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July 31, 2010
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One on One ~ Solstice Woodfire Café
Fall 2008
by Stacey Shaw
I recently sat down to talk with Aaron Baumhackl at the Solstice Woodfire Café while he made pizzas by hand to cook in a woodfire oven at the restaurant.
As I ate a salad prepared with local greens, nuts, and pears, we chatted about RiverHOURS, community, local food, and business.
Aaron owns and runs Solstice with his partner Suzanne Wright Baumhackl. If you have been to this restaurant in Bingen, then you know that Solstice is a unique place. In addition to providing great food, Solstice also provides a distinct sense of family friendly community. This feeling of community at the restaurant is very intentional.
Aaron brings with him a background in community-based and non-profit management. Solstice is the first restaurant that Aaron and Suzanne have owned.
We try to be food activists
“We try to be food activists,” he comments. “We try to expose people to foods that they may not be familiar with; quinoa, braised chard, - in a way that is comfortable. We want Solstice to be a gathering place with great food.”
Solstice is a strong supporter of local organic food and farm products. Aaron commented that being committed to sourcing as much as possible locally and organic is “a challenge as a business owner”. Right now, Solstice buys from approximately 25 local farms, ranches, and backyard growers. All the wine and beer on the menu is local as well.
Aaron pointed out, “In the last hour, - a local grower brought in figs, an employee brought garlic, a former cook brought in local greens, and an owner of Hood River Organic sat down to eat.” Suzanne and Aaron would like to have their own restaurant garden and several community garden relationships. That would be their ideal scenario for Solstice. Currently, the restaurant is nurturing a relationship with the community garden project across the street. Solstice is providing the gardens with compost, and they will be looking at the produce that the community garden might provide for them.
Solstice has been accepting RiverHOURS for up to 50% of a total dinner check for nearly one year, and Aaron and Suzanne like using RiverHOURS at their restaurant.
Spending circles in action
So how has it been using RiverHOURS at Solstice?
“We have fun with them. Yesterday, Doppio Mike came in and spent some of his RiverHOURS with us, so we got to see him and talk about how he uses them”, Aaron comments. He continues, “We use our HOURS mostly with Moria for our PoCards. When we spend 20RH on our PoCard, we’ll see
Moria in here the next night for dinner with friends. It’s kind of a game, but it is exactly the game it was intended to be. It kind of takes the money element out of it.
“We got involved because we thought there were a lot of smart people involved with it, to be honest. We thought, ‘Okay, we’ll try that, I’ll give these smart peeps $40 and see what happens using HOURS.”
Solstice Wood Fire Café offers fresh, local, seasonal and organic food skillfully prepared by hand at family affordable prices. Featuring an imported Italian wood fire oven, the café specializes in rustic Tuscan-style pizzas, house-grilled panini sandwiches, hearty soups and stews, crispy wood-fired chicken and local farm-to-table salads. The café also serves award winning local wines and Walking Man beer on tap.
A warm & welcoming gathering place
Solstice is designed to be a warm and welcoming every day community gathering place complete with private meeting space, outdoor patio seating and art by local artists. Little ones are
invited to enjoy the children’s play area, HUGE chalkboard wall and kid-friendly menu where all items are priced under $4. Solstice welcomes private parties, special events and offers scrumptious catering and lunch boxes. Open starting at 11:00 for lunch & dinner!
Web site: solsticewoodfirecafe.com
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