This week’s local chef interview is with Tiffany Norton, co-owner of the eccentric Party Bar located in the heart of downtown Eugene. Party Bar’s menu is described as New American, using fresh, local ingredients. It was previously called Party Downtown until it expanded in 2018. During the pandemic they converted the back room of what used to be Party Downtown into a wine cellar, which became a big hit! Originally, Tiffany and her husband Mark were running it as a food cart before they opened the brick and mortar 11 years ago.
Tiffany started shopping at the market 16 years ago. She actually worked at the market for Groundwork Organics while running the food cart. Her favorite part of the farmers market is connecting with the farmers and seeing their faces. Some of the local ingredients she uses for the restaurant include Fair Valley beef, Camas Country Mill flour for bread, and Willow and Oak chicken. During the market’s off-season, Party Bar sources their produce through a grower marketing cooperative called Organically Grown Company.
This spring Tiffany is very excited for raab, purple sprouting broccoli, and spring garlic. Party bar usually offers 2 seasonal salads along with their year-round kale salad. Some of their popular dishes include purple sprouting broccoli with quince paste and their infamous, juicy spring burgers.
Tiffany leans toward a Southern style of cooking using PNW ingredients. She puts a Southern twist on jojos, which is a classic PNW dish, by dressing it as poutine with pickled hedgehog mushrooms and porcini gravy. Even their cocktails use farmers market produce! One is called ‘Pickle Me Pink’, which uses beet brine in a martini.
Tiffany is one of the growing population of women chefs in the local food scene. Coincidentally, 85% of her staff are women! Tiffany is very proud to be part of a changing culture in the food scene. “The industry is not what it used to be. It was a lot more macho when I started,” she says.
Some of the vendors she regularly shops from include Groundwork Organics, Fair Valley, Winter Green, and Horton Road Organics.
Come check out Party Bar! They are open Wednesdays and Sundays (4 – 9 PM) and Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (4 – 10 PM).