Harney County may not have a lot of fine dining choices, but one that you don’t want to miss is Hotel Diamond. Located in the Diamond Valley about 50 miles south of Burns, the little community of Diamond hides among large ranches and many wide open acres of public lands. With a population of just seven, yes seven, you wouldn’t think there would be much to do or see, let alone eat. But Hotel Diamond is like stepping back in time; a time when cattle barons, sheep herders, Native Americans, and settlers struggled to survive the rugged land.
As we drove across the desert from Princeton to Diamond, the views were astounding. The Pete French Round Barn sits quietly with cows grazing around it, miles of hundreds of cows up to their bellies in meadow grass that had been bunch raked for fall feeding, and dozens of deer feeding in the fields as the sun quickly lowers itself to sunset.
David, Shirley, Gretchen and other family members have been researching and planning this Wine Dinner for months. They are paying homage to their family’s Scandinavian heritage. Shirley Thompson, David and Gretchen’s mother, is Danish-American. Quoting from the dinner menu “Shirley’s Danish heritage is very important to her, and she has passed on this pride to her children and grandchildren. Her grandmother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. And when that grandmother married in London, she and her groom rode down the street in the same coach in which years later Prince Charles and Princess Diana would ride after their wedding.” Isn’t that a fascinating and romantic story?!?
Another little twist on this dinner was that they also offered beer with three of the seven courses, as well as wine with five courses. Yes, you heard me right; a seven course meal and each course was superb! Highlights of the menu included pickled shrimp with Danish havarti cheese with homemade crackers; Winter squash/vegetable soup in a homemade bread bowl (garden veggies were from the family garden of course); a pear, avocado and tomato salad with homemade pumpernickel bread; Salmon Nadine with a sherry mushroom sauce; and the main course was ROULADER (Slow Simmered Beef Rolls), RØD KAAL (a sweet red cabbage) and new potatoes (from the garden). Last but not least, as if we needed anything else to eat by then, we were served a triple desert: Kringle, Chocolate-Mint Brownies, and Sharp Cheddar with homemade Apple Butter served with Peter Heering Original Cherry Liqueur from Denmark; topped off with the County’s best coffee.
The delicious Winter Squash and Vegetable soup
served with Blue Mountain Cider Company's Raspberry
Hard Apple Cider, Oregon. Wonderful choice!
And look at the lovely soup bowl...delicious as well!
Pear, Avocado and Tomato on fresh greens w/
Parmesan Vinaigrette and Blue Cheese
Homemade Pumpernickel bread
Served with Airlie Winery Muller Thurgau 2008
North Willamette Valley
My Man, even though he's not much of a wine
drinker, thoroughly enjoyed himself.
The fish course:
Salmon Nadine w/ Sherry Mushroom Sauce
Served with Sokol Blosser Evolution, Lucky Edition,
Dundee Hills Oregon.
Tucked inside the puff pastry were scallops and crab too!
As if we were hungry by this time, here comes the main course:
Roulader, Rod Kaal, and New Potatoes with fresh parsley & butter.
Served with Sokol Blosser 2006 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills Oregon
The triple dessert...that should have 3 s's right?
Kringle, Chocolate-Mint Brownies, and
Sharp Cheddar with Homemade Apple Butter.
Served with Peter Heering Original Cherry Liqueur, Denmark
My favorite was the Sharp Cheddar. David said it was
15 year old Tillamook cheese. Oh so good!
I'm enjoying the best cut of coffee in the County...
and so full I can't move. I had to have a box for
most of my main course.
This is one of the best dinners I’ve ever had. The wine and beer choices were perfect, and the service and atmosphere was downright Harney County friendly. They only offer a couple of wine dinners per year, so if you are interested, give them a call to get on their list for next year!
Wall decor inside the "Ice House" which really was
an ice house in the days before electricity.
The doorway from the Ice House leading into
Frazer's pub where we ate our dinner.
Hotel Diamond is open seasonally between April and October. They have lodging, nightly dinners (reservation only), and their little pub Frazier’s offers lunches. Bookmark their website address at www.central-oregon.com/hoteldiamond/ or give them a call at 541-493-1898. Maybe I’ll see you at the next wine dinner!
