought-after, extremely limited wines. Each glass was a revelation — so much so that one table raised a “cheers” with every fresh pour, a welcome celebration of all of the hard work that went into each bottle.
NIGHTCAP
The evening ended where it began, with a bitter-sweet amaro from Campari. As the sky had darkened, we moved from the sunshine orange spritzes to a straight pour of something darker. Amaro Braulio was the perfect way to end the meal, and a perfect compliment to the earthy notes of spring beets in dessert!
SECRET LOCATION: DEEP CREEK
Deep Creek Farmstead is a wild, unpolished gem at the end of a branching gravel road. Like the spring grasses bursting green across it’s grounds, the venue is new and ever-growing. It used to be a private home, but over the past three years it’s new owners have been tirelessly restoring and re-imagining it into a guest house and space to share. We were lucky enough to be one of the first sizeable gatherings held on their grounds.
