Solstice Wood Fire Cafe & Bar
Located at
501 Portway Ave.
Hood River, OR 97031
Ph: (541) 436-0800
website: www.solsticewoodfirecafe.com/
About Aaron
Growing up in the "Farm to Table" mecca of Berkeley, California, Aaron Baumhackl was raised to appreciate artisan and locally grown foods from an early age (Alice Water's community garden began at his junior high school). At the age of 14, Aaron began his culinary profession at Oliveto in Oakland, CA, starting with pizzas and working his way up the kitchen line.
After mastering every station at Oliveto, he moved to Chicago and helped Chef Carol Wallick open Deleece in 1992. At age 26, longing for an outdoor and river-running lifestyle, he went back to school (Prescott College), to receive a Bachelors in Wilderness Therapy. Aaron took a ten-year break from cooking and managed a non-profit program leading activities for people of all different abilities in wilderness settings.
After starting a family and moving to Hood River, Aaron combined his passions by opening a wood fired pizza restaurant, with the amazing Columbia River Gorge as a back-drop. Aaron finds great joy in both directly working with farmers and foragers and being an integral part of the Gorge community. Aaron's great skill is his ability to effortlessly create connection. Connection between the places where our food is grown, raised, and foraged, with the cooks who transform the ingredients, in addition to the guests who eat the meals, and especially the connection with all who sit at our Solstice tables.
