Food and Drink Archives - Page 3 of 214 - Pechluck's Food Adventures

Creative Mexican by Clandestino PDX

March 27, 2023 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

On Monday – Wednesday you can find creative Mexican plates and glasses of intriguing wines from Clandestino PDX, a pop-up now in residence at Lil Dame by Dame Collective (in the old Beast/Ripe Cooperative space). If you haven’t had an opportunity to visit, make a date for these weekdays to treat yourself to a cozy dinner and a food and wine mini adventure.
Clandestino PDX - Left Ceviche of yellowfin tuna, guava, avocado, lime on tostadita, Right Carne tartara - beef, yuzu kosho, serrano on tostadita Clandestino PDX - Quesadillas - carnitas, quesillo, guacachile

Clandestino joined the collective to start serving up Mexican inspired dishes in December to rave review by tastemaker and written word wrangler Karen Brooks of Portland Monthly who called Clandestino Portland’s Best New Mexican Restaurant. Try to make reservations as the space in inclement weather is very cozy and with recent media coverage may even be full for the night, even on a Monday. You can see how small the open kitchen is, so they also can only realistically do only so many covers per evening. As spring and summer weather open up the outdoor seating and they dial in their menu they’ll have more capacity.

Be sure to try several half glass pours during your visit! You can trust and after selecting your dishes let the staff pour their recommended pairings – you can even ask for a different pairing per person like we did for each dish. Not only are the selections carefully curated to be all winners with the food and diverse in provenance and flavor profile, but that helps support both sides of the collective.
Clandestino PDX - part of the Dame Collective

The way it works is the food sales are kept by the chef, Dame keeps the beverage, and overhead and staff costs are split by both resident chef and Dame. So patronize both with your check! I’ve always been a fan of the pop-up model (I even used to cover pop-ups for Eater PDX) – restaurant industry life is hard in terms of long hours and margins in balancing inventory with limited shelf life. Pop-ups allow for some reasonable work time boundaries with more control of when open for business and taking breaks, and an ability to get some work life balance. It’s great business sense for the brick and mortar owners and visiting chefs and part of PDX’s supportive hospitality community.

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Filed Under: Food and Drink Tagged With: Beef Tartare, Carne Tartara, Carnitas Quesadilla, ceviche, Clandestino PDX, Mexican cuisine, PDX Wine, pdx wines, Pop up restaurant, pop up restaurants Portland, Pop-up, pop-up restaurant Portland, pop-ups in Portland, portland, Portland pop up restaurant, Portland pop-up, Portland popup, Portland popup restaurant, Portland Wine, Quesadilla, Quesadilla Carnitas, Whole Fish

Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration

March 19, 2023 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

Starting Monday March 20 Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Teamaker have collaborated to bring you some incredible spring seasonal drinks! I love the concept of bringing these two local businesses coming together to bring their quality products into my mug. Here’s a look at the five Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration drinks available. The beverage are available hot or cold but they are shown all as hot drinks here.

Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea share a history in both being based in Portland and were founded in 2009, both founded by veterans of their Coffee or Tea industry. Both companies are dedicated to producing high-quality, artisanal beverages using traditional methods and premium ingredients and have won numerous awards. Both are also committed to using sustainable and ethical practices in their sourcing, production, and packaging and work with small-scale farmers and producers who use organic and eco-friendly methods.

These espresso and tea combinations are made similar to making a latte. The barista will brew a shot of espresso and prepare tea separately that are combined in a cup and topped with frothed milk (optional alternative milk of course or no milk). The caffeine content of can vary depending on the ratio of tea to espresso used. Usually the beverage will have a higher caffeine content than a traditional cup of tea, but slightly less caffeine than a regular cup of coffee. If that’s too much no worries – some of the seasonal drinks are creamy milk and tea combos, aka tea lattes.

Strawberry Chamomile Latte with Steven Smith Meadow Tea, freeze dried strawberry syrup, espresso and milk is a creative combination worth trying.
Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration, Strawberry Chamomile Latte with Steven Smith Tea Meadow, freeze dried strawberry syrup, espresso and milk

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Filed Under: Food and Drink Tagged With: Bergamot Mocha, Caramel Lavender Latte, coffee, Collaboration, espresso, freeze dried strawberry syrup, Lavender Chai, Smith Meadow Tea, Smith Tea Lord Bergamot, Steven Smith Chai, Steven Smith Teamakers, Strawberry Chamomile Latte, Strawberry Chamomile Matcha, tea, Water Avenue Coffee

Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

February 17, 2023 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

I am a supporter of all things delicious – including craft beer, with special appreciation for those female brewers out there who make it in what is a male dominated field. Being a woman in engineering, I have to support and applaud their resilience, naturally. Whitney Burnside has been an award-winning Portland brewmaster that I have followed for many years and now she recently founded along with the other half of power-couple duo husband chef Doug Adams, the brewpub Grand Fir Brewing. Recently they launched a collaboration beer with longtime friend Ben Edmunds of Breakside Brewery a new collaboration brew called Chef’s Kiss! They decided to celebrate this launch with a five course Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner.
Menu of the pairings for the Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

If you have not been to Grand Fir Brewing for Doug’s BBQ Wednesdays, you are missing out! Every Wednesday there is a new barbecue special on offer to enjoy with the refreshing and approachable beer lineup of Grand Fir, adding to the regular menu which offers a small curated list of a handful of small plates and handful of large plates. But a beer dinner with multiple courses that were created to pair with specific beers – yes, I was excited. And I was extra excited to see that there was smoked rib on the menu for this collaboration dinner – the 12 hour slow cooked beef rib with green sauce with tortilla was my favorite dish from the smoker from his previous restaurant Bullard Tavern, and I’ve really missed it.

Well, let me tell you this whole dinner met and went beyond my expectations.
Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner Menu of the pairings for the Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

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Filed Under: Beer Review, Food and Drink Tagged With: beer and food, beer dinner, Breakside Brewery, Chef's Kiss coconut yuzu IPA, Doug Adams, Grand Fir Brewing, portland beer, Portland Beer and Food Pairing, Portland Beer Dinner, Smoked Spiced Beef Short Ribs, Whitney Burnside

KinKan Bento Boxes

January 6, 2023 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

I spent Christmas in Los Angeles with my siblings and niece and nephew, and one way we treated ourselves was with KinKan Bento Boxes they offered for the holiday. This half-Japanese, half-Thai restaurant is a favorite of my sister who raves about the omakase there and I hope to return on a trip to dine at the counter. Until then though, we enjoyed the KinKan holiday bento boxes as one of the most beautiful takeout experiences I have ever had. Make sure you follow KinKan on Instagram to be in the know when special boxes are available!
KinKan Bento Boxes - holiday bento boxes from KinKan LA for takeout, Chirashi Heaven Bento

We enjoyed the Unagi Lover ($15) and the Stairway to Chirashi Heaven Bento ($300) that comfortably fed 5 of us. I have a reel of the unboxing on Instagram, but for still photos of the details, check out below
KinKan Bento Boxes - holiday bento boxes from KinKan LA for takeout

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Filed Under: Food and Drink, Travel Tagged With: Bento Box, Bento Boxes, bento dinner, Chirashi Bento, Chirashi Don, Christmas Bento, Holiday Bento, KinKan LA, LA Eats, LA Restaurants, Los Angeles Eats, Los Angeles Restaurants, New Year's Bento, Stairway to Chirashi heaven, Unagi Bento, Unagi lover

Art and Eats in Bandon

December 20, 2022 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

Bandon has a cute, very walkable downtown in their Old Town district, located in a marina area just off of Oregon Coast Highway Highway 101 S. You can easily see where to pull of from 101 thanks to two Old Town arches you can see right from the highway. You can find street parking and there are several free visitor lots as well. One of the compelling reasons to stay or at least stop and wander here in the Old Town District is that you can find a good mix of art and eats in Bandon beyond just the usual handful of small local stores for souvenirs and local crafts, and it’s super walkable. Also the art is FREE to enjoy! Here are my favorite picks.
Bandon Art and Eats: Annual Port of Bandon Boardwalk Art Show Bandon Art and Eats: Washed Ashore Gallery, not only creating striking sea life sculptures created from ocean debris, but volunteers help to gather the material via beach cleanup efforts and hope to raise awareness globally about pollution in the ocean and to spark positive changes

Art in Bandon

There is a unique, family-friendly, interactive and educational and FREE art gallery that you can find in Bandon- the Washed Ashore Gallery. This is one of two galleries they have (the other is in Coos Bay), and the specialty here is “art to save the sea” by teaching environmental issues in an engaging way through the arts. The efforts of non-profit Washed Ashore, include not only creating striking sea life sculptures created from ocean debris, but volunteers help to gather the material via beach cleanup efforts and create curriculum to help educate and inspire, and provide volunteer opportunities to get involved in the art creation. Founded in 2010, they hope to raise awareness globally about pollution in the ocean and to spark positive changes. You may have even seen some examples of their art in other locations as part of commissions or traveling exhibitions.
Bandon Art and Eats: Washed Ashore Gallery, not only creating striking sea life sculptures created from ocean debris, but volunteers help to gather the material via beach cleanup efforts and hope to raise awareness globally about pollution in the ocean and to spark positive changes