Portland, Day One

After hearing for years how wonderful Portland is, that it's like San Francisco 20 years ago and that now it even has good food we decided to check it out. A good friend, The Professor, had moved there in January and she seemed well settled in and ready for some company. We arrived late Saturday night, found her charming Tudor house in the SE, had some conversation, including The Professor telling us that she's mostly had poor service experiences in Portland, then a hot tub followed by the GM having a massive allergy attack. The Professor's cat had been sleeping on the guest bed and the GM is one of those curious people who are allergic to animals yet had two cats when I met her. We now have the two cats and two dogs. Go figure.

At any rate, she left the house at 6 am, a waking hour she has rarely seen, drove around the still closed city and returned to rouse us at 9. We strolled down to Division and one of Shuna's picks, Pix Patisserie . She's already given a great description which you should read. It's nice for us to walk into a space that's had thought, but not money put into it. More flash than cash as they say. It was Sunday and they were serving brunch by Simpatica Catering. There's a little more than food crossover going on. One of the chefs at Simpatica is married to our server. I haven't had brunch in years, and this one was really good. I had biscuits and gravy, a dish I will always order when I see it on a menu, The Professor had an heirloom tomato fritters and the GM some savory crepes. The real event though was the sweets. An assortment of luscious pates de fruits, macaroons (the GM's fave) and a pear, rosemary, chocolate caramel tart for me. Perfect crust, the rosemary just a hint, not overwhelming, supporting the dried pear.

From Pix we went to Hawthorne Ave and Powell's Books for Cooks which although mightily impressive, managed to underwhelm me. Perhaps because of the ever growing stacks of books I have here. After enjoying the sunshine for the rest of the day we had dinner at another of Shuna's favorites Navarre.

When we arrived the place was packed and of course we had not made a reservation. They might not take them, judging from the homespun feel of the place. Not only was the place packed, there was only one waiter on the floor and she was looking harried. Not a good sign. She told us that the party of 6, who was outside were waiting for a table inside and that she could seat us outside when they moved in. Another bad sign. The GM is quite cold sensitive and an evening outdoor meal anywhere out of the equatorial zone is rarely an option. After waiting a while we decided we might be better off returning when the place was fully staffed. When we told this to Heather, our waiter, she said she felt bad because we had already waited a long time (not really, 10 minutes or so). We told her we could see they were short handed and wanted to give them a chance to shine and she let us know she felt she could handle it. The party of 6 took their table inside and Heather tried to set up the table outside for us, wrestling with the shim to keep one of the tables level. We told her we'd take care of the table and she should get to her other guests.

Although she was rushed, she was smiling, scanning the room and giving each table what they needed. She did not perhaps have a lot of conversation to offer, but she was gracious and we certainly didn't feel ignored. The menu also serves as the ticket for the cooks. There are two price/portion levels and you check off what you'd like and how much of it you want. There are three or four lines for specials at the bottom and the specials are written on a mirror in the dining room. By the time we were seated they had sold out of a few things but still had plenty of choices. We had three rounds of plates: a potato/ham terrine that was a bit dry, carrot salad with lightly pickled beets and a splash of olive oil, collards with chorizo which prompted The Professor to wonder why her greens didn't have any tooth left to them after long-cooking, a succotash of corn, tomatoes and (again) lightly pickled green beans. The pickling was perfect. A nice little surprise to what could have been a boring dish. Rabbit terrine, again a little dry, they could sauce their terrines a bit. Marrow beans with collards and tomatoes. Although we were repeating flavors with the collards, I'm a sucker for beans and these were creamy and satisfying, perked up with a little acid from the tomatoes and vinegary greens. The arugula/watermelon salad was a hit with The Professor who vowed to make it often herself. They had sold out of the salt cod cakes and we (a little against my will) tried the crabcakes which were the only real disappointment. The crab was overpowered and the sauce was caramelized onions which just didn't work. Our chicken was braised and juicy, the cabbage and potato gratin was good at the time but unmemorable now, the pork with romesco a winner, the potato pancakes another near miss. The GM enjoyed them but I thought they tasted like what I remember McDonald's hash browns tasting like (it's been a looooong time). The desserts could use a little help. The Basque Cake was good, more of a custard pie with lingering anise flavor. The pound cake with berries was dry and the only other options were sorbets which even though the GM made it through an outside meal, weren't an option on a late summer/early fall Portland evening. 14 dishes for $62. A pretty good deal if you ask me, although not if you ask some Portlanders. Their listing on citysearch seems split down the middle between positive and negative comments. The Portland Food Dude (more on him later) told me consistency was a problem for Navarre. The stuff I read on citysearch mirrors our experience (sold out of things, short-staffed) but our service was awesome. In fact the GM wrote a letter letting the owner know how well taken care of we were, despite them having sent an ill waiter home, leaving poor Heather to work the room herself. The place isn't big, but there were about 40 full seats. You try doing that.

The one thing I couldn't sympathize with the posters on citysearch about was price. What the hell do these people think food costs? We also realized we were pleasantly surprised because Oregon has no sales tax. So all our meals (well, almost all) seemed pretty cheap.

There was no way the GM was going to be able to sleep at The Professor's, so we ended up at the Doubletree near the Lloyd Center. Up on the 10th floor, overlooking the bridges and downtown. The GM slept soundly.

More tomorrow....

Comments

[FoodDude]

One thing about citysearch, in Portland anyway, is businesses tend to write their own positive reviews, and seed competitors with bad reviews. I never trust them unless the reviewer has written multiple entries for other places.

Navarre has actually partnered with Pix and they have a seperate tapas type place now. I haven't tried it yet. Another fun thing is the Pix dim sum - think a big space with dessert carts prowling the isles.

Nice review!

[haddock]

Good god, how crappy is that? Writing your own positives, OK I've done that myself, but to put negatives about your competitors? Yuck. Unless they deserve it of course.

[Dr. Biggles]

Some day I would like to be able to leave the Bay Area and see what it's like over those hills.

I'm hungry.

Biggles

[shuna]

Haddock!

What great descriptions! I could close my eyes and be there right now. And I am so very glad that you met the Portland Food Dude! In fact I read his comment and thought it read, "think a big space with dessert cats prowling the isles."
tee hee.
and hey, thanks for enlightening my readers about the origins of Sahagun. I twirl your moustache.

[haddock]

Well I didn't exactly meet the Portland Food Dude as you will read later.

As for enlightening your readers, I said that was my guess. You give me credit for too much erudition.

[Jennifer]

Read your post with great interest, Haddock. I grew up in Portland, and frequently visit my family there, but our meals are mostly taken at home. I shall have to plan some nights out the next time I travel north! I agree with you about the pricing - 14 plates for $62?! That's an incredible deal. You might also know that registering a car in Oregon costs $40 for 2 years, regardless of what kind of car you have. If only it didn't rain so much...