More Posts About Buildings and Food

Breakfast at Milo's on NE Broadway left no real impression beyond the booths being very similar to a breakfast place here, ie, slightly uncomfortable so you don't park too long. We did tell the waiter we were on a tight schedule because today actually was the day we looked at houses, I'll have to think about what we really did the day before. I know, we visited Rejuvenation House Parts and the stained glass shop across the street, met The Professor at Pazzoria, the little bakery/cafe next to Pazzo, took the Burnside bus and then walked around NW 23rd, shopping and just getting to know the city. And today was actually the day we had the crappy lunch at Saigon Kitchen. OK, got that straight.

That evening we met The Musician, a long time friend of The Professor's who I knew marginally 20 years ago. We headed to Por Que No Tacos, on N. Mississippi. The Professor was excited. Being a Native Californian she was missing good Mexican food, something she claims the Portland dining scene is missing. The tacos had great flavor, the beans and guacamole good, the blackberry agua fresca a little weak. I was amused watching the Mexican woman cooking trying to explain to the young hipsters working the counter that mira meant to look. Call me racist but I think if you're naming your place Por Que No and employing Spanish speaking cooks, you might have someone up front with at least a passing knowledge of Spanish. After dropping them both off we headed for a little late night pastry at Pix. I went for The Royale, a dome of chocolate mousse with hazelnut praline and a dacquoise disc. I don't remember what the GM had, as she liked it a great deal and was very protective of it. We also shared a lavender/candied mandarin ice cream. I had heard from another chef that the ice creams were dynamite but this one was good but not spectacular.

The next morning I called the Portland Food Dude. I had thought about calling him earlier but since I hadn't read his comment prior to our visit and knowing he prizes his anonymity I wasn't sure that he would be up to meeting total strangers. Also we thought we weren't going to be meeting The Professor but she called to say she had time between classes and to see if we could give her a ride to a meeting at the Oregon College of Arts & Crafts. So, when I called, after fearing that I had woken him, and not knowing what time The Professor would be calling and knowing we had a schedule to get to the airport, I was rude enough to pump him for information about breakfast and lunch and then not invite him to join us. I wish I had because firstly I would have like to have met him and secondly because we may have had better service at breakfast. Food Dude, I' m sorry.

He recommended Gotham Building Tavern for breakfast or lunch which was on our list of spots already. We wanted to explore more of the Mississippi neighborhood and Gotham is close by so we decided to try it. His description of the decor, as looking like a Lincoln Log prison is pretty accurate. We really wanted to like this place. It felt good, the decor was fun, nice subdued colors, good use of wood to break up the room, Sigur Ros and Hope Sandoval on the iPod and an interesting menu including one of my favorite morning foods, an egg sandwich. They had the same sort of check box menu as Navarre (this must be a Portland phenomenon) and our first clue as to our service came when our waiter admonished the GM to only fill out one of the menus. We both have to read them however. I understand that he probably gets tired of explaining the concept to people and the kitchen doesn't want duplicate tags but there were other ways to phrase it. Little did we know this would be the last communication we had with him.

My chai was rich and flavorful and we sat enjoying the music until the food arrived. Breakfast is the hardest meal to cook and serve bar none. Everyone is at their pickiest and everyone has specific ideas about eggs, how they should be cooked and how often coffee should be refilled and what condiments they need, etc. The GM got the egg sandwich, and when it arrived we realized it was a mistake for her because while the egg was perfectly cooked for me, it was an inedible gooey mess for her. The poached egg on my polenta was again perfectly cooked and after eating it, I swapped with her. This was my mistake because while the egg was perfectly cooked there was ketchup on the egg sandwich which in my breakfast world is an abomination. We also shared a lovely doughnut which came with an unnecessary jam. I can't fault the place for the food. The eggs were done right and although the polenta was a little less than flavorful it was fine. The egg sandwich problems were our fault because we didn't specify how to cook the egg and we didn't ask what was on it.

The service though, or lack of it, was the worst we had experienced. There is a difference between being forgotten or ignored and being snubbed. Our waiter had what another Portlander described as a common problem to all the Hebberoy's (owners of Gotham, Ripe and clarklewis) restaurants. The "hipper than thou" attitude. It's never an attractive one, and I'd know since I was the insecure possessor of one as a punk rocker in the late '70's. I still pull it out on occasion, much to my shame. And this was one of those times when I was feeling like I was going to. Thinking,"You've got this much attitude and you're a breakfast waiter in Portland? This isn't Isherwood's Berlin, Stein's Paris, or to use an example closer to home, Cobain's Seattle.' Get over yourself kid." We were one of two tables in the restaurant, had to get up, walk to the bar, wait for him to finish a conversation with another hipster before he would acknowledge he had a customer, walk behind the bar and silently give me the wrong change. After getting back to table, realizing the change was wrong and vainly trying to get his attention, we did flag down another person, explained the situation and our waiter stuck the missing money through one of the gaps in the Lincoln Log wall without a word.

I still have to write the letter to the owners describing our experience. The GM did send the letter to Navarre praising our waiter, Heather.

I'd be willing to try Gotham again, but I'd be willing to bet that the "hipper than thou" attitude does indeed permeate all their establishments because although there were quite a few employees in the place and almost no customers, no one made eye contact with us, no one made us feel welcome so I don't think our waiter was alone in his insecurity.

So with a slightly bitter taste in our mouth we explored the Mississippi neighborhood. I don't know if we were jaundiced by our breakfast experience, but the whole neighbor had that same, "Look at me, I'm trying so, so hard to be cool" feel to it. At least the gentrified parts of it did. There were some interesting looking places, like Gravy, and Moxie but neither one of us felt at home there.

We thought about trying Park Kitchen even though the Food Dude said lunch was inconsistent. This was going to be our last meal in Portland,and I had heard good things about Scott Dolich. The Food Dude had suggested Wildwood and we were shooting for that but timewise it just wasn't going to work. We met The Professor at Sahagun Chocolates, again referred by Shuna, check Eggbeater for her far more descriptive take.

When meeting strangers, in this case Elizabeth Montes, the chocolate maker, I am quite shy. Those who know me may think this a lie but it is true nonetheless. At any rate, one of the tools I have had to adopt to get over myself is to be this somewhat extroverted, borderline obnoxious person to cover the shyness. I was wearing this persona when we went into the shop, introduced ourselves and told her that Shuna had said we should ask her for a chocolate soda. She was a little taken aback by the request (delivered in my extrovert persona) and then said, sure, I have to go get soda. So she left us in charge of her shop (talk about being the kid in the candy store) and brought back some Pellgrino water, not my first choice for a chocolate soda, but when ask for something not on the menu you accept that people will do their best. I thought it delicious nonetheless, I don't think it was really the GM's thing.

We talked about her shop, chocolate, Portland, the food scene, the farmer's market and then loaded up on her chocolates. She's definitely about the chocolate flavor, not too sweet, a lovely bitter edge to most of her confections. The dried plum (read prune) was the GM's favorite, while I preferred the ancho chile. Both the GM and The Professor enjoyed the Citrus Haystacks (I didn't try one) and we all agreed we wished we had more of the Banana Coconut Mendicants. While typing this I just got an alert from her email list that the shop will be in the October issue of Chocolatier.

Her talking about the burgers at Castagna got us all thinking about hamburgers. The Professor had an appointment though and we had a plane to catch so we couldn't all enjoy a burger together. After dropping her off we decided we only had time for a hamburger at Burgerville. It's been a looooong time since I've had a fast food burger. This one was fine and from I what I've read about the company they appear to have something of a social conscience, buy local ingredients and are only in the Pacific Northwest.

Some general observations about Portland food: Bathrooms. I like that many of the places we visited had VACANT/OCCUPIED locks like on airplanes. It's really irritating to be in the bathroom and hear someone frantically trying to open the door. I also like that the handwashing signs in the bathrooms were not solely directed at food handlers, reading things like "Don't spread disease. Wash your hands." Good reminders for everyone.

It seems like Portland has arrived at a place (Bluehour notwithstanding) where people realize that great food can be fun and low-key. That dining out doesn't have to be a choice between stuffy and good or casual and shoddy.

Places I'm sorry I didn't try: Park Kitchen, Higgins (Greg Higgins is the only Portland chef I actually ever had a conversation with), Wildwood, clarklewis (even if I now have hipster dread), Fife, Ken's Artisan Bakery, Crema, Castagna, and Paley's Place although I did eat there about 6 years ago on a Chef's Collaborative outing. Oh well, that just means we'll have to take another trip.

Next post, back to real life and after that the long awaited pig pics. I have to do the pig post because I'm teaching a sausagemaking workshop at the farm next month and this will help me get my notes in order.

Comments

[Rachael]

That was so fantastically in-depth! I did stumble at blackberry agua fresca though, since the idea of it makes my head swim.

[Kudzu]

Ketchup on an egg sammie? Feh! The only thing worse I read this week was a local writer's description of what she called a Southern breakfast, which was sausage gravy served over scrambled eggs, something that would have got her kicked out of my grandmother's kitchen for making a mess.

I am sure all of your observations and comments are spot on and they make me feel less sorry for myself because I haven't yet explored the Portland food experience.

Sounds like attitude of one sort or another is rife there. Could it be the climate? I suggest installing wonderful full-spectrum lighting in those places to see what happens to the prevailing moods.

I'm still trying to imagine you as a shy person; eat some Powdermilk Biscuits, haddock!

[haddock]

Kudzu:

Actually most people we encountered were amazingly friendly and helpful. There are sections with attitude, it's true. But Portland is evidently one of the few areas of that size which sees an influx of 25-34 year olds, and some attitude comes with that territory.

[FoodDude]

I have to say I am pretty shocked at the service you experienced at Gotham. In spite of my real problems with their politics, I have never found a problem with any part of their restaurants with the exception of an occasional average dish. The last few dinners I had there left me very impressed. Now I'm going to have to drop everything and eat breakfast and dinner there in the next few days just to see what is going on. Damn you!

I can take no blame for the breakfast sandwich. I love it runny, with the castsup.

Burgerville. Hmmm. I do like their politics. Next time we do need to meet.

[haddock]

What political problems do you have with the Hebberoys ? I'm not aware of their politics.

No blame cast anywhere for the egg sandwich. I love it runny, with mustard. In fact the GM and I ate one this morning. She likes hers with mayo. I also realized that while I liked the bun at Gotham I didn't necessarily like it for the egg sandwich. I make mine by toasting the bread in a saute pan with a little oil and butter and I like the crunchy aspect playing off the runny yolk.

[FoodDude]

So interesting. I've now been to Gotham for breakfast twice this week and had superb service both times. I did have one thought: since you came in and took a picture, maybe they thought you were me! No, that can't be true or the chef would have come out with a boning knife. Either way, I noticed the Hebberoys were they both times.

Re: politics. Entertaining reading. Brace yourself;)
http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=76
http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=100
http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=117
http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=113
http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=112

[haddock]

I still don't see much reference to politics, revolution notwithstanding. I do see a lot of people getting upset that a couple of kids are getting a lot of press. In every community there are people who make interesting copy. Other people get upset that the press doesn't find them, or their favorite equally interesting.

I don't get it. So they're pretentious. Big deal. Once you really get down to it the whole idea of charging money to cook someone else dinner is pretentious.

If the food and service are good, who cares? Believe me I'd rather see a Frail Wanderer essay on my table than a table-tent advertising some crappy beer or drink special.

[haddock]

And BTW they couldn't have noticed we took a picture because that would mean they noticed they had a customer!