Located in the green fields of Willamette Valley, you’ll find a historic white house nestled amongst the trees. At first glance you may mistake it for a quaint wine country estate, however upon closer examination you’ll notice that it’s in fact The Joel Palmer House – a new American restaurant set in a historic 1859 farmhouse.
It’s managed by Chef Chris Czarnecki, a fourth generation restaurateur who approaches his work with dedication and passion. The Joel Palmer House excels at turning Oregon’s freshest ingredients into absolutely divine dishes.
In particular, The Joel Palmer House specializes in plates that use mushrooms foraged from the surrounding areas. We picked the Mushroom Madness Menu which saw the first course through dessert infused with mushrooms in a variety of ways.
While you may be nervous at first, you’ll ultimately be surprised to find how well mushrooms go with each dish. We started off with their famous mushroom soup, followed by a three mushroom tart and foraged morels. Angel hair pasta, elk, and duck breast followed. I settles my sweet tooth with a candy cap mushroom crème brûlée – what a surprise! Also, chocolate peanut butter mousse that was almost too pretty to eat!
After dinner, we were lucky enough to be invited back to the kitchen and wine cellar. It was here we got to know Chef Czarnecki and his dedication to both his craft and his team.
Overall, I had a wonderful evening at The Joel Palmer House. It was my first time trying a mushroom focused tasting menu and I’d definitely do it again!