Thursday, OcTOber 21, 2021 • The buLLeTIN
GO! MaGaZINe • PAGE 13
FOOD
TRUCKS
& CARTS
p.14
bendbulletin.com/goeat
ELLY’S ICE CREAM
If You Go
Elly and Tim Sisney and their kids live in
Northwest Crossing. Elly noticed that there
was no place nearby to get ice cream. She
knew the Grove would be “the perfect place.”
“Adults stop at the Waypoint bar in the
front, and the kids run back to get ice cream,”
she said.
Once they had the location, they part-
nered with a maker in Maltby, Washing-
ton. The company makes small batches of
ice cream. This technique uses less air for a
creamier consistency. Elly’s ice creams are
made with certified organic milk, cream,
eggs and berries.
With the Maltby maker, they let their
imaginations go wild with crazy custom fla-
vors. The Cookie Monster is blue ice cream
with three types of cookies bits — Oreos,
Chips Ahoy chunks and cookie dough. It is
a creamy, cookie extravaganza. PNW Blue-
berries is fruity with a touch of cardamom
to make it taste like blueberry pie (a la mode
is built-in). Other ice cream offerings in-
clude Green Tea, Cherry Amaretto and sea-
sonal flavors like Pumpkin Spice Pecan. If
you don’t want the scooped flavors, you can
choose soft serve.
Ice cream can be served in flights, pints or
waffle cones and bowls made by an in-house
baker. Toppings for ice cream include Elly’s
Sprinkles, house-made nut crunches and
granolas with pistachios and dried cranber-
ries, fresh fruit, honey and salt, homemade
whipped cream, Bordeaux cherry, and many
more.
On my first visit, I considered the unique
special sundae combinations. Sundaes in-
clude Gone Glamping, which is like an ice
cream s’more, and The Grizzly Bear, with
peanut butter and crushed pretzels. I’m a
chocoholic, so I created a hot fudge sundae
with Triple Chocolate Bomb ice cream. The
delicious creamy ice cream had rich choc-
olate with no bitterness. Despite the abun-
dance of chocolate, it was still light and airy
— and easy to finish the whole thing.
You won’t necessarily want a straw for
milkshake combos — they lend them-
selves to being eaten with a spoon. The Lava
Butte includes chocolate sauce and brownie
bits and is topped with a deliciously fudgy
brownie. I was in heaven.
BEND BREAKFAST BURRITO
A lone food cart sits among the din-
ing tables at the center of the Grove. Bend
Breakfast Burrito has moved indoors from
its location near the Commons in down-
What: elly’s Ice cream
Where: 921 NW Mt. Washington drive,
bend
Hours: Noon-9 p.m. saturday and sunday,
4-9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 3-9 p.m.
Wednesday
Contact: ellysicecream.com
or 541-728-2390
Blueberry Danish from Thump Coffee.
town Bend.
Val and Trent Hilton had worked for
Stone Fire Grill from the beginning, being
part of its growth to 13 locations in South-
ern California. Before the pandemic, the
Stone Fire Grill was sold. It was the perfect
time for the couple to use their savings to
embark on “the adventure of a lifetime,”
traveling the world with their kids and ulti-
mately landing here in Bend.
When the Grove was being built, Val
knew she wanted to be part of it. The fam-
ily always sought indoor market halls like
those in Budapest or Singapore’s hawker
centers during their travels.
Trent prepares the food at the Prep
Kitchen in Midtown. The cart offers
only burritos, banana muffins, breakfast
bars and packaged granola. Burritos are
wrapped in foil and kept warm.
Four burritos are available to suit any-
one’s palate and diet, including a vegetarian
burrito and a vegan burrito with scram-
bled tofu. The Burrito Bowl is a gluten-free
option. The ingredients are scrambled to-
gether. Val explained, “We want every bite
to have all the flavors.” Tomatoes, onions
and cilantro are chopped into tiny bits and
scrambled with the fluffy egg.
Burritos are cut in half, so you don’t have
to get a mouthful of tortilla as you bite
off the end. “The first bite is the best bite.
Those little touches all add up.”
You won’t find big chunks of bacon or
potatoes in the Original Burrito, as all the
ingredients are chopped and mixed with
the eggs. Jack and cheddar cheese are gen-
erously mixed in, creating a creamy, fluffy,
What: bend breakfast burrito
Where: 921 NW Mt. Washington drive,
bend
Hours: 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (or till they sell out)
Tuesday-saturday
Contact: bendbreakfastburrito.com
or 541-780- 9403
The Lava Butte milkshake
from Elly’s Ice Cream has
brownie bits and is garnished
with a brownie.
cheesiness that doesn’t weigh you down.
Burritos come with a choice of Val’s made-
from-scratch mild green salsa made with
tomatillos, or a red salsa made with toma-
toes, serrano chili peppers, onion, and gar-
lic. I’ve already returned to have another
one.
On another visit, I tried the chorizo bur-
rito. Because chorizo is quite oily, the recipe
has less cheese. The chopped mixture had
just a hint of chorizo flavor. It wasn’t my fa-
vorite as it was drier than the Original Bur-
rito. My preference for a chorizo burrito is
one that is dripping oil and strong, spicy
and sausage-forward.
The cart also offers banana bread muffins
made using “grandma’s recipe.” It is a dense
muffin with cinnamon and caramelized ba-
nanas.
THUMP COFFEE
In 2006, Bobby Grover took over a cof-
fee shop in downtown Bend. Since then,
Thump Coffee has continued to grow.
Thump moved its roastery to a ware-
house on NW York Drive in Northwest
Crossing about three years ago. Thump has
also expanded — opening locations in Den-
ver, Colorado, and in the Grove.
While it initially offered breakfast pas-
tries from Sparrow and Nancy P’s, Thump
absorbed Fearless Bakery a few years ago.
Pastries are made in-house at the York facil-
ity and sold with Thump’s smooth coffee at
all locations.
Over a couple of visits, I sampled each
type of pastry. All were very good. The
What: Thump coffee
Where: 921 NW Mt. Washington drive,
bend
Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Contact: 541-728-0559
fresh bagels were huge and light, but the Ev-
erything Bagel could have used a little more
salt. The plain croissant was wildly flakey
with only a hint of butter flavor. I might
have preferred more butter, but it was per-
fect when smeared with jam.
I had a savory scone. Ham, cheese and
green onion are finely chopped, with more
cheese added to the top of the scone. With
all the ingredients mixed in, it was a good
meld of tastes.
Danishes are made with croissant dough.
Laminated in the same way as the chocolate
croissant, the dough is folded into a small
round. The Danish is then finished with a
dollop of cream cheese icing and fresh fruit.
Fat, juicy, tart blueberries on my Danish
balanced the sweetness of the icing.
The Danishes pair perfectly with a
smooth, foamy Thump Genuine Coffee
latte. Operations Manager Anne Lodahl
explained that the Thump baristas are put
through an in-depth training process to
learn to pull espresso shots and do latte art.
At the end of their training, they are certi-
fied to ensure each cup of Thump coffee is
consistently good.
Other restaurants are still under con-
struction. Sunny’s Carrello will move inside,
and LCB (Left Coast Burger) should open
any day. I will review the new spots when
The Grove is fully opened.
e
Reporter: barb@barbgonzalezphotography.com