Guests are invited to explore The Kitchen at Middleground Farms through a series of chef-hosted demonstration stations, each highlighting a unique application of Oregon hazelnuts.
Proposed Menu
Scallop Crudo
Chilled Plum Broth, Hazelnut Emulsion, Toasted Hazelnut Furikake, Shaved Toasted Hazelnuts
Roasted Beet "Tartare"
Whipped Hazelnut Cream, Toasted Hazelnut Oil, Micro-Chervil
Wood-Fired Carrots
Hot honey, Hazelnut Dukkah
Wild Mushroom Pizza
Lobster Mushroom, Corn, Hazelnut Parmesan Cream
Grilled Sourdough Toast
Burrata & Warm Hazelnut Chili Crunch
Wood-Fired Ribeye
Hazelnut Chimichurri, Hazelnut Romesco, or Black Garlic Hazelnut Sauce
Autumn Salad Rolls
Hazelnut Satay Sauce
Ricotta Gnocchi
Brown Butter, Chanterelles & Hazelnut Pangrattato
1. Demonstration Kitchen
Our main demonstration kitchen will serve as the featured cooking stage for Chef Gabriel Rucker. The following two composed cold appetizers will also be served at each barnwood table.
Scallop Crudo – Chilled Plum Broth, Hazelnut Emulsion, Oregon Hazelnut Furikake, Shaved Toasted Hazelnuts
Roasted Beet "Tartare" – Whipped Oregon Hazelnut Cream, Cold-Pressed Hazelnut Oil, Micro Chervil
GABRIEL RUCKER
Executive Chef and Co-Owner, Le Pigeon and Canard
Two-time James Beard Award winning Chef Gabriel Rucker is Executive Chef and Co-owner of Le Pigeon and Canard in Portland, Oregon. Over the years, his highly original, off the cuff creativity and recipe-free approach to cooking has gained him national acclaim. A native of Napa, California, when school no longer piqued his interest, Rucker moved to the kitchen. In 2003 he moved to Portland and landed a coveted job at Chef Vitaly Paley’s home to Northwest cooking, Paley’s Place. In June of 2006, Rucker opened Le Pigeon, which quickly went on to win The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year. He soon after teamed up with partner Andy Fortgang, a wine pro who grew up in some of New York’s top restaurants including Gramercy Tavern and Craft.
Rucker released his first cookbook, Le Pigeon: Cooking at the Dirty Bird (Ten Speed Press), in September 2013. With a forward by chef Tom Colicchio, the cookbook is a collection of 150 recipes celebrating Rucker's high-low extremes in cooking. In 2018, Rucker and Fortgang opened Canard next door to Le Pigeon, serving up unique wines and wild French bar food. Canard quickly became one of the most buzzed about openings nationwide, going on to win The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year, and Portland Monthly’s Restaurant of the Year. Now, Canard counts locations in Oregon City and Beaverton, Oregon.
One of Portland’s most respected and decorated chefs, Rucker has earned two James Beard awards for Rising Star Chef in 2011 and Best Chef Northwest in 2013. He has racked up an astounding 15 James Beard Foundation nominations, including one for Outstanding Restaurant in 2026. He has been named a Food & Wine Best New Chef and a recipient of StarChefs Mentor Award.
Beyond the kitchen, Rucker has become a leading advocate within the restaurant industry for recovery, health and fitness. In 2019 he helped to open the Portland chapter of Ben’s Friends, a restaurant industry recovery group. When not in the kitchen, you can find Gabriel looking for his lost golf balls on the course. Follow Rucker on @ruckergabriel.
2. Outdoor Wood-Fire Kitchen
Chefs Kate and Katie will prepare seasonal wood-fired appetizers showcasing Oregon hazelnuts.
Wood-Fired Carrots – Hot Honey & Oregon Hazelnut Dukkah
Wild Mushroom Pizza – Hazelnut Parmesan Cream
Grilled Sourdough Toast – Burrata & Warm Oregon Hazelnut Chili Crunch
CHEF KATE JOHNSON
Chef Instructor, The Kitchen at Middleground Farms
Kate has spent nearly a decade teaching cooks how to become more confident and curious in the kitchen. Her approach is ingredient-driven, approachable, and grounded in creating food people are genuinely excited to eat—and recreate at home.
Known for her creativity and fearless experimentation, Kate has a particular talent for looking at familiar ingredients in unexpected ways. Her cooking balances technique with practicality, always keeping flavor at the center.
CHEF KATIE COOK
Chef Instructor, The Kitchen at Middleground Farms
Chef Katie Cook brings more than 15 years of professional cooking experience and nearly 25 years in hospitality to The Kitchen. A graduate of the Oregon Culinary Institute, she has cooked in acclaimed Portland restaurants including Ciao Vito, Veritable Quandary, and Castagna, as well as at Alaska's luxury Steamboat Bay Fishing Club.
Trained in baking and pastry and equally at home in savory cooking, Katie combines classical technique with modern flavors and a deep appreciation for Oregon's extraordinary ingredients. Her experience as both a chef and culinary educator brings precision, creativity, and an instinct for making ingredients shine.
3. Courtyard Grill
Chef Pauly will carve wood-fired ribeye served with chef-created hazelnut sauces.
Wood-Fired Ribeye – Hazelnut Chimichurri, Hazelnut Romesco, or Black Garlic Hazelnut Sauce
CHEF PAUL BAUER
Sous Chef, The Kitchen at Middleground Farms
Chef Paul Bauer began his culinary career in San Francisco before moving to Portland, where he spent five years working in Chef Gabriel Rucker's restaurants, including Le Pigeon. He later followed a growing passion for pastry to Ava Gene's, where he became Pastry Chef.
Paul's cooking draws from French and Spanish traditions with influences from South America and Asia. Curious and technique-driven, he loves exploring how a single ingredient can take on entirely different expressions through roasting, fermenting, emulsifying, grinding, or pairing it with unexpected flavors—an approach especially suited to tonight's exploration of the Oregon hazelnut.
4. Roasting & Chocolate Station
Hosted by Woodblock Chocolate
Hazelnut Roasting – Paired with Jacobson Salts
Gianduja Tasting
WOODBLOCK CHOCOLATE
Portland’s own Woodblock Chocolate is the fortunate result of years of rigorous artistic endeavors by husband and wife team Charley and Jessica Wheelock. We met doing antique restoration and both had an affinity for the intriguing potential of a raw material: wood (that’s where the Woodblock comes from). Single source chocolate was intriguing too. The more we learned about chocolate, the more we understood how everything we had done led to this. Was it a calling? For us, making chocolate from the bean was more like realizing a dream that we didn’t even know we had!
Since 2010 when Woodblock Chocolate began, we’ve gone from making chocolate in our Portland kitchen, to our first small manufactory in SE, to our splendiferous and comfy Manufactory/Café in the heart of Portland’s historically beautiful Irvington-Broadway district. We are grateful for the encouragement and acceptance: without Portland’s love for creative expression, food, design and entrepreneurism we wouldn't be where we are.
We like to think every part of our humble and joyful experience comes through in our chocolate. We visited farms from Hawaii to Peru, researched and roasted, delved into the history and philosophy of cacao, made mistakes and happy accidents, grew, developed, collaborated and now have what we believe is delicious heartfelt chocolate worthy of our journey, made from two ingredients: cacao and pure cane sugar. We are genuinely proud to share what we have learned with you.
5. Wine Barn & Garden Salad
Guests build a seasonal salad featuring garden greens, hazelnut dressings, crunchy hazelnut-focused toppings, pears, pickled shallots, and roasted vegetables.
6. Passed Appetizers
Prepared by Chef Jessica in the main kitchen.
Autumn Salad Rolls – Oregon Hazelnut Satay Sauce
Ricotta Gnocchi – Brown Butter, Chanterelles & Oregon Hazelnut Pangrattato
CHEF JESSICA HANSEN
Founder & Chef, The Kitchen at Middleground Farms
A culinary school graduate, former Sur La Table instructor, and former corporate chef for Sub-Zero, Jessica founded The Kitchen at Middleground Farms around a simple idea: people feel more connected to food when they understand where it comes from.
Her cooking is rooted in seasonality, thoughtful sourcing, and the abundance of the Pacific Northwest. At The Kitchen, Jessica brings those ideas together through food that celebrates local farms, producers, and ingredients—making Oregon hazelnuts a particularly natural fit for her kitchen.
