Amelia grew up in the Carolinas eating her grandmother’s famous pecan pie, candied yams, and fresh home-grown tomatoes. “It didn’t exactly occur to me how important those three things were until I entered the culinary world,” Amelia says wistfully, “I realized that I too would like to make peoples mouths water with the thought of something fresh and sweet.”

Once Amelia found her passion, she ran at it, full-force, earning her ranks in the kitchen by making and eating everything. “I was a dishwasher, pizza maker, salad tosser, grill cook, fry cook, dessert cook, pastry assistant, prep cook, brunch cook, butcher (one of my favorite jobs ever), and sous chef.” After spending 12 years dabbling in each and every aspect of the business, she decided to hone her pastry skills at The Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York.

Shortly after finishing school, Amelia fell in love and moved to Portland. “I had never even been to the West Coast!” she says. In June of 2007, both Janet and Amelia were hired at Meriwethers. Amelia and her soon-to-be husband had dinner there to celebrate. They were the first table Janet served on her first night. So began a long and successful collaboration. Two years later, David asked Amelia to act as a consultant for Bethany’s Table, which was just beginning. “I’m still here,” Amelia laughs, “I don’t know how it happened, but I’m still here.” (Wait, did David manipulate you into this? I’m shocked.)

Amelia loves baking with her stepdaughter, Una. This makes Amelia a very busy woman indeed. Other stints in Portland have included Pix Patisserie, Eat Your Heart Out, Pie Spot, and various private wedding cake endeavors. Now she splits her time between Bethany’s Table and Olympic Provisions. Her work at OP earned her a front-page article this spring in the Oregonian’s FoodDay. In the rare moment that she isn’t baking, you might find her riding her bike (possibly in the nude), singing karaoke, or picking raspberries. She also loves teaching kids, particularly her six-year-old stepdaughter, Una. Her movie is The Outsiders, which always makes her cry at the end. “It’s so 1950s, with old-fashioned things like milkshakes and ice cream… I love cheesy shit like that.”

Amelia fits in perfectly at the Table because she shares Janet’s vision for what food should be – fresh, real, and unpretentious. “I like traditional desserts because it gives you something to connect with immediately,” Amelia notes, and it’s true. Cracking through the crisp sugar of crème brulée always reminds me of my little sister, who loves that dessert with a fiery passion. Seasonal berry pies remind me of my mother, who used to give me a tiny apron and a spoon and let me “help” as an exceptionally young child.

This is exactly Amelia’s intention. “Food should be interesting,” she explains, “But when you go to your neighborhood restaurant, you want something familiar. Something that reminds you of a happy time, or perhaps something that was comforting to you when you were sad. Maybe even just to remind you of a special person.”

This is the logic behind our simple, traditional dessert menu. It’s genuinely comforting. You can taste the love and care that Amelia has put into it.

Mac Potts has played at the Table multiple times. For a while we tried out hosting live music every Saturday night and during that time we had some truly wonderful shows.  Mac’s show was a definite favorite.  Mac first learned his blues chops from local legend D.K. Stewart, and has studied with jazz pianist Janice Scroggins and New Orleans saxophonist Reggie Houston.  In addition to keyboards, Mac plays saxophone, drums, percussion, and harmonica.  He has been playing professionally since the age of 11. We expect him to mostly stay on the keyboard and to be accompanied by at least one of the talented young musicians that he collaborates with.

Mac is classically trained but switched to jazz and blues a few years ago. He has an amazing repertoire. Mac just turned 20. Mac is goofy.  Mac is also blind. Mac is a great story. Mac is playing this weekend in your neighborhood.

The weather forecast for Saturday night predicts 80° and sunny. We’ll see.  Nonetheless, with the new dinner menu just released, patio dining available and live music, this is a great time to plan for an extraordinary night out. The Table does not have any age restrictions. Is there a young person in your household with musical aspirations?  The opportunity to take them out to hear first-rate live music in a relaxed, classy setting is rare. Do it for your kids, do it for your sweetheart, do it for yourself, or just for the heck of it. Just get off your tail and do it!

Please join us. Call us at 503.614.0267 to make your reservation now.

Want to know more about Mac Potts? Check out Mac’s website his Myspace page. Or watch this short video on his prodigal talent:

Surrounded by positive people, we have been planning some transitions to help us cope with the increased business. Some of you may have noticed our new logo, designed by Portland native Malin Reedijk. We’ve unveiled this in conjunction with our new website, as the first phase of a number of changes. Janet’s daytime assistant, Allea Martin, has been working hard to get the new site launched. She will be taking over the blog to give our customers a better idea of what goes on in the kitchen. Finally, plans are in place for a remodel of the restaurant this fall, giving everyone a little more space and making things feel a little more functional.

We’ve also had a lot of staff changes as we continue to plug away and try to find that perfect team. Janet and David have a clear vision of what this restaurant is and could be, and it’s not always easy finding employees who share those values and vision. Fortunately, we have begun to get settled with some wonderful new people. Many thanks to our customers who have put up with many trainees and changing faces.

As always, we encourage your feedback as our customers are the bloodlife of our business!

While “We’ve Got Booze” might not be OLCC approved terminology, the fact is that you can now enjoy a cocktail when you visit our Table. Being true to our freestyle roots, we got the license first and then began the work to figure out how we were going to deal with it. What we have figured out so far is that we use good booze, have an interesting and tasty specialty drink list and sell for reasonable prices.

Happy Hour!

So it stands to reason that we’d roll out a Happy Hour.  The OLCC says that we can’t tell you in a single communication both the time of the happy hour and the price of the drinks. (Chris Dudley says he’d abolish the OLCC if elected and now I’m a life-long flaming liberal that has discovered Republican love).

So for now we’ll just let you know that we’ll be serving a special small plate menu and discounted drinks from 4-6 P.M. But I suppose you can click here to check out the Cocktail and Happy Hour Menu for yourself.

Everybody knows that if you want to find a great happy hour in Palm Desert you just need to ask somebody from Claremont. The senior crowd will really like the small plates, the early service and the discount. There are plenty of moms out there who would love to duck out for a chat, a snack and a drink in the late afternoon. And there are a lot of guys who enjoy ogling the moms.

So… Happy Hour it is!

With this change we will be commencing full dinner service an hour earlier, at 4 PM. See you then!

The work to manage the monster take-home meal menu has been clogging up our work. We will continue to emphasize the family friendly “Crowd Pleaser” meals. Specialty meals inspired by the current season will fill out the remainder of the menu. We still offer Kids Meals (you can use the Teen Burritos to bale you out all summer). Fresh vegetables and salads are always available.

Jim the Duke of Soup churns out new concoctions faster than we can keep track of him so we have decided to fill your soup orders directly from the specials board when you come into the store. At least one vegetarian soup will always be available. Recycle! Bring your own container and save 50 cents.

Click here to View Downloadable Menus.

Or click here to Order Online.

Let us know your opinion of these changes by commenting below.

Jim "The Duke" Davis

Many of you know Jim. Jim is an actor, director, gardener, musician, handyman, truck driver and cook.

And Jim is the Duke of Soup.

Jim’s penchant for making soup is unstoppable. He often doesn’t follow a recipe. He just makes soup and it’s always good.

Jim has developed quite a following. Lately he has been making some great summer soups such as Gazpacho and an Asparagus Vichyssoise. The only problem is, we can’t seem to keep track of all the soups Jim has on hand and his freewheeling style makes it a real nuisance to maintain the online menu.

So we have taken the list of soups off of the prepared meals menu and instead now sell it more on an ad hoc basis. There will always be at least four soups available. They are always list on the chalkboard by the kitchen. These will be the soups we are selling to our lunch and dinner customers that day and we will happily fill pint and quart containers for folks to take home. The price remains the same, $6 per pint and $10 per quart. A number of our regulars have been bringing in their empty containers for us to refill and we think this is a great idea. To encourage and reward this highly efficient mode of recycling we will credit back 50 cents for every container we refill.

We absolutely promise that you will love Jim’s soup. Try some today.

We have really had our eye on making the restaurant successful. And it works. Serving lunch and dinner, with brunch on the weekends. The thing we haven’t mastered is keeping our eye on two balls at the same time.  As the restaurant does better and grows, the take home meal business weakens and wanes.  This is a riddle because the dinner menu evolves around the take home meal menu. What you get for $14 in the restaurant you can take home to prepare at home in one step for less than $6.  It was always our imagination that showcasing the meals at our table would encourage folks to take them home to enjoy in their own dining room.

We asked for your feedback and we acted on it. The old ordering system was a pain – so we changed it.  Some of you said the meals were too fancy – so we created a Crowd Pleaser menu. Some of you said you only use us for special occasions – so we created the Fine Cuisine menu.  We are doing more. The new website design is almost done.  We will soon have nutritional information, caloric ratios, complete descriptions as well as cooking instructions posted for every meal.  We plan to add a budget-minder menu so families with children can pick up a higher volume, healthy meal on the cheap and feed the crew.  But we wonder, are we beating a dead horse here?  What gives?

What we do know is that there is not a viable business at this location for an affordable restaurant that seats only 30.  We have half-decided to create a lane change in the evening right around 8 PM and crank up the wine bar scene with special pours, a unique menu and live music.  Folks have shown us that they love having a place in the neighborhood to hang out.  At least then we could get a turn on the tables some evenings.  This has not proven to be a late dining neighborhood but, again, folks do crave a place to go out, meet, visit, party… whatever.

Your Input Is Needed

The question remains though, even as we continue to reincarnate, even with these enhancements, will the meal business pick back up? And can we make this a viable business if it doesn’t?  What is your opinion? Get off your hands and put in your two cents. Add your comments below.  Let’s have a conversation.  We’d sure appreciate your input.

Changes in the take-home meal business

Sometimes we wonder if there will ever be a month where we have the same business and do the same things as the month before. Change is our constant. Last month when we asked you for feedback we were honored by the response we received. It wasn’t 100% positive. But it was 100% useful. So we have made some changes. Again.

It appears that we have two blocks of customers, with some overlap. Some of you use us to make meals for your family… families with children. You want us to keep it simple. We help you keep hearth and home together and you need healthy meals that the whole family will enjoy. The other block uses us for fine dining. Janet is your personal chef. You order the Beef Wellington or the Halibut & Ratatouille and toast the good life.

Reorganized Menus

In response to your suggestions we reorganized the entree menus into two primary groups: “Crowd Pleasers” and “Fine Cuisine”. Inside each of these groups there are distinct categories arranged by preparation methods, such as Fully Cooked – Heat & Serve, Grilled or Broiled Entrees, Bake & Serve and Slow Cook Meals”. You can easily view, download and print all of our menus from our web site. Click Here to View the New Menus

New Online Ordering System

We have been very unhappy with the meal assembly online ordering software we inherited with the business. This had been purchased at significant expense from a company that is now, and somewhat deservedly so, in the toilet. So we have implemented a new online ordering system that is more flexible and straightforward. Currently you will not be able to pay for your meals at the time of ordering online and we will deal with gift certificates and promotional discounts with you directly, either at the store or over the phone. Click Here to Check Out the New Online Ordering System

New Meal Pricing Structure

For most of our meals we have lowered our entrée prices and make it easier for you to choose side dishes that suit your preferences. Side dishes are discounted when they are paired with a meal order so the resulting cost is about the same. Some meals are designed for specific sides. For example, the Chicken Ragu comes with Polenta. However, the new online ordering system allows you to easily substitute and alternate side dish if polenta doesn’t suit you.

A Special Treat for Our Regulars

More and more of you are coming into the store on your way home to pick up dinner for tonight’s meal. Because of the growth of the restaurant we have more capacity to offer daily specials, fresh vegetables and various assorted goodies. So Janet ordered a chalkboard. She loves chalkboards. She will use the new board to let you walk-ins know about her latest and greatest concoctions.

More to Come

We will be adding nutritional information as well as cooking instructions and posting a page for each menu item on our website. You will be able to access that information as easy as pie. You will also be able to review any meal or make suggestions. You can see what other people have to say.

Please comment below if like what you see or if you think we’ve missed the mark.