Beaverton’s recognition as a dining destination for international cuisine began in its formative years as a farming community surrounded by rich, fertile “beaver dam” soil. Italians, Germans, and Swedes settled herein the late 1800s, bringing traditional dishes from their homelands. Fresh produce and dairy, locally grown hops, wheat, beef, and set the standard for future and new culinary experiences.
Chef Philippe Depuy, who had arrived in the United States from France in mid-1970s, set his sights on offering area residents and wholesale accounts a taste of authentic French pastries and breads when he and his wife Hilda opened Le Four a Bois (The Wood Oven) on SW Broadway Street in 1984. The former owner of Upper Crust and Le P’tit restaurants in Portland claimed his massive 15-ton wood-burning Fours chazal wood-fired oven was the only one of its kind in the world, 13’ wide x 7’ high, using sand at the bottom and in the specially-designed top that retained heat when the fire had gone out.
Customers could choose a variety of delectable baked pastries: pineapple Eugenie, chocolate sacher torte, pain au raisins, croissants, rye, country, and sourdough bread, rolls, and more. A selection of breakfast offerings, cheeses, wine, and sandwiches tempted patrons as well…