December 2016
At the Talent Café (160 N. Pacific Highway) owner Denise O’Brien and her crew are celebrating eleven years in business. The café is famous for its great, simple, home-cooked meals and a relaxing atmosphere.
“Our food is fresh and locally sourced,” Denise said. “It is prepared and served with love, respect and a playful sense of humor. The Talent Café is a place run by a motley crew of foodies who nourish people and community.”
At the restaurant, one can take a table or settle in on the couch or one of the chairs up front where the morning light comes streaming in. Someone almost always leaves the current local and big city papers to share. And, of course, a copy of the award-winning Talent News & Review is also available in case you want to catch up on the latest from Talent.
Denise lived in Hawaii for three decades before moving to southern Oregon. “A year before I even contemplated leaving Kona, I found the Talent Café online and for sale,” she said. “I didn’t even know where Talent was, but when I came to Ashland to look for a home, I took a drive to Talent to check out the café and ended up buying a house in Talent.”
Denise’s plan was to “do nails,” which she had done in Hawaii, but then plans changed. “I ate breakfast every day for three months at the Talent Café and got a job as the hostess on weekends,” she said. “Then one day I asked the owner if the restaurant was still for sale. Long story short, it was, and I bought it. That was eleven years ago.”
The menu at the Talent Café offers a rich assortment of entrees for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast features house omelettes and specialties like Chile Quiles, Home Fries Deluxe, Stuffed Hash Browns, Corned Beef Hash & Eggs, and Tofu Veggie Scramble.
For lunch, there are sandwiches, soups and salads, from the Bad Boy Burger and Grilled Chicken Sandwich to the Smoked Turkey Sandwich and Veggie Supreme.
Denise is also a painter and one of the first things you’ll notice—besides food—is an easel and small canvases in various states of completion. Finished pieces are exhibited on every wall, including the bathroom, and they’re all for sale.
The Talent Café is open 8am-2pm every day. For more info, the phone number is 541-535-6310. Website: therealtalentcafe.com. And you can find them on Facebook.
Oh, and Denise wanted me to remind everyone to book your holiday party now.
