rick gencarelli Archives - Pechluck's Food Adventures

Curse of the Haunted Curds and upcoming Abyss 2014 Release

November 5, 2014 by Pechluck 10 Comments

Recently, there was a very special pop-up poutine event at Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House. Occurring the same week as Halloween, it was dubbed “Curse of the Haunted Curds”. From lunch to that evening, guests could choose to sample a flight of 5 poutines created from 5 competing chefs for $10.
Curse of the Haunted Curds, a Poutine Pop-up with proceeds to the D Wright Way Foundation featured 5 poutines from 5 chefs for $10 at Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House

Then, that evening from 6-8pm a few Trailblazers and guest judges (Portland Trailblazers Dorell Wright, Wesley Matthews, Thomas Robinson, C.J. McCollum, Meyers Leonard and Will Barton, The Oregonian’s Samantha Bakall and Thrillist’s Andy Kryza) voted as well, and the People’s Choice votes from all the guests were also tallied!
Curse of the Haunted Curds, a Poutine Pop-up with proceeds to the D Wright Way Foundation featured 5 poutines from 5 chefs for $10 at Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House judged by Portland Trailblazers Dorell Wright, Wesley Matthews, Thomas Robinson, C.J. McCollum, Meyers Leonard and Will Barton, The Oregonian’s Samantha Bakall and Thrillist’s Andy Kryza

Proceeds of the poutine pop-up would benefit the D Wright Way Foundation, a great charity that is dedicated to health, education, and social well being of children in urban and ethnically diverse communities.

Poutine and for charity? Count me in!
Curse of the Haunted Curds, a Poutine Pop-up with proceeds to the D Wright Way Foundation featured 5 poutines from 5 chefs for $10 at Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House

Every poutine (fries, gravy, and cheese curds, featuring Face Rock Creamery‘s Vampire Slayer Curds, which are garlic cheese curds) was a winner in its own way of course.

Here’s a look at the 5 contenders:

Zomboni by Chef Aaron Barnett of St Jack with a poutine combo of fried chicken, bacon, cole slaw and Vampire Slayer Curds
Poutino by Chef Rick Gencarelli of Lardo with herbs, parmesan, Italian Sausage gravy, Mama Lil’s peppers and fried Vampire Slayer Curds
Halloween Hangover Cure by Chef Ben Grossmann of Dig a Pony with sausage country gravy, fried shallot strings, six minute egg and Vampire Slayer Curds
Ghost of Poutine by Chef Jill Ramseier of Deschutes with ghost pepper gravy, maple porter gastrique and Vampire Slayer Curds
Rage Against the Poutine by Chef Kevin Atchley of Pine State Biscuits with cajun spiced beef sirloin, country gravy, and Vampire Slayer Curds

Thank you for all the chefs that participated. Sorry I focused on the food and didn’t take any photos of the Trailblazers (you can see some at Oregon Live or by looking at the hashtag #VampireSlayerCurds on Twitter and Instagram). I was an animal and destroyed my poutine flight.

In the end, the judges awarded their vote to Zomboni by Chef Aaron Barnett of St Jack with a poutine combo of fried chicken, bacon, cole slaw and Vampire Slayer Curds. Meanwhile the People’s Choice went to Poutino by Chef Rick Gencarelli of Lardo with herbs, parmesan, Italian Sausage gravy, Mama Lil’s peppers and fried Vampire Slayer Curds.

There is another big event occurring at Deschutes coming up- on Thursday, Nov 13, 11 AM is the release of The Abyss, a dark Imperial Stout. This video explains more why The Abyss that uses Italian brewer’s licorice, black strap molasses, vanilla bean, cherry bark and more then aged in oak barrels previously touched by bourbon or pinot… all to put together the deliciousness.

Each year the Abyss tastes a little different, and is good enough to age. For the Nov 13 at the Portland pub, they will offer a 6 year vertical flightsto compare the various Abyss beers from the past to this year, a special opportunity only available on release day (and last time, when I arrived after work, they were already out of some of the year’s, so come as early as you can!). There is a 6 bottle limit for purchasing bottles of Abyss.

Which poutine would you think you have voted for? Have you ever had aged beers like the Abyss?

Filed Under: Cheese, Festival Event, Food and Drink Tagged With: #DWrightWayFoundation, #FaceRockCreamery, #vampireslayercurds, Aaron Burnett, Ben Grossmann, Curse of the Curds, Curse of the Haunted Curds, D Wright Way Foundation, Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House, Dig a Pony, Face Rock Creamery, Ghost of Poutine, Halloween Hangover Cure, Jill Ramseier, Kevin Atchley, Lardo, Pine State Biscuits, poutine, Poutine Pop-up, Poutine popup, Putino, Rage Against the Poutine, rick gencarelli, st jack, Vampire Slayer Curds, Zomboni

Feast Sandwich Invitational 2014 Recap

September 22, 2014 by Pechluck 9 Comments

Here is my Feast Sandwich Invitational 2014 Recap. Just like when I attended (and recapped) last year, it was the first big event for Feast Portland. This year it was held on Thursday September 18th from 6-9:00 PM at Directors Park.
Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational presented by Dave's Killer Bread, Feast 2014

Overall, the Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational presented by Dave’s Killer Bread offered 14 sandwiches competing for a People’s Choice award and also a Judge’s Choice award, as well as free-flowing Widmer beer, wines from Columbia Crest, Columbia Winery, Erath, Hawks View Cellars, Northstar and Union Wine Co as well as vodka cocktails from Reyka Vodka and some bonus grilled cheese sandwiches courtesy of Tillamook Cheese.

Like all of the Feast events, the net proceeds of the Sandwich Invitational go towards ending childhood hunger in Oregon through Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon and Share Our Strength. In it’s first two years, Feast has been able to raise $99,000 so far so the price of admission is not only all inclusive of all this food and drink, it’s also for a worthy and important cause.

But let’s get to the food porn photos right? The 14 sandwiches!

Hugh Acheson of Empire State South (Atlanta, GA). Nothing but love for his sweet goofyness and for bringing Pimento Cheese sandwiches, though I would have wanted much bigger smears of pimento cheese and more pimento or hot sauce. Yes, maybe I thought photographing Hugh was of critical importance versus the sandwich.
Dustin Clark of upcoming restaurant The Oddfellow Social (Portland, OR) and known for having been the chef behind what was Wildwood created one of my favorite sandwiches of the night, a Pressed Water Buffalo Short Rib and Sichuan Pickled Cucumber Sandwich.
Chris Cosentino of the upcoming restaurant Cockscomb (San Francisco, CA) and I could not pry any information/detail of what it will have decided to have a little fun by calling his sandwich the “Cicciolina” in honor of the Italian porn star/former politician famous for exposing her breasts in parliament and founder of Democracy, Nature and Love Party (DNA) which besides promoting same sex marriage and minimum wage for youths, also wanted to make it legal to open brothels. I guess I have to thank Chris for making me google and learn about her, even though I wonder if he was partially motivated by being able to have a sandwich sign that had nipples. Ahem. Anyway, I believe the Cicciolina was composed of porchetta, pork liver spread, pâté de champagne, mortadella, pickled carrot, basil, radish, red Fresno and fish sauce. It so happens that another of his sandwiches is currently at Lardo as one of the Chefwich series sandwiches. You can get this month at Lardo right now the chefwich called The Yardbird with chicken liver, crispy chicken skin, butter lettuce, heirloom tomato, pickled red onion,toasted birdseed pullman, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Michael J Fox Foundation
Scott Dolich of The Bent Brick (Portland, OR) had my vote for the best sandwich of the night with his BBQ Goat Frybread. If you are drooling like I am just looking at the pics, I believe on their happy hour menu at the Bent Brick they offer a BBQ Lamb Frybread version, which is even better only in that you will get to enjoy 1 or more of bar manager Michelle’s cocktails along with it then!
Rick Gencarelli of Lardo (Portland, OR) presented a smokey pork burger with dirty mustard, peach, American cheese, and arugula that ended up being one of the two longest lines for sandwiches of the festival. It does make for a beautiful little slider, though since I’ve had the Lardo burger along with their Dirty Fries on more than one occasion, this slider though filling just is not as awesome as what you can get normally at Lardo. So if you feel like you missed out, get yourself to one of the two locations of Lardo right now and get their burger, because I think it’s even better than this was!
Tommy Habetz of Bunk Sandwiches (Portland, OR) not only was killing it with their slow roasted duck and foie banh mi with duck liver and fois gras pate, jalapeno, cilantro, basil, daikon and carrot pickles, but they even upped the ante from the mariachi band of last year to a a one man hot dog band. I am only sorry I was too short to take a good photo when in the gathered audience of the hot dog band. Thankfully you can get this tasty sandwich at Bunk Sandwiches now on their menu at their Water Avenue location.
Derek Hanson of Broder Nord (Portland, OR) was not afraid of the chicken skin with his offering of Gravlax, Skyr, Pickled Cucumber, Crispy Chicken Skin on Rye Bread. I was happy to see the Skyr, which is a that yogurty spread you see on the bread with the gravlax as they are such an iconic Norwegian/Swedish/Icelandic ingredients. My rye was pretty dry, unfortunately, which could have been forgiven with more chicken skin or gravlax.
Eric Joppie of Bar Avignon (Portland, OR) really pushed what is a sandwich with his 2 croutons with his offering of a deconstructed Cubano. Still, the pork that I saw being cut right from the whole pig I saw behind the booth was moist, tender, full of flavor so it was enjoyable.
Paul Kahan representing The Publican (Chicago, IL) got me excited when I saw his selected hashtag of #Boom and the ingredients of his Return of The Gyro included pork, eggplant, yogurt, fun, fenugreek, and flavor. Also he had claws with marker scrawl of “Bear Down” and proclaiming this the official sandwich of the Chicago Blackhawks, bring out all my Chicago sports team pride. The result was also a sandwich that was very well balanced and tasted lighter than so many of the fattier meat sandwiches that were being offered. So it’s ok I ate two right? This was one of my favorite sandwiches of the night.
Stephanie Pearl Kimmel of Marché (Eugene, OR) presented a sandwich that I had towards the end of the night, a Moroccan lamb pocket bread of harissa aioli, cilantro pesto and side of root vegetable slaw and apparently forgot to photograph. Oops! I do remember eating it, and really enjoying the slaw! The Oregonian did get a photo of it in their article.
Tyler Malek of Salt & Straw (Portland, OR) was the People’s Choice winner with the only sweet and dessert offering of the evening, a PB&J ice cream sandwich an open face stack with grilled bread, marionberry jam and peanut butter ice cream and whipped cream topped with peanut butter Captain Crunch. Everyone had this sandwich I think- it had the longest line of the night!
Matt McCallister of FT33 (Dallas, TX) also brought pimento cheese, but upped it by making it a Bologna and Pimento Cheese Sandwich.
Bonnie Morales of Kachka (Portland, OR) earned the Judge’s Choice award with her Smoked Sprats, Egg, Smetana on Butter Fried Toasts. If you want to give it a try, she has a similar option under appetizers at her Kachka restaurant under cold zakuski, Baltic Sprat Buterbrodi.
Cathy Whims of Nostrana (Portland, OR) was still giving out a relaxed vibe from her return from Hawaii as she presented her sandwich of Peach Whim Smoked Lamb Ham, Cresenze Cheese, Watercress, Tomato, and Spicy Onion Relish which was paired with the Widmer Portlandic Porter, my favorite sandwich and Widmer beer pairing of the night.

For more gorgeous photos from this year’s Feast Sandwich Invitational 2014, check out fellow bloggers armed with real cameras instead of my smartphone and also with an incredible photographic eye, Michelle of Hummingbird High and her photo essay or Irvin of Eat The Love, back for his second round of Feast with his Photo Essay: Feast Portland 2014, Day 1.

There are also some photos available at the Oregonian’s The Three Best Bites from the Sandwich Invitational article .

This is my second recap: my first was for the Oregon Grand Bounty Tasting on Friday and Saturday. My next recap will be for a Feast dinner!

Disclosure: I was granted a Blogger Pass for Feast Portland 2014 for blog post and social media coverage but I am not otherwise being compensated. I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Filed Under: Festival Event, Food and Drink, Sponsored Post Tagged With: #Feast2014, #feastpdx, #feastportland, #sandwichinvitational, BBQ Goat Frybread, Broder Nord, bunk sandwiches, Chris Cosentino, Cicciolina, Crispy Chicken Skin on Rye Bread, deconstructed Cubano, duck and foie banh mi, Duck Banh mi, Dustin Clark, egg, Feast 2014, feast pdx, Feast Portland, Feast Portland 2014, Gravlax, Hugh Acheson, Judge's Choice winner, Lardo, Peach Whim Smoked Lamb Ham, People's Choice winner, Pickled Cucumber, Pimento Cheese sandwich, Pressed Water Buffalo Short Rib, recap, recap of Feast Sandwich Invitational, Return of The Gyro, review, rick gencarelli, Salt & Straw PB&J sandwich, Sandwich Invitational, Scott Dolich, Skyr, Smetana on Butter Fried Toasts, Smoked Sprats, summary of Feast Sandwich Invitational, Tommy Habetz, Widmer Sandwich Invitational

2014 Portland Monthly’s Country Brunch & Bloody Mary Smackdown

June 27, 2014 by Pechluck 9 Comments

Here is my recap of the 2014 Portland Monthly’s Country Brunch & Bloody Mary Smackdown. This was my second time attending the event- I also attended the 2013 event and did a blog recap so visit there for more. This event took place at Castaway Portland and is sponsored by Portland Monthly Magazine, and one of the things that was really great was there was never really a line of a handful of people to get food or drink and there was plenty of seating so everyone was able to sit to enjoy their tastes!

Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm

This year, six chefs prepared bites of their favorite brunch fare while six contenders vied for “Best Dressed Bloody Mary” (either or both Judge’s and People’s Choice) in the third-annual Portland Monthly Bloody Mary Smackdown!
Brunch Bite Bonanza at Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm

100% of net proceeds of this event benefit Zenger Farm‘s new Urban Grange. Urban Grange is an 8,960-square-foot facility that will support the Zenger Farm ongoing efforts to connect Portland communities to fresh-grown food by being a space for Zenger youth field trips, summer camps, healthy eating workshops, and farmer training programs, opportunities for emerging businesses in the commercial kitchen, etc.
Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm

Brunch Bite Bonanza by:

Chef Jose Chesa from Ataula boldy presented a cold tapas breakfast dish of Mojama-cured Albacore Tuna sandwich on coca bread with dill mustard mayo, mango, and arugula which was a nice refreshing dish with all the other richness and spiciness of the other samples that brunch for me.
Chef Matt Christianson from Urban Farmer who provided Bohemian, a stroopwaffle with bacon jam and eggs and bourbon maple
Chef Johanna Ware from Smallwares brought one of my favorite Asian breakfast dishes, Breakfast congee with Chinese Sausage, egg, scallion, granola and maple ponzu. I could have had a whole bowl of this.
Chefs Karen Pride & Brittney Galloway from Harlow presented Mercy Blues, a bed of spinach topped with garlic herb polenta, stewed black beans and corn, slow-roasted tomatoes, smoky tempeh, chipotle cashew hollandaise and scallions. I thought it had a lot of flavor and unlike all the other brunch bites, is vegan and vegetarian.
Chef Rick Gencarelli from Lardo of course brought the fat with a Pork Belly Egg Benedict with a buttery buttermilk biscuit, big hunk of pork belly, fried quail egg, and Frank’s hollandaise. I had to admire the Lardo team as they efficiently were putting out those plates, including frying those little pork bellies and quail eggs.
Chefs Michael Madigan & Jeff McCarthy from TenTop did a unique take with their Miso Soy Ginger Bagel with bulgogi beef, kimchee schmear, and cured egg yolk. You can see Chef Michael below adding the egg in the little bagel hole.

Bloody Mary Smackdown presented by Grey Goose:

Irving Street Kitchen (2012 People’s & Judges’ Choice Champion, 2013 People’s Choice Champ)’s Irving Street Bloody Mary by Pete Koptiuch was as spicy as ever, combining “all of the ingredients you’ve come to hold so dear in those early morning recoveries and mixed them with a few we thought you deserved”
Le Bistro Montage (2013 Judges’ Choice Champion) Steve Dodge brought their Bloody Mary Lou Retton, a cajun bloody mary with beef bouillon and Spam garnish
Broder man Chad Hinman brought a Broder Danish Mary that included a blend of citrus, spice, horseradish layered with curry, cumin, fresh dill, toated fennel, cumin seed, dill seed, celery seed, and fresh cut dill and more left under Danish secret.
Radar Lily Tollefsen and Jonathan Berube brought a Voddie Mary that had tomato, roasted garlic, peppercorn, tapatio, lemon, lime, vodka secrets with Rainier-Celery Soda shot to follow.
Doug Fir ended up winning both People and Judge’s Choice for 2014 with their spicy, smoky, sweet and tart flavors, including candied bacon garnish and apparently Guinness and brown sugar as some of their ingredients of their concoction Joshua Merrion calls The Antidote
Imperial‘s Brandon Wise was on hand mixing a Smoked Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary with sponsor Grey Goose vodka, smoked heirloom tomatoes, barrel-aged fresno pepper hot sauce, Imperial spice blend, fresh horseradish, sherry vinegar, fish sauce, and house pickled giardiniera.

In addition to brunch, a pushcart would come by offering bottomless Manmosas (beer +orange juice) by Miller Highlife and Crispin Cider. Also, New Seasons Market had several booths with fresh organic juices and local hot sauce condiments as well as an extra bite of Oregon Bounty Quiche with Ruby Hill Farm eggs, Olympic Provisions ham, spring onions from Gathering Together Farm, and Portland Creamery herbed goat cheese.. Boyd’s Coffee Company, which I did not partake of since I was already full of way too much liquid, was also present keeping everyone caffeinated with their fresh brew.

Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm, New Seasons Market provided an extra brunch bite of Oregon Bounty Quiche with Ruby Hill Farm eggs, Olympic Provisions ham, spring onions from Gathering Together Farm, and Portland Creamery herbed goat cheese.

And oh yeah, there was just the The Bloody Mary Garnish Bar courtesy of Whole Foods that included sweet beet pickled egg, saffron soaked mozzarella, Olympic Provisions salami ribbon, Unbound Pickling Asparagus, and Spicy Green Bean. Have to appreciate both New Seasons and Whole Foods highlighting local artisan vendors and farmers!
Oh, just the bloody mary garnish station courtesy of Whole Foods at Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm. The Bloody Mary Garnish Bar included sweet beet pickled egg, saffron soaked mozzarella, Olympic Provisions salami ribbon, Unbound Pickling Asparagus, and Spicy Green Bean Oh, just the bloody mary garnish station courtesy of Whole Foods at Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm. The Bloody Mary Garnish Bar included sweet beet pickled egg, saffron soaked mozzarella, Olympic Provisions salami ribbon, Unbound Pickling Asparagus, and Spicy Green Bean Oh, just the bloody mary garnish station courtesy of Whole Foods at Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm. The Bloody Mary Garnish Bar included sweet beet pickled egg, saffron soaked mozzarella, Olympic Provisions salami ribbon, Unbound Pickling Asparagus, and Spicy Green Bean Oh, just the bloody mary garnish station courtesy of Whole Foods at Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm. The Bloody Mary Garnish Bar included sweet beet pickled egg, saffron soaked mozzarella, Olympic Provisions salami ribbon, Unbound Pickling Asparagus, and Spicy Green Bean

Special entertainment by Master of Ceremonies for #CountryBrunch Poison Waters and great country music by Foghorn Stringband. And, there were special guests, the Belmont Goats!
Poison Waters was on hand to MC the Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm Belmont Goats were a special guest at the Portland Monthly's Country Brunch 2014 at Castaway benefiting Zenger Farm

Keep an eye out for when I give you the warning next year that the tickets are on sale- it has been selling out every year, it’s a really great event for a wonderful cause. Please check out the Zenger Farm website to learn more about how you can help.

Many of the bloody mary drinks are available at the originating restaurant bars (including the winning Antidote at Doug Fir) , and I believe the TenTen bagel sandwich is appearing at Bowery Bagels this coming weekend and us available Friday Saturday Sunday! It’s listed as the MSG (Miso Soy and Ginger) bagel sandwich with bulgogi beef with kimchee schmear.

Which of these descriptions of brunch bites or bloody mary concoction intrigued you? Do you feel an urge to go to brunch this Sunday?

Filed Under: Food and Drink Tagged With: #countrybrunch, 2014 Portland Monthly's Country Brunch & Bloody Mary Smackdown, Ataula, Belmont Goats, Bloody Mary Lou Retton, Bohemian, Brandon Wise, Breakfast congee with Chinese Sausage, Brittney Galloway, Broder Danish Mary, Chad Hinman, Chef Jose Chesa, Chef Matt Christianson, Doug Fir, Foghorn Stringband, Grey Goose Bloody Mary Smackdown, Harlow, Imperial, Irving Street Bloody Mary, Johanna Ware, Jonathan Berube, Joshua Merrion, Karen Pride, Lardo, Le Bistro Montage, Lily Tollefsen, Manmosas, Mercy Blues, Michael Madigan, Miso Soy Ginger Bagel, Mojama-cured Albacore Tuna sandwich, Pete Koptiuch, Poison Waters, Pork Belly Egg Benedict, Portland Monthly Bloody Mary Smackdown, Radar, rick gencarelli, Smallwares, Smoked Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary, Steve Dodge, stroopwaffle, TenTop, The Antidote, Urban Farmer, Voddie Mary, whole foods, Whole Foods Bloody Mary Garnish Bar, Zenger Farm

Pasta at Rick Gencarelli’s Grassa Portland

May 16, 2014 by Pechluck 8 Comments

If you are a regular visitor of my blog, you probably know I am a fan of Rick Gencarelli. I’ve been going to Lardo monthly for their Lardo Chefwiches. As an aside, they recently finishd running through the latest 6 chefwiches, so the big Lardo Chefwich Party is now coming up on Sunday June 8th at the 1212 SE Hawthorne location, from 12-4 for $20. If you missed any of this year’s six, here’s a chance to try them all out, and there will be also a beer tap takeover by Crux Fermentation Project at the event.

Sometimes though, I might instead go next door to Grassa which is right next to Lardo (in fact there is a connecting door) at their location of Southwest 12th and Washington. I have not yet had the pleasure/greed to order from both Lardo and Grassa in a single meal- but I have thought about it.

I love sitting at the counter in Grassa and watching them make their fresh pasta. It takes a lot of willpower not to reach over and grab some pasta and just eat it raw, right then and there.

The pasta at Rick Gencarelli's Grassa is made fresh, right in front of you!

On this particular visit several months ago, a friend ordered (I think) the Italian Sausage pasta with peppers, onions, basil, grana, escarole.
Grassa's pasta dish of Italian Sausage pasta with peppers, onions, basil, grana, escarole in Portland

Also on deck for me was the Carbonara with bucatini, pork belly, and slow cooked egg
Grassa's pasta dish of Carbonara with bucatini, pork belly, slow cooked egg in Portland

The meatballs at Grassa are incredible.
Grassa's meatball dish in Portland

I would recommend ordering this as your side instead of the garlic bread that I ordered on my last recap post of a Grassa Visit that included the Radiatore with tomato braised chicken, crisp skin, ricotta, basil (which has turned into agnolotti with chicken liver mouse, jalapeno butter, but still that crisp chicken skin this season) and the Bucatini wtih hazelnut pesto, zucchini, mozzarella crema. Neither of those original pasta dishes are on their current menu anymore- so check every once in a while to see what new pasta masterpiece is now on the menu!

Bucatini wtih hazelnut pesto, zucchini, mozzarella crema and Radiatore with tomato braised chicken, crisp skin, ricotta, basil, from Grassa by Rick Gencarelli

On yet another much more recent visit (this month), I tried out the Creste Di Gallo with pancetta, whipped ricotta, English peas, fine herbs and grana.
Grassa Portland's Creste Di Gallo with pancetta, whipped ricotta, English peas, fine herbs and grana

Is this too much pasta porn for you? I don’t feel bad at all about it.

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: chefwich, Chefwich Party, Creste Di Gallo, downtown portland, fresh pasta, grassa, Italian Sausage pasta, Lardo, meatballs, pasta, Pasta Carbonara, Portland food, Portland pasta, rick gencarelli

The Lardo Chefwich Series is Back!

December 14, 2013 by Pechluck 1 Comment

So, I covered during most of this year the 6 chefwiches of Lardo. Each month usually around the 15/16th, there would be a new collaboration sandwich on the menu between Rick Gencarelli of Lardo and a guest chef, aka, a chefwich. Each chefwich has been rotating into the Lardo menus (either of the two Lardo locations, Lardo West in SW downtown or in Lardo East in the SE) over the past 6 months. For all the chefwiches a portion of the proceeds benefited a charity of the guest chef’s choice, and each chefwich was a limited time sandwich offer, only available for a month. Each chefwich could also net you a stamp on the chefwich card, and if you collected them all it offered you VIP access to the Chefwich Party (though you can also purchase a ticket in- and the party brought back all the chefwiches all at one time for an ultimate chefwich faceoff!)! I covered all the previous 6 sandwiches here at this blogpost.

Well, the Lardo Chefwich party has come and gone, but the Chefwich series continues! Starting off with #7 and going to #13 apparently, which means the next chefwich party will be in May?

The chefwich series continues on by kicking off with The Chris DiMinno, formerly of Clyde Common. This sandwich has apparently been dubbed “Arthur Avenue Called” and is comprised of breaded chicken, marinara, mozzarella, parm sauce, soft hoagie… essentially a chicken parmesan. The charity of Chris’s choice is The Bicycle Transportation Alliance which works to promote bicycle use and improve bicycling conditions to make bicycling safe, convenient and accessible.

Update 12/17 The next chefwich is out: Adam Sappington of Country Cat‘s chefwich of a Cattail Creek Lamb Burger with smoked tomato jam, fennel slaw, and havarti cheese will benefit the Oregon Humane Society. Goddamit, Lardo you are making me a sandwich addict.

But let’s just get to the sandwich photo porn from chefwich #1 shall we?

The next Chefwich, featuring chef Chris DiMinno, formerly of Clyde Common. This sandwich has apparently been dubbed Arthur Avenue Called and is comprised of breaded chicken, marinara, mozzarella, parm sauce, soft hoagie... essentially yes a chicken parmesan sandwich! Lardo's signature Pig Out in holiday colors The next Chefwich, featuring chef Chris DiMinno, formerly of Clyde Common. This sandwich has apparently been dubbed Arthur Avenue Called and is comprised of breaded chicken, marinara, mozzarella, parm sauce, soft hoagie... essentially yes a chicken parmesan sandwich!

Rick Gencarelli hasn’t just been collaborating on sandwiches however. Oven & Shaker is also now doing a chef series, but with pizzas. The first chef pizza at Oven & Shaker was in collaboration with Rick, and turned Lardo’s mortadella sandwich into pizza form with a Mortadella pie. This pizza started with an olive oil, oregano, and garlic base topped with provolone picante, Mama Lil’s peppers, and mortadella, and then was topped after the wood fired oven with shredded lettuce and dressing. Their schedule is different than Lardo’s by doing beginning-end of the month rather than Lardo’s mid-month change-up. Oven & Shaker doesn’t have a punchcard, but they also donate some of the proceeds to the collaborating chef’s charity of choice. Last month, November, it was Ecotrust’s Farm to Schools.

This month, December, the collaboration chef is Greg and Gabrielle Denton of Ox with a Clam Chowder Pie with split bone marrow and jalapeno. Clearly the Oven & Shaker series is going after some signature dishes with the guest chef. I’m planning to go there next week, so stay tuned!

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Food and Drink Tagged With: Arthur Avenue Called, chef collaboration sandwich, chefwich, chicken parmesan sandwich, Chris Dim, Chris Diminno, guest chef pizza series, Lardo, Lardo chefwich, Lardo PDX, mortadella pie, oven & shaker, rick gencarelli, sandwich

Feast Sandwich Invitational 2014 Recap

2014 Portland Monthly’s Country Brunch & Bloody Mary Smackdown

Pasta at Rick Gencarelli’s Grassa Portland

The Lardo Chefwich Series is Back!

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