I normally like to mix my restaurant/food reviews with some travel or musical highlights to demonstrate the alignment and interaction of good food with good music. Today however, the five (5) Portland food and drink establishments I’m going to highlight are within 10-minutes of the house and are all within a few minutes of each other along the Burnside Street corridor which divides Portland into its North and South halves (the river further delivers the East and West sides, to create the four major (NW, NE, SW and SE) quadrants of the city. North and South Portland are generally overlooked, and in some cases underappreciated).
In the order I most recently visited these institutions of goodness over the past week, and will talk about them below:
Starting off the list is Portland’s premier family-owned market. I don’t say supermarket because each store is probably only a 1/4 or a 1/3 of the size of most supermarkets (and here in Portland, maybe 1/8 to a 1/10 the size of a standard Fred Meyer). What they lack in size though they make up in the quality of their products and facilities. In their flagship Burnside store, located in a building originally built as a market in 1940, is the Z Cellar.
Last Sunday I had an opportunity to attend their course “Dark Beers for Cold Months” which explored a series of about 10 different brews (some not on the scheduled tasting menu), almost all local. I’m not a huge beer drinker, as I prefer whiskey or wine, and I’m not going to provide a review on each beer. but suffice it to say, they were all delicious.
Rather, my focus here is on the fact that this space even exists. This was a first for me… A temperature and humidity-controlled wine cellar with a collection of very high-end wines (I looked around and saw several in the $400-700 range, with some within eyesight nearly $1000 and I’m guessing there were others that I didn’t see that were even more) in the basement of a market. So, they have a nice collection of vino.
They also do wine and food pairings and other classes in this space, and now that I’ve had a chance to attend one of these in-person, I’ll definitely be looking for another opportunity to head back.
Moving forward in the week to this past Friday lunchtime, I was looking for something comforting and tasty in between meetings while working from home, and the thought popped into my mind, “I need a Japanese sando[wich]”. We are fortunate to have just such a place to fulfill that desire, Tanaka. I’ve unfortunately never actually been inside the establishment, and someday I really do need to check it out in person, but because they are on Doordash I frequently take advantage, as their sandwiches travel well and arrive fresh.
On this day I opted for the Tanaka Dip, a Ribeye Katsu with White American Cheese, Sake Caramelized Onions, Karashi Mayo and Au Jus, all on their housemade Japanese Milk Bread. Given the weather, I accompanied the sando with a very steaming cup of Miso Tomato Soup (Even by the time it reached my house. The store is only about 8 minutes away) This place puts out some incredible sandwiches that are all perfectly paired with their soft and slightly sweet bread with the crunchy flavorful meaty interior. The White Cheddar and oh man, that Japanese mayo, provide a creaminess that is hard to replicate with any American mayo. Finally, sake caramelized onions. Yes, please.
Growing up I hated tomatoes and wouldn’t be caught dead eating tomato soup, but my tastes have evolved. I think the other important component is that the food has evolved as well. This ain’t no Campbell soup. With the miso and vegetable dashi this soup had a really nice depth with enough acidic tang from the tomatoes to offset some of the fattiness of the Ribeye sando and was a perfect pairing on a cold day (probably any day).
Moving forward one day to Saturday evening, once again I had a reservation at the Multnomah Whiskey Library. I just love this place. Since I obtained my membership here, I’ve tried to get in at least once every other week to relax. I’ve reviewed it before, so won’t be going into it here, but the ambiance, the service, and almost everything about it is perfect (we’ll get to that in a second, which is why I’m even mentioning it).
On this night we were just there to have a couple drinks before dinner. One of the special offerings that they provide is at cost bottle pours called Break Even Bottles. This month they were pouring the Glendronach 29-year-old (The Grandeur Batch 12) Single Malt Scotch. This is a bottle that, if you can even find one for sale, runs $900-$1200, so it’s not in my liquor cabinet to say the least.
However, when the Library does these at cost pours every month, it offers an opportunity to get a glimpse into how the other side lives. For a $30 half pour (I can only imagine that this would probably go for about $240/pour on a normal menu) we had the opportunity to discover that this particular whiskey is nearly 100-proof but sips like an elixir with a much lower proof, no heat or burn and dare I say it, very smoothly. As much as we enjoyed the whiskey, we were even more excited for our next destination though.
As I said earlier, the Library is almost perfect, with the exception of not allowing cigars. They have a small back room beautifully appointed that they outfitted for just that purpose, but they were never able to secure the right permits.
However, it came to my attention this week that the El Goucho does have a cigar lounge inside their outstanding steak restaurant (Only the one in Portland though). So, we walked the three blocks over through the drizzle to check it out for the first time.
The restaurant itself is a high-end steakhouse in a Spanish style. Here’s a quick video of one of the waiters preparing some flambéed meet on a skewer….
We walked into the separate Cigar Lounge portion of the restaurant and saw two four top tables, an eight top and several club chairs all arranged around a couple large TVs with a college football game playing and a large humidor along the wall stocked with some excellent cigars. I had to pinch myself because I was sure I had died and gone to heaven. While I’m guessing this may be perfectly normal in some states, having grown up in California the last time this was legal there I was still a kid.
We sat down, and having brought our own cigars we started off with a pre-dinner Cohiba Siglo I. As we were winding down with that small smoke we had ordered, and our food began to come out. Our waiter, Brandon, could not have been more professional and attentive. He delivered our Spicy Oregon Dungeness Crab Bisque with chive oil first. It was filled with crab chunks and absolutely delicious.
Next up came the sides of Crispy Brussels Sprouts with diablo sauce, bacon and pomegranate molasses along with Lobster Mashed Potatoes. We split a 28-day dry-aged Niman Ranch Prime Angus bone-in ribeye and Brandon had the attendant prepare it for us tableside with a Chimichurri.
Everything about the meal was on point and every morsel was accompanied by a 2019 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon. Then for dessert I opted for the Key Lime Pie with Chantilly and lime coulis.
Our post-dinner cigar is my absolute favorite of all time, the Partagas Serie D No.4. I first learned about these when living in South Korea and we would go to the Phillips Building up on Nam San (South Mountain) overlooking Seoul, containing both the Dutch Embassy and a little cigar speakeasy run by Pierre who imported all Cuban cigars into Korea. There, a small group of us contractors would mingle once a month, with senior US military leadership and owners of Korea’s major corporations often popping in as well.
Pierre would go back to Cuba every Summer and bring back things like a $50k humidor full of Partagas cigars signed by Castro, or Cuban rollers that would sit there with us and either roll cigars for us using Cuban leaf or teach us how to roll our own. These pics are all from 2003-2005 (I’m in the blue shirt). Good times and the basis for my love of the Partagas brand.
To wrap up the week, on Sunday morning I jumped in the car and made the 8-minute trek over to Screen Door Restaurantto get some breakfast. They open at 0830, but when I arrived around 0815 I didn’t see anyone around. About 0825 I got out and realized that I was looking at the wrong door. There was a line of about 20 people ready to head in. I quickly queued up as well but had no problem scoring a seat at the counter.
I looked at the menu, but I already knew what I wanted. I started with their Espresso Martini, made with Crater Lake Hazelnut Vodka, Kahlua & cold brew coffee w/ vanilla extract & angostura bitters. Perfectly chilled and delicious. To eat, I had my eyes on their Bananas Foster French Toast that employed griddled brioche soaked in a rich vanilla custard topped w/ rum-flamed caramelized bananas, cinnamon & handmade whipped cream.
Look, I’m even kind of getting tired of hearing myself keep saying so many superlatives about Portland food, but I’ve traveled all over this great country and up until this day I had two places in this world I would go for the very best French Toast I had ever eaten. The first was Sweetie Pies in Placerville, CA where they use a double thick brioche soaked in a cinnamon-egg dip and top it with Olallieberries and a Cream Cheese sauce. Tangy and sweet, chewy and just out of this world.
The second is the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Las Vegas where they make the most incredible Creme Brulee Pain Perdue to be eaten with their thick bacon and delicious coffee while people watching tourists roaming up and down The Strip.
Both of those restaurants will always have a special place in my heart and their French Toast will always rank amongst my top brunch experiences, but as of today I have to add another unforgettable experience to the top of my list, the Screen Door Bananas Foster French Toast. I think what actually really did it for me was the combination of the flavored thick whipped cream, the light rum-soaked caramel under the toast and the side of bacon. Without the bacon the dish probably would have been too sweet. But by including a bite of bacon every now and then it perfectly balanced out the dish. I’m thinking about it now, trying to figure out when I’ll be back. That is what a good dish should do, make you dream about it.
So, there you have it. Another week in Portland measured in culinary experiences. As I read back through this though, I should assure any readers that may be concerned that in between these posted meals fruits and green veggies are a part of my daily menu in case anyone thought I partook like this every day. I don’t. I just only talk about it when I do.
Get out there and experience all that your region has to offer … Until next time.
