EAT BEAT

Happy Hour of the Week: Temple Bar

Knob Hill’s Indish is reborn is a whiskey & classic cocktail lounge, with a budget-friendly (and worthy) Happy Hour menu to boot.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Mar 16, 2011 at 08:55AM 1 Comments

The Temple Bar’s puréed mustard greens & house-made cornbread, with sautéed peppers ($4).

Have you ever had a real martini? I’m talking the pre-prohibition recipe that combines gin and vermouth, and is stirred (never shaken!) with a dash of bitters and a twist of lime. It’s a silky-smooth, slightly viscous concoction (shaking forms tiny ice crystals rather than the liquid velvet of stirring) where the botanical flavors of the gin and the herbaceous vermouth serve to make each other sing, almost like a refreshing alcoholic tea, and that harsh kick you get from the improperly prepared vodka version is nothing but an unpleasant memory. As my martini-loathing husband put it, “I could easily down six of these!”

We recently sampled this American icon—and received an awesome impromptu education about its history, bitters’ eventual fall from grace, and how what we now call a vodka “martini” was once referred to as a Kangeroo and only gained popularity during WWII—from Raj Sharma, owner of The Temple Bar (305 NW 21st Ave). Open for business about two weeks ago, this “new” watering hole is actually a speedy refashioning of Nob Hill’s urban-chic-take-on-the-traditional-Indian-restaurant, Indish.

“We really just tossed some things in different places and changed the focus,” Sharma told us, after explaining that his love (an understatement) for single malts and the beverages of yore inspired the transition.

The result is an airy, sexy whisky bar and classic cocktail lounge (think Indish’s low, cushy couches placed in intimate arrangements) with a more booze and pig-friendly menu and a heftier Happy Hour, available Tues-Sun, from 4-6pm. That HH menu includes at least seven cocktails ($5-$6), ranging from truly traditional renderings to inspired flights of fancy, such as a spicy-hot Whiskey Sin (whisky, cinnamon, fresh lime, and what I assume is chili) or the Chai Cocktail built with house-made chai. They also offer a selected single malt scotch of the day for $7.50, house wines ($5) and a range of beers ($3-$4.50).

I wondered how the Indian-inflected small plates menu would work with all of this, and the answer is surprisingly well—maybe it’s because the tasty nature of the food itself can stand alone, or maybe it’s just that it’s unique in a city where Northwest twists on Southern comfort food are taking over menus like the Nothing from The NeverEnding Story.

Prices range from $2 for a bowl of flavorful (if perhaps a bit unpleasantly wet with lime) spiced peanuts, to a $7 pulled pork sandwich topped with a tamarind barbeque sauce. A hearty lamb wrap ($6) on a light, chewy flatbread with mint chutney is a great twist on fill-you-up pub fare, as is the sweet-salt combo of the chickpea-battered bacon bites.

But the numerous vegetarian options are the real standouts here. A hot, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth biscuit ($5) filled with thick hunks of caramelized paneer and surrounded by a creamy, spicy tomato sauce and herb chutney inspires hogging more than your fair share. The same can be said for two cornbread dishes (both $4). The base itself is light, earthy, egg-y, and carefully crisped on the outside. One dish is topped with salty, buttery, creamy mustard greens, balanced with the sweet tang of sautéed peppers. The other is atop a rich lentil stew flecked with red beans and alive with ginger and umami flavor. Delicious.

It’s a Happy Hour menu that easily inspires a return visit. Although the chance to chat with Sharma is reason enough.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Cocktails, Whiskey, Northwest Portland Dining, Indian Cuisine

Happy Hour of the Week: Gilt Club

The HH menu at this relaxed-glam Old Town cocktail den needs a little shaking, or maybe just a stir.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Feb 21, 2011 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

The Happy Hour “angry deviled eggs” ($2).

Basing my judgment of the book solely upon its cover, I was a fan of the Gilt Club (306 NW Broadway) from the first time I entered its Grenache-and-gold-hued throwback-swank innards. I liked that there was lots of high-backed, crimson-cushioned seating, I liked the crowd (no body shots, here!), and I liked the eclectic music, played at a respectable level that didn’t require shrieking at one’s companions. In fact, it had me at plentiful parking.

That said, it’s been quite a while since I paid this Old Town lounge a visit—not since chef Chris Carriker came on board. In recent months, the Gilt Club has guest starred on Meat & Potatoes and Portlandia, and Carriker will be cooking at the James Beard House in March. I’d also heard word that the Happy Hour (M-F, 5-6:30pm) has proven popular with the Pearl District crowd, so I decided it was time to quell my GC dry spell.

My verdict: A+ for the space, style, service, and prices (everything is $5 or less, including 12 items on the regular menu); B- for execution.

For starters, the online HH menu that had gotten me all hot-and-bothered didn’t match the actual menu. This is no big deal in-and-of itself, but the actual menu simply wasn’t as good—less options and no house-made “Cracker Jacks”—foie popcorn and glazed peanuts drizzled with caramel. The gist of the actual menu appeared to be gourmet takes on HH classics ($4 turkey wings, $3 breaded and fried pig tails, $2 warmed hazelnuts), which, again, isn’t a bad thing at all; however, with a few exceptions, the finger fare itself was ho-hum.

The popcorn shrimp ($4) with warm butter, for example, had a great presentation piled on actual popcorn, but it was overly-breaded and the popcorn seemed stale. The radicchio salad ($3) was doused in a tasty, rich, garlicky dressing, but it came with a cured meat that wasn’t on the menu and the croutons were reminiscent of Marie Callender’s. And the burger ($5)—the hockey-puck quarter-pound patty was dwarfed by a giant bun, and the bland meat was further lost among the intense flavors of blue cheese and Dijon.

On the positive side, the French fries ($3) are pretty much perfect, and this is no faint praise, as I am not typically a fry fan. Thin, crispy, and salty, you can actually taste the potato itself—I never even considered sullying them with aioli or ketchup, and I couldn’t stop shoving them in my mouth. Another highlight was the angry deviled eggs ($2). The yolks are mixed with crème fraiche and chilis, which yields a fabulously creamy, subtly tangy, gently spicy bite of delight. The HH wine, a Côtes du Rhône ($5; they give you whatever they happen to have a lot of), was also lovely, and the extensive regular cocktail menu, broken up into signature, vintage, savory/herbal, winter, and sweeter options, reads like booze porn.

The place was packed with dinner diners by the time we were done, so I wonder if, perhaps, the HH menu simply hasn’t been a priority, or maybe I just ventured in on an unsteady day. I hope so. I’d really like the Gilt Club to be the kind of book I want to read, not simply look at the pictures.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Cocktails, Pearl District Dining, Northwest Portland Dining

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 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

Manager Q & A: Kyle Lovell

A chat about sips and snacks with the brains behind the sake list at Northeast Portland’s Yakuza.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Nov 29, 2010 at 10:00AM 2 Comments

General manager Kyle Lovell prepares for another evening at Yakuza, a cozy and yet cosmopolitan lounge bedecked with murals and wood in Northeast.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

General manager Kyle Lovell prepares for another evening at Yakuza, a cozy and yet cosmopolitan lounge bedecked with murals and wood in Northeast.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

The infamous Yakuza Burger: Highland Oak beef, chèvre, shoestring potatoes, house catsup, and spicy mayo.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

The Salmon Tataki with blood orange oil, bamboo salt, and kaiware.

In a state with a near rabid obsession for its own bold pinot noir, bracing IPA, and hip boutique booze, a nuanced and non-homegrown beverage like sake doesn’t get a whole lot of attention.

Unless you’re Kyle Lovell, the general manager at Yakuza, Micah Camden and Dayna McErlean’s pretty Japanese cuisine-inspired pub (or izakaya) named for the Japanese mafia. Lovell’s love affair with the fragrant and versatile rice wine known as sake began in Vermont when she got her first job at a Japanese restaurant, but it truly blossomed after she arrived in Oregon thanks to an opportunity to take a much-coveted class, Yakuza, and Marcus Pakiser, the sake rep for Young’s Columbia. “He’s really dedicated to increasing awareness of sake out in the world, while at the same time suiting the individual needs of each restaurant,” Lovell says.

Here, Lovell explains the why’s and how’s of the ways in which sake can suit the individual needs of you.

1) Can you give us a crash course in what might make one sake different than another?

In the world of filtered sake there are different levels of refined rice that are used for brewing. A low percentage on a bottle, like 25-percent, means the rice has been milled down to a small portion of its original size. This will likely lead to a delicate sake. A higher percentage means more of the original grain was used, which often leads to a bold sake. However, the most glaring difference that you can visibly see is between Sake and Nigori Sake. Nigori is cloudy and has a thicker texture, but it is roughly-filtered rather than unfiltered like most people might assume.

2) What was the thinking behind how you built the Yakuza sake list?

I was fortunate enough to take a class with John Gauntner, an English-speaking sake “guru,” of which there are only two in the world. His Professional Sake Course teaches you about sake from the ground up. He really opened my eyes to the dynamics and allowed me to see where there were gaps in the Yakuza list. There are many different palates and several of our sakes taste completely different when paired with food. My goal was to have a taste variety that would include something for everyone, while at the same time offering a price range that made sake accessible to everyone.

3) Can you name three awesome food/sake pairings?

One: Our Salmon Tataki and the Seikyo “Mirror of Truth,” a great sipping sake that vastly changes when paired with food. The salmon has a seared edge with togarashi, a Japanese red pepper flake seasoning that allows the Seikyo to bounce off the spice and really open up its flavor.

Two: Our Yakuza Burger and Yuho. Most people wouldn’t think to drink sake with something as American as a burger, but this is a great example of how a meat-and-cheese dish can pair with sake and really elevate the palate. Yuho has an amazing robustness that brings out the flavor of the chèvre.

Three: Our Sashimi Trio and Wateri Bune 55. This combo is on my list of favorites not only because the citrus undertones in the Wateri Bune balance perfectly with the Thai chili spice on the Sashimi Trio, but because I have had some truly great experiences introducing customers to sake thanks to the Wateri Bune. It’s a great way to demonstrate how approachable and enjoyable sake can be for everyone.

4) What are a couple sake cocktails that make for easy drinkin’?

With a much lower alcohol content than liquor, sake both makes a great base for cocktails and mixes well with other, stronger types of alcohol. At Yakuza, one of our specialty drinks includes Nigori Sake, vodka, muddled cucumber, fresh lemon and lime, and a dash of simple syrup. The second would be a combo of Junmai Gingo, gin, marionberry, honey, lemon, and lavender.

5) If you could share a bottle of the finest sake with any celebrity in the world, who would it be and why?

I could go the selfless route and choose a high profile person with a lot of influence so that more people would recognize sake and be willing to give it a try—in my opinion, sake is as crucial to the knowledgeable drinker’s experience as wine. But I think I am going to have to choose Stevie Wonder because maybe we would have a grand old time and he would sing a couple songs to me. Maybe he would even slide over to the piano and write a song about me. That would be great.

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Tags: Cocktails, Northeast Dining, Best Burgers, Sushi, Japanese Cuisine, sake

Shake Things Up with “Bar Camp” at NoPo’s Lincoln

Co-owner David Welch teaches campers when to shake and when to stir—as well as the proper shaking and stirring technique—while fellow owner/chef/wife Jenn Louis does them one better than PB&J.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Oct 01, 2010 at 09:20AM 0 Comments

The makings of sweet, sour, and salty sippers at Lincoln, on North Williams.

If the extent of your cocktail crafting experience is mixing together any liquids you happen to have hanging around the house (e.g. tequila, soy milk, and Diet Squirt), it’s time to pack your jar of pimento-stuffed olives and sign up for Bar Camp, Saturday, October 16th.

David Welch, co-owner of the divine Lincoln, located at 3808 North Williams, serves as camp counselor, explaining how spirits are made, guiding participants through the evolution of various cocktails over time (via taste tests!), teaching the basics of stocking a home bar, and sharing recipes for a few classic drinks, such as the Manhattan, the martini, and the margarita.

Another easy lesson to swallow? Learning how what you sip can affect your enjoyment of your supper. When it comes to cocktails, unlike some other local establishments that seem to prioritize shock value over taste and menu compatibility, Lincoln’s tidy little list features elegant entries that are meant to be paired with the restaurant’s farm-fresh, elemental entrées. “Just like wine, cocktails have complex flavor profiles,” says Welch. “Certain drinks go well with certain foods, and conflict with others.” Take the margarita, for example. The bright acidity of the lime juice and the brininess of the tequila and the triple sec only serve to enhance the spicy, savory nature of a taco.

Or consider the classic martini. “There’s a reason why you always see people sucking them down in steakhouses in movies from the 1950s,” says Welch. “Part of it was the culture, of course, but it was also because the cocktail’s sharp, needle-y quality could cut through the richness of a big rib eye. The margarita’s intense acidity, on the other hand, would be confusing with a steak.”

You can find out for yourself what makes for a good match, because after the formal class portion of the evening, campers get to tuck into a family-style meal that pairs dishes like yeasted polenta fritters with sage, pecorino, and aioli, with a fruity cocktail. If you’re curious as to what that cocktail might be, make your reservation now by calling 503.288.6200—seating is limited.

Also available Saturday, October 30th, the class portion of Bar Camp runs from 4:30-5:30 p.m., followed by dinner from 5:30-7 p.m. For $125 (gratuity not included), you get to learn some bar basics, enjoy a delicious dinner, and down enough cocktails to make you an honorary member of Mad Men.

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Tags: Portland Chefs, Food News, Cocktails, North Portland Dining

Tasty n Sons Does Dinner — and Snack

John Gorham and Co.’s N. Williams brunch-ery is ready to go alllllllllll day long.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Sep 13, 2010 at 08:37AM 3 Comments

Yeah, go ahead and pretend that Tasty n Sons will ever be this empty.

Tomorrow night, grab all your friends and hurry on over to 3808 North Williams so that you can all sit and wait just like everyone else, because Tasty n Sons is opening for dinner. I’ve seen the planned menu, as of two days ago, and let me tell you — it’s wait-worthy. Of course, all culinary greatness is subject to change without warning, but right now you can expect to see:

Breakfast-for-Dinner, including some of Tasty’s signature brunch items like the Fried Egg & Cheddar Biscuit with fried chicken or sausage, the Bambino Plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuit & Heather’s honey butter, and Shakshuka, a red pepper & tomato stew with baked eggs and merguez sausage, if you want it, which you do; four Burgers, including the ever-popular “#3” (aka the Toro Bravo version with house bacon, manchego & romesco) and “The Thomas,” a heavenly coronary-inducer which comes with sour cream, ham, jalapeños & cheddar; and other gourmet renditions of Northwest-meets-the-Deep-South diner classics like Monk’s Carolina Cheesesteak, The Ricker Dog, the Classic Cobb Salad, and Shhhhhhhhhh Puppies.

If you’re still hungry after stuffing your face with their Griddled Bacon Wrapped Dates (the only meat dish in town that I, a life-long vegetarian, eat every single time I have the opportunity), dessert includes the likes of baked-to-order chocolate chip cookies, Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with brandy soaked berries, two sizes of Auntie Paula’s French Toast Sundae with bananas, caramel & nuts, and Chocolate Potato Doughnuts that you can purchase individually.

For all you booze-hounds, there will also be good beer and plenty of souped-up classic cocktails like the Apricot Sour with Aviation gin, lemon, Crème de Apricot, and honey syrup, or the Vieux Carré, a stunning blend of Cognac, rye, dolin rouge, Benedictine, Peychauds, and Angostura bitters, invented in 1938 by Walter Bergeron, the head bartender at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans.

This Tuesday is the beginning of Tasty n Sons “soft opening phase” in which dinner (served 5-10 p.m.), as well as a small afternoon menu (3-5 p.m.), will only be offered Tuesday through Saturday. But the plan is to go seven days a week sometime soon, and I’m guessing it won’t take long. The fanaticism for anything these restaurateurs touch reminds me of all the people who clamored to get into the night club I worked at long, long ago in L.A.

But thank goodness that instead of slipping the door guy $100 or dressing like a streetwalker to get plucked from behind a velvet rope, you just have to wait.

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Tags: Food News, Restaurant Openings, Cocktails, North Portland Dining