Feast Flicks: Republica and Like Water for Chocolate

July 30, 2021 by Leave a Comment

About last night at the Feast Portland first event for Summer of Feast – Feast Flicks! This year Feast Portland looks a little different for 2021 (after a break during 2020) with adjustments based on the pandemic. This was the first event of the 3 different kinds they are doing – Feast Flicks with dinner and a movie, “family reunions” that have the more typical stations from different chefs that you walk around, and a Claima Stories with interviews and cocktails. This first of two Feast Flicks I am attending was featuring Republica doing it all with two welcome cocktails and dinner including the legendary handmade masa tortillas and complex moles and dessert, and the movie pairing is the classic “Water for Chocolate” courtesy of Hollywood Theater.
The Lot Zidell yards was the location for Feast Portland's Dinner and a Movie event, Feast Flicks

Everyone was sitting in pods of 2 and 4 at the outdoor venue The Lot At Zidell Yards which has a great space with spacing and clearly marked areas for social distancing and is doing other events as well from movies to music and more. The only lines were to get in where we got a wrist band, analog check-in by name to confirm the pod number, bag check, and scan of the QR code on the purchased ticket, and then also maybe a quickly moving line to grab a cocktail. Otherwise the courses came served to your pod seating.
The Lot Zidell yards was the location for Feast Portland's Dinner and a Movie event, Feast Flicks The Lot Zidell yards was the location for Feast Portland's Dinner and a Movie event, Feast Flicks The Lot Zidell yards was the location for Feast Portland's Dinner and a Movie event, Feast Flicks The Lot Zidell yards was the location for Feast Portland's Dinner and a Movie event, Feast Flicks The Lot Zidell yards was the location for Feast Portland's Dinner and a Movie event, Feast Flicks

If you are attending any of the 3 left for this weekend, essential packing tips
The Lot Zidell yards was the location for Feast Portland's Dinner and a Movie event, Feast Flicks

  • It’s a dusty, gravel and rock lot so wear flat shoes because the ground is not flat
  • Bring an empty water bottle – they have water stations to fill them with on the right side
  • Sunscreen!
  • Summer hats to block your face from the sun!
  • Bring a personal umbrella since it is unshaded at your pod. That being said, you don’t have to go to your pod right away – there is a slight shade and tented area by the welcome drinks
  • Plenty of restroom facilities at a pod of Honey Buckets on the right side
  • On the left side is the bar where you can get more beverages beyond the welcome cocktail and the included wine bottle with your dinner
  • You can never have too many extra napkins, or even wetnaps
  • I brought a tote which I used to carry my unfinished wine bottle back home – it’s a screw top so no worries about putting any cork back in
  • Once the sun goes down it may get a little cool so you may want a very very light cardigan. But it’s also a summer heat wave weekend again so it doesn’t really drop much, only into 70F.
  • Meanwhile while the sun is up, bring a fan! I had a regular fan you have to fan yourself, but I saw others with little portable battery fans
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Portland Dining Month 2020 at Hairy Lobster

March 11, 2020 by Leave a Comment

As I covered in my previous posts, March is a time when 140+ restaurants offer three course meals for $33 all month long. I shared my top picks in one post, recapped a dinner at Headwaters and today’s post is the another of my dinners: Portland Dining Month 2020 at The Hairy Lobster. Like the dinner at Headwaters, you can make reservations on OpenTable via the PDM site in order to help donate to the Oregon Food Bank. Update: Hairy Lobster has temporarily closed in response to COVID-19.

If haven’t been to this gem in the Pearl District because of the weird name, you are missing out. The chef there has been in the kitchen for 50 years, and his wife (they co-own The Hairy Lobster, also known as THL) has had 3 Michelin Star experience. It is well reflected in the warm friendly service, and made me kick myself for not having been by even though it’s been here for 5 years already.

For the Portland Dining Month 2020 menu there are 2 options each for the 3 courses.
Portland Dining Month 2020 at Hairy Lobster

First course (choose one): Roasted butternut squash bisque with cranberry, orange and shallot confit (vegetarian) (gluten free) –or– Lacinato kale salad with pickled wood ear mushroom and coconut habanero (vegetarian) (gluten free). I am not usually a salad person, so soup it is for me! I loved the addition of the cranberry orange shallot confit to add brightness to the creamy butternut squash.
Portland Dining Month 2020 at Hairy Lobster: Roasted butternut squash bisque with cranberry, orange and shallot confit (vegetarian) (gluten free)

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Picks for Portland Dining Month 2020

February 24, 2020 by 2 Comments

March is almost here, which also marks the start of Portland Dining Month 2020. With this post I’m sharing with you my personal picks for Portland Dining Month 2020 based on what I think are the best offerings in terms of $ value and food on the menu being offered by the restaurant. I’ve covered Portland Dining Month/PDM for multiple years, and as before, I have done the homework of reviewing the fantastic list of 130+ restaurants in the Portland area and the dining month menus they will be offering from March 1-31 2020 that count for three courses for $33.
Picks for Portland Dining Month 2020, 140 restaurants in Portland offering three courses for $33 from March 1-31 2020

You can pick your dinner destination just based on wanting to visit that particular restaurant on the list of course. This 3 course dinner deal is a great rationalization to go and finally cross a restaurant you’ve wanted to check out off your dining wishlist. Keep in mind that for further justification, you are supporting local businesses and employees, so it’s a win for everyone. And, you are helping people even more so if the restaurant takes online reservations via OpenTable. This is because Travel Portland donates money to the Oregon Food Bank for each reservation made through the OpenTable links from the Portland Dining Month website.

With 141 restaurant options, you also might want to use the Portland Dining Month 2020 website filters by neighborhood, type of cuisine, gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan options. My method is to read the menus to see what each restaurant is offering, and my criteria are that I look for an excellent savings from the restaurant’s regular prices, or they offer intriguing menu items that are special just for this month.

All of these options on my list are also all OpenTable partners, so make the reservation off the Portland Dining Month site to make sure the donation is given to Oregon Food Bank!

As an additional bonus this year, on March 5th & 6th, Seattle-based artist @Dozfy will be making a surprise appearance at an east-side and west-side restaurant where he will give away art he creates on the menus of each. If you haven’t seen his art before, here’s an example:

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Portland Dumpling Week 2020

February 3, 2020 by 5 Comments

February 1 – 8 2020 marks the 6th annual Dumpling Week as organized by the Oregonian. This year there are 35 restaurants participating in offering a special dumpling menu item for $10 or less. I have been enjoying Dumpling Week throughout the years – you can see my photos from last year in 2019, then in 2018, then 2017, and 2016, and first year 2015. Here are what I have enjoyed for Portland Dumpling Week 2020.

I went on a Dumpling Crawl on Day 1 (February 8) with friends @eatrichordietryin, @trailofcrumbs, and @hummingbirdhigh, so you may find additional photos there. I then went on a second smaller crawl with @perfectfooddays. You can find a Dumpling Map at the initial link above for Dumpling Week, but for the descriptions of the dumplings being offered at each location check out the article at the Oregonian here.

One possible start is for a dumpling crawl (and which we used on Sat) was they serving dumplings after 11 AM at Nel Centro. Here they are offering a Duck confit and radicchio Tortelloni in porcini parmesan brodo. I recommend also ordering a side of foccacia bread for a few dollars more to soak up all that lovely broth.
Nel Centro offered for Portland Dumpling Week 2020 a Duck confit and radicchio Tortelloni in porcini parmesan brodo

Next we popped into wine bar Canard for the maple sausage, egg and cheese breakfast gnocchi. Seared foie gras can be added optionally for $15. I found it sort of dry since it is not with a sauce, and sweet with the maple flavors. But, lean into the sweet and do as we did – order the Paris Brest with the cookies and cream and chocolate sauce, which was wonderful.
Portland Dumpling Week 2020 offering from Canard was a maple sausage, egg and cheese breakfast gnocchi Canard dessert offering of Paris Brest with cookies and cream and chocolate sauce

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Review of Wild About Game 2019

October 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Every year, Nicky USA, the meat concierge providing quality meat product to the best food creators in the Northwest, throws the meatiest celebration called Wild About Game. I was able to attend again this year, and here’s my recap and review of Wild About Game 2019. Next year will be their 20th anniversary of this event, so it’s sure to be special- be on the lookout for when they announce tickets are on sale.
Review of Wild About Game 2019: the party includes a throwdown between Portland and Seattle cooking game meat, and so many samples of other delicious food and beverage sure to keep you full as it is all you can eat and drink for the duration of the event Review of Wild About Game 2019: the party includes a throwdown between Portland and Seattle cooking game meat, and so many samples of other delicious food and beverage sure to keep you full as it is all you can eat and drink for the duration of the event

Usually held at the beautiful background of Mount Hood Resort (previously known as Resort on the Mountain), the party includes the San Pelligrino Artisan Marketplace for you to taste lots of local products. Yes there’s meat from local ranches, but also seafood and other deliciousness with preparations dished up often from well known chefs. There is also a throwdown between Portland and Seattle, with a representative chef from each city competing using a chosen game meat in four different face-offs, and then a people’s choice and judge’s choice winner from all eight dishes is announced.
Wild About Game 2019 Review of Wild About Game 2019: the party includes a throwdown between Portland and Seattle, with a representative chef from each city competing using a chosen game meat in four different face-offs, and then a people's choice and judge's choice winner from all eight dishes is announced.

That’s right – as a guest with your entry, it’s all you can eat and drink from among various sponsors (many who have well known chefs helping to showcase their product), AND you can sample all of the competition entries. Plus, there is a cocktail competition too – and this year there was also some tequila tasting classes. There’s also a raffle so you could win and go home with some cool prizes!
Review of Wild About Game 2019: the party included sponsor Tesoro Tequila featured in the cocktail competition and offering a few tasting classes repeated during the event. Review of Wild About Game 2019: the party included sponsor Tesoro Tequila featured in the cocktail competition and offering a few tasting classes repeated during the event.

The way it is organized was really smart this year in that all the competition dishes and drinks, which usually are what have lines since the competing chef or mixologist is only there for an hour, were all placed outside. That left more space without the logistics of people lining up or trying to go between the two sampling stations inside the building, so it felt much less crowded. There are also plenty of places to sit, be it at set tables and chairs outside to perching on sidewalk planters or sitting on the grass with a view of the mountains and the landscaped golf course below. Items being grilled were grouped together on one side, and there was also an area that was more focused on seafood.
Review of Wild About Game 2019: the party includes a throwdown between Portland and Seattlecooking wild game, but there are also lots of samples of meat, seafood, and other tasty products to sample throughout the WAG party Review of Wild About Game 2019: the party includes a throwdown between Portland and Seattlecooking wild game, but there are also lots of samples of meat, seafood, and other tasty products to sample throughout the WAG party

The Competition Dishes, The Competition Cocktails, and a Sample of other Samples are the three sections I will give you a visual peak of from my experience at Wild About Game 2019.

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