I’ve been driving by Recipe, A Neighborhood Kitchen almost every single day since we moved to Dundee. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve leaned over to take a look out the car window and suggest to The Renaissance Man, “We really need to try that place.” Recipe is located in a beautifully restored Victorian house on the corner of OR99W & Washington Street in Newberg, Oregon and it certainly catches your eye as you drive through town.

On our way back from running errands in Portland on Saturday, The Renaissance Man suggested that we stop into Recipe for a late afternoon lunch. We were seated in a room tucked back by the kitchen, at a table where the sunlight softly streamed through the windows.

I don’t think we were planning on having wine with lunch, but after talking with our server and glancing over the extensive wine list, we both decided to have a glass. I tried the 2013 Gilbert Cellars, Rosé of Mourvedre. I’ve been on a Rosé kick  since the weather has been warming up, and this glass of Rosé was dry but still had notes of sweet strawberry.

We split a bowl of spiced carrot soup to start off our meal. The unexpected star of this dish was the pickled currants, I’ve never had anything like it! The sweet tart vinegar flavor of the currants brought a summer splash to the earthy and rich carrot soup. I wish I had a whole jar of those currants, they were like sweet cranberry capers.

For lunch we both decided on sandwiches. I had the Roasted Turkey and Bacon “Club,” and The Renaissance Man had the Lamb Shoulder French Dip. Both sandwiches were classics turned up a notch! My Roasted Turkey and Bacon “Club” was served on a fresh panini roll from Pearl Bakery, and had this preserved tomato jam which paired with the roasted turkey and bacon, made this anything but your typical turkey sandwich. The dish also came with freshly picked bibb lettuce  dressed in oil, vinegar, and a splash of lemon. The pickled vegetables were the added bonus to this meal!

The au jus sauce with The Renaissance Man’s French Dip was aptly made with pinot noir, how about that for wine country!

Between lunch and desert (yes, we had to get desert with our lunch because it looked so good!), I took a quick walk around the restaurant to explore all of the different rooms. One of my favorite rooms, which is the one you can see when driving by on OR 99W, has a large farmhouse table and an impressive display of wine. I can always see the warm glow of tea lights flickering through the windows on my way home from work.

For desert we split the Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding. The dish came with salted butterscotch, toasted hazelnuts, and biscotti. Talk about a wonderful way to end a meal. Rice pudding is one of my favorite deserts and this dish is in my top five list of the best rice puddings I’ve ever had, we’ll be coming back for more!

Thanks to our knowledgeable waiter who indulged us in determining the difference between caramel and butterscotch! It turns out butterscotch is really all about the butter, who knew?