EAT BEAT Blog

Holiday Eats Cheat Sheet

Who’s Da Mom?

A personalized Mother’s Day dining guide.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Apr 27, 2011 at 09:45AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

A traditional Peruvian sweet for Mother’s Day—Andina’s alfajor, a layered shortbread cookie zested with lime, filled with manjar blanco, and dusted with powdered sugar.

It’s that glorious time of year again—the annual holiday in which children destroy the kitchen preparing burnt toast, crunchy eggs, or lumpy oatmeal for their mommy dearest. Alternatively, everyone piles in the car for a Sunday brunch, lunch, or dinner at a restaurant, a nod to the rather sexist suggestion that “mama shouldn’t have to cook” so instead she gets to sit in a crowded restaurant with her grouchy family—and lots of other grouchy families—while a stranger makes the meal.

While we at EAT BEAT can’t help you with the prepubescent home cooking, we can give you some hot leads if you plan to take your clan out on the town. And to make it even easier on you, our roundup is broken down according to the type of mom each eatery might appeal to.

So without further ado, here’s a primo MD dining option for moms who…

Have adult children: Andina

End the week with something unique—a Mother’s Day concert by Portland’s Dan Balmer Group. This “alternative jazz” show takes place in the novo-Peruvian restaurant’s classy Tupai event space and includes a three-course dinner (tapas, entrée, and dessert). All moms will also be gifted with traditional Peruvian alfajores, an incredible layered shortbread cookie zested with lime, filled with manjar blanco, and dusted with powdered sugar. Andina owner Mama Doris (who has three sons) helped her pastry chef make this crave-worthy treat from her childhood. Dinner show is $55 per person, with doors open at 6 p.m.; reservations required

Want a view: Salty’s on the Columbia

Get an eyeful of the river from almost every seat in the house while you binge on a classic buffet brunch, offered all day long. Crêpes and bread pudding share space with a pancake and waffle station, while garlic-roasted prime rib and carved stuffed pork loin try to tempt you away from butter-poached clams, oysters on the half shell, and house-made lox. But save room for the four-foot-tall chocolate fountain with strawberries, doughnut holes, marshmallows, and pretzels. Add all-you-can-drink champagne for $6, and mom gets a carnation to take home. Brunch is $39.99 for adults, and kids 12 and under are $1.50 per year of age, with seatings from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; reservations recommended

Like it hot: East India Co. Grill & Bar

This Indian eatery opens only one Sunday a year, in honor of mothers, and offers a special meal inspired by street food found in the markets, railway station platforms, and fisherman’s wharfs of New Delhi and Mumbai. The abundant fare includes passed appetizers like Surati Lilva Ni Kachori Chaat (pastry dough balls, green lentil, cilantro, and green chilies) and Karkhana ki kut Mirchi (besan-crusted, stuffed whole peppers), as well as buffet-style mutton curry, fish masala, chicken kebabs, lentil doughnuts in spiced yogurt, seasonal vegetables with roasted peanuts, onions, and red chilies, and traditional desserts. $18 per adult and $12 for kids age 11 and under, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; reservations recommended

Like it haute: Urban Farmer

Pamper mom’s palate with chef Matt Christianson’s truly sumptuous spread. We’re talking nine interactive food stations inspired by spring produce and other local ingredients. Perhaps she’ll want to concoct her own omelet with organic Oregon eggs, sautéed local mushrooms, Tails & Trotters ham, and asparagus. Or maybe she’d rather devour four salads, three quiches, smoked steelhead, braised beef hash, nine different gourmet desserts, and a whole lot more. Mothers also receive a free glass of champagne, but chances are she’ll want to raid the Bloody Mary bar, where she can embellish a red or yellow pepper gazpacho base with lemongrass sticks, smoked salt, and pickled okra. The small fry get their own buffet, including macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, and brownies. Prix fixe menu is $49 for adults and $19 for children age 10 and under (children under 4 dine for free), 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; reservations recommended

Like to travel: Roots

If you already groove to the ‘Couv, we recommend you pack up the fam and venture across the river to Camas, where chef Brad Root (an alum of the Heathman, Higgins, and Wildwood) will be treating moms right, Washington-style. The local, seasonal menu specials will include house-made corned-beef hash with kingfisher spinach, asparagus and crème fraiche quiche with mesclun salad, Oregon bay shrimp and spring onion omelet with home fries, Dungeness crab benedict, house-made brioche French toast with apple compote and real maple syrup, and strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, plus strawberry mimosas for five bucks. You could also just go by yourself if the best day ever means getting far, far away… Mother’s Day brunch is 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; reservations appreciated

Have a conscience: Nostrana

Sup at James Beard Award finalist Cathy Whims’s Italian joint on Mother’s Day and you can select from a range of sustainable seafood dishes that benefit the Wetlands Conservancy—think oysters apicius, black & white tonnarelli with pink shrimp, and Dungeness crab & arugula bruschetta (Nostrana is donating a portion of the sales to the conservation organization), as well as special sweet treats like cherry ice cream spumoni and ricotta cheesecake with pistachio crust, bittersweet chocolate, and candied orange. Moms will also receive a bouquet of tulips and pussy willow from Space Design and a glass of Prosecco. Dinner is 5-10 p.m.; reservations recommended

Don’t get a break: Pix Pâtisserie

If you’d prefer to keep the tots entertained on your big day, there’s nothing better than art projects, alcohol, and a sugar high. Agreed? Direct the minivan to the North Williams Pix location, where children age 5 and older can create their own decadent dessert from a wealth of ingredients and decorations in the chocolate laboratory, all under the guidance of actual pastry chefs. Meanwhile, moms can sit back and down mimosas. If your offspring are a wee bit older, another option is Pix’s lavish Sunday tea service—this all-inclusive calorie-fest includes a pot of Townshend’s tea and a selection of 16 (!!!) sweet and savory treats, including addictive macarons, soft-boiled quail eggs wrapped in prosciutto, and chocolat chaud. $12 per make-your-own-dessert and $30 for formal tea, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; reservations required by Friday, May 6

Wanna keep it real i.e. you better pack the crayons and Goldfish crackers, because these classic Portland options for the brunch bunch mean waiting in line just like you do every week: Arleta Library Café, Autentica, Beaterville Café, Café Nell, Broder, Cup and Saucer Café, Fat Albert’s Breakfast Café, Genies Café, Gravy, Helser’s, Jam on Hawthorne (2239 SE Hawthorne), Junior’s Café (1742 SE 12th Ave), The Original, Original House of Pancakes, Podnah’s Pit, St. Honoré Boulangerie,Screen Door, Simpatica Dining Hall, Slappy Cakes, Tasty n Sons, Tin Shed Garden Café, Toast, and Zell’s Café.

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Tags: Holiday Events, Breakfast, lists

Best of PDX

The Big Five Biscuit Joints

We weigh in on the breakfast bread at five local hot-spots, and we ask you to fill in the holes (in-the-wall).

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Apr 06, 2011 at 08:00AM Speech Bubble 16 Comments

Tasty n Sons’ Fried Egg & Cheddar Biscuit with smoked guanciale ($8).

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If there are two things Portland peeps want to eat, it’s breakfast and comfort food. Marry the two, and their first born son would likely be the hard-working biscuit. At the very least, biscuits are a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs way to the start the day; at their best, they are flaky, salty, buttery hunks of baked heaven.

Sampling and ranking every biscuit in town is a bit above our pay-grade and cholesterol goals; so, instead, we present—in descending order—our scientific findings on the Big Five. We ask you, dear readers, to fill us in on your top five favorite lesser-known local biscuit experts. If we don’t hear from you, we might be forced to add Popeyes to the list…

And now, without further ado, let’s get butter and jammin’.

1) Tasty n Sons 3808 N Williams Ave, Suite C

Any which way you slice it (sweet or savory) Tasty’s biscuits are downright delicious. Erin’s Sweet Biscuits are small, buttery bites crowned with a crispy sugar crust and topped with warm blueberry compote and a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I would probably prefer a wee bit less sugar in that whipped cream, for balance, but I’m not complaining. These baby biscuits are just like their savory bigger brothers—warm, flaky, and peel-apart soft (like the difference between a croissant and a scone). Light and not over-salted, they don’t end up turning to spackle in your mouth. In the case of the Fried Egg & Cheddar Biscuit, the filling is fab, of course, but these are biscuits you’d be happy to eat without adornment of any kind.

2) Simpatica Dining Hall 828 SE Ash St

There are many reasons to save up your Sunday breakfast for Simpatica, including a simple side of biscuit with butter and jam. Crispy-crunchity on top, these hearty buttercup-colored delights taste baked-to-order, even at 1:45pm. But while the outside is gently browned, the inside is fall-apart soft, and each bite is a mouthful of fine flour and other quality ingredients. The biscuit I recently devoured was served with apple butter, and, much to my surprise, the spread’s dark spice and tang was the perfect foil for the salty richness of the biscuit. If it wasn’t for those damn share tables, I would have licked every crumb off the plate.

3) Screen Door 2337 E Burnside St

It says a lot about the breakfast here that people would be willing to patiently and peacefully wait an hour-and-a-half for a table. But I guess it makes sense when the prize is towers of fried chicken and waffles, platters of bananas foster French toast, and mounds of buttermilk drop biscuits and gravy. I braved the wait last weekend and could have eaten a urinal cake by the time my vegetarian B&G arrived, but it was also darn yummy. The giant biscuits are cut open and griddled until crispy, and then topped with a savory and wonderfully nuanced mushroom and veggie protein country gravy. In truth, these biscuits boast a texture more like a light cornbread or a really thick Texas Toast, but that makes them perfect for sopping up the sauce (and they are equally delicious with butter and jam) so I’m willing to let it slide.

4) Arleta Library Café 5513 SE 72nd Ave

Self-proclaimed “Portland’s Best Biscuits-n-Gravy,” these copper-colored pastry puffs are made with sweet potatoes, come topped with thinly sliced house-roasted pork loin, and are served swimming in a sea of rich, creamy rosemary gravy brimming with big, gorgeous chunks of sausage. But while the biscuits have a lovely, slightly sweet pumpkin pie spice flavor, they’re a bit dry, and more dense and cakey than light and flaky. They’re clearly made early in the morning and then sit around until ordered. They have enough of a siren song to have secured a visit from the Food Network’s Guy Fieri for an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives a few years back; but you might be less than impressed if you’re brunch takes place more around “unch.” You’ll at least wish they’d reheat them.

5) Pine State Biscuits 3640 SE Belmont St & 2204 NE Alberta St

Pine State is popular, for sure—the line seems never-ending and they were recently able to open a second outpost on Alberta. But the thing is, while their menu is filled with crave-worthy and creative combinations of flavorful fillings (the fried chicken, bacon, egg, and cheese in the Reggie Deluxe makes it perfect hangover food, and I could eat a soup tureen of their whipped butter and honey), the biscuits just aren’t that great. The crust overpowers, while the center is almost doughy, which makes each mouthful a little difficult to get down. My guess is that these biscuits are baked in bulk early-on to meet the demands of the crowds, which gives them time to firm up and dry out. Perhaps a better name might be Pine State Toppings.

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Tags: Breakfast, The Best

First Impressions

Central Sizzles (Softly)

Dustin Knox’s downtown den slings crêpes and old-fashioned cocktails in a space that makes it worth hunting for parking.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Dec 10, 2010 at 09:00AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

Tucked away in the Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-like alley otherwise known as SW Ankeny, next to Valentine’s (a lower downtown bar that doesn’t suck) in a space last known as a hair salon, is a new lower downtown bar that doesn’t suck. That is, of course, my opinion, as I would much rather sip on medicinal-flavored throw-back cocktails with a heap of hipsters than do body shots with a flock of frat boys.

Central certainly qualifies as stomping grounds for hipsters, those “wacky” creatures that make up about 75-percent of the population in most cities these days.

First, the bar-portion of Perierra Crêperie owner Dustin Knox’s three-shot operation (there’s a new PC crêpe window that opens onto the street and Central will double as a brunch spot called Periodic come January) is supposedly “speakeasy-style,” although I think they’re pushing it with that definition because anyone can push through the mysterious black curtains and order up a drink with ingredients they’ve likely never heard of, such as the smoky Penicillin (Famous Grouse, Laphroig 10yr) or the lounge-y Work in Progress (Bols Genever, St. Germain, Fernet). Apparently that title has more to do with the fact that this joint has been jumpin’, 5pm to 2:30am, daily, for about seven weeks now, despite zero advertising, signage, or online presence of their own. (EaterPDX has made mention and the Oregonian ignited another charming culture-war with their review.)

Second, the space can only be defined as “industrial rustic,” a divine hodge-podge of elements like exposed beams, stripped concrete floors, walls of ragged brick or Victorian-era fabric, gorgeous high-tops made from heavily lacquered chunks of trees, and long metal share tables dotted with adjustable oil lamps in jam jars and surrounded by stools that might have come from a middle school science lab. A vintage windmill wheel slowly spins on the ceiling and a massive elk head watches over all.

I love it. And my first foray into Central’s dark, warm, glow-y depths was all the better thanks to the dishes prepared by house crêpe-man Neal Barnard. Preceded by a side salad of lemony-garlicky greens tossed with addictive salty-sweet pralines, the hefty savory versions come packaged in thin, al dente crêpes that manage to maintain their integrity despite their fillings and toppings—a real plus.

A perfect combination is the one stuffed with nutty gruyère and spicy “cock sauce” (aka Sriracha), served over wilted spinach, and crowned with soppressata, sautéed mushrooms, and two exquisite baked eggs. The butternut squash, bacon, mascarpone, onion, and kale option is also delicious, but quite rich, and with the sweetness of the squash, it could double as a dessert.

Speaking of dessert, I was plenty full after my dinner, but I just had to finish up with a treat. The sweet offerings are relatively simple, just as they should be, allowing the minimal ingredients to shine rather than overpower. The buttery and slightly-crispy cinnamon & sugar version, for example, is really all you could ask for—nothing beats a sexier slice of cinnamon toast on a rainy winter night.

With an outpost of the hot Seattle pizzeria Via Tribunali scheduled to open sometime next year in the same building, there’s talk that the Ankeny alley might be closed to traffic and become a real European-style pedestrian (or, I’d argue, pirate) paradise.

That would make this 33-year-old hipster sitting at her computer in old sweatpants and glasses simply love it all the more.

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Tags: Cocktails, Bar Openings, Downtown Bars, Downtown Dining, Breakfast

Interview

5 questions for: PAUL GERALD, a morning meal maestro

The author and breakfast buff banters about the second edition of his book, Breakfast in Bridgetown, and gives insider tips on where and what to eat now.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Dec 06, 2010 at 10:00AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

Meet the author at his Breakfast Book Launch Party, 5:30-8pm, Tuesday, December 14, at Cafe Nell. A short program at 6:30pm will feature comments from Gerald and contributors Nick Zukin (Kenny & Zuke’s; ExtraMSG.com) and Brett Burmeister (FoodCartsPortland.com). The “breakfast-for-dinner” menu will include tasty treats like house-made pork sausages, shrimp and grits, and silver dollar pumpkin pancakes. Signed breakfast books are $16 each, or two for $30. $2 from every sale will be donated to the Oregon Food Bank.

Are you cuckoo for Coco Puffs? Or maybe gaga for gravy? Psycho for scrambles? A freak for French toast? Mad as a hatter for maple syrup and pancakes?

Lucky for you, Portland author, freelance writer, and self-publishing consultant Paul Gerald has just published a second serving of his popular book, Breakfast in Bridgetown. The new edition includes over 120 Portland-area morning meal reviews, a new chapter on ethnic breakfasts written by Kenny & Zuke’s co-owner Nick Zukin, and new sections on food carts and out-of-town hot spots. Gerald is not a proper restaurant critic, he proclaims. Instead, he aims to tell an engaging story about each breakfast joint, including the vibe and who eats there, as well as what the food is like, wait times, vegetarian options, and, of course, what kind of coffee they serve.

Here, Gerald is kind enough to dish about our fair city’s favorite meal and the morning dining destinations that are truly drool-worthy.

1) Why do you think Portland is so bonkers for breakfast?

Because we’re a town of slackers? Seriously, I think we’re a very social town, filled with people who moved here to make a fresh start, try their own thing, and dig the lifestyle. All of that means we’re a social lot with time on our hands, and the restaurant scene is nuts, as we all know. And, finally, restaurants make more money per person on breakfast than any other meal, so it’s in their best interest to serve it.

2) Let’s say a person just found out they were going to die in three days; what are the three places they MUST go for breakfast and what should they order? Oh, and one of them has to be a cart.

Your appetizer is the Monte Cristo Sandwich at The Big Egg cart on N Mississippi St: an egg any style, grilled black forest ham, and gorgonzola, drizzled with a pure maple glaze and stacked between two pieces of vanilla cardamom brioche French toast, and dusted with powdered sugar. (Note: The Big Egg is taking a break until early February, but they are worth the wait.) Your main course is the oyster hash at the Bijou Café downtown. And for dessert, go to Jam on Hawthorne and get the lemon-ricotta pancakes.

3) What are a few of Nick Zukin’s top ethnic breakfast joint picks?

Among Mexican food options, one of his favorites (and mine) is Autentica, because of their fresh, authentic cuisine, as well as the smug joy of watching the suckers in line for Cup & Saucer Café across the street. Otherwise, he says to go west, like to Taqueria Hermanos Ochoa’s in Hillsboro (get the huevos con chorizo) or to Chavita’s in Beaverton, where he recommends champurrado: a corn gruel filled with chocolate, and “better than it sounds.” Then there’s Asian, and he says the best dim sum in town can be found at Ocean City Seafood on SE 82nd. As to what to order there, you’ll have to read for yourself.

4) Are there any new breakfast places on your hot list that you didn’t include in your book?

There’s a new place called City State Diner on NE 28th, but I didn’t think much of it. I read a review that said it wasn’t flashy or cutting-edge, and I thought, “Hmm, that’s what I usually say when I don’t think a place is very good.” I just want John Gorham to open another one. He gave us Simpatica and Tasty n Sons, and we need more of such things.

5) What did you eat for breakfast this morning?

Today I was selling books at Skidmore Market, which means it was Honey Nut Cheerios with soy milk and stovetop espresso at home, followed by a morning bun and a cup of Stumptown from Ken’s Artisan Bakery on NW 21st. And since the market was slow, I wandered over to Flavour Spot on SW 3rd to get a waffle with sausage and maple spread. I have seven sweet teeth and, at this rate, won’t see the age of 50.

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Tags: Interview, book, author, five questions, Breakfast

EAT BEAT

Who’s Da Mom?

The Big Five Biscuit Joints

Central Sizzles (Softly)

5 questions for: PAUL GERALD, a morning meal maestro

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