PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 4, 2021
The REC adds BBQ joint ready to
rock your tastebuds on two fronts
BUSINESS
By BROOKLYN FLINT
Of the Keizertimes
own & Country Smokehouse opened
its doors on April 1 with welcoming
arms and smoked foods. The business is
owned by Dawn Brundage and her hus-
band, Jimmy Brundage. Jimmy is also
one of the cooks.
Part of the reason Jimmy got into the
business was because of Dick Withnell,
who he described as his mentor. Withnell
was a little league baseball coach for
Jimmy when he was 12 and brought up
the business opportunity to him years
later.
“Without him, none of this would have
happened,” Jimmy said.
Jimmy owned and operated seven dif-
ferent businesses before but this one is
the most special to him because he gets
to work with his wife and close friends.
Jimmy and his wife felt proud to be
next to The REC which is a faith-based
organization as they share thee same
values. When opening the restaurant,
Jimmy knew he wanted to give back to
people in Keizer and felt that The REC
off ered those opportunities.
“Cooking is such a labor of love for me
that I really want to give back to the com-
munity and be a part of the community,”
Jimmy said.
Eric Kama runs a diff erent part of the
kitchen focusing on Hawaiian fl avors.
T
Town & Country Smokehouse, located on the south side of The Rec is serving up Western-style BBQ alongside island-style smoked meats.
Pictured above: Jake Freeman with chefs Eric Kama and Jimmy Brundage.
Photo by BROOKLYN FLINT of Keizertimes
Jimmy and Kama have been friends for
more than 20 years.
Kama preps dishes like Kalua pork,
Jimmy handles the Western-style
BBQ. Kama grew up in Hawaii which is
where he learned how to cook authen-
tic Hawaiian food. Jimmy learned his
recipes and techniques cooking in
Australia.
“I played professional baseball in
Australia and I spent a lot of time barbe-
cuing. I developed my passion for cook-
ing there,” Jimmy said.
Town & Country Smokehouse will
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be showing off a brand new menu in
a few weeks which will include multi-
ple options for authentic homemade
Hawaiian BBQ and Western smokehouse
BBQ.
One of Jimmy’s favorite recipes and a
fan favorite of the community which will
be on the new menu is his pulled pork
sandwich which is slowly smoked for 16
hours. It is then steamed and fi nished off
in the oven.
Jimmy and Kama both look forward
to the future of the restaurant and being
in the community.
“We just want people to be comfort-
able and enjoy the company and the food
that we are going to off er them here,”
Kama said. “We just want to spread the
Aloha over here.”
Contact the reporter via email:
reporter@keizertimes.com