This just in: Portland chef-for-hire Paul Losch will debut Ruddick/Wood, a "mid-scale American bistro and bar" on the corner of First and Edwards Streets in Downtown Newberg. 

Losch—who formerly manned the kitchens at DOC and Vino Paradiso—will team up with Kyle Lattimer of Newberg's shuttered Uprooted food cart to bring the new eatery to the busy stretch of 99W. According to Losch: "There is a lot of good food in the Newberg/Dundee area, but much of it falls in the realm of special-occasion dining. We are aiming for the feel of a refined roadhouse to provide the area with a place that serves thoughtfully sourced and prepared food and drink at an approachable price."

Like its name (which honors Newberg's first settlers William P. Ruddick and David J. Wood), Ruddick/Wood will be divided into two distinct parts—half restaurant, half tavern—that will share a kitchen, with up to one hundred seats between the two sides. The seated restaurant will offer counter-service lunch and full-service dinner Tuesday through Saturday, and brunch and dinner on Sunday. The evening-only tavern will offer a scaled-down food menu, "a carefully curated beer, cider, and cocktail program", and a diverse wine list with old-world wines alongside local producers from the surrounding hills of Oregon's wine country.

So, why Newberg? Losch has some answers: "One, both Kyle and myself really like the area. He has spent most of his time in Oregon running his Uprooted food cart out of the Chehalem tasting room parking lot, and I spend a fair amount of time in Yamhill County tasting wine, cooking at wineries, or foraging out in the foot-hills of the coast range. Two, it's a great time to be opening in Newberg—it's a town on the verge of a lot of change. The Hwy 99 bypass should hopefully be starting construction relatively soon, and the downtown area is gaining some new life. There are several other exciting projects in the works down there, and it really makes sense for Newberg to be more of a wine-country hub than it  currently is, with it's proximity to Portland".

The split space is slated for an early summer 2013 opening, but you can get a glimpse of the concept behind the space via Ruddick/Wood's Pinterest boards. Stay tuned for more details.

Ruddick/Wood
720 East First St