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The Broder empire continues to expand—this time to the east.
Broder Ost—the fourth location of the Scandinavian-inflected brunch and dinner spots known for meatballs and lefse—will open as soon as May 1 in Hood River, bringing ebelskiver deep into the Columbia Gorge on the bottom floor of the Hood River Hotel.
It may not be the most likely spot to expand, but apparently there was a more personal reason for the move. Chad Hinman, longtime manager at the original Southeast Clinton Street Broder, had been trying to move back to the place he grew up.
"For me, it was just my home town," says Hinman, who says Broder owner Peter Bro was game for the idea of expanding east. "I've been working for him for over 10 years. He said, 'If you want to take it out to the Gorge, you wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel."
Hinman says they'll tweak the tried and true Broder formula only slightly,t aking advantage of local farm and orchard fare, as well as skewing the menu a bit more Norwegian than Scandinavian.
"More lefse, fewer meatballs," he says, then adds. "We'll probably have Norwegian meatballs. Norwegian meatballs have more of a brown sauce. There's more lamb used in Norway.
Willamette Week