Portland Restaurants

The Ultimate Breakfast Taco

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:10:00 -0700

Towering at six and a half feet, with a scruffy beard and a barrel of a chest, Tastebud’s Mark Doxtader effortlessly carves a wide swath through the Portland State University farmers market’s ceaseless crowds, greeting veteran vendors and popping kale flowers in his mouth along the way. Just as he’s done nearly every Saturday for the past 13 years, Doxtader combs market before the opening bell, trading Tastebud’s wood-fired pizzas and bagels in return for fresh pea shoots and rhubarb stalks to transform into salads and cobblers back at his booth.

VIDEO
In the Kitchen with Mark Doxtader

DOWNLOAD
Shopping List [PDF]

On a recent Saturday, we shadowed Doxtader on a hunt to assemble the consummate breakfast taco. His cherry-picked ingredients hail from some of Portland’s brightest new farms: a dairy producer brandishing nine-pound wheels of creamy, “blueless” blue cheese (without the funky mold), a tortilla doyenne grinding fresh corn masa, and a butcher shop selling intensely marbled Wagyu beef and pork jowl bacon. The result is breakfast à la Doxtader, with unadulterated flavors and an unfussy approach to fresh ingredients. But the concept is endlessly improvisational and meant to be tailored to your taste buds—don’t hesitate to throw in fresh corn, snap peas, or even pumpkin as summer unfolds.

THE DOXTADER BREAKFAST TACO

1. Masa or tortilla (Three Sisters Nixtamal)

Roll masa into walnut-size balls, place between two pieces of plastic wrap, press into a tortilla using a pot or cutting board, and heat in a cast-iron skillet for one minute on each side. (Premade tortillas are also available.)

2. duck eggs (Dancing Chicken Farm)

Duck eggs make for a richer, fluffier scramble. Add butter and eggs to a cold, nonstick skillet, turn heat to medium, and scramble eggs with a fork, adding cheese, salt, and pepper as they finish.

3. Pluvias Cheese (Willapa Hills)

Crumble bits of this creamy, cratered, blue-style cow’s milk cheese to melt into the scrambled duck eggs as they cook.

4. Pork Jowl Bacon (Pono Farm)

This flavor-packed cheek bacon is soaked in a brown-sugar brine for two weeks and smoked over apple and cherry wood. Slice it into ¹/₈-inch lardons, and fry over medium heat until crispy.

5. Market Slaw (Spring Hill Farm, Groundworks Organics, Gathering Together Farm)

3 cups finely shredded green cabbage or Italian kale
1 cup thinly sliced French breakfast radishes
2 tbsp thinly sliced green scallions
½ cup roughly chopped cilantro
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1 pinch chile flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

COMBINE vegetables in a bowl, toss with lemon juice and olive oil, season with chile flakes, salt, and pepper, and scatter on taco.

Makes about 1 quart of slaw.

In the Kitchen with Mark Doxtader

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:12:00 -0700

READ Farmers market veteran Mark Doxtader shows us how to start the day right.

DOWNLOAD Shopping List [PDF]

Feast Portland's 2013 Official Lineup Revealed

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:00 -0700

It's official, Feast Portland is back—bigger, beefier, Brock-ier, Bon Appétit-ier, and brunchier in its second year.

The whale of a lineup of official Feast events landed today, and what a whale it is: a long weekend packed with more than 40 opportunities to eat, drink, and chef oggle—crashing into town September 19 through 22.

Filled with international culinary VIPs, Portland pride, and can’t-miss events night after night, the event schedule for the Bon Appétit-sponsored food and drink festival cements Portland’s induction into the upper echelon of the national food scene.

Big names on the docket include Hugh Acheson (The National), 2013 James Beard award winner Danny Bowien (Mission Chinese Food), 2013 JBF award winners Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski (State Bird Provisions), Sean Brock (McCrady’s), Renee Erickson (The Walrus and the Carpenter), Jason Franey (Canlis), Aaron Franklin (Franklin BBQ), Duff Goldman (Charm City Cakes), 2013 James Beard award winner Stephanie Izard (The Girl and the Goat), Michael Voltaggio (ink.) and many, many more.

Throughout the weekend, these food celebs will partner with Portland’s best chefs to highlight the best of our city’s culinary offerings, from charcuterie and coffee to sandwiches and salmon.

Returning events include the two-day Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting in Pioneer Courthouse Square, the Sandwich Invitational at Director Park, the Night Market global street food celebration at Ecotrust, intimate pairing dinners, and a relocated "High Comfort" event featuring upscale "lowbrow" bites from local and national VIPs. New this year:

Affordable events like the free Whole Foods Market Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face-Off to individual event tickets starting at $10
A brunch series on Sunday, September 22 celebrating Portland's favorite meal.
Panel discussions exploring everything from the best Northwest wines you aren't drinking to nostalgic candy bars
A new-format speaker series dishing out business tips to culinary entrepreneurs and questioning whether Portland is still on the rise or about to be over (guess which side we come down on)
More cooking classes (DIY butchery! Salt block cooking! Pok Pok at home!)
and a few surprises still under wraps...

The first round of public tickets go on sale Monday, May 20 at feastportland.com. Mark your calendars, and happy feasting!

Can't wait for September? Get pumped up for the next Feast fest by thumbing through our slide shows from last year's events.

For more on Portland’s food and drink scene, sign up for our weekly Eat Beat newsletter, subscribe to our RSS Feed, and follow us on Twitter @allisonejones, @karenbrookspdx, and @btepler.

Slide Show: Opening Day at Andy Ricker's Sen Yai

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:00 -0700

The wait is over: Andy Ricker's noodle house Sen Yai has landed. The James Beard Award-winning Pok Pok mastermind has transformed the former Kappaya sushi space on SE Division into a teal-hued Thai breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot with a focus on Kuaytiaw, stir-fried and broth-laden noodles—think colorful Portland-friendly comfort fare with a spicy twist. All photos by Allison Jones.

Inside Andy Ricker's Noodle House Sen Yai

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:00 -0700

The wait is over: Andy Ricker's noodle house Sen Yai has landed.

As previously reported, the James Beard Award-winning Pok Pok mastermind has transformed the former Kappaya sushi space on SE Division into a teal-hued Thai breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot with a focus on Kuaytiaw, stir-fried and broth-laden noodles—think colorful Portland-friendly comfort fare with a spicy twist.

Sen Yai ("Big Noodle") is divided into two interior dining rooms (together seating around 50) complete with art and artifacts from Ricker's annual seven-week sojourns to Bangkok and beyond. Diners would be forgiven for thinking they'd stepped outside of the country and into a streetside eatery in Thailand, complete with language barrier and wild colors rarely seen in Portland's minimalist-leaning restaurant design. A soon-to-be-packed outdoor patio can accomodate another 50+ eaters and drinkers happily navigating the loaded menu.

Doors open every morning at 8 am, with a small selection of Thai morning fare, including simple and fortifying sen lek maan kai soup with a choice of noodles, jok (rice porridge), pantanko (Thai crullers ready for dipping), and poached eggs with toast "soldiers."

For lunch and dinner (served from 11 am to 10 pm), Sen Yai's street vendor-inspired noodle station kicks into high gear, churning out over fifteen varieties of flavor-packed soups, and yes, Ricker's take on Phat Thai. Early favorites include the Kuaytiaw Reua "Boat Noodles" inspired by food vendors along the canals of Thailand (a savory and spice broth loaded with stewed beef, poached beef, housemade meatballs, fragrant and smoky dry chiles, and rice noodles) and the Kuaytiaw Neua Sap (old-school Thai comfort food—charred fresh rice noodles topped with a 'gravy' of ground beef, tomatoes, onions, garlic, oyster sauce, and soy and fish sauces).

The long-awaited Sen Yai is the latest Portland outpost of Ricker's fast-growing culinary empire, coming in after the flagship Pok Pok, breakout Whiskey Soda Lounge, and NE Prescott's Pok Pok Noi. With a burgeoning NYC presence added to the mix, Pok Pok has become a household name on both coasts, setting the gold standard for unabashedly authentic Thai fare and restaurants that bring the culture, music, colors, and ingredients of Ricker's adopted country stateside (for a price exponentially less than a round-trip ticket around the world).

Didn't make it to opening day? Eat vicariously through our slideshow by clicking the photo above and start planning your meal vacation, no checked baggage required.

Sen Yai Noodles
3384 SE Division
503-236-3573
Open daily from 8 am to 10 pm

Portland's Newest Beer Spots

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:30:00 -0700

Image: Branden Andersen

Get your growler filled with the latest in beer technology at the Tin Bucket on N. Williams Ave.

It's important to stay informed, because beer waits for no one. Here's the latest in brew news from around Portland:

Tin Bucket, a new growler-fill station/bottle shop/taproom on North Williams, carries 40 different beers poured from state-of-the-art, spaceship-like Pegas CrafTap fill stations, which purge growlers with CO2 (to prevent air contamination) before filling them with beer from the bottom up (no foam = more beer) and topping off with another CO2 purge that caps the growler with a nice foamy head to ensure a proper seal. The result? No spoiled beer—even after two weeks.

The shop offers a combination of rustic, raw wooden tables, a bar handmade by one of the owners, and the growler stations providing a bit of space-age industrialism. The beer wall boasts about 200 bottles, most hailing from local breweries. Owner Jason Monge says he hopes to fill his currently empty shelf space with more imports soon.

We walked out with 64-ounces of Georgetown’s Lucielle IPA, sealed with CO2 and a soft promise of a one-year shelf life. But who could wait that long? We'll show a bit of reserve and leave it in the fridge for a month to test the power of the CrafTap.

A short sprint away is NE Dekum's Oregon Public House, the world’s first nonprofit pub, celebrating its grand opening this week. Here's how it works: patrons grab a favorite pint on tap, and when it comes time to pay, servers will ask which charity the payment should support (from a list of eight options including Habitat for Humanity and Friends of Trees). At the end of every month, the staff tallies up the votes, and the profit is distributed accordingly. In other words, if 23 percent of patrons want to donate to Habitat for Humanity, that organization gets 23 percent of the overall profit.

Of course, if you’re feeling very charitable, you could always buy a round for the house (for just $350).

“Anything put in this neighborhood is going to flourish,” an OPH bartender shared with a touch of pride. With spots like the Tin Bucket and Oregon Public House popping up, it’s no wonder this corner of Portland is thriving.

The Tin Bucket
3520 N. Williams Ave
503-477-7689

Oregon Public House
700 NE Dekum St
503-828-0884

New Willamette Valley Tasting Rooms and Events

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Image: Rachell Coe

Dundee lands landmark tasting room: Lauded Evening Land Vineyards may make award-winning wine in Oregon, California, and Burgundy, but they've made do without a tasting room—until now. Their first tasting room is coming to downtown Dundee, next to the Inn at Red Hills and Paulée Restaurant on Highway 99W, on Memorial Day Weekend. The kick-off party will take place on Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27 from 10 am to 5 pm. More information.

Ponzi Vineyard's modern tasting room reveals opening date: Oregon's noted multi-generation winery's third tasting room will open its doors in Sherwood on June 15, offering table-side wine tasting service, guided winery tours, two bocce ball courts. More information.

Apolloni's wine cave: Apolloni Vineyards—one of Forest Grove's leading producers of Pinot Noir and Italian style wines—celebrated the grand opening of its new Tuscan-inspired, open-to-the-public wine cave this month. The underground cave, one of only a few in Oregon, echoes the Apolloni family’s villa, vineyards, and cave in Italy south of Venice, and relies on 100% passive geothermal regulation to maintain optimal temperature and humidity. For more information and directions please visit apolloni.com.

Custom wine growlers at Bistro Marquee: Thanks to recent Oregon regulation changes, growlers can now be filled on-site at bottle shops and restaurants with wine and cider. Bistro Marquee, the new SW Market Street eatery (debuting Monday, May 20) from Thirst Bistro's Leslie Palmer, is one of the first eateries to brand and sell their own wine growlers. For more information, visit BistroMarquee.com.

5 best new release Oregon rosés: Sustainable wine guru Jeffrey Weissler shared his tasting notes for the best new summer sips from his NE Glisan wine shop Pairings Portland. Find the full list on Eat Beat.

Paulée's one year anniversary celebration “Flights and Bites”: Wine country hotspot Paulée will jumpstart summer with its 1 year anniversary celebration. In honor of the restaurant’s new neighbors (upcoming tasting rooms for Evening Lands, Le Cadeau, and Tertulia) executive chef Sean Temple will serve four special bites alongside four AVA-specific flights (including one NW beer flight) on Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19 and Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27 from 11 am until 9:30 pm at Paulée Restaurant (1410 N Highway 99W, Dundee).

Memorial Day Wine Tastings: Each year, over 150 wineries in Oregon's wine country open their doors for weekend-long celebrations to kick off summer with free tastings, tours, and activities. Head to the Willamette Valley Wineries website or the Visit Washington County website to plan your weekend wine escape.

Summer concert series at regional wineries: Tickets are going fast for the summer's hottest concerts, including open-air events at Maryhill Winery and McMenamins Edgefield. Find the full lineups right this way.

Versatile Bites at Relish Gastropub

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:29:00 -0700

Image: Benjamin Tepler

Rockfish and Mussel Stew with tomato-braised fennel ragu

Under a backlit marquee spelling out “Relish Gastropub,” and inside a former music venue (before that, a funeral home!), the new 100-seat space feels as un-Portland as you might imagine in Moreland: the front sign buzzes like a church offering penance at discount rates, servers over the age of forty bus tables, and ambient background music borders on Enya.

But in most respects, Relish is a success. Chef Joseph Valoff (a Noisette alum) is serving up Oregon-driven cuisine, built around killer burgers and fresh-made pasta meant to be eaten alongside Portland’s best brews and local vintages.

The menu hits on the essential proteins—stuffed pork loin, roasted chicken, burger—while dabbling in the art of fresh pasta and farm-to-table sensibility. The hand-cut tagliatelle comes in thick, toothsome ribbons festooned around melting chunks of tart, wine-braised pork shoulder. A spring vegetable salad with crisp radishes and carrots arrives dressed in thick tomatillo puree alongside nutty pistachio crackers; a good indicator of Valoff’s skill with salads. And most importantly for a “gastropub,” the burger was unimpeachable: juicy, topped with sweet onion jam and crowned with a dreamy slice of Pecorino Cacio di Roma sheep’s milk cheese.

Image: Benjamin Tepler

Burger with onion jam, pecorino cacio di roma, and a fat wedge of house-smoked pastrami (optional)

Beyond the food, Relish is a versatile performer. Beer geeks will gulp happily from the impressive tap list of 20-plus Oregon craft beers while you can safely take your grandmother for a nice meal, miles away from dim incandescent bulbs, thumping Dubstep, and unidentifiable pig organs. A generous “Social Hour” from 3 to 6 pm brings flavor-packed bites from mussels in orange and chile-broth to grilled asparagus with chimicchurri for early-bird eaters, and a serious-enough cocktail list will satisfy most discerning imbibers.

Even in spring’s fits and starts, Relish’s ample outdoor seating is buzzing with locals in search of great food. Relish signals a new kind of eatery for the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood, a locally sourced gastropub with elegant cuisine prepared in an approachable, drink-friendly package.

Relish Gastropub
6637 SE Milwaukie
503-208-3442
Tue-Thu, Sun, 5-9 pm; Fri-Sat, 5-10 pm
Social Hour: Tue-Sun 3-6 pm

Portland News to Chew

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Image: Gregory Gourdet

Southeast

Noodle up: Andy Ricker (Portland's Thai food guru of Pok Pok fame) will officially open the doors of his new SE Division eatery Sen Yai noodle house on Thursday, May 16. Eat Beat will have photos and first bites from opening night. 3384 SE Division St.

The ramen revolution continues: Hot eatery Boke Bowl is getting cool this summer with new menu items: a cold ramen noodle salad (dressed with a lemon-soy vinaigrette and served with pickled carrots and cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and topped with either tender pork tenderloin or house smoked tofu), new warm-weather carbonated cocktails including a cucumber gin fizz, and ramen with rabbit three ways (house noodles topped with rabbit sausage and slow-roasted confit). 1028 SE Water Ave

Go east, young man: Squish Durawa's SE 50th from-scratch pizza cart Wy'east shuttered on May 12. In a public statement, Durawa noted he will by "moving our business to Milwaukee, Wisconsin soon. The cart is for sale. If you know someone who is looking for a food cart, please send them our way." More here.

GCB, the next generation: Southeast's Grand Central Bowl recently underwent a full revamp of their menu, beer list, and cocktail offerings and just finished construction on a new all-ages arcade room, complete with 4-way PacMan, Pop-A-Shot, ski-ball, 4-way air hockey, and Big Buck Hunter HD. 808 SE Morrison St

North

Upper crust: Mary Sheridan, the owner of Belmont-based pie cart the Honey Pot, will launch a brick-and-mortar bakery and cafe on North Mississippi by July. According to Eater, the new watery will offer all of the cart's sweet and savory pies, full espresso service, and an expanded menu—and the Honey Pot cart will remain open. 4220 N. Mississippi Ave

Southwest

Lights...Camera...: Bistro Marquee (the new Rick Widmayer-powered restaurant taking over the former Market space) will be ready for its closeup on May 17, offering lunch Monday through Friday and dinner Monday through Saturday (as well as prix fixe dinners on show nights at the nearby Keller Auditorium). Stay tuned for more details and photos of the new space.

Heart National coffee blog Sprudge.com broke the news that Wille Yli-Luoma's Heart Coffee Roasters will open a west side location on SW 12th and Alder, next to Gruner, by August 2013. 616 SW 12th Ave

Full service: SW Broadway's Raven & Rose is now full speed ahead after launching lunch service on May 13. Diners can expect salads, bison burgers, carved roast beef sandwiches with smoked cheddar, battered fish & chips, classic Shepherd’s pie, and more. Lunch is available Monday through Friday from 11 am to 2 pm. 1331 SW Broadway

Got a food news tip? Send it my way at ajones@portlandmonthlymag.com!

Accidental Chicken/Chick'n Swap—and Other Stories

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Image: Miriam Doerr

Whoops! That's not chick'n...

This week in notable food-centric links:

◊ How to get clearer eyes and the butt of a 22-year-old stripper: Enter Rebecca Harrington’s entertaining review of Gwyneth Paltrow’s newest cookbook It’s All Good. The “Gwyneth experience” includes waving your hands like a person in a Victorian insane asylum, green meatballs, and vegan pancakes. Don’t forget your one cigarette per week (Saturday nights only).

◊ When you’re making Gwyneth’s meatballs, be sure to use a protein other than turkey. In a recent study, Consumer Reports tested 257 samples of ground turkey from supermarkets, and found that virtually every one was contaminated with either fecal bacteria, staph, or salmonella. Food safety experts are skeptical that the USDA’s newly proposed meat safety rules are likely to lower the levels of bacterial contamination.

◊ Tomato, Tomahto! Whole Foods accidentally switched the labels for its chicken salad and "chick'n" salad in their Northeast stores last week.

◊ The Mighty O on the Mighty G: Karen Brooks’ latest book The Mighty Gastropolis has a long list of fans, and the list keeps getting longer. Brooks has received positive press from the likes of Bon Appetit and Time Magazine writer Josh Ozersky, and The Oregonian food critic Michael Russell is the newest addition to the list.

◊ Strike a pose: the country’s hottest chefs traded in their whites for fancy frocks at last week’s James Beard Foundation Awards event in New York City. Bon Appétit captured photos of some of the evening’s best dressed chefs, including Portland’s own Naomi Pomeroy.

◊ New York City may boast many things when it comes to food, but convenient rules and regulations for food trucks is not one of them. The New York Times article documents the bureaucratic obstacles that undermine opening and operating a mobile food business in the Big Apple (and have many entrepreneurs eyeing PDX).

◊ Rust goes green: the farm-to-fork phenomenon has been slow coming to Rust Belt cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Now, folks like chef Jonathan Sawyer of Greenhouse Tavern and Cavan Patterson are pioneering the “Rust Belt Revival”.