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Best of PDX

A Foodie Farewell

An Eat Beater says sayonara and shares a few things she’s learned.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on May 11, 2011 at 09:00AM 6 Comments

Dearest Eat Beat Readers:

It is with a heavy heart and a rumbling belly that after 10 months of chronicling our fair city’s culinary scene, I must say goodbye. Although I’ve loved every interview I’ve conducted and forkful of food I’ve consumed in the name of “work,” it just so happens that in a few short months I will be finished cooking up something of my own: a baby. And as energetic as my wee girl appears to be (repeatedly pushing off my ribs and slamming into my hip bone, probably because of all the doughnuts…), sleep deprivation and 24-hour diaper changing isn’t exactly conducive to seeking out the latest and greatest gourmet superstar, happy hour, or cheap date. Luckily the very astute Allison Jones has stepped in, and, of course, there is always the incomparable Karen Brooks and a cadre of guest writers with tireless taste buds.

I grew up cooking and baking, love to eat, and spent numerous years working in restaurants while I became a writer, and Eat Beating has been a truly special joy of mine. So without further ado about this adieu, I will leave you with a few thoughts about things I’ve learned along the way.

Best of PDX

Want a sure-fire way to get Portland peeps riled up? Rank their food options. And if you really want to see cartoon steam coming out of their ears, make sure you’re ranking their sweet carbohydrates, such as chocolate chip cookies, biscuits, and—drum roll—doughnuts! My analysis of 10 area doughnut shops had more readers than any post that has ever appeared on Eat Beat. And the comments included downright patriotic outrage over the rings, bars, and holes I failed to name. Looking back I can say that Tonalli’s (2805 NE Alberta St) still reigns supreme when it comes to classic doughnuts—although I am personally obsessed with old-fashioneds, this story made me try their melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk bar and it’s my new favorite. I also crave the apple fritter at Coco Donut and want to try all the more unusual flavors at Sesame Donuts. I also went to Helen Bernhard after being chastised for failing to do so in my doughnut round-up, and, while tasty, I don’t think it’s as good as the three I just named. I look forward to your shock and awe.

Cheap Eats/Cheap Date

Pho, pho, pho, pho, pho. A steaming bowl of this flavor-packed noodle soup is probably the most food you will ever be able to get for the least cash. It is also my favorite-est thing to eat in the world, and a singular pleasure in a city where a broad range of quality ethnic cuisine is not the strong suit. In my opinion, the best to be found, both fleshy and veggie, is at Pho Gia (1944 NE Sandy).

First Impressions

Although a number of the places I sought out to write about where new to me, the all-new establishment that really stands out is the all-vegetarian Natural Selection. I wasn’t expecting it to be anywhere near as good as it was. The food has so much thought, heart, and attention to detail, and their chocolate pots de crème is truly sublime. Plus, the staff is knowledgeable and attentive. And they have real, heavy silverware. This is the kind of place that is making us feel more like a multi-faceted culinary city like San Francisco or New York, rather than just an adorable but narrow-minded comfort-food-and-entrails foodie town.

Five Questions

There is nothing that compares to getting an insider’s POV. Every single one of these interviews I did was a thrill. But if I would never be able to drink wine again unless I pick three that stand out, I’d have to say Ken Forkish, Paul Gerald, and Aubrey Lindley.

Happy Hour of the Week

Rather than any one happy hour that shines above all the others, what I was surprised to learn was just how many of these discount dining experiences there are. If the timing works for you, you can eat and drink like a king all over town pretty much every day of the week. But 23Hoyt is pretty special in this arena.

Vegetarian Viand

Despite being a lifelong vegetarian, I didn’t cover this topic that much. Partially because there wasn’t a whole lot to say. We may have a hippie-dippie mystique, but there just aren’t a lot of solid (i.e. not crappy), totally vegetarian restaurants in town, although Blossoming Lotus is a true joy (I have eaten their Southwestern Bowl with golden tofu three times in the last two weeks). It doesn’t bother me much because most local eateries do a damn fine job of providing tasty veggie options that aren’t just fettuccine alfredo (DOC, Foster Burger, Screen Door), but I do think it’s a sign that we need to broaden our horizons a tad. Castagna has brought molecular gastronomy to the table; now let’s give some love to our multitude of veg-heads.

The Scene

Local, seasonal, creative, casual, and youthful, plus Portland is a pretty cheap foodie city all-around. Many of us can afford to eat at even the city’s best restaurants (e.g. Le Pigeon, Toro Bravo, DOC, Nostrana, Pok Pok, Ken’s Artisan Pizza, Olympic Provisions, Lincoln, Paley’s Place), if perhaps not all the time. This has a lot to do with local eateries prizing impeccable quality and innovation over white tablecloths and sky-high prices. You can build a gorgeous space, but we’ll pass it over (to wit, the late Ten-01 and Fenouil). However, build a gorgeous meal in an environment where we can wear our faded jeans and fleece coats, and we’ll keep coming back. Portland may be dreary much of the time, the economy is tenuous, and the drivers are the worst on the planet, but I’ve drunk the culinary Kool-Aid and I am hooked for life.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Cheap Eats, five questions, Vegetarian Friendly, First Impressions, The Best, lists

Trends

Put An Egg On It!

Forget birds and bling—it’s yolks for Portland folks.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Apr 20, 2011 at 09:00AM 4 Comments

In the city that helped cement the phrase “urban chickens” in our modern lexicon, it comes as no surprise that we’re tossing eggs on top of pretty much everything we eat. These protein powerhouses may be packed with nutrients and silly cheap, but local chefs are actually using them to lend a sunny-side up-scale twist to seemingly mundane dishes like pizza or burgers.

Inspired by our neighbors up north, we decided to look at the non-breakfast ways in which we love getting egg on our face. So if Easter hasn’t already made you sick of them, we suggest you try an egg…

1) as a main event

The new eatery from chef Jenn Louis, Sunshine Tavern (3111 SE Division St), debuted last night and on the menu is one of the repeated James Beard award nominee’s favorite concoctions—baked eggs. In this version (she also has one at Lincoln with cream, olives, and breadcrumbs), an herby tomato sauce provides the base for two just-cooked eggs and thick slices of pancetta. It’s a tangy, salty, light-and-yet-filling treat. Even the Wall Street Journal had to have it.

2) on pizza

I know it skeeves some people out, but I’m a big fan of plopping an egg on a pie—it’s cracked over the top and allowed to bake just long enough to crisp up on the sides but retain all its runny, liquid-gold goodness. When you pop the yolk, you get a salty, savory sauce in which to dunk your crust. You can add an egg to any pizza at Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty for only $2. Right now I’d suggest trying it on the mixed rapini with calabrian chilies & young pecorino or salumi finocchiona with mama lil’s peppers & green olives.

3) to add intrigue to salads

Keep your pizza pristine but retain the egg-dipping option by ordering the spinach, radish, and soft boiled egg salad with house ranch at Tastebud. A textural playground, it’s a simple but flavorful, hefty, and unique way to get your greens. Another tasty option is St Honoré’s version of a Salade Lyonnaise—it tops bacon, sauccisson à l’ail, roma tomatoes, toasted croutons, and house vinaigrette with a perfectly poached egg. St. Jack has a traditional rendering of that same salad, which puts the egg atop frisée, bacon lardons, and bacon fat croutons. Either way, the result is a rich, meaty, sharp, sour, and creamy dream.

(Side note: St. Jack also offers a Lyonnaise onion tarte—a calorie bomb of goat cheese, melted onions, leeks, and a poached egg, with sautéed kale.)

4) in your soup

Both the udon and the ramen at Biwa come with half a just-barely-hard-boiled shoyu egg (they’re boiled in soy sauce) that somehow manages to retain its yolk integrity despite the piping hot broth. In all honesty, the egg’s flavor is a little lost in both these soups, but it adds a punch of protein and sunny color to the thick wheat noodles, greens, and minimal tofu in the vegetarian udon, and range to the pork and chicken ramen. If you’re feeling more adventurous, head over to BeWon on NW 23rd and try the soon dubu—a hot and spicy soft-tofu stew that gets a raw egg topping as the bubbling bowl hits your table.

5) to beef up a burger

A lot of burger aficionados seem to prefer their patties with as few accessories as possible. I disagree. When you’re truly hungry, nothing beats a Foster Burger piled high with a buttery fried farm egg, medium cheddar, roasted jalapeños, sautéed onions, and pickled beets. It’s a gut-busting gourmet smile on a brioche bun. Besaw’s and Killer Burger do it too.

6) to perfect pasta or risotto

I’ve been to DOC twice in recent weeks, each time with an army of carnivores. Much to my surprise, both times everyone at the table agreed that their favorite dish was the wild nettle & Oregon truffle lasagna topped with a soft farm egg—earthy and decadent, it’s a truly elegant rendition of an old standard. Over at Lincoln you’ll find those same nettles in the stirred risotto, but this time with purgatorio beans and a poached duck egg. That cracked quacker turns a dish I often find ho-hum into something that’s a nuanced hit.

Where else do you think the afternoon or evening eggs have legs?

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Tags: local, The Best, Trends

Cheap Eats

Pho Real

Northeast’s Pho Gia is a broth of fresh air.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Apr 18, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

I’ve driven by Pho Gia, located at 1944 NE Sandy, countless times in the last three years and never once considered stopping—it looked like a converted bank or the kind of Americanized eatery that would serve the pho version of a Big Mac.

But one day my husband (a man who would opt for pho over me if he was stuck on a desert island and could only bring one thing with him) told me their steamy Vietnamese soup was the best he’d had in town. The reason? The holy grail of real pho: an authentic broth.

So, off we went one recent rainy evening and—no joke—we have eaten there at least twice a week ever since. In fact, the austere but efficient waitress who is always working (I think three or four women run the whole show, front and back) has started making fun of us.

We always get the same thing:

1) Tofu salad rolls ($3.95). These are not the best salad rolls in Portland (that award goes to Khun Pic’s Bahn Thai on Belmont, despite the hour-long wait), but at least they contain giant hunks of fried tofu, and we’re not there for the appetizers anyway.

2) The #31: Steak & Brisket Pho ($6.50). They offer numerous variations, but this is the bowl that had my husband at hello. While many local pho finds ladle up a slapdash sweet-and-sour, this broth is deeper, richer, and more complex—a sign that they actually took the extensive time to simmer marrow-rich beef bones and add the proper spices like star anise, cloves, and ginger. It isn’t too sweet, nor is it too fatty. Of course, you also get the requisite rice noodles, slivers of white onion, and sprinkle of scallions, plus a plentiful plate of texture-and-flavor-enhancing bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, and lime. The tender steak and lean brisket is properly prepared (it continues to cook in your piping hot soup), and what it may lack in quantity, it makes up in quality.

3) The vegetarian pho ($6.50). Again, it’s the “five-spice broth” that makes this flesh-free version shine. It’s a touch sweeter and a little lighter than the carnivore options; but, nevertheless, the flavor is full and nuanced, as if they actually put care into it rather than just plopping a salt-sugar-water combo on the menu to appease picky Portlanders. The bowl is also stuffed with crisp red and green peppers, broccoli, carrots, and cabbage, and slices of meaty king mushrooms. And, again, there could be more of the tofu chunks, but at least they are fried and retain their firm texture. (Side note: All local pho joints should start exploring meat substitutes other than tofu—wonders can be done with wheat gluten, folks.)

As for atmosphere, Pho Gia provides a simple, clean, and somewhat comical mish-mash of real plants, old pizza parlor light fixtures, and Christian paraphernalia, as well as synthesizer versions of Fernando and Unchained Melody that harmonize with the happy slurping of damn good soup.

From kitschy dining rooms nearby to the outlying hole-in-the-wall, who’s pho do you think is for real?

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Tags: Cheap Date, Northeast Dining, Cheap Eats, Vietnamese Food, The Best

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

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 16 Comments

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

Sweet Stuff

The Quest for the Quintessential Doughnut

Forget frou-frou—we scoured the city in search of the simple circles, logs, and mounds of sugar-injected pastry that make us feel like a kid again.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Mar 09, 2011 at 09:15AM 24 Comments

From buttermilk to maple bars, cakes to cream-filled, and fritters to old-fashioneds, we wanted to know who is doing—and who is not doing—classic “donuts” right. Sure, there are plenty of restaurants doing delightful gourmet donut holes with salted caramel sauce or crème anglaise, but we wanted the nostalgic versions that Homer Price would approve of.

So, without further adieu, here’s our take on 10 local hotspots, in decreasing order of sugar-injected supremacy.

Would you agree?

1) Tonalli’s Donuts & Cream 2805 NE Alberta St

Upon moving to the Alberta Arts district, I tried Tonalli’s and thought “These are the best damn donuts in the world.” Upon trying a ton of other places, I feel the same way—as do the families and drunks that belly up to the counter of this modest shop, year-round. Not too dense, not too fluffy, not too greasy, and never tasting of old fryer oil, these dunkers manage a delicate touch without losing the hearty donut appeal that you can really bite into. A cinnamon & sugar old-fashioned is coated in a wonderful, crunchy, spicy-sweet crust that melts in your mouth once your teeth hit the soft inside, but you must try the buttermilk bar. The outside is crispy, the glaze is in perfect balance, and the inside, with its crave-worthy sour zing, is moist and sponge-y, like freshly baked bread. Pro tip: Go early in the morning or after 9:30pm for fresh, hot donuts of all kinds. ($.75-$1.35)

2) Coco Donut 709 SW 17th Ave

They are housed in a hard-to-find, exceedingly hip pink-brown-and-gray space just below PG&E Park, they serve Stumptown, and their selections are limited. But, man o’ man, do they know how to do good by classic donuts. Skip their signature pink-frosted chocolate cake donut (it’s both crisp and moist but kind of boring) in favor of the out-of-sight maple bar. Soft and succulent, you can see the not-sweet-at-all bready base snap back after you take a bite, and the perfect amount of frosting tastes like real maple. The apple fritter is also a winner—crunchy and caramel-y on the outside, with tender bits of apple, the pastry is reminiscent of an exquisite croissant. ($.90-$1.25)

3) Sesame Donuts 6990 Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy

Now here’s a real reason to brave the death-defying four-way intersection where the 10 meets the 210 in Raleigh Hills. The unbelievably friendly and talkative Lebanese family that owns it, works the counter, and likes to listen to opera may be reason enough, but the donuts are mighty fine too. There are a billion options, but real stand-outs include the crackly, caramel-y, and heavy-on-the-cinnamon apple fritter, the glazed raised ring with the perfect combo of softness and chew, and the flavorful sweet-and-spice pumpkin cake donut served year-round. The savory coating on the sesame cake donut is strange at first bite, but quickly blends into a tasty and unique treat. ($.95-$1.75)

4) Staccato Gelato 232 NE 28th Ave

Available Friday through Sunday only, this chic ice cream shop’s dunkers conjure images of drinking coffee and reading the paper at the corner diner before heading off to your construction job. All the cake donuts boast a sink-your-teeth-into crust yielding to a soft, barely-there sweetness and the essence of truly quality ingredients. On my recent foray, the popular cardamom cake donut could have used a bit more spice, but was delicious nonetheless, and the just plain fun Fairy Princess (pink inside, pink frosting, rainbow sprinkles) seemed to have a lovely, subtle strawberry flavor after multiple munches. Then there’s the French cruller—airy, egg-y, and exceedingly moist, it was pure mouth magic. Get there early for the freshest options, or pair an older donut with a scoop of gelato. ($1.25-$1.50)

5) Donuts Plus 13500 NW Cornell Rd

Located in a less than glamorous strip mall in what feels like the middle of nowhere (although clearly memorable to stoner high school students), this classic donut shop is worth the trip. The blueberry old-fashioned is a real delight, with a crunchy, ripple-y exterior, moist interior, and real blueberry flavor. The maple bar is a poofy pillow that still provides chew, while the custard in a filled donut tastes like real vanilla pudding and is surrounded by a thin powdered sugar-dusted cloud of taut pastry. The friendly owner works the counter and slipped me two free donuts and a handful of holes—I felt like family on my first visit! ($.90-$1.09)

6) Annie’s Donut Shop 3449 NE 72nd Ave

People in the Yelp-o-sphere often argue that Annie’s is the best in town. In my experience, this old-school joint out east is good, but not great. A glazed applesauce cake donut, for example, had amazing apple and spice flavor, but no crispness on the outside and the glaze made it too sweet. Similarly, a buttermilk bar hit the right tangy notes, but was more of a thick, biscuit-y hunk than a soft, crumbly cake. However, the popular bouncy-soft, cinnamon-infused Butterfly is a chocolate and peanut butter-topped treat that melts in your mouth. ($.69-$.99)

7) VooDoo Doughnut 22 SW Third Ave

Wanna wait in line for an hour in a dirty hole with tweakers and tourists, just so a surly punk rocker will hand you a mess of Technicolor hockey pucks that are all style over substance? VD (and VD Too) is for you. Folks flock here for the creativity (buns bearing breakfast cereal or meat) and titillation (the popular Old Dirty Bastard or enormous and pricey Cock and Balls), and, I’d argue, other than the pleasing salty-sweet explosion of the bacon-maple bar, not because the actual donuts taste good. Dense and bland, with zero crunch, the buttermilk bar is like a log of flat cake batter covered in congealed sugar water. Even the more elaborate Old Dirty Bastard (crumbled Oreos embedded in peanut butter and chocolate frosting) may have a somewhat pleasing flavor, but it’s psychotically sweet and sticks to the roof of your mouth, threatening to block your airways. ($.95-$5.25)

8) Krispy Kreme 16415 NW Cornell Rd

There’s something transcendent about a KK glazed original hot off the conveyor belt—light as air, it melts in your mouth with a delicate sweetness and lack of grease that doesn’t immediately make you feel bloated and disgusting. But when they’re not seconds fresh, these Stepford Wife pastries (they’re all photo-ready and exactly the same!) lose a bit of their appeal. Truly awesome donuts have a grittiness, an imperfection in look and texture that attests to their made-from-scratch-by-hand nature. After sitting, the too-uniform KK original ring turns cloying and chemically, as does a sour cream old-fashioned. But I do give points to the raspberry jelly-filled for a goo that actually tastes like real fruit. ($.99-$1.29)

9) Delicious Donuts 12 SE Grand Ave

I wasn’t able to try the blueberry cake donut that Kelly Clarke raved about in our Dining 2010: Picks and Pans, and the reviews I found online were all glowing—which is the only reason why DD is one rung above the bottom. I highly recommend visiting this dark, dreary cave by sunrise because the donuts—all classics—are baked fresh in the morning, run out quickly, and aren’t fine wine. My 11am maple bar was dry and barely maple-y, and the sweetened coconut on my almost stale maple cake donut made the whole thing too sugary. But high marks for clean-tasting ingredients and fryer oil. ($.95-$1.45)

10) Heavenly Donuts 1915 N Lombard St

The NoPo outpost of this Northwest chain used to be a Winchell’s, which seems fitting—it serves up generic fare in a tidy but rough-and-tumble joint that’s at a least a tad more authentic than Safeway. Sure, the gelatinous custard in a chocolate-topped filled donut tastes like Jell-O pudding powder, but the pastry is moist and puffy, with a bit of chew when you bite down, and the components are all in balance. That said, the buttermilk bar was like a day-old biscuit, sogged by too much glaze dumped on top, and chocolate-frosted devil’s food donut was downright terrible—no crispness, too dense, and the flavor of cheap cocoa powder. ($.89-$1.39)

Check out our search for the quintessential cookie here.

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Tags: Dessert, The Best, doughnuts

Eat This Now

The Search for Portland’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

What says perfection…and where you can find it? We pounded the pavement in search of the chewy, the crisp, and the hand-crafted so you wouldn’t have to.

Posted by: Benjamin Tepler on Feb 23, 2011 at 09:05AM 43 Comments

A transcendent chocolate chip cookie is a rarity. When asked to name their favorite version, most local bakers and loyal tasters retorted “my own!” or cited a recipe from the family graveyard. Few agree on what defines chocolate chip perfection, but in the end, depth of flavor, quality of ingredients (from butter to chocolate), and texture (crispy on the outside and chewy-soft at the epicenter) reign supreme. Size and eatability also count, big time, as do personal touches like toasted almonds or a sprinkle of fine sea salt.

To rank Portland’s best chocolate chip cookies, we pounded the streets, checking in at the places that take their cookies seriously. Here are the results:

1. Alma Chocolate
This altar to cocoa heaven, known for dark chocolate icons painted in edible 23K gold and aphrodisiacal bonbons, doesn’t mess around when it comes to chocolate. And that includes the little-known cookies hiding in a corner case, packed with super dark, 74-percent Dominican chocolate and sporting a buttery, burnished exterior. Toll House die-hards may ask, “Where’s the dough in this chocolate delivery service!?” Good question, but we’ll still take them over grandma’s fresh-baked any day. ($1.25)

2. Pearl Bakery
For guilty gluttons, those who can’t help but squeeze out the last dollop of raw dough from the Pillsbury tube, this neighborhood fixture has you covered. The house Chocolate Chunk Cookie is a lofty mound of slightly under-baked dough studded with pecans and a hint of orange zest to cut through the buttery behemoth. ($1.50)

3. Café Velo
While the cookies may not quite fit its Mediterranean menu, this teeny take-out café wedged on the downtown Portland bus mall turns out some of the most delicious versions we’ve tasted. The recipe, from famed chocolatier Jacques Torres, appeared in the New York Times in a dissertation on the best techniques and flavors. With melting wafers of dark German chocolate and a dainty pinch of fleur-de-sel from Portland salt-slinger Real Good Food, this cookie fires on all cylinders—and it’s perfect with Café Velo’s famed dripped-to-order coffee. ($1.50)

4. Two Tarts Bakery
For the true salt freak, this little cookie has the sweet-savory department on lock-down. Two Tarts packs a dulcified punch into their mini chocolate chip fleur-de-sel cookies, with the combination of dark toffee undertones and big concentrated sprinkles of crunchy Sel de Guerande adding depth to the classic combination. (80 cents each; $8 for a baker’s dozen)

5. Ken’s Artisan Bakery
Even the most ravenous cookie monster would be challenged at Northwest Portland’s go-to spot for rustic French breads and pastries. The Valrhona Chocolate Chunk Cookies are frisbees of chewy dough with superlative hunks of extra bitter chocolate full of fruity notes. Despite the sugar haze that comes with eating a cookie sized for four, Ken’s has the critical crunchy/chewy ratio down to a science. ($2.25)

6. Oui Presse
Toll House traditionalists stick to the back-of-the-bag formula, and no place serves them better than this relative coffee shop newcomer on SE Hawthorne Boulevard. The kitchen specializes in small, homemade batches of perfectly bronzed, buttery-to-the-finish archetypes, and the “afterschool special” of milk and cookies ($2.50) takes the edge off after a hard day. ($1.25)

7. Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery
At NE Alberta Street’s popular coffee spot, celebrated pie bakers roll out a cookie worth mentioning. While not quite the religious experience that the vanilla-salted caramel apple pie is, the kitchen’s nutty, multidimensional cookies boast a satisfying almond crunch while oozing two types of super dark cocoa buttons. ($2)

8. Meat Cheese Bread
We thought we’d hit the jackpot when spotting jars of fresh cookies at this killer Buckman sandwich shop. Turned out to be a small payout, instead—a good follow-up to one of the great house sandwiches, but not strong enough for lasting impressions, with a heavy hand of Maldon sea salt inside and out and a scattershot of pecan in every bite. ($1.95)

9. Little T American Baker
The baguettes are to the heavens and the focaccias can make Nonna weep. But the chocolate chip cookies at one of Portland’s iconic bakeries simply miss the boat. These chocolate-heavy rounds are missing that essential soft-chew, throwing out an overly resounding crunch to the finish, with a sugar-hangover aftertaste that recalls an unsupervised Halloween. ($1.50)

10. Dovetail Bakery
Operated by Portland’s rockstar mastermind of veganism, Morgan Grundstein-Helvey, this little pastry shop on NE Alberta Street usually comes out on top with baked goods. But Dovetail’s chocolate chip cookies flopped recently, with wet, oily dough and sugar-forward chocolate chips of no distinction. We’ll be back, but for the eyes-to-the-back-of-the-head sticky buns and pitch perfect pies. ($2.75)

Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know!

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Tags: Dessert, The Best

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