Daddy-A's Excellent Portland Adventure

[Daddy-A]

Day 1 - Friday

So after much anticipation, Step-Mommy-J & I packed up the Subaru Legacy Wagon and headed off for Portland and the Oregon Brewfest last Friday morning. I only mention the Subaru as it seems this is the official car of Portland. Seriously … check it out the next time you’re walking around the Park Blocks. We thought we had left late enough to avoid the morning rush here in Vancouver, BC, and early enough to miss the evening rush between Seattle and Tacoma. Unfortunately, nobody told us the Sea-Tac rush NEVER ends.

Needless to say, by the time we arrived at The Inn @ Northrup Station (really nice btw!) we were both thirsty AND hungry. We had a quick shower and caught the Streetcar to Tom McCall Park. I’ll deal with our visit to the Brewfest in another post (link here). We walked from the Brewfest ... did I mention it was over 100 degrees that day? …up to the Park Blocks to seek out Park Kitchen.

We chose Park Kitchen based primarily on the recs I received in this forum. I only hope I can return the favor to the same degree to any of you wanting to visit Vancouver. We were seated outside where I was able to enjoy an amazing display of 3-point shooting at the basketball court across the street. Step-Mommy-J started with a Manhattan made with Wild Turkey instead of Canadian Rye which we use up North, and I enjoyed a Negroni. Generous sized drinks = a good start.

We opted for several small plates, rather than the appetizer/entrée routine. We usually dine this way at home since it allows you to cover a lot of territory. We started with the Salt Cod Fritters, Cold Cucumber Soup with Smoked Salmon, Cured Sardines w/ Fennel & Lemon and Flank Steak with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onions.

The Fritters showed a bit of whimsy I really like in this type of dining. They were served with a malt vinegar sauce and presented on brown paper reminding me of so many fish & chips dinners I had as a kid. I know vinegar & potatoes (or frites) seems odd to some of you, but it tastes like home to me.

The Sardines won me over as soon as they were set on the table … I LOVE shaved fennel, lemon and extra virgin olive oil (sorry, can’t bring myself to use evoo), and the Cucumber Soup was the most refreshing thing I had enjoyed all day … including the Watermelon Heffeweisen at the Brewfest. BTW, by this time it was about 10:30pm, and still about 95 degrees!

The Flank steak was something of a departure for me … I eat very little red meat, and rarely order it when dining out. But this had a healthy portion of blue cheese (sadly not from Oregon) crumbled over it! We could have ordered another without hesitation … but there was more of the menu to explore.

Two glasses of Sokol Blosser Rose were ordered along our next round of plates which included some Tomato Braised Artichokes w/ Chorizo, and a salad of Albacore Tuna, Green Beans and Moroccan Olives. We weren’t completely sure about the wine, but our server Anna assured us we had chosen well. We now have 4 bottles of the stuff in our wine cellar which tells you what we thought. I’m not a wine expert, so you’ll forgive my clumsy description: Quite grapefruit-y (pink, of course) with a smooth finish (I was expecting crisper), hints of vanilla as well.

Dinner finished with a Nectarine & Blackberry Crisp served with Almond Ice Cream, a glass of grappa for Step-Mommy-J, and some port for me. It was a wonderful meal despite the heat, and a terrific end to our first day. Park Kitchen has a permanent place in my PDA. It was now almost midnight, and still 95 degrees. A short (for us) walk back to the hotel (NW 20th & Northrup) and we rested up for the Farmers’ Market.

Day 2 coming soon ...

DA

[ExtraMSG]

It was nice meeting you guys and I had fun gabbing with you both. I'm looking forward to hearing what you did with the rest of your time in Portland. That cucumber soup is so green. Was it just cucumber? Did it have an herb or avocado in it or something?

[Daddy-A]

I'm looking forward to hearing what you did with the rest of your time in Portland. That cucumber soup is so green. Was it just cucumber? Did it have an herb or avocado in it or something?

I'll get Day 2 up by Friday ... these longer posts take quite a while to do! I have a new respect for the bloggers

The soup was just like eating a fresh cucumber ... I'm sure there were herbs in it. Mint or selantro, but very subtle. I would have taken better notes .... but you did see the Negroni, right? And I'm sure I mentioned the Brewfest

DA

[Daddy-A]

Day 2 - Saturday

I don't sleep well in the heat, let alone with much beer, wine, and port in the belly. All I can say is thank God for A/C!

Breakfast was at the hotel ... continental style ... granola, yoghurt, fresh fruit ... everything one needed to purge the gastromic evils from the night before.

An hour later (we chatted with a nice older couple from FL who were in town for a niece's wedding) we hopped on the Streetcar ... the Historic model no less ... and made our way to PSU and the Farmer's Market.

A quick note to anyone considering visiting Portland ... use the transit system! Our transit system (oxymoron) in Vancouver could learn a thing or two from Portland. Not only is it efficient & cheap, it's a pretty decent way to see the city.

The Portland Farmer's Market. What a treat! We've been discussing "farmer's markets" in the Vancouver, BC forum recently. One of the drawbacks we face is the number of non-producers that show up. I'm talking about crafts, services, etc ... things that aren't really farm or food related. Speaking with the people at the Portland Market, I discovered that on regular market days, all merchants must also be the producer. Only once a month or so do they allow"other" vendors in. This little bit of information would cause us a small challenge later on.

All the great things we had to leave behind

It was thanks to Nick's web site that I found out about the market, and his picture of the morells that made me want to go. I have never seen morells that big! The produce in general seemed bigger, and more varied than what we were used to. Unforunately, since we had an international border to deal with the next day we were unable to bring anything home.

What we did do was sample some amazing baked goods and cheeses. From the Pearl Bakery we grabbed two panini: one chocolate, and the other fig and star anise. For me, this was an unfair comparison. Chocolate wins all the way. Nice dense bread with small chunks of melted bittersweet chocolate. The crust was nicely chewy, but not jaw-busting. The bread in the fig/anise panini was equally good, but the flavouring kinda missed the mark. Perhaps it was just the one we bought, but there were only a couple small bits of fig, and I couldn't take much in the way of anise.

Lots of cheeses for sale ... one stands out, and that was the Crater Lake Blue from Rogue Dairy. I had just read about these guys in Northwest Palate so it was a bit fortuitous to find them at the market. I'm no cheese expert, but I know what I like in a blue. The Crater Lake was much smoother than other blues I've had, but still had that wonderful tangy-ness.

Approaching noon, we started looking for Nick, who we were supposed to meet at Jim Dixon's place. Remember that market "rule" about producers only? Well, Jim is an importer, so he wasn't there. Too bad for me ... I was hoping to broker some time in Tuscany! Fortunately I remembered one of Nick's must-do's at the market .... Low's lamb ribs. While ordering Sampler Platter, I mentioned to the owner we had come all the way from Vancouver, BC to try these ribs. He clued in, and pointed Nick out to us. So Nick watched while J & I chowed down on the most wonderful BBQ I've had in a long time. We don't get real BBQ in Vancouver (Memphis Blue notwithstanding) so this was a real treat.

We spent a couple hours with Nick, learning about the market and Portland in general. It was thanks to him, and other eGulleters like Jim and so many others that helped shape our trip. If I haven't said it already .... THANKS!

Dinner after the Brewfest was SUPPOSED to be at clarklewis. But the wife and I aren't big on firm plans when we travel. Instead, we ended up in East Portland at a place called The Delta Cafe with a bunch of PDX'ers we met at the Brewfest. When in Rome, right? Sorry, no pix, was too dark

"Delta" refers to the Mississippi delta I assume, as the food was a pseudo-Cajun theme. I say "pseudo" because A) I don't know that I've ever had authentic Cajun, and B) I don't think Cajuns drink Mojto's, or at least not Vodka Mojito's. I did. Not bad. My gumbo was pretty spicy, the andouille sausage was a little over-cooked but the prawns were nice & fresh. Prices looked pretty reasonable, and that's coming from a Canuck who's paying an additional 35 cents on the US dallar!

The funniest part of the evening was one of our hosts, who upon tasting his Jambalaya informed the waitress he found it too hot, and could he please have some sour cream to help cool it down. The waitress replied that she TOLD him it was HOT, and that sour cream would only ruin it! He ordered another beer and di what he was told.

Day 3 by Monday ....

[ExtraMSG]

Thanks for day 2. I bought some morels that day. See here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33737

I really like that Crater Lake Blue, too. It and the Point Reyes Blue from California are my two favorite domestics.

Too bad on the panini, that's my favorite thing from Pearl and one of my favorite bakery items in town.

[stovetop]

Hi Daddy-A:

Portland restaurant and brewpub scene is really cool from all the things that I have read over the years, When I am looking for inspiration and ideas I always do a Portland search and see what the chefs are doing, from my perspective as a chef I always find some cool stuff from the menus there, I also see a lot of Woman chefs there, Woman chefs approach things a little different then the traditional male dominated kitchen brigade, I like their approach and in the 25 years in the business two woman chefs had a big influence on my food, they were both way more laid back then the men but they where tough on quality, amazing creativity.

The other area I like is New Mexico, like Taos, I find this area also has a very strong Regional cooking style that I like, they also have a strong Micro beer industry.

Portland rocks in that area as well, there is a company called McCewans (sp), they have about 10 locations.

Some day I will make a trip to Portland and try things first hand, but until then I will get my inspiration from sites like this.

Thanks again Daddy-A for a great write up.

steve

[skyflyer3]

I went to the Portland Market a couple of weeks ago, and Jim Dixon was nice enough to point out many worthy places to try, as well as recommend Rogue Creamery's butter. I just made brownies with this butter last week, and they were the best I'd ever had, taste and texture wise. I'm definitely brining a cooler and stocking up on the butter next time I go down.

[ExtraMSG]

McMenamins, stovetop?

[stovetop]

Yes; thats it.

Thanks!!

That place sounds so cool, their web site is very good.

It sounds like a great company, I would work for them in a heart beet.

steve

[malarkey]

I would work for them in a >>heart beet<<

that's a really wonderful typo, steve.

[Daddy-A]

Day 3 - Sunday

J & I are typically big breakfast people on Sunday. A couple hours watching the weekly recap of "Coronation Street" on the CBC, and then it's off for brunch!

The Daily Cafe got the nod this morning, mostly because it was in The Pearl, and we had some other shopping to take care of before we returned home to the Great White North. While we waited for a couple large tables to get cleared up (about 15 minutes), we had a chance to read over the menu.

The Daily Offers a "fixed price" brunch for around $10-12 (didn't take notes) which seemd a pretty good value judging from the size of the plates leaving the kitchen. We're not normally "lots of food = good meal" people, but for breakfast it does have some influence. The Daily really pays off here.

We weren't horribly hungry (beer and gumbo fills you up!) J ordered the Huevos Rancheros and I had a Panini with shaved smoke turkey. My Panini (which was only okay) was served with The Daily's special home fries, which I initially thought were cold. It was later I realized the potatoes were hot, but the caramelized onions were cold. I'm not sure if this was done on purpose, but it was really yummy! Kinda like the cold bits of roasted veggies the day after Christmas dinner.

J's eggs were served with salsa and a cheese quesadila. She's not a big egg person, so if she liked them, they must have been okay. What was cool was the little garnish on the eggs. The looked like a small pea pod, but we later discovered they were a member of the radish family. Never seen anything like them before.

The rest of the day was spent shopping. Our favorite find? Powell's Books! OMG! We could have spent the entire weekend there without trouble. You PDX'ers are so lucky. The other thing we searched for was a couple bottles of the Sokol Blosser Roser. Unfortunately, wine stores seem to be closed on Sunday. Fortunately, you have Whole Foods. Vancouver is supposed to be getting one soon, and this will be one time I whole-heartedly welcome American expansion!

So that was our short, but fulfilling trip to Portland. I will regroup and post about the Brewfest in the Beer forum if I can ever decipher my notes!

Thanks again to all who contributed their opinions and helped make my first trip to your beautiful city a great one. We'll be back soon!

DA

[ExtraMSG]

Thanks for the great report.

btw, Powell's City of Books on Burnside is only one of several of their stores. They have a technical bookstore a couple blocks down I used to live at. It has about the number of books of a Borders, but it's all computer and technical books. Their Cooks and Gardeners store is about the same, but all cooking and gardening (mostly cooking). Plus a travel bookstore and a couple other smaller general stores. They have a very good website, too, where you can even buy used and clearance books:

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/partner?htm...artner_id=28368

Glad you enjoyed your visit.

Edited August 3, 2004 by ExtraMSG (log)

[stovetop]

I would work for them in a >>heart beet<<

that's a really wonderful typo, steve.

Hey I have a lot more up my sleeve

steve