6 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER
August 2019
A MODERN
TWIST
Nineteenth century-
style restaurant sources
from local businesses,
individuals
By CLARA HOWELL
C
ross the threshold into the
wood farmhouse restau-
rant and you might just feel
like you’ve traveled back to
the 1800s. But it’s not because the
newly constructed American com-
fort food and Northwest cuisine eat-
ery located in the historic colony
district of Aurora is old and falling
apart, there’s a trending old-time
vibe that is prevalent throughout
the building.
Filberts Farmhouse Kitchen, which
opened just before the New Year, uses a
farm-to-table concept that utilizes local
farms and businesses for sourcing some
of its ingredients and beverages like
wine and tap beers.
“One of the things we wanted to do
was build that community feel. Being
in Aurora in the Willamette Valley,
there are a lot of bounty within this
area,” said Aaron Wolfe, general man-
ager at Filberts. “We’re getting our
parsnips from Canby, hazelnuts here
in Hubbard and Aurora. We’re getting
all-natural Oregon beef from a ranch-
ers co-op in Oregon.”
And the restaurant has a unique
twist.
The restaurant is a blend of new
construction and the original Mohler
Farmhouse, which was constructed in
1865, carries the vision of the historic
architecture of the original part of the
house. Larger groups of guests can
even enjoy their lunch or dinner in the
original farmhouse on one of its lon-
ger tables.
“They did such a great job making
it (the new addition) fit into the rest of
the house. It just looks like it belongs,”
Wolfe said.
As people enter the restaurant,
there’s a casual dining space with
PMG PHOTOS: JONATHAN HOUSE
An exterior of Filberts Farmhouse Kitchen.
chop and it’s crusted with filberts and
so we’re retaining a little bit of our
name in that dish, but we are also serv-
ing a quality item and it’s topped with
an apple relish.”
Wolfe said he experiences an emo-
tional connection with the food because
it’s similar to food his mom made for
him when he was a child.
Though the bar menu might not have
the most extensive options, the craft
cocktails are mixed with local alcohol
brands and add an old-fashioned twist
to classic picks.
Wolfe said the bartender makes a
popular Mohler Mule using Burnside
Bourbon as well as a filbert-infused Old-
Fashioned. Bar staff also have created a
pear martini that uses locally grown
pears to make the puree for the drink.
Diving in to future plans
The Strawberry Chicken Salad and “The Finn”
cocktail at Filberts Farmhouse Kitchen. Customers enjoy the dining experience at
Filberts Farmhouse Kitchen.
booths and tables, an outdoor patio that
overlooks the original orchards and a
more upscale area toward the back.
“I think both (spaces) are really cool.
In the casual dining space, here we have
booths that are made from old re-
claimed wood that’s nearly 100 years
old,” Wolfe said, adding that the bar has
red stools that provide a pop of color in
a building that’s very monochrome.
Downstairs there is a private dining
banquet hall and another outdoor patio
that groups can reserve.
“It’s a place where you can put on a
nice dress and go out or you can feel
good coming in, coming off of working
outside all day long and still feel com-
fortable. That was the idea behind it,”
said Wolfe.
Aside from sourcing local food and
beverages from Aurora and nearby ar-
eas, Filberts Farmhouse is decorated
with artwork from local antique shops.
“The owners, they love Aurora; they
want to give back to Aurora,” Wolfe said. “This isn’t a little mom- and pop-style
restaurant by any means. While the
owners are local, they live here in Auro-
ra, that’s kind of a big risk to take, put-
ting a restaurant of this magnitude in a
town of 990 people but I think they want-
ed to do something for the community.”
The restaurant offers a variety of
starters, sandwiches, brick oven pizzas
and entrees including coastal mac and
cheese with shrimp, crab, cod and salm-
on, wild mushroom and spinach mani-
cotti and fish and chips.
“You sit in that old Mohler house
that was built 150 years ago when
Abraham Lincoln was in the White
House and you think about the foods
that were eaten in that house 150 years
ago: pork chops, cornbread, meatloaf,
those kinds of things that are Ameri-
can comfort foods, classics,” Wolfe
said, adding that the menu will also
shift with the weather. Warm weather
will bring in more fruits and fresh veg-
etables. “We have a thick, huge pork
Though Filberts Kitchen has been
open for about seven months and
has proven quite successful, the
bustling restaurant has plans to
deepen its ties to the community
and strengthen its customer base.
Restaurant staff hope to have the
private dining space booked on a
more consistent basis, and they plan
on adding a self-contained kitchen on
the lower patio later this summer.
Filberts owners also plan to turn
the empty lot on the side of the
building into a wedding venue.
Wolfe said the area could be ex-
panded for weddings to fit about 80
to 100 people — maybe more.
“Every summer people try to find
places to book and it’s virtually im-
possible because everything is filled
like a year out so I think there’s op-
portunity,” he said. “Secondly, I
think that it’s a beautiful venue. We
are out in the country. There’s a
place where you could have your
wedding, have your rehearsal din-
ner, you could have your reception
and really make it a lot easier for
people. We are on the highway,
close to the freeway. We are central-
ly located between Portland and Sa-
lem and a lot of other communities.”
For more information on Filberts
Farmhouse Kitchen, visit https://
www.filbertsfarmhousekitchen.com/.