Fullerton Wine Pairing Dinner

June 18, 2023 by 1 Comment

Fullerton Wine has a tasting room in the Slabtown area on NW Pettygrove, with a unique perspective of offering wine to highlight all the AVA (American Viticultural Area) of the Willamette Valley. To help this vision, winemaker Alex Fullerton and father Eric offers fine wine and they love pairing with food, offering dinners and dueling pairings with other winemakers. I’ve attended and loved a dinner previously, and recently attended another one with their new executive chef Andrew Thomas who recently started offering winemaker pairing dinner menu options for non-meat those reducing meat eaters.
Rosemary Focaccia Bruschetta Roasted Summer Vegetables, Gremolata, Toasted Spice Pepitas Fullerton Wine Pairing Dinner Wood Fired Grilled Steak, Whiskey Braised Cipollini Onions, Thyme Brown Butter, New Potatoes, Romesco Sauce

In a very inclusive move, the wine pairing dinners are offered so that diners can select from a Traditional (omnivore) menu, Pescatarian, or Vegan food pairing. So those with dietary restrictions are thoughtfully accounted for which is worth spotlighting, beyond their convenient location within Portland and great wines. It’s also fun to see how they efficiently create the twists in dishes to meet the restrictions. Here’s an example walkthrough of the Fullerton Pairing Dinner June 16 & 17, 2023 to see what an experience might be like.

We started with a welcome pour of 2021 Three Otters Rosé. This easy to drink and very affordable summer pleaser started as a competition between father and son on who can make the best Rosé (whole cluster pressed vs skin contact over 6 days) and both were blended together when Alex discovered the sum was better together. You’ll notice the family love of otters on the wine label as well as part of the family crest and if you look carefully, an otter calendar hanging inside the tasting room.
Fullerton Wine Pairing Dinner welcome pour of 2021 Three Otters Rosé

First Course

Seasonal Vegetable Gazpacho, Cucumber, Tomato, Red Onion, Peach, Croutons
This course was the same for both of us and was well balanced with the acidity and sweet of the fruit. It was paired with the bright 2022 Three Otters Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley AVA.
Fullerton Wine Pairing Dinner Seasonal Vegetable Gazpacho, Cucumber, Tomato, Red Onion, Peach, Croutons Fullerton Wine Pairing Dinner Seasonal Vegetable Gazpacho, Cucumber, Tomato, Red Onion, Peach, Croutons

Second Course

Aleppo Seared Scallop with Israeli Cous Cous Salad Roasted Summer Squash, Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Scallion, Basil Ladolemono Dressing
🌱Vegan: Israeli Couscous, Crispy Chickpeas, Roasted Seasonal Squash, Blisters Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Scallion, Basil Ladolemono Dressing
Both were paired with 2018 Lichtenwalter Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge AVA which is one of my favorites from Fullerton, with a smooth blend of fruit with spice accent in the flavor profile that’s subtle but distinguishable.
Fullerton Wine Pairing Dinner Aleppo Seared Scallop with Israeli Cous Cous Salad Roasted Summer Squash, Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Scallion, Basil Ladolemono Dressing Fullerton Wine Pairing Dinner Vegan course of Israeli Couscous, Crispy Chickpeas, Roasted Seasonal Squash, Blisters Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Scallion, Basil Ladolemono Dressing

Third Course

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Grand Amari brings the Amari and Italy to PDX

June 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Grand Amari has just opened at the Hotel Grand Stark at inner SE Portland, offering a new premiere food and drink destination featuring old school traditional Italian flavors, from great ingredients that are highlighted simply by their pantry of almost a dozen incredible olive oils and paired with wines and stories of small producers so far out they may not even speak Italian, or ask for a suggested pairing from over 60 amari. The list is written to include stars to denote the amount of bitterness, and helpful flavor descriptions such as “cola, sasparilla, gentian” for Amaro Dente Di Leon, “sandalwood, cannibis, ginger” for Geijer Amaro, or “dark chocolate, espresso, allspice” for Meletti Fernet. Grand Amari is brought to you by the passionate nerds and visionaries of Olympia Provisions and Bar Casa Vale.
Tortelli with ricotta, sage, and delitia at Grand Amari Grand Amari pasta Cacio e Pepe with Candele pasta for chewy texture, and the noodles are extra long!

Grand Amari also has a sister bar at Little Bitter Bar which I will definitely be back for in July as they finish up their outdoor patio. I can’t wait to enjoy their spritz offerings in the sunshine. They offer three options of spritzes, with the lighter freshing Italicus, the more garden herb Carpano Botanic Bitter, or the stronger almost savory option of Zucca Amaro, with your spritz combination with prosecco and sparkling water. There are even more delightful sounding cocktails at the bar, which I will need to return to try, along with the pizza. For now, here’s a look at some of the dishes I tried from the menu at Grand Amari for dinner. Some of the dishes you will see mentioned here such as the aracini, fritto misto, carciofo arrosto, scallop crudo, tuna belly, and spaghettini pomodoro are also available as bar plates there.

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Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

May 26, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Living in such a great food city such as Portland and enjoying the richness of food and drink experiences available here, it may be hard to fathom that as we debate where to eat next on our wishlist, also here in the Portland metropolitan area there are children and families who go hungry. Many schools in the East Multnomah county have students living below the poverty line. 1 in 5 Oregonians live with food insecurity. Not so long ago Oregon even ranked #1 in childhood hunger in the United States. The just released Upcycled Ice Cream Series by Salt and Straw is the theme for June 2023 of their monthly rotating seasonal flavors, and helps spotlight a local non-profit helping to fight food insecurity and bring awareness to food distribution. Salt & Straw also created flavors with 4 other partners also promoting food sustainability and reducing food waste. The flavors are available starting today, May 26th – just in time for world hunger awareness day on May 28th.
Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

At Urban Gleaners, a non-profit founded in 2006 by the inspiring Tracy Oseran, collects fresh food before it can go to waste. The difference from other food banks is that Urban Gleaners collects perishable food, bit by bit from grocery stores and restaurants, corporate campuses, event sites, colleges, farms, and food wholesalers, aka gleaning what is left behind after a harvest for charitable use.. The food tends to be fresher and healthier because of its fresh perishable nature. During my visit we saw not only fresh fruits and vegetables but also breads, cakes and pies, sour cream and milk, and salsas and guacamole. Within a couple days, food that comes in goes out as Urban Gleaners sorts, prepares some ingredients into convenient packaged meals thanks to volunteer chefs, and others are offered “farmers market” style. Recipients can pick what they want – no set food boxes or limitations.
Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

Multiple items are high quality – from organic produce to speciality coffee beans, fresh ingredients that are systematically sorted and labeled by when they came in and stored in several cooler rooms to go out first in first out or based on how much longer it will last (so that guacamole will go back out very quickly). Donors include Whole Foods, Zupans, New Seasons, Pastaworks, Odwalla, Dave’s Killer Bread, Elephants Deli, Intel, Nike, Lewis and Clark, Reed College, Portland Farmers Market and more.
Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

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Winston’s Fish N Chips

May 8, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Feeling like a little bit of a taste of England after seeing all the coronation photos and gossip this past weekend? Check out Winston’s British Fish N Chips, the first food truck of many to come – they are looking to open more in the US. The truck and fish and chips are named for Winston the Royal Corgi of Chef Darren McGrady’s YouTube channel.
Winston's Fish N Chips food truck - Fish N Chips with Mushy Peas Winston's Fish N Chips food truck - The Royal Sampler

Chef McGrady prepared fish and British chips as Personal Chef to Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, Princes William and Harry, and others at Buckingham Palace including five US Presidents and now brings these recipes to US, and serving them through mobile restaurants, at the insistence of Winston! Also Winston is adorable – you can find his friendly face on the food truck and if you bring a lil one, acquire a mini-Winston.
Winston's Fish N Chips food truck Winston's Fish N Chips food truck Winston's Fish N Chips food truck Winston's Fish N Chips food truck

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Vegan Paella and Barcelona Mystery Box

April 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Recently I hosted a Finders Seekers Mystery night for six people at my house. Finders Seekers is a monthly subscription box (though you can skip boxes anytime which I do) where each month the mystery takes place in a different travel destination in the world. This box was for Barcelona. I decided to make a vegan paella for our little party.
Vegan Paella recipe Vegan Paella recipe

With each box Finders Seekers provides some suggested immersive experience ideas for the travel destination in the form of a music playlist on Spotify and food and drink recipes. We used their playlist from their Barcelona immersion ideas, but the recipes for Spanish meatballs, Ham croquettes, Pan con tomato, and Patatas bravas was too much work to make so many different tapas. I thought a paella would be perfect because it’s one main dish that doesn’t require too much effort during a get together – in fact a critical point is not stirring the paella while cooking.

My take on Vegan Paella is based mainly on my friend Plating and Pairing’s own take on a vegetarian paella with artichokes, but I swapped out the artichokes to use some roasted broccoli, and used fresh red peppers instead of piquillo peppers. That was just my preference instead of using jarred ingredients, and you could add in any veggies of your choice really. I also used bomba rice instead of arborio rice, because that’s what I had and it’s the rice native to Spain- it has a more firm texture then arborio which is more typically used for risotto but arborio (though it’s Italian) is a fine substitute and is more available in stores and priced a little cheaper.

I also used a vegan mayo base for the garlicky aioli side, and since only 1 person in our party was vegan, I sauteed some smoked green chorizo (chorizo made with spinach) on the side that people could also add to their dish. I offered a side of roasted asparagus, either plain with just olive oil and salt and pepper, or with a tarragon dressing. If you’d like though Erin also suggests some additional dishes to serve with paella.

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