Portlandia, I Love You

THE wings.

Every time I visit Portland, I have to rethink my decision not to move there.  Partially this is because I always manage to visit during their glorious summer, but mostly it's because of the city's incredible food and beverage culture. 

I never cease to be amazed at how much creative deliciousness is available, all over the city, at every price point.

On my most recent visit last week, I was struck by the popularity of "drinking vinegars" -- something I had only recently discovered thanks to the "Spring Shrub" cocktail at Goose & Gander.  In Portland, these fruit vinegars aren't just at cutting-edge temples of mixology; you'll find them at the downtown farmer's market and neighborhood Thai restaurants, among many other places. 

One of the tastiest beverages of my trip (an extremely competitive field) was the non-alcoholic tamarind vinegar soda at Pok Pok Noi.  Tart, savory, and refreshing, this was the ideal pairing for the restaurant's famed Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, Spicy style.  The punchy acidity made me think I was sipping a cocktail and should ease up on my drinking speed, but no matter how fast I drank or how many I had, I was going to be fine biking home.  And in Portlandia, that's essential.



Tamarind Som.

The Pok Pok restaurant group calls its vinegars "Soms," and now distribute 16-ounce bottles of the standard flavor assortment online.  Another Portland company called Blossom Vinegars proudly hawks its own interesting selection of drinking vinegars at farmers' markets around town.  Think blueberry-basil, and apple-jalapeno vinegar.

Why is wine country behind trend on this? With so much olive oil, grape juice, and culinary talent, you'd think we would be leading the infused vinegar movement.  But Portlandia is leagues ahead of us here.

Discovering the Sahagun Ka-Pow "coffee bar" in a random cafe also humbled my Bay Area food snobbery.  As you can see from the picture, this thing looks like any other premium dark chocolate bar, but it's made entirely of coffee beans, sugar, and cocoa butter -- no cocoa mass at all.  The interior texture reminded me of a Kit Kat with its crystallized honeycomb of crunchies, but the flavor was pure coffee -- Extracto Roasters' Ethiopia Sidamo Adem Chilcho coffee, to be exact. 

In brief, it is absolutely delicious.  And, naturally, highly caffeinated. One bar contains just a bit less caffeine than a shot of espresso. 

We need more of these things in California.  And also, THIS:

"And it's delicious!"

J'adore.

Make Me Laugh, Tout Suite

The esteemed tasting panel at Thursday's Tasting In The Dark.
Photo by Ashley Teplin.

Why are unexpected pleasures always the most delightful?


I was invited to visit the Tout Suite Social Club headquarters in St. Helena Thursday night to watch them film a blind pinot noir tasting and a tequila/taco segment with Jesus Padilla of Los Osuna Agave Azul spirits. Not having done my homework, I learned moments before the filming started that Tout Suite streams live broadcasts about interesting food and beverages out to its "social club" of followers every week, with two-way video that allows members to "call in" and interact with the live guests as part of the show.  The goal is to get incredible products and producers into your living room, no matter where you live.  Tout Suite launched on Bastille Day this year, and is presently in a kind of soft opening beta status while they work out the kinks and build up their online content.



Tout Suite's tasting commentators dissecting every
swirl, sniff, and eyebrow lift.
Photo by Ashley Teplin.

The shows have sassy names like "Tasting In The Dark" (their blind tasting competition), and "Meet Your Maker" (featuring producers of artisanal products), and an irreverent tone to match.  The blind pinot tasting, for example, involved a panel of four serious wine lovers -- a winemaker, a wine collector, a somm, and a blogger -- tasting their way through six masked bottles of pinot noir, while out of sight commentators offer helpful background and narrate the blow by blow with hushed tones and golf-like intensity.  Like real television commentators, they take enormous liberties speculating on the thought process behind every visible move, however minute or meaningless.  

A random sampling to give you a sense:

He's really getting that wine all the way back into his mouth....

Did that come out of his nose there?

She's like a sweet rose between two thorns.

Look at that spit! What an impressive spiral motion.



As someone who loathes golf (and particularly televised golf), I found this completely awesome.  Fortunately the shows are available to view after the initial live broadcast on the Video Vault portion of the Tout Suite website.  Check it out! It's free to join the club.



Feast on the Wild Side



Hank Shaw hunting diver ducks; photo
by Holly Heyser, aka NorCal Cazadora

 As someone who's always been fascinated by the hunting and foraging concept -- but admittedly more interested in the spoils than the chase -- I was stoked to hear from my friend Ashley Teplin that Farmstead Restaurant is hosting a wild dinner with foraging expert Hank Shaw on June 30, 2011.  

Hank is the author of the new book Hunt, Gather, Cook- Finding the Forgotten Feast, as well as the James Beard nominated blog Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.  He's been fishing and foraging most of his life, and has more than a few tricks to share in this book for gathering wild greens, selecting fishing gear, plucking pheasants, and gutting deer.  He also delves into the procuring process and recipes for far less familiar edibles, like sea robins, daylilies, wild doves, and --yes, it exists!-- dandelion wine.

The dinner this Thursday is part of his national book release tour, and hosted by Hank's duck hunting buddy Sheamus Feeley (who sadly is leaving his position as Farmstead executive chef at the end of July to return to Hillstone Restaurant Group).  The family style feast begins with passed appetizers at 6:30pm, and includes a book signing with Hank (and book purchasing if you like; $20 each).  

The menu sounds prett-y darn exciting.  Check it out:
All of this can be yours for a mere $50 per person, which INCLUDES the excellent wine from Farmstead's parent winery, Long Meadow Ranch.  That is a steal.

Call Farmstead to reserve your spot, and be sure to specify it is for the Hank Shaw event.  I scored my reservations this weekend, so there are still a few seats left.  See you there, I hope!

Farmstead Restaurant, 738 Main Street, St. Helena, 707-963-9181.

• Smoked sturgeon with crema and paddlefish roe
• Wild boar meatballs with tomato marmalade
• Cheddar biscuits with cured ham and apple butter
• Grilled Venison with elderberry conserve
• Mix of wild duck and wild boar sausages with mustard
• Porchetta " Half and Half": wild boar loin, wrapped in a red wattle belly with salsa verde
• Ramp and potato gratin
• Sea beans with chile, garlic and honey
• Purslane and black kale salad with chile pequin and toasted grana
• Salad of porcini mushrooms with preserved lemon, arugula, Carmody cheese and celery
• Roasted rock bass with wild fennel cioppino broth and aioli
• Buttermilk panna cotta with Saskatoon berry gelee