Chefs Who Inspire Dinner with Justin Woodward

You may have heard that in September, Earl Ninsom of Langbaan (and also PaaDee and Hat Yai) announced a new special monthly dinner series, the Chefs Who Inspire dinner series. I recently attended the Chefs Who Inspire Dinner with Justin Woodward of Castagna. Here’s a look at my dinner experience.
Chefs Who Inspire Dinner with Justin Woodward Chefs Who Inspire Dinner with Justin Woodward

Each dinner of the Chefs Who Inspire series will offer six tasting menu courses with wine pairings for $180 (gratuity not included) with a guest chef that Chef Earl admires and believes is inspiring to him and others and wants to highlight as the culinary talents that they are. Chef Earl introduced at the beginning of this dinner that he ate at one of the best restaurants in Bangkok with other chef friends – and thought to himself – Justin can do this. And he can do it better.

I have to agree that Chef Justin and Castagna is one of the huge underrated gems of Portland – the restaurant would have a waiting list and he’d be a rock star in a lot of other cities. Part of it is Portland is less into fine dining then other metropolis cities (which face it, often have more business expense accounts also) and the Portland dining scene doesn’t have enough that embrace modernist high end and Michelin star quality menu prices that are normal in San Francisco and New York. Chef Justin is also a more introverted personality who works quietly, thoughtfully, to the beat of own drum. He seems to shy away from attention, and just wants the food to speak for itself.

Langbaan PDX Chefs Who Inspire Dinner with Justin Woodward, First course of Dungeness crab, mussel jus, leeks, blank trumpet mushroom Langbaan PDX Chefs Who Inspire Dinner with Justin Woodward, Third course of Duck, apple, broccolini
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A Meal at In Situ

Inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA) is the restaurant In Situ. The restaurant is dedicated to bringing to its diners iconic dishes from Michelin starred restaurants or those on the World’s 50 Best lists – incredible dishes from around the world. The menu changes often, and consists of small, medium, and large plates that you can order for lunch or dinner. Essentially, you can think of In Situ as restaurant inside a modern art museum that is itself a dining museum- it curates dishes globally from famous culinary artists and presents them to you as a visitor.

A Meal at In Situ, a restaurant at SF MOMA offering iconic dishes from Michelin restaurants around the world

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Fall at Tanner Creek Tavern

I can’t believe it’s November already – the end of the year seems to be going by so fast! Winter will be on us all too soon. Before we get to winter, I wanted to share one of my favorite fall dishes that I’ve had in Portland which is from Tanner Creek Tavern. Tanner Creek Tavern is the latest restaurant opened by David Machado, the restaurateur also behind classic Nel Centro and the Altabira City Tavern with one of the best outdoor dining spots in the city. Tanner Creek Tavern has only opened a couple months, and is now serving lunch, happy hour (4-6 PM), and dinner.
Tanner Creek Tavern Squash Tortelli with Roasted Seckel Pear, Chanterelles, Radicchio and Brown Butter Tanner Creek Tavern Shaved Kohlrabi with Apple, Candied Walnuts, Pickled Mustard Seed and Cheddar salad
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A Visit to Radar Restaurant

There is a wonderful restaurant that just celebrated its 5 year anniversary on North Mississippi which is totally under the Portland food buzz radar – and that restaurant is Radar Restaurant. Radar does offer the rare reservations taken brunch, but in the meantime I visited and enjoyed tasting some of their evening snacks and dinner items with a few other media people recently. Here’s a more detailed look at Radar – a humble neighborhood gem with warm service and great food. You can feel a lot of the love from the owners who carry on connections to their parents and past within Radar’s walls in multiple ways.

The space inside is warm with brick and a view into the open kitchen from pretty much anywhere. The bar top looking onto the kitchen uses wood that comes from their farm.
Radar Restaurant on North Mississippi, Portland Radar Restaurant on North Mississippi, Portland

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Ssshaved Ice offers Portland Japanese Shaved Ice

With the heat wave, I thought it was an appropriate time for me to have this post where I highlight SSshaved Ice. I included SShaved Ice, a pop up on which offers Portland Japanese shaved ice on announced Saturdays at Courier Coffee, on my Eater PDX article The Hottest Portland Pop-Ups Right Now, Summer 2017. Here are some more detailed photos of some of the amazingness that you can find. You can find out when they are popping up by following their Instagram, @ssshavedice, usually it is Saturdays at Courier Coffee at 923 SW Oak from Noon – 4 PM (or until run out!).

Ssshaved Ice, a pop up offering Japanese Shaved Ice, this is the Ssshaved Ice Strawberry Milk Kintoki with Ricotta Caramel.

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