Since opening Alea in Mac Market last summer, Haley and Brendan Byer have been setting the new standard for what an Oregon wine country bakery can be. The menu looks familiar — a breakfast sandwich, chicken salad, scrambled eggs on toast — but the simple descriptions belie the couple’ s technical prowess.  Customers expecting a basic bacon, egg, and cheese may be surprised with what shows up: tender slices of two-day cured pork belly shingled over a just-set egg with oozy Swiss on a tender, made-in-house sourdough English muffin. The tuna sandwich is line-caught albacore loin conserva dressed in aioli with parsley, pickled carrot, and green garlic. Buttermilk-dressed chicken salad arrives on a pillowy pain au lait hoagie roll with lovage, mizuna, and Aleppo pepper. It’s familiar, but also surprising.  Now, the Byers are ready to see what happens when they invite in people for dinner. Beginning Tuesday, May 19, Alea will offer evening service on Tuesdays — the one night Mac Market is open, but their neighbor Honey Pie Pizza is dark, which means the Byers get the run of the space.  Dinner service will provide a chance for diners to experience the chops of two people who came up in some of the most ambitious restaurant kitchens in the country. The couple originally moved to Oregon to open Okta under chef Matthew Lightner, Brendan as chef de cuisine and Haley as head baker. Their collective resume includes roles at Northern California restaurants Spruce, Bouchon Bistro, and Farm at Carneros Resort. Before coming to Oregon, Brendan was the sous chef at three-Michelin-star SingleThread, and Hayley was head baker at lauded wood-fired sourdough destination Della Fattoria. When Okta closed the couple had a choice to make: Relocate again, or get to know McMinnville better after a year and a half working the punishing hours of fine dining. They launched Alea as a pop-up at Thistle with breads and baked goods on weekend mornings and an eclectic dinner menu a few nights each week. At the time, they were also popping-up at Cafe Olli, but saw such an enthusiastic response in McMinnville that they decided to stay in Yamhill County. When Hayward relocated from their space in Mac Market to their current home in Carlton, Mac Market became Alea’s home, full time. The Byers took on the counter space that had previously been the pass at Hayward, adding a bakery case and espresso machine to pivot the space for all-day service.  Named after the Basque word for grain, Alea represents a shift away from rarefied dining toward something more approachable. Recognizing the limitations of a tasting menu-only format, they introduced themselves to the Valley with their sourdough breads, pastries, and sandwiches, and hustled to also host private dining and winery events as time allowed.  They’re calling this regular service “Nights at Alea” to distinguish it from their Cork Society events, one-off ticketed family-style dinners in partnership with area wineries. Weekly menus will be organized around a theme. One evening it might be izakaya, the next pintxos. In May, they plan on playing with handmade pastas. They’ll choose a different lens each week through which to prepare whatever is in season.  “It’s food we want to eat when we’re not cooking,” says Brendan.  For the chefs, Tuesday nights are partly about getting to stretch. Running a bakery-cafe means early mornings, so a slow roll into one night of dinner service is a way for them to flex their creative muscles without burning out. But there’s also a longer game at play here. The Tuesday dinners are, at least in part, a market test; a chance to put dishes in front of diners that the couple hopes will one day find a permanent home on the menu of a restaurant.  “[We’re] testing ideas more and more,” Brendan says, “rather than like, if we opened a restaurant next month, this is what it would look like. We’re always testing.”Beverage service will be provided by Day by Day, Mac Market’s bar, and will include both cocktails and a by-the-glass wine list. ⁠Their plan is to be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with the last reservation available at 8:15. Reservations are via OpenTable and walk-ins are also welcome. ...read more read less