Road Tripping: What's Cooking in Baker City

We needed to get outta town. And it had been a very long time since we'd been on a real road trip—anything longer than a couple of hours qualifies these days—and stuck a pin in our Oregon map in Baker City. Granted, it's not new territory, especially for me, since most of the family on my mother's side still lives on the eastern side of the mountains and I grew up accompanying my grandfather to work at his cattle ranch in North Powder. The most indelible memories for me were riding the ranch's quarter horses—Rowdy, Riley, Sunny Boy, and my favorite, Big Red—and going on cattle drives to bring the cattle down from the mountains in spring, plus endless games of Kick the Can with my cousins. A must-stop in Baker City is Barley Brown's for beers and more-than-pub grub. We'd rented a small, dog-friendly home in South Baker for the trip, and after the four-and-a-half-hour drive we were ready for dinner and a well-deserved beer. And where else to go when in Baker City but Barley Brown's for…