EAT BEAT

FOOD AND WINE EVENTS

Beaker & Flask Brings the BBQ

Start getting in a Summer state of mind with Beaker & Flask’s Picnic in the Parking Lot.

Posted by: Allison Jones on May 04, 2011 at 12:58PM 2 Comments

Benjamin Bettinger kicked off the weekly Beaker & Flask Tuesday Night Barbecue long before most people in Portland ate breakfast. The chef was up early spit roasting a Carlton Farms pig over hot coals in the parking lot, filling the morning rush hour with fragrant smoke. It was all in a day’s work for the Central Eastside eatery, which will be offering up a plate full of picnic favorites and accompanying wine and cocktail specials every week through the sunny season.

The pork is the star of the feast. Bettinger brines the whole pig in an orange zest-infused elixir, stuffs it with more citrus, and spins it slowly, hour after hour, until it literally falls apart. I arrived early to snap a few shots of the roasting pig before it came off the spit, and as I was shooting pieces of tender meat began dropping into the fire. A melee ensued as Bettinger jumped to catch the pork before it all ended up in the ashes, and I was treated to one of the first sizzling bites off the pig. The orange came through beautifully, brightening the savory decadence of the succulent meat, a testament to the chef’s early morning endeavors. In upcoming weeks, the Beaker & Flask team will tackle whole goats, lambs, and a few more pigs, giving any barbecue joint in town a run for their money.

Acting as backup singer to Bettinger’s main course lead, Beaker’s new sous chef Anthony Walton will whip up three new sides every week, making the most of Portland’s seasonal bounty. This week’s options included three flavor-packed salads: zesty lentil and grilled asparagus; a classic wedge with iceberg lettuce, shaved hard-boiled egg, bacon, and ranch; and a mix of arugula, radish, strawberries, and goat cheese. The colorful, fresh sides let the pork shine, and the $5 wine selections are guaranteed perfect pairings for an evening of great food and sunshine. A whole plate of food, including a pile of pork, cornbread, and two sides, is only $20, but the first taste of summer is priceless.

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Tags: Southeast Dining, Eastside Dining, Food Event

ON THE SCENE

IPNC Walks it Out

The International Pinot Noir Celebration brought the area’s top sips to Portland’s Central Eastside restaurants to kick off the sunny season.

Posted by: Allison Jones on May 02, 2011 at 01:00PM 1 Comments

The good people behind Oregon wine country’s annual International Pinot Noir Celebration sure made the most of yesterday’s glimpse of summer. The IPNC Pinot Walkabout brought out over a hundred Portland wine lovers for a Central Eastside food and drink relay race – fifteen of the area’s top Pinot pourers were paired with nibbles from Beaker & Flask, Noble Rot, and Simpatica Dining Hall. Tasters were encouraged to stroll between the neighborhood restaurants, and some of the area’s big names in wine and food were seen sipping their way through the afternoon. Check out our photos of the fun below!

If you missed the Walkabout, there are still tickets available for Passport to Pinot on Sunday, July 31. All 70 participating IPNC wineries will pour for Oregon’s largest outdoor wine tasting, and fifteen of the northwest’s top chefs will offer up summery pairings. This year’s Passport to Pinot chefs include Genoa’s David Anderson, Bar Avignon’s Jeremy Eckel, Ken’s Artisan Bakery’s Ken Forkish, June’s Greg Perrault, and many more. For ticket information, head over to the IPNC website.

Beaker & Flask’s bar hosted Adelsheim Vineyard, Amity Vineyards, Archery Summit, Bethel Heights Vineyard, and Erath wines. The event was a casual opportunity for wine lovers to get the inside scoop behind their favorite wines.

Beaker & Flask chef Benjamin Bettinger prepared plenty of treats for the afternoon’s revelers – saving time to try the wines for himself. Highlights included the smoked bone marrow and green garlic crostini and crispy pig ear snacks.

As the temperatures climbed and walkers worked up a sweat, Bethel Heights Vineyard’s 2009 Pinot Noir Rosé was a definite hit among the offerings at Beaker & Flask.

Simpatica hosted Rex Hill (that’s Mike Willison and Bill Hatcher of Rex Hill above), Sokol Blosser, Soléna Estate, Stoller Vineyards, and Yamhill Valley Vineyards wines.

Tasters received their own wine glass at every stop and were given 45 minutes to make their way around the room. After chatting and sipping through five wines at every stop, attendees were guided to the next location.

Noble Rot’s wine bar reputation and gorgeous views made it a natural stop on the tour. The rooftop restaurant hosted Elk Cove Vineyards, The Eyrie Vineyards, Lemelson Vineyards, Ponzi Vineyards, and R. Stuart & Co. wines.

Nobel Rot easily made the most of the sunny day, with expansive views of the Willamette River, downtown Portland, and the West Hills adding to the beauty of the afternoon.

PDX Pedicabs were on call to bring wine lovers from Point A to Point B. The Central Eastside tourism board should look into making these free all the time – or at least on gorgeous sunny Sundays!

All Images © Allison E. Jones

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Tags: Southeast Portland, Southeast Dining, Wine, Eastside Dining, wine country, Food Event

CHEAP EATS

Southeast’s Middle East Feast

Montavilla’s Ya Hala continues to turn out reliable, affordable dishes that keep us coming back.

Posted by: Allison Jones on Apr 27, 2011 at 11:03AM 2 Comments

Ya Hala was this close to making it onto my Five Places I Love list – and anyone who has stepped through its blue-tiled mosaic entryway knows why. The combination of chef Mirna Attar’s loving take on traditional Middle Eastern dishes and the cozy, trompe l’oeil mural and faux-finished fluorescent light covers do a number on my hungry heartstrings every time. Portland has her share of fantastic Middle Eastern restaurants, with Nicholas, Karam, Habibi and newcomer TarBoush boasting their own loyal followings, but for my money, the family-run Montavilla neighborhood veteran is a step above the rest.

I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but to truly feast on the cheap, stick to the mezza sections of the menu. You can literally fill your table with plates of food that will please everyone for what are considered happy-hour prices anywhere else in town.

My go-to order is a big plate of freshly made, super-lemony tabbouleh ($4.95), labneh (yogurt cheese drizzled with olive oil and topped with fresh mint, $3.95), and aranabeet (additively delicious fried – not battered – cauliflower with tahini for dipping, $5.50) – all piled into plenty of fresh-baked pita. The meat or cheese sfeeha ($4.95 for 4) are another great addition; small bundles of either minced beef, tomato, onions and pine nuts or mozzarella cheese and nigella seeds, baked in soft pita dough. Like many of my favorite places in town, Ya Hala has plenty of choices for everyone: meat-lovers, vegetarians, vegans, gluten-freebies, and that odd friend who only eats rice.

While the mezza selections at Ya Hala are good enough to come back for again and again, if you dive deeper into the extensive menu you’ll discover some amazing gems. The stuffed artichoke hearts (in both their beefy and vegetarian incarnations, ($13.95) are crave-worthy, decked in a garlicky gravy that would be perfect on any of the city’s great biscuits, and the marinated ahi-tuna kebabs are surprisingly tender and flavorful ($13.95). The delicious okra, eggplant, or summer squash stews ($10.50 each) are some of the best vegan dishes in town, though you’re welcome to add braised lamb, chicken or beef for just $1.50 more. It’s that kind of consideration – taking a well-prepared dish and encouraging affordable customization to suit everyone’s tastes – that makes Ya Hala the kind of place that always satisfies.

8005 SE Stark St. 503-256-4484. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday (takeout-friendly, no reservations)

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Tags: Southeast Portland, Southeast Dining, Cheap Eats

OPENING NIGHT

Here Comes the Sun

Jenn Louis’ long-awaited neighborhood bar, Sunshine Tavern, opened its doors on Southeast Division and we’ve got the inside (soft-serve) scoop.

Posted by: Allison Jones on Apr 20, 2011 at 11:15AM 5 Comments

Jenn Louis and David Welch (the husband and wife team behind North Portland’s Lincoln and Culinary Artistry catering) have just launched the neighborhood restaurant that will define Summer 2011 in Portland. I know that’s a pretty big assertion, but think about it: locally-made soft-serve ice cream, shuffleboard, free old-school video games (yes, unlimited Ms. Pac Man and Donkey Kong), frozen margaritas, 8 beers on tap, and kid-friendly bar food that feels like a mash-up of Louis’ gourmet northwestern cuisine and the deep-fried-everything booth at the state fair. Add the brilliant use of the Southeast Division space: tall windows, sliding walls, reclaimed wood from bowling alleys and barns, and an open kitchen that allows the staff to be a part of all the fun. And if you ask me, that’s brighter than sunshine.

Sunshine Tavern – 3111 S.E. Division St – 5 to 10 pm weekdays, 5 to 11 pm weekends. Overwhelmingly kid friendly, all hours.

Chef Jenn Louis really knows how to command a kitchen. Simultaneously calling out orders, rolling pizza dough, crunching pork cracklings, and chatting up kids about their favorite Dr. Seuss books… Louis makes it all look easy.

Pork cracklings with pimenton and sea salt ($5) were a popular first-night order, paying homage to classic bar snacks without all those pesky peanut shells to sweep up. These smoky, salty crunchies would pair perfectly with Sunshine’s frozen margaritas, house-made orange soda, or a pint from the rotating tap of Welch’s favorite brews.

Throughout the restaurant, creative design details push Sunshine into true artisan territory. Here, Louis and Welch re-imagined traditional bar lighting in favor of a dozen different shapes of classic Edison bulbs in contrasting fittings.

The chopped salad of lettuces, piri piri peppers, rustico cheese, french fries and salami ($8) manages to feel light and decadent at the same time. If you think about it, french fries aren’t that different than the potatoes on a Niçoise salad. Besides, you can burn off those extra calories playing an intense shuffleboard match. It’s all in the rationalization.

The Monte Cristo with fried egg, powdered sugar and marionberry preserves ($12) is basically a deep-fried double-decker ham and cheese sandwich with an egg on top. The key here is the preserves, an added sweetness that adds balance to the decadent dish. Hungry for more? You can swap the fries for pork-sausage gravy cheese fries, because, you know, why not.

The colorful, friendly portraits on the rear wall of the restaurant were painted by former Decemberists drummer (and Louis’ current drum teacher) Rachel Blumberg. The paintings are great, but the real shock here is that Louis has time to take drum classes while running two restaurants and a catering company. Has anyone checked to see if she has a twin?

My favorite bite of the night was the soft-serve honey ice cream (from Fifty Licks) with home-made “magical shell” topping – made of 70 percent cacao, salt, and olive oil ($5.50). This will be the perfect dessert when it comes in a cone, so I can eat it one-handed while playing video games long after the sun goes down.

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Tags: Portland Chefs, Southeast Dining, Bar Openings, Opening Night

OPENING DAY

Let Them Eat Fish

Photos and first impressions of Chef Trent Pierce’s inaugural Sunday Seafood Brunch and raw bar at St. Jack.

Posted by: Allison Jones on Apr 18, 2011 at 12:00PM 0 Comments

Expectations were high for the debut of St. Jack’s new Sunday brunch. Chef Trent Pierce’s seafood-anchored menu promised to be a different take on Portland’s standard put-an-egg-on-it brunch. To that end, the talented chef’s first notable showing since the lamentable closing of SE Hawthorne’s FIN in February did not disappoint. Dish after dish, the presentation was flawless – a perfect marriage of Pierce’s modern sophistication and St. Jack’s rustic French sweetness (think perfectly-spaced slices of pickled mackerel and radish on a Quebecois grandmother’s well-worn floral china) – and the metal buckets of ice, oysters, and Dungeness crab on the bar highlighted the aquatic focus of the occasion.

If St. Jack pulses with warmth and energy at night, the welcoming, country-chic feeling is increased five fold on a sunny Sunday morning. The brunch is an all-day affair (the special menu is offered from 10 am to 7 pm) but we had reservations for the first seating of the morning and had our pick of the sunniest table in the restaurant – perfect for checking out the parade of Clinton neighborhood dogs and taking photos of the menu selections (check out the slideshow for the full crave-worthy experience).

The long menu – split into raw selections, small plates ($5-$13), pastries ($2-$4), and warm entrees ($7-$15) – could use some paring down, and wouldn’t be remiss to leave off the expected Portlandbrunch™ dishes. A seafood brunch doesn’t need yet another bistro hamburger with bacon, and the over-salted and over-cooked eggs en cocotte (baked eggs with cream and fines herbs, $8) and gruyere omelette with pommes frites ($9) were unfortunate casualties of the rush of the first service of the morning. Unsurprisingly, the most memorable bites were found in the raw and small plate selections, where Pierce’s creative pairings and insistence on only the best seafood truly stood out. Favorite plates included the pickled mackerel with charred ramps, buttermilk, and aged sherry ($5), the potted, oil cured albacore with a frisee, orange, and olive salad and anchovy mayonnaise ($7) and the local prawns ($8 for a half dozen) served with chunky sauce vierge, a perfectly sparkling mignonette, and some lick-the-plate-worthy crab mayo (which was so delicious we ordered more to go with our pommes frites).

Once the kitchen hits its stride, St. Jack’s seafood Sunday is sure to become a go-to spot for a new take on brunch. Here’s hoping they dive in head first and embrace the full potential of Pierce’s seafood expertise, because Portland is more than willing to swim along.

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Tags: Southeast Dining, Eastside Dining, First Impressions, Opening Night

Best of PDX

Five Places I Love

Eat Beat’s newest gastrophile, Allison Jones, waxes poetic about her all-time favorite spots in Portland.

Posted by: Allison Jones on Apr 13, 2011 at 12:30PM 12 Comments

I dine out too much. Though once upon a time I was an avid home cook, these days I spend my time in tireless pursuit of the best things coming out of every Portland kitchen but my own. Sure, you’ll find me at whichever new French bistro or offal-in-a-waffle food cart pops onto the scene, but there are also places around town serving crave-worthy dishes that call me back time and time again whenever I think about making my own dinner for once. Here’s my list of the five reliable places that keep my home fridge empty.

1) The Burger: Screen Door 2337 E Burnside St
There are plenty of explanations for that infamous line out the door, but in my book there’s only one that really matters: Screen Door serves the best burger in Portland. Nothing cures food disenchantment caused by too many gourmet tasting menus than 10 bloody ounces of Painted Hills ground sirloin with thick-cut onions and extra pickles. Insider tip: Ask for the burger on the pulled pork bun for the full experience, and if you’re feeling daring, try it with pimento cheese and stuff your face like nobody’s watching.
Eat me: Step one: Backyard Burger with french fries. Step two: Banoffee Pie. Just do it.
Drink me: Porch Swing Lemonade with vodka, fresh lemonade, and muddled sage. Like sipping a liquid version of your summer herb garden right after it’s been watered. With booze.

2) The Coffee Shop: Ford Food and Drink SE 11th & SE Division St
This offshoot of SE Division’s Detour Café serves from-scratch pastries, sandwiches, soups, and focaccia pizza in a huge concrete-chic space that was once a Model T factory. Ford’s walls of windows keep the space bright – even when it’s pouring – and with plentiful power outlets and tables, you get the feeling you’re welcome to stay for hours. And I do.
Eat me: Good Morning Panino – Cream cheese, pepper bacon, oven-dried Roma tomatoes, and fresh basil pesto on house-made foccacia.
Drink me: With rotating beers on tap and a well-curated and affordable wine selection, the good people at Ford do their part to fill your cup with more than just Stumptown brew. The’ve got Happy Hour 5-7 weekdays, with $3 pints and glasses of wine.

3) The Food Cart: Los Gorditos Taqueria SE 50th Ave & SE Division St
I’m not going to involve myself in the eternal no-real-Mexican-food-in-PDX debate, but Los Gorditos is easily my favorite food cart in town. With a full covered porch and plenty of seating, this spot is the kind of place where you could throw a dart at their menu board and be completely satisfied ordering anything you hit. Be warned: the cart is closed on Sundays, making it the saddest day of the week, but their brick-and-mortar location on 12th and Division is open every day.
Eat me: The Soyrizo burrito, a lingering favorite from my vegetarian days – a grilled flour tortilla stuffed with Soyrizo, beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sour cream, onion and cilantro, topped with a lot of their house salsa verde.
Drink me: Mexican Coke cold out of the fridge under the salsa bar. Because it’s the real thing.

4) The Date Spot: Bar Avignon 2138 SE Division St
I supposed you could call Bar Avignon a mom-and-pop joint, but only if your pop is one of the most well-respected wine directors in town and your mom makes a truly wicked sazerac. Randy Goodman and Nancy Hunt have created the quintessential neighborhood bistro, with a knockout wine and cocktail list, a full menu of classic, flavorful dishes, and a vibe that manages to be romantic, Euro-chic, and homey at the same time. They’ve been teasing me with the promise of weekend brunch in the coming months, and when that wish is granted I may never leave.
Eat me: Head in on Fried Chicken Night (check their website for dates) and feast on golden-crisp Draper Valley chickens drizzled with spiced honey, cornbread with maple butter, and spicy braised greens.
Drink me: Nancy’s take on the Vieux Carré – rye whiskey, Dolin sweet vermouth, Benedictine, Angostura and Peychaud bitters, and lemon.

5) The Hole in the Wall: Pho Huy 11342 SE 82nd, (503) 353-6646
Everyone’s got their favorite pho joint, and mine’s in the parking lot of a WinCo in Happy Valley. While Pho Huy’s take on the sinus-clearing Vietnamese noodle soups are standard, the real reason I’m impelled to drive a half hour for lunch is a salad. The Goi Bo (seared beef salad) is an addictive plate of flavorful steak bits, shredded cabbage, carrots, cilantro, and peanuts in a citrusy fish sauce dressing that manages to become far more than the sum of its humble parts.
Eat me: Said Goi Bo.
Drink me: Pho Huy manages to do something magical with their water (yes, as in tap water) involving fresh lime. If it was on the menu I’d order it, but it’s free, which is way better.

There you have it, my everyday cravings in a nutshell. What are your top five?

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Tags: Happy Hour, Food Carts, Coffee and Tea, Southeast Dining, Wine, Best Burgers, Vietnamese Food, The Best, Comfort Food

Happy Hour of the Week

The Observatory + Over and Out

Montavilla’s favorite date spot expands its creative menu into a new bar space for a one-two punch of happy hour action.

Posted by: Allison Jones on Apr 12, 2011 at 01:00PM 0 Comments

I stopped into Montavilla’s The Observatory on the first truly warm spring day in Portland. The sidewalk tables lining SE Stark were packed with Ray-Banned twenty-somethings sporting genuine smiles, as if—for the first time in months—drinking booze was a celebration and not a means of assuaging their Seasonal Affective Disorder. The sun wasn’t confined to the street, either—a large skylight lit up our seats, the cool blue walls, and the bottles behind the bar inside as we perused the 8-item happy hour menu. While sipping the amazing Bloody Morimoto (wasabi vodka, housemade Sriracha-soy Bloody Mary mix, rimmed with wasabi salt – one of the best Mary variations in town) I was struck by the number of large parties filling up the chic space. Groups of up to nine people easily filled tables and pulled up extra chairs, an anomaly in most stylish bars in town.

The happy hour prices are fast-food low given the plentiful portions—we filled the bar with food and drinks for less than the price of a trip to a first-run movie (not that anyone goes to those anymore). The crowd favorite was the chicken-liver pâté plate ($5)—a large cup of smooth pâté with a thin layer of clarified butter, served with onion apple jam, pear mustard, pickled onions, cornichons, bread and crackers. The sweet jams were reminiscent of spiced summer desserts, a perfect accompaniment to the sunshine on our backs.

Though the signature Oregano fry bread sticks ($2) were a bit too salty, all sins were forgiven with a few dunks into the generous serving of Tomato and Red Pepper Bisque ($2). The only truly forgettable dish was the Caeser salad ($3), with a rather bland dressing missing the creamy bite of the best versions of the dish.

The perfectly-seasoned Garlic Parmesan Rosemary Fries ($2) and Ginger Sake Mussels ($5) were also gobbled up with gusto, the latter an interesting take on the seafood dish found most places in town. The Observatory obviously has some spice lovers on the kitchen team (and bartending staff) but nothing overpowered our palate or felt too heavy for the sunny afternoon.

After trying most of the menu, we ventured through a winding hallway to grab a beer at the Observatory’s back-end bar Over and Out. Happy hour draft beers are only $3, and make for easy sipping while losing terribly at Big Buck Safari. This under-the-radar spot is destined to become Montavilla’s new poster child – mashing up pinball machines and pool tables with the full Observatory menu, it’s the perfect spot for pleasing the dive-bar lovers, fancy-cocktail sippers, and veggie-burger crowd alike. Happy hour deals apply at both spots, so you can choose your own adventure depending on your mood.

Happy hours: 3-6 pm every day, 10-close Sunday through Thursday

Address: 8115 SE Stark St.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Southeast Dining, Sports bars, Dive Bars

Interview

5 Questions for: Graped Crusader, STAR BLACK

Clyde Common and Olympic Provisions’ wine director talks natural wines, modern pairings, and the upcoming wine revolution.

Posted by: Allison Jones on Apr 11, 2011 at 01:40PM 4 Comments

Star Black is on a mission. As the wine director at some of Portland’s hottest restaurants, she’s hoping to translate the city’s obsessions with artisan foods, small distilleries, micro-brews and locally-roasted coffee into a love of well-crafted wine – and she wants you to join her. The stylish redhead is behind the well-curated wine list at Clyde Common, and she’s played an essential role in the redefinition and expansion of Nate Tilden’s Olympic Provisions empire. With the opening of the new Olympic Provisions Northwest in April, Black will head the wine selection of both charcuterie outposts and Clyde Common.

Black’s passion for vino is clearly on display as she carefully unpacks tall stacks of bottles in front of the “wine wall” at Olympic Provisions’ industrial Southeast headquarters. Seeing her hold up each bottle to the light like a new baby, it’s easy to imagine her leading the next generation of wine lovers in what’s quickly becoming Sip City, USA.

Here, Black gives us a taste of her wine philosophy and what’s next in her plans to take over the world, one glass at a time.

1) First things first – How did you get started with wine?

I came into wine through food. I went to culinary school and was a cook for many years in restaurants in New York, and I would sit in on wine meetings with the front of the house staff and pester the sommelier, asking tons of questions. I was just so amazed one grape could become so many different things, I just realized I loved wine and needed to know more. I was also getting burnt out on cooking, so I quit my job in a Brooklyn restaurant and took a long walk home instead of riding the subway. I walked past a wine shop, stopped to talk to the proprietor, and bought a bottle of wine. I came back a few days later with a resume.

2) Given your experience with both food and wine, how do you think the two are related?

There’s been a revolution in wine over the past 5-10 years of “natural” winemaking, biodynamic wines, old-school indigenous varietals, un-messed-with fermentations and natural yeasts with minimal manipulation, which is a total parallel to what’s happening in the food world right now. That’s really what’s going to draw in the next generation of wine lovers. I see people getting up early to go to the Portland Farmers’ Market on a Saturday morning, these cool, young people toting canvas bags full of beautiful produce, meats, and cheeses. Wine is just an extension of that. It’s an agricultural product that should attract people who care about what they put in their mouth.

3) Are there differences between how you approach the wine selections at Clyde Common and Olympic Provisions?

At the core, both restaurants have the same underlying philosophy of offering interesting producers, wines from Europe and Oregon, and natural winemaking. However, Clyde is a more traditional restaurant – in that there is a structured menu, with entrees, appetizers, and dessert – that calls for more traditional pairings, whereas Olympic Provisions is first and foremost a charcuterie facility. Right now I’m expanding Olympic Provisions’ wine list, and offering all of our wines at 25% off the menu’s list price, which I really hope will get people tasting as much wine as possible. There’s a whole world of pairing wine with these fantastic cured meats, which is so much fun.

4) Speaking of which, OP chef Alex Yoder recently described the perfect Olympic Provisions meal and, as far as wine goes, said, “I don’t worry too much about pairing. My advice is to drink what you like.” What’s your take on wine pairings?

I think wine pairing is still completely relevant. Beautiful food deserves beautiful wine, and the two are great dance partners. Wine can definitely enhance the flavor of food, but the old rules of ‘white with fish, red with meat’ are so out the window and everyone knows it. I’ve actually been really excited about Sherry pairings, and we’re doing a Sherry flight [at Olympic Provisions] that is really taking off. Wine pairing shouldn’t be intimidating. At home, I drink a lot of rosé and white wine. I don’t drink much red because my palate gets fatigued from all the stronger wines at work, and I usually just want something clean and refreshing.

5) Portland is head over heels for coffee, beer, and spirits – how do you tap into that when you’re creating a wine list or helping someone select a bottle?

Wine has a reputation for being intimidating and exclusively for the wealthy, and that’s too bad, because it’s none of those things. It’s a rotted grape. It’s so humble, but so incredible. My ultimate goal is to normalize wine and make it a really cool interesting thing, like those varieties of coffee beans or different kinds of hops. I’m always inviting guests at the restaurants to taste a few of the different wines I have open, try to get them to hone in on something that is just really interesting to them. Wine is awesome, and so personal. You just need to find your own style.

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Tags: Southwest Dining, Southeast Dining, Wine, Interview, five questions

Interview

5 questions for: hot, young talent ALEX YODER

Olympic Provisions’ executive chef chats about cookbooks, trends, and choice places to eat.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Mar 21, 2011 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Alex Yoder was literally born to cook in Portland. Raised in a Northeast neighborhood by a family of cooks, he found his calling while working at Ashland’s venerable Chateaulin during college, but then returned to his hometown where he worked his way up from line cook to Café Castagna sous chef under then-executive chef Kevin Gibson, followed by a similar path at Clyde Common. In December, he followed in the footsteps of his former CC boss, Jason Barwikowski, taking the helm at Olympic Provisions.

Plopping down in a place that’s already notable—and replacing a chef with a known and respected reputation—may seem a little daunting. But so far this top spot transition has been pretty seamless, an all the more impressive feat because it comes at a time when the Eastside eatery is opening a new outpost (Olympic Provisions Northwest, scheduled for early-to-mid-April), launching an online store, and expanding their fresh and cured flesh line to include the likes of bacon, kielbasas, coppa, pancetta, and more.

Here, Yoder gives us a little insight into his own culinary style and makes us hungry.

1) We’re gonna start with a two-parter: A. In what ways are you making your mark on the Olympic Provisions menu? And, B. Can you give us an example of a perfect OP meal from start to finish?

The food I’m cooking is all about focus and big flavors, with just one or two highly flavorful components to each dish. An example would be our whole-roasted sardines with a mixed olive tapenade.

As for the perfect Olympic Provisions meal, it must start with a charcuterie plate. After that I would enjoy a toasted farro salad with mint and feta cheese, followed by squid sautéed with chorizo and corona beans—the squid is fresh and stays very tender… it’s really nice right now. As for what to drink with your meal, when I’m sampling a lot of different flavors, I don’t worry too much about pairing. My advice is to drink what you like. And for me, right now, that would be Barbera D’Alba.

2) Beginning in April, you’re going to start doing a special monthly menu that focuses on a particular region—can you give us a few highlights from the premiere performance?

The first region I’m going to feature in the series is Murcia in Southeastern Spain. This region is recognized throughout Europe for its pristine fruits, vegetables, and seafood. I am definitely going to make a cold shrimp and mussel salad with capers and Spanish olive oil. But the real highlight will be a dish called Arroz con Costra, which translates to “Rice with a Crust.” It’s a too-good-to-be-true sounding combination of rice, blood sausage, white sausage, and chicken, baked underneath a golden dome of fluffy whipped eggs.

3) We went ahead and labeled you a hot, young talent, thus we’d love to know what’s driving your culinary thinking right now?

The big thing exciting me right now is preserving. Oregon has amazing bounty for much of the year but it can get pretty lean in the winter. (By April I don’t even want to look at a sunchoke!) So, the challenge is to translate that bounty into great cooking and eating year-round. This goes beyond making pickles and jam. For examples, it means preserving peppers and tomatoes to use as ingredients all year as well. Preserving will be a major part of what the Olympic Provisions kitchen will be up to this spring and summer.

4) We hear you’re a fan of cookbooks—which ones are your current favorites?

I will always love the Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rogers because of her obsessive attention to detail. She trains her young cooks to taste stock every hour so as to track how its flavor evolves. Genius. I also adore Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone by Deborah Madison. Her vegetarian dishes honor tradition and never lack flavor, and she tells you how to cook a cardoon! Right now I am re-reading John Thorne’s Pot On The Fire—it’s not a cookbook, but it does include excellent recipes. Thorne is the most thoughtful food writer of all time as far as I’m concerned.

5) So, you grew up here in Portland—where did you love eating as a youngster, and where do you dine now when you actually have the time?

I grew up going to Nicholas, Pambiche, and Escape from New York Pizza, and when the grandparents visited, they would take me to the Ringside. I still go to all those places. These days, though, my favorite things to eat for lunch are duck soup at Good Taste Noodle House, and anything Kevin is cooking at Evoe. My favorite things for dinner are the whole steamed bass at Ocean City Seafood Restaurant, and mussels and fries at Laurelhurst Market. I grew up in Laurelhurst so perhaps I’m biased, but I think they’re cooking very well over there.

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Tags: Southeast Dining, Interview, five questions, Northwest Portland Dining, charcuterie

Eat This Now

Where the Wild Things Are

Southeast Portland’s new Over the Top food cart cooks up a big buck hunter’s dream with elk, bison, venison, and boar.

Posted by: Benjamin Tepler on Mar 08, 2011 at 09:30AM 3 Comments

Somewhere between the glittering copper kitchen at Le Pigeon and the screaming-red takeout counter at Little Big Burger, Portland’s market for all-American beef burgers officially became flooded.

What were Montana-based chefs Taylor Rea and Ryan Biglione to do when they arrived in Portland only to discover it had already achieved its ground-round apex? Realizing the market was supersaturated with burgermeisters, the two looked back to their rural Northwest roots for inspiration—to the bison and elk of their childhood for a niche that would put them “over the top.”

Squished into the quiet jumble of food carts at the A La Cart pod on SE 50th Avenue and Division Street, Over the Top’s tin trailer is hard to miss. A giant mural honoring the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, the original masters of game, towers over the huddled mass of curious carnivores with a soul and style worthy of Banksy. This homage to the Northwest’s wild side lies at the heart of Over the Top’s Oregon game burgers.

The selection is, as promised, over the top, with a rotating menagerie of unfamiliar tastes and textures in patty form. Less adventurous game hunters might opt for their regular—but still superlative—menu of elk, bison, and beef burgers sourced from Nicky USA, Oregon’s go-to-guy for wild meats. Thrill-seekers can look forward to weekly bush meats like rabbit and venison and out of town specialties like emu, kangaroo, and boar.

Exotic game may be kitsch, but holy cow, this meat is good. The elk patty itself is a work of untamed perfection: a velvety texture that hints at gamey venison but melts in the mouth with a surprisingly sweet aftertaste. The whole production comes bedaubed in a tangy-sweet cherry demi-glaze, draped in piquant provolone, and finished with a healthy dose of melted caramelized onions on a Portland French Bakery bun. I’m hooked.

Over the Top Game Plan:
1. Aim your sights at the Elk Burger and do not miss the side of gold-medal coleslaw with a zesty apple crunch and tame blue cheese morsels. ($9)

2. Bypass that side of bone-knuckle soup. Even on the most blustery days, a full mouthful of green onions and salty, flavorless collagen won’t do you any good.

3. For pickle people, the crunchy, cayenne-spiked, tempura-battered pickles are a must from the selection of hit-or-miss fried veggies. ($3)

Over the Top food cart is open Thurs–Tues, 12:30–8 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m.–10 p.m.on weekends. 4926 SE Division St. alacartspdx.com

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Tags: Food Carts, Southeast Dining, Best Burgers

Interview

5 questions for: many wonders woman, JENN LOUIS

The cook, caterer & new tavern creator makes us feel hungry, thirsty, and unintentionally guilty about how little we do.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Mar 07, 2011 at 10:30AM 3 Comments

Jenn Louis is a serious player. By that I mean that not only is she executive chef and co-owner (with her husband, David Welch) of NoPo restaurant Lincoln and catering company Culinary Artistry, the two-time James Beard “Best Chef: Northwest” semifinalist (this year, and last year) will soon be stretching the duo’s dominion into Southeast. According to Louis, their new drink-and-eatery, Sunshine Tavern, is slated to open at 3103 SE Division St “April 19, unless…” The cuisine concept is “basic” tavern food, such as pizza, burgers, fried chicken, fries, wings, etc., albeit it with the gourmet flavor flourishes we comfort-loving and poor but picky Portlanders have all come to expect.

Here, just as we face another onslaught of rain, Louis gives us a glimpse of Sunshine.

1) So, what’s the big idea behind Sunshine?

We care about food and service and environment. Our goal was to create a place to relax, a place that is not inventive, nor challenging. A place that is not too serious… somewhere between a dive bar, a diner, and a fine dining bar. We wanted the great comforts of something low-key, but with the quality ingredients Portlanders love. As for the name, well, everyone loves sunshine, right? But, the inspirational “Sunshine” was my brother’s childhood pet, a green and yellow parakeet.

2) Can you give us a sneak-peek at a few of Sunshine’s twists on “tavern” fare?

The fried chicken has a crunchy, ripple-y dredge on it that David calls the “fozzie dredge” because he thinks it looks like Fozzie Bear’s fur. It will come with a yeasted semolina waffle, butter, and local honey. Options on the burgers will include a big slab of roasted tesa (cured pork belly) or chicken liver mousse—pair that with a glass of sparkling! Our fries will be house-made, with the option of getting them as pork-sausage gravy cheese fries, and our wings will come with honey-mustard sauce. And the monte cristo is delicious: ham, turkey, and Swiss on brioche, fried, with marionberry jam and a fried egg. We’ll also have an in-house soft-serve ice cream machine—Chad Draizin of Fifty Licks is helping with the recipe.

3) Lincoln is known for its cocktails—what’s on tap booze-wise at Sunshine?

It’s all David’s doing. We’ll have cocktails, wine, eight taps, and a good bottle list, including 22 varieties of 22 oz bottles, such as Long Brewing IPA, Rogue ales, and Heater Allen ales. And, of course, a good selection of bourbon—that will keep me happy. Sunshine will also sport a slushie-style margarita machine.

4) How’s about the décor/vibe you’re shootin’ for?

Comfortable, relaxed, and modern. This project has been really fun—lots of handmade metal-work, the bar-top is made from reclaimed bowling alley lanes, and dismantled barn wood will be installed in several areas around the dining room. Plus, we’re installing a 14-foot shuffleboard table and video games: Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac Man, and Galaga (my favorite).

5) Where else in town do you like to go if you actually have a moment to breathe?

David and I tend to lay low; we try to spend as much time with our three kitties as we can during our time off. But we do eat a lot of dumpling soup at Chen’s Good Taste (18 NW 4th Ave) in Chinatown and drink a lot of Ristretto Roaster’s coffee. And I love the bar at little bird!

Sunshine Tavern’s Hours-to-be: Sun-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri & Sat 5-11pm

Prices: $5-$12 starters & $9-$15 sandwiches/entrées

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Tags: Southeast Dining, Southeast, five questions, Comfort Food

Best o' the Best

P Town’s Top Three Cheese Plates

It was a fattening job, but someone had to do it—we ferreted out three of the city’s most swoon-worthy cheese plates for your sampling pleasure. You’re welcome.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Feb 23, 2011 at 09:00AM 4 Comments

Stick me on a desert island and the one food I’d probably request is cheese. From a simple slice of deli provolone to a nutty manchego to a rank roquefort, I love cheese. I’ll even admit that I used to melt Tillamook cheddar on my leftover pad thai when I was a teen.

Lucky for me, I now live in a town that is almost as fromage-obsessed as I am—delectable examples dot pizza and pasta, are shaved over salads, and find themselves smeared on sandwiches, but the purest presentation, of course, is the hallowed cheese plate.

Portland may offer a plethora of these smelly, salty, creamy, dreamy plated trios, but here, dear readers, I have narrowed them down to my top three. My selection process was far from scientific and I won’t even pretend that I’ve partaken of every cheese plate in town, so I happily invite folks to comment and tell me why I am wrong.

Cheese Bar (6031 SE Belmont St)

It’s a spare space at the base of Mt. Tabor, but proprietor Steve Jones is the man about town for just plain tasty American artisan cheese—and just about every other cheese on the planet, too.

On my recent foray, the ever-changing Cheese Plate (high marks for range and portion size; wish there were more condiments and the crostini weren’t razor sharp; $9) included Curio Bay Pecorino (a sheep cheese from New Zealand), Tomme des Bois Noirs (a raw goat from southern France), and Schmidhauser Le Cousin, a slab of raw cow produced by one cousin in Switzerland and aged by another in France. This last cheese was Steve’s “favorite cheese in the case” that day, and I could see why—it’s a harder cheese, but with a creamy mouth-feel and tons of rich, almost buttery umami flavor followed by a slight kick. The pecorino was also delicious—firm texture, almost crystal-y, but not at all dry, with a salty, uber-mild flavor. The dense, herbaceous goat, which was almost gelatinous or spongy in texture, had a slight bitter tang reminiscent of olive juice, and paired well with the pear chutney, as the sweet spice balanced the muskiness.

Bonus: an extensive selection of boutique beers and food-friendly wines, and a short menu, including awesome sandwiches like the raclette mixed with potatoes, mashed, and spread on wheat levain, covered with crisp cornichons, and grilled to gooey, tangy perfection ($5).

The Sapphire Hotel (5008 SE Hawthorne Blvd)

Supposedly a former place of business for ladies of the night, this warm, dark den now peddles a near-perfect Cheese Platter, which, at $15, is worth every penny.

Like many establishments in town, the cheese itself comes from none other than Steve Jones. Sapphire offers five—you get to pick three. I selected the creamy, earthy French brie (served warm and drizzled with an addictive balsamic reduction), Fairview Farm “Carried Away” (a firm, sour, and slightly sweet raw goat from Dallas, Oregon), and Rockhill Creamery Belvedere Tomme, a firm, salty, pungent, and ripe raw cow from Richmond, Utah. They were all tremendous on their own, but the real magic of this platter is the perfectly toasted bread and exploring the way the cheeses interact with the cornucopia of accompaniments—purple grapes, pear, granny smith, dried black figs, candied walnuts, and a bulb of roasted garlic. The buttery brie is elevated by the sour-sweet grapes, the goat is enhanced by the tart apple and mellowed by the garlic, and the flavor of the raw cow is exaggerated by the sweet pear and figs.

Bonus: Amazing service from a battery of friendly, knowledgeable hipster chicks who lack pretension of any kind.

Bar Mingo (807 NW 21st Ave)

I crave this Cheese Plate ($8) for three reasons: the unnamed cast of characters always includes one cow, one sheep, and one goat; it comes with two slices of a divine pressed-fig “salami;” and the cow always gets a drizzle of wildflower honey.

Alas, on my recent visit the cow was a French triple cream that was denser, darker, and muskier than it has been in the past. When the triple cream is a sweet, white, liquid delight, it positively sings with the honey; but in this case it fell a little flat. However, the salty, mild, smooth, almost creamy sheep pecorino was the perfect dance partner for the fig, and the soft Humboldt Fog goat was (no surprise here) the best on the plate. Always a goodie, this rich, sweet, earthy treat fills your mouth like a fine wine and pairs well with the fig, turning it into something new, almost like a caramel-y dessert.

Bonus: They offer Happy Hour every day from 4-6pm—try the cheese plate for five bucks.

Honorable Mention: Liberty Glass (938 North Cook St). It’s unlikely you’ll find a plate more rustic—and you’ll (tomato) relish every bite!

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Tags: Southeast Dining, Northwest Portland Dining, Cheese, The Best