A Vegan Popup at the Multnomah Whiskey Library
Occasionally, the Multnomah Whiskey Library opens it's doors to local chefs to use their kitchen for a “pop up”, while at the same time exposing MWL members to unique chef experiences they likely wouldn't otherwise have. I recently had an opportunity at The Library to experience Chef Jean Manuel’s Plant Based Papi, a completely vegan experience.
What Food Eats
As a self-proclaimed carnivore, I usually see vegetables and grains as supporting players—the side dish that gets eaten by the entree, not the star of the show. But on this night, the entire menu was composed of nothing but plants, including the expertly paired cocktails and wines.
First up was a Wild Mushroom 'squid ink' Tostadita. The mini masa tostada was completely free of squid ink, instead blanketed in a locally harvested mushroom medley, cashew crema, cilantro, lime zest, and micro cilantro. Chef Manuel is clearly a culinary sorcerer, because if I had my eyes closed, I would have sworn I was eating a spicy chorizo tostada.
The tostada was crunchy, and the mushroom filling was crumbly and packed with flavor. The cashew crema, cilantro, and lime provided a beautiful balance to the spices. To keep all the fillings in place, I found it was best to use the large slice of radish as a kind of edible lid.
This dish was paired with Fossil & Fawn's 2023 Muscat, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc meritage, which helped to take a little edge off the heat.
With this very impressive starter under our belt we had already started to formulate in our heads and amongst our table mates what a special evening this was going to be. While those of us at the table were talking about the last dish suddenly the next was already upon us.
For this course the house waiters started us out with a cocktail made with Knob Creek Bourbon, Sante Fe Mesquite Single Malt, Carpano Blanco, Rothman & Winter Apricot and Oloroso sherry. This smokey and slightly sweet concoction was perfectly paired with Charred Cabbage: a fire-roasted wedge of cabbage, creamy mole verde, pickled Serrano, toasted pepita crumble and cilantro ash.
The mole verde was almost like an amped up Green Goddess dressing. Together with the peppers, the crumble and the cilantro ash the whole dish had just the right touch of smoke, texture and acid. If it was possible, this dish was even better than the first and that is a good thing.
So, we had our appetizer and salad, now it was time for a soup course. Continuing with the Mexican theme, the waiters set before each of us a Soft Summer made with cimmaron blanco tequila, banhez distilado de piña, giffard pineapple, aveze, lime and mint.
To go with the sublime cocktail they presented us each with a bowl of Pozole Verde, which included heirloom hominy in a roasted tomatillo-poblano broth, confit chili-roasted jackfruit, avocado, pepita crumble, micro cilantro and Chile oil.
Don't get me wrong, this was a delicious dish, but just by looking at the picture it's obvious that this anemic representation couldn't possibly have the depth and breadth of a pork-filled bowl of Mexican pozole goodness. I enjoyed this course, I did, but it was my least favorite and it was the one dish that I think fell flat in comparison to its meat-infused counterpart.
The pozole was the one and only shortcoming of the evening and little did we know what chef had in store for us next that would blow our minds. To prepare us the waiters distributed glasses of an Envínate Lousas Mencia Blend, a Spanish Red wine.
To go with this “village wine” made from the Mencia grape, our waiters set before us a King Oyster Chipotle ‘short rib’ covered in miso-chipotle adobo glaze, over top of a crispy street masa, tomatillo-pumpkin seed mole verde and garnished with pickled red onion and radish. This dish was the defining moment of the evening. My mouth was completely confused. Was this pork belly? Short rib? Mushrooms? As I said earlier, the guests were pretty collectively blown away by how well this dish evoked a rich high end morsel of barbequed meat.
It was at this point that Chef Manuel and his team came out and mingled with the guests. I pulled the chef aside and told him, “Chef, the top of your menu says ‘Good Vegan Food’ but this isn't good vegan food”. He looked at me momentarily before I quickly continued, “Chef, this is just damn good food. It needs no caveat. You have obviously found your calling. You are feeding people's souls and you need to keep at this”.
The chef and his team mingled a few more minutes then excused themselves as they proceeded back to the kitchen to finish out the last two dishes. First up was a palate cleanser, a Cucumber Lime Granita made from shaved ice with fresh mint and allepo chili salt. This was spectacular and definitely achieved it's goal of completely resetting the palate of the previous spicy dishes to prepare diners for consuming the final course, dessert.
To get us ready for the final dish our waiters brought each of us a coupe of Muri Passing Clouds Non-alcoholic Sparkling Wine. Remember earlier when I said that the vegan aspect extended to the cocktails? Well this N/A sparkling wine tasted strongly of honey but that would have made it non-vegan. It turns out that through the use of quince they are able to achieve that honey-like flavor. After marveling over that it took me a moment to go back and remember that this wasn't even alcoholic. I strongly recommend any readers that aren't alcohol drinkers to investigate this very special N/A sparkling wine as you will not be disappointed.
The pairing of this drink couldn't have been more perfect with the dessert that was brought out. The final dish was a Charred Fig Sorbet with a dandelion “honey” crumble and agave drizzle. The sweetness of the agave against the slight bitterness of the Charred fig balanced incredibly to make this the absolute perfect way to end a near perfect meal.
Closing Thoughts
I've been to a couple of these vegan pop ups and they both themed their creations around Mexican cuisine, but Plant Based Papi was by far the most successful at interpreting popular Mexican flavors using only plant-based ingredients. Not at all surprising to me is the idea that a chef can craft a wonderful meal without the use of meat and this was evidenced once again on this night. Just spectacular.