Review: Kim & Karla’s Pasta

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 18, 2016

In early November 1940, when Franklin Roosevelt was elected to his third term as U.S. president while the German blitzkrieg raked England, University of Oregon football fans concerned themselves with a more immediate matter: How would the Ducks stop UCLA’s “Midnight Express” — the soon-to-be-legendary Jackie Robinson?

Sports history records that Oregon’s defense stifled the Bruins at Eugene’s Hayward Field that day, quarterback John “Buck” Berry leading his team to an 18-0 rainy-day scorching of the visiting Californians.

Berry’s efforts are a mere postscript to more recent Oregon sports successes, but the man has not been forgotten by his descendants. In fact, his grand-nieces, sisters Kim Wilbur and Karla Blaney, have honored his memory in the decor of their small Italian-style cafe on the south side of Redmond.

Kim & Karla’s Pasta is a much more successful venture than the pair’s previous endeavor, a baked-potato specialty shop in downtown Redmond. This one — which opened in spring 2014 adjacent to Applebee’s, just off the Airport Way exit from northbound U.S. Highway 97 — serves all manner of noodle dishes and several excellent sandwiches and salads, as well.

About two dozen diners are accommodated at tables that are wrapped around the edges with Oregon Duck or Oregon State Beaver flair. But beneath the tabletop glass, each seating features a montage of the 1938-40 Berry era at Oregon. And on one wall, beneath a plaque bearing the Berry name, a football and a jersey proudly recall the past.

Numerous pastas

The pasta, however, is present. The manicotti I had was excellent.

Large, ribbed manicotti noodles were stuffed with sauteed ground beef, spinach and chopped mushrooms, then topped with a rich marinara sauce and baked with a topping of mozzarella cheese.

I had expected to bring some of the meal home for leftovers. I didn’t get that far. I ate every bite, then used a piece of accompanying garlic bread to sop up the remaining sauce.

My dining companion, unfortunately, was not as pleased with an order of chicken fettuccine Alfredo. The noodles, cooked slightly al dente, were fine. But the sauce of heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, seasoned with garlic and Italian herbs, did not please her palate.

She may have been happier with homemade lasagna, layered with ground beef and three cheeses, or ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese. Spaghetti and meatballs, three-cheese penne pasta and a pesto pasta (with basil, pine nuts and garlic) are other options.

Fortunately for her, an accompanying wedge salad, a crispy quarter-head of fresh iceberg lettuce, was much more to her liking. The typical wedge topping of blue cheese crumbles and fresh bacon bits was supplemented by pecans and craisins, along with tomatoes and red onions. Her blue cheese dressing was presented on the side.

Service was genuinely friendly for an order-at-the-counter establishment, and food was delivered quickly and efficiently to our table, with one exception.

Sandwich choices

I came through another day around lunchtime, and asked the sisters for a sandwich recommendation.

A hot spaghetti-and-meat sauce sandwich, finished in the broiler, wasn’t what I was looking for. A meatball sandwich, its prime ingredients cloaked in marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella on a toasted hoagie roll, sounded wonderful. But it also sounded too sloppy to eat while I was driving.

I settled for an Italian sandwich; its meats (salami, pepperoni, Canadian bacon) and veggies (lettuce, tomato, onion) drizzled with oil and vinegar, then topped with mozzarella and served in a toasted hoagie. It was just right. The same sandwich, as it turns out, is also available as a lettuce wrap for diners who want to go easy on carbohydrates.

But before deciding to avoid carbs, you may want to try Kim & Karla’s desserts. I found a good tiramis u here. Spongy ladyfinger biscuits are dipped in coffee and layered with a mixture of whipped eggs, sugar, mascarpone cheese and cocoa. This is a time-honored, classic recipe, and this small cafe has it down.

It seems a shame, somehow, that old “Buck” Berry isn’t here to enjoy the tasty fruits of his descendants’ labors. Hey, the man beat Jackie Robinson. We can’t say he wasn’t using his noodle.

— Reporter:janderson@bendbulletin.com.