Plucking Peaches with Bridgeport Chef Jun Robles

This is Market to Menu, in which Eater shadows a chef's trip to the farmer's market, following the trajectory of Oregon's freshest ingredients from market stall to restaurant plate.

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Jun Robles, chef at the SE Hawthorne location of the BridgePort Ale House, doesn't need to wait for the Portland Farmer's Market to collect his produce: Instead, he heads down the street to Kruger's Farm Market, the city stand for the Sauvie Island farm. During a recent trip, Robles collected ingredients for a summertime peach salad featuring roasted cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrots, and yellow peaches, which he says are a favorite summertime fruit. "I think the challenge is to find a middle ground to display their unique flavor," Robles says. "Usually, we see them fresh or fabricated into a sauce (literally beat to a pulp). The result here is a hot, sweet, and juicy peach."

For the finished dish, Robles dresses his market haul with olive oil, roasting the veggies before sauteeing them with fresh peaches — in an XO vinaigrette along with some bacon. "The idea is to highlight and balance all of these delicious flavors in a manner that you may have not seen before."
· BridgePort Ale House [Official site]
· All Previous Market to Menu Coverage [Eater PDX]