Seattle – Rising Stars 2020

Not much recover time from eating too much in Portland but the line up for this event was too good to pass up. All the dishes were great and we had eaten at about half of restaurants. Each dish also had wine pairings which made it a bit tough the next morning at work.

The Shambles: prosciutto, salami, pate, gnocco frito

Ben’s Bread: miso butter

Adana: potato mochi, slams, chanterelle, herbs, sansho pepper, pickles

Eden Hill: braised short rib, fermented kombu rub, petite radish, salad, carrot puree, smoked peanut gremolata

Musang: squid ink noodles, fried squid, chicharron, smoked fish

General Harvest Restaurants: radiatore, lamb, vegetables, pecorino

Bateau: glazed beef shank, herbs, pickled elderberry seeds

Navy Strength: smoked trout spread, rye sourdough, brown butter crumble, dill chip

Archipelago: scallop, verjus, tomatillo, sea beans, onion, shallot, rhubarb

How to Cook a Wolf: root vegetables, salmon roe, goat yogurt vinaigrette

Kamonegi: shishamo nanbanzuke – fried and vinegar-marinated smelt, aromatics

El Xolo: conchinita pibil taco – achiote-braised pork shoulder, habanero salsa, pickled red onion

Farestart: neopolitan-style cream cheese trifle

Canlis: raspberry balinese meringue, raspberry ice, chocolate sponge cake, hazelnut powder

hood Famous: ube cheesecake, coconut butter biscuit crust

Portland – Pine State Biscuits

To be as close to dinner as possible and make maximum benefit of various hotel points we somehow still ended up close to Pine State very close. K had the leftover paella Sunday morning so I went alone to get a “small” breakfast of only a sausage biscuit but substantially enough to provide a good base for all the wine we’d consume during the day. Today we wanted an early start and ate quickly before hitting the road home.

Sausage Patty

Bacon, Egg & Cheese

McIsley: fried chicken, pickles, mustard, honey

Portland – Gado Gado

I wish Seattle had a restaurant like Gado Gado. It’s a light fusion of Chinese-Indonesian cuisine with local ingredients that really works. The only thing we didn’t like is that the kitchen is on the Autobahn, we were done before we had even been there an hour, dishes came so fast we ran out of room on our table.
The roti was as expected but the cream corn dipping sauce was a very left-field take that worked, it was sweet and creamy that was almost like an apple butter. I was really looking forward to the laksa, I hadn’t had it in 2.5 years and while it was very good felt it was missing something and still not sure what. Every else was fantastic and can see why it was packed even on a Sunday night.

Spicy Fermented Gai Choi

Roti Canai: flaky Malasian flatbread, coconut creamed corn, parmesan

Grilled Milk Bread: coconut herb butter

Ayam Goreng: Coconut & curry marinated fried chicken thigh, herbs, pickled chilis, habanero & kecap sambal, crispies

Spicy Coconut Laksa: ramen, shellfish broth, laksa leaf, tofu puff, fish ball, egg, bean sprouts, shrimp krupuk, cilantro, chili jam

Grilled Halibut Collar: longan, rau ram, perilla chimichurri

Clay Pot Duck Curry: duck leg, Javanese coconut curry, potato, stewed egg, sambal ikan bilis…

with Oma’s aromatic rice

Newberg – Rosmarino

This lovely Italian osteria was recommend by the owners by one of the wineries we’re members of and better yet were in town and able to join us for a bowl of gnocchi. They’ve done a few wine dinners here and the chef/owner greeted them warmly, he’s from Alba and all about hospitality. They told us his mom runs a B&B there and he’s hosted food trips there and his mom just loves having  his guests make the long journey.
Sundays are for pizza and gnocchi, we all go the later and these were little bites of heaven. Instead of the grape size gnocchi normally find these were slightly smaller than jellybeans. We were both in heaven, so light and tasty. Chef apparently also makes his own limoncello so we got a glass to enjoy with our amazing dessert.

Bergamasca: house made pancetta, butter, sage, garlic, grana padano

Truffle: marscapone

Berry Cake

Portland – Ataula

To balance going back to familiar places both our dinners were new to us. Saturday went for tapas and paella at this highly regarded restaurant, we had to wait 75 minutes for  table but our hotel was only a block away so relaxed waiting for the “come on down” call.
The wait was worth it, instead of a cold, rainy February day we envisioned ourselves in Southern Spain watching the sunset with an amazing meal. I ordered the ham and bread before we even looked at the menu and it just melted in our mouths. Loved the presentation of the croquetas and they were some of the best ever had, super crispy exterior and pillowy soft interior the rossejat and paella were the stars of the meal, I still can’t decide which I thought was better, they both had such intense flavors and cooked to perfection. We got the last xuixo and sadly had to break it to two women who sat down just as we got it that we got the last one when one said she’d dined here many times and always wanted to try without luck. Ataula is added to the list of places in PDX will return to.

Mmmmm….ham

4 Year Jamon: glass bread, tomato, olive oil

Croquetas: smoked piquillo aoli

Pepito de Ternera: veal breast sandwich, brioche, havarti, roasted green pepper, horseradish, green salad

Rossejat Negre: toasted noodles, calamari, squid ink, sofrito. harissa aioli

Rabbit Paella: bomba rice, rabbi, chorizo

Mini Xuixo: house pastry, custard, spiced sugar

Portland – Nong’s Khao Man Gai

With a long weekend and lots of shopping to do it made perfect sense to head to Portland for food and the nearby Willamette Valley to get some more wine. K wanted chicken rice and I’m not one to complain, we both got the standard and a bag of fried skins. Unfortunately didn’t know you could ask for dark meat with skin, also breast skin, until a another guest ordered it as we were finishing. Next time will get but this really hit the spot. Love the branded pint glass and bought one.

Seattle – Musang

Unlike Archipelago nearby, Musang is all about making slight riffs on Filipino mainstays with quality ingredients. We went with two of our Filipino friends and they loved it, although we joked if they brought their parents they’d complain that could’ve made it all at home for less money. We were all impressed with the quality and using local ingredients like WA apples in place of tamarind to get the sourness in the sinigang. None of had ever had squid ink pancit and it really worked, I think K ate half the bowl. For dessert we should’ve gotten three bowls on the banana pandan sorbet and one bowl of the ube sorbet, while the chocolate was good it’s no different than can get at numerous other restaurants and while the ginataang had the right flavors, according to our friends, it wasn’t hot enough or thick enough. Just have to get there early or be ok waiting, we had a 2 hour wait and just went to a brewery down the street to have a drink and chat.

Really excited to see lesser known Asian foods find their way and lots of fans taking the time to explore and dine.

Lumpiang Shanghai: pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, spiced vinegar

Bola Bola: bacalao, rock fish, apple ketchup

Beef Mechado: roasted vegetables, red pepper, tomato – Garlic Fried Rice

Pork Sinigang: granny smith, radish, rainbow chard, taro

Inihaw na Hipon: head on shrimp, bagoong & pineapple chutney

Adobong Pusit Pancit: squid, bihon, tinapa, scallions

Ube Sorbet – Ginataang Bilo Bilo – Banana Pandan Sorbet – Tibok Tibok

Seattle – Beast and Cleaver

It had been a while since I supported a crowd funded restaurant and really glad got behind Beast and Cleaver even though it’s more of a butcher that happens to make incredible food. They only have one table that can seat ten and 6 bar stools along the front windows. While I was expecting beef from a butcher I was blown away with everything served and woke up dreaming of the duck and waffle. We plan on buying out the restaurant in April and I can’t wait. In fact as I’m writing this I’m eating two of the five types of sausage I picked up, saving the pate en croute for a later meal.

My friend and I, not to mention the seven other diners, were blown away with the flavors teased out in each dish. The meal started with the lightest and crunchiest chicarrons with the great umami boost from shiitakes. The fish was in a sea of fish sauce which the turnip and mushroom were marinated in but not long enough to overpower the subtle flavor of albacore. The pork belly wasn’t very fatty and the skin was seared crisp, combined with black truffles and a great sauce I thought at the time would be my favorite dish. Just wish there was bread to mop up all the sauce. I’m usually not a fan of carrots but the smoked and pureed were flavorful and not too carroty, it was served with a habanero sauce that unfortunately wasn’t as hot as I would’ve like. Which brings us to the duck, holy cow I wish I had another serving in front of me right now. The duck was tender but not falling apart and the waffle was insane, the put a bowl of crisp ones on the table if anyone needed more and I could eat one plain. The sauce was a riff on a la orange, it wasn’t as sweet as traditional and had way more depth thanks to some pork aspic to make it a bit thicker. Dessert was nice and light and not too sweet, basically cream in an ice cream cone with some fruit.

Chicharrons: Shiitake powder

Albacore: Fermented turnip, black vinegar

Pork Belly: Cabbage, black truffle, WA maple syrup

Smoked Carrot: Rye, harissa, habanero

Duck Confit: Sourdough waffle, duck sauce

Krumkake and Cream