Toast & Jam is South Salem's new destination for beautiful brunches and diner favorites

Tucked into a South Commercial shopping center behind Applebee's,Toast & Jam is South Salem's new neighborhood spot for brunch and family dinners. 

David and Debi Odle have transformed the former Mirador Mexican restaurant space, building in booths and a small bar, adding plum-colored touches and fresh paint and flooring to make it their own. 

To make the project happen, the couple closed Chalet Restaurant & Bakery, the Brooks restaurant they had owned for 15 years. They had hoped to operate both restaurants for a time, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated things.

They closed Chalet and moved as much equipment as they could South. A PPP loan helped them keep employees working to paint and prepare the new space. 

A truck stop, said Debi, Chalet served "big plates of food to match," but Toast & Jam is more polished, a boutique brunch destination. 

Breakfast all day and weekday specials

Four kinds of eggs Benedict, biscuits and gravy, quiche of the day and cinnamon roll French toast, Toast & Jam's breakfast connection evident in its name is undeniable.

The restaurant slings generous omelettes and skillets full of scrambled egg alongside country fried steak and Chalet's recipe for buttermilk pancakes. On weekdays, breakfast is available anytime. Weekends bring bottomless mimosas and pint-sized Bloody marys stacked with pickles. 

Kids eat free on Mondays and Wednesday there's all-you-can-eat fish and chips. 

"We're trying to make this a neighborhood spot," said Dave, offering weekday specials and budget-friendly breakfast prices for seniors, too. 

Beyond breakfast, the menu leans in to homey dishes that evoke the neighborhood diner with unexpected nods throughout. 

Toast & Jam has a BLT, a tuna melt, and a French dip; but there's also a grilled salmon salad with asparagus and lemon vinaigrette. Potato skins loaded with sour cream and bacon are there alongside fried artichoke hearts with dill aioli.

Dave Odle said he was originally hesitant about adding elements like horseradish aioli to the restaurant's roast beef sandwich, but Debi pushed them to move beyond what they had previously offered at Chalet. He might be the one in the kitchen most of the time, but the menu at Toast & Jam reflect's her vision.

"What she created was really different," said Dave.

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A restaurant industry veteran, Debi previously worked at Hans Afshar's Orupa and Old Europe Inn. Planning Toast & Jam, she researched menus for beloved brunch spots in Salem, Portland, and Breckenridge and Denver, Colorado, hoping to zero in on the right combination of classic and creative. 

"It's gotta be cute," she said. 

The new vision means that not all of the Chalet favorites came with them to Toast & Jam's printed menu, they both stress that Chalet fans shouldn't hesitate to order off menu. 

"We can do a Hungry Man for you anytime you like," Dave said. 

Emily Teel is the Food & Drink Editor at the Statesman Journal. Contact her at eteel@statesmanjournal.com, Facebook, or Twitter. See what she's cooking and where she's eating this week on Instagram: @emily_teel

If you go

Toast & Jam

Where: 5080 Commercial St SE #140

Phone: 503-391-4215

More information: toastandjamsalem.com