Japan Travel – Visiting Cup Noodles Museum

March 8, 2016 by 4 Comments

During our first week staying in Japan, we stayed in Shinjuku, a busy area known for lots of shopping, entertainment, and Shinjuku Station is Japan’s busiest railway station. This was great for us in that it was super easy to get food and drink (varying from department stores to lots of restaurants and nightlife establishments), and the train station is a hub for many train lines.

So it was very easy to decide that morning to take a day trip to Mount Takao, or on another day, we took a day trip to Yokohama and made it a Ramen Day! Our first stop was visiting Cup Noodles Museum, also known as the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. This is one of the 2 branches of the museum – the other is in Osaka.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - this is one of 2 locations, one is here in Yokohama and another in Osaka.

Not far from Tokyo – about 40 km south, or about an hour by train, is the city of Yokohama. If you recall vaguely from your history books, this is the fishing village that became the epicenter of foreign trade when Commodore Matthew Perry landed around here  in 1853 and Japan opened itself for the first time to the outside world. Today, Yokohama is the second largest city outside, and the foreign influence shows in that is a port town, and it is also home to the largest Chinatown in Japan. It is still home to lots of trade and visitors, though now the focus is more on amusement and tourism then foreign trade and military presence. This includes the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum, Cosmo World Amusement Park, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium and amusement park, Kirin Beer Village, and other activities. You could easily spend a whole day, and it would be a great family trip together.
Yokohama in Japan - once the epicenter of foreign trade when Commondore Matthew Perry landed here and Japan opened itself for the first time to the outside world. Now home of the Cup of Noodles Ramen Museum, Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world) and the Cosmo World Amusement Park, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Kirin Beer Village, a large Chinatown, this is the second largest city outside Tokyo. You can see to the left Minato Mirai 21 whose name means harbor of the future. It has many large high-rises, including the Landmark Tower, which was Japan's tallest building from 1993 until 2014 Yokohama in Japan - once the epicenter of foreign trade when Commondore Matthew Perry landed here and Japan opened itself for the first time to the outside world. Now home of the Cup of Noodles Ramen Museum, Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world) and the Cosmo World Amusement Park, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Kirin Beer Village, a large Chinatown, this is the second largest city outside Tokyo.

As you are walking from the train station to the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum in Yokohama, you won’t help but notice the huge Cosmo Clock 21, at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and the world’s largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people. The presence of the tall ship as we walked along the waterfront past Cosmo World was a modern nod to the ships that might have docked in the area more than 150 years ago. Other modern skyscrapers also compliment the skyline here.
Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and world's largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people) in Yokohama Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and world's largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people) in Yokohama

Both Cup Noodles museums in Yokohama and Osaka have an instant ramen workshop allowing visitors to make their own “fresh” instant noodles (fresh as in just made the noodles at least!). Reservations must be made in advance for this fresh ramen making activity called Chicken Ramen Factory. There is also a My Cupnoodles Factory where visitors can assemble their own personal Cup Noodles from pre-made ingredients for a small fee.  You can decide to do this when you buy your admission ticket if there are times available, so much easier to add to your schedule. We decided to only do the personal Cup Noodles container since making noodles is a lot like pasta making so that workshop didn’t seem worth the time… especially since we were planning to go to another Ramen Museum after this (I’ll cover that next week).

At least in the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum we visited – there are 5 floors of ramen fun. Well, really only 4 since the 5th is for events. The 1st floor is the Museum Shop, 2nd is a theater explaining the history of instant ramen’s invention, the 3rd has activities like making ramen noodles or your personal Cup Noodles, and the 4th is a Noodles Bazaar with various ramen from around the world to eat in a food hall.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - very clean, simple design reflected throughout the museum except in the Noodles Bazaar. This is reflective of the philosophy that you don't need state-of-the-art facilities to research and invent things because it’s the knowledge in your head that’s important Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - 5 floors of ramen fun! Well, really only 4 since the 5th is for events. The 1st floor is the Museum Shop, 2nd is a theater explaining the history of instant ramen's invention, the 3rd has activities like making ramen noodles or your personal Cup Noodles, and the 4th is a Noodles Bazaar with various ramen from around the world to eat in a food hall.

The way of the flow of the museum goes, you start with the history area, which is on the second floor since the first floor is the lobby with Entrance Hall to buy your admission or make activity reservations and the Museum Shop.

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Second Floor

It’s a pretty cool visual sight to see what they dub the Instant Noodles History Cube that displays the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen from 1958 through the approximately 800 product packages that were created to now. The breadth and depth of different packages really demonstrates how a single product has grown to the 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world now.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world

It’s fascinating seeing the various flavors that have been created and changes in marketing over time and how it varies internationally.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - in the Instant Noodles History Cube, see rare products from the past. Take a trip down memory lane as you search for a favorite instant noodles package from your past or kinds you never saw before from other places in the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - in the Instant Noodles History Cube, see rare products from the past. Take a trip down memory lane as you search for a favorite instant noodles package from your past or kinds you never saw before from other places in the world

You can then watch a 15 minute film about the history in the Momofuku Theater of how Momofuku Ando came up with the idea for instant noodles. It is a pretty fun film using animation with big bobble headed versions of people and a little humor to walk through the thoughts that led up to the invention of instant ramen and then of Cup Noodles.
At Cup Nooodles Museum, watch the 15 minute Cup Noodles history in the Momofuku Theater with animated episodes demonstrating the thoughts that led up to the invention of Cup Noodles

Momofuku Ando invented the world’s first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958 after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Right after the short film, a wall opens to a narrative timeline of the instant ramen invention (Creative Thinking Rooms) that starts out with a replica of his little shed (Momofuku Work Shed). You can step right into the shed, which is very humbling to see as the origin of such a vast empire and a savior to many a poor student. The giant wok pot of oil he was experimenting with definitely seemed to be very unsafe lab conditions for the year while he was inventing instant ramen!
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Cup Noodles was invented then in 1971 Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Cup Noodles was invented then in 1971

One of the things I really enjoyed about the museum is also the philosophy it tries to teach to its visitors. Momofuku Ando was 48 years old when he started Cup Noodles. It involved a huge bounce back from personal hardships which they kept sort of vague, but I found he was raised by his grandparents because his parents died when he was an infant, and as an adult he went to jail convicted of tax evasion in the form of providing scholarships to students, and his company went bankrupt and he lost all his assets except his house.

There is no such thing as too late in life and don’t give up, the museum tries to message. Given the era of time this was also in (end of WW II), you can see how this optimism was really reflective of the rebuilding the whole country was going through too.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. There is no such thing as too late in life and don't give up, the Momofuku Ando Cup Noodles museum tries to message.

The museum aesthetic is very clean, simple design reflected throughout the museum rooms except in the Noodles Bazaar. This is reflective of the museum’s other message that you don’t need fancy or expensive facilities to research and invent things because it’s the knowledge in your head that’s important. The museum goes into detail in finding inspiration from every day things and thinking outside the box. Charming doodle like drawings accompany the narrative from the original instant noodle ramen invention in 1958 to the Cup Noodles initial invention in 1971 to Cup Noodles for consumption in outer space and carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery. It does seem though those who know Japanese get a lot more info than those who just know English from the placards.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - look at things from every angle. Part of the overall philosophy the museum is imparting of If you have an idea, along with the passion and tenacity to bring it to fruition, and the seeds of free, open-minded thinking and creativity, you can invent something that will change the world. By putting it upside down, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - there's an actual vacuum pack of Space Ramen, the instant noodles developed for consumption in outer space and carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Third Floor

On the next floor is the area for the Chicken Ramen Factory I had mentioned earlier where you done bright yellow bandannas with the Nissin chick mascot on it and make noodles, as well as the area where you make your own custom Cup Noodles – My Cupnoodles Factory. It’s pretty cheap to sign up for the custom Cup Noodles experience and it will only cost you 300 yen. The admission is for set times during the day, so make sure you keep an eye out for when your time slot is. As you can see, this is appropriate for pretty much ALL ages.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. In a cup that you design, select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations.

There’s just 8 steps to the process:

Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands. The cup will have a lid on it for now to keep it clean Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands. The cup will have a lid on it for now to keep it clean

You will be directed to empty seats at communal tables that have markers to decorate your cup. You will also see a preview of the ingredients you can choose to fill your custom cup with a custom ramen noodle combination. There are four varieties of soup and you get to choose four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Don’t worry, there is a lid on your cup as you are decorating to keep it uncontaminated inside.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. A lid is put on top of your container so it stays uncontaminated until the ingredients are added while you decorate your cup Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. A lid is put on top of your container so it stays uncontaminated until the ingredients are added while you decorate your cup

Next you will be directed to one of the lines to fill your cup. I have to hand it to the ladies who man those cup filling stations, they were super cheerful and patient with guests of all ages and languages, and always had a bright smile on their faces and clear gestures to show you the process. In the first part, you will turn a lever to place the noodle cup over the already flash fried noodles upside down – one of the big discoveries as part of the Cup Noodles invention. By putting it upside down, the noodles don’t get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line. Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.

The designer in me loved the clear simple explanation in multiple languages on the glass of each station, and when you’ve reached the end of turning the cup to place the noodles in the right part, the crank gives this satisfying click and you can feel it click in the handle too.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.

Now you choose one soup flavor from among 4 varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations possible! Soup flavors include original, seafood, curry or chili tomato. Ingredient options include kidney beans, crab flavored fish sausage, corn, shrimp, egg, cubic roast pork, garlic chips, kimchee, Hiyoko-chan fish sausage (the chicken face chips), cheddar cheese, and green onion, and one seasonal limited edition additional ingredient that varies.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations. At the top left to right is kidney beans, crab flavored fish sausage, corn, garlic chips and second row shrimp, egg, and cubic roast pork Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Here you see corn, garlic chips, kimchee, bottom row left to right cubic roast pork, Hiyoko-chan fish sausage (the chicken face chips), cheddar cheese, and green onion Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations.

The next portions the staff perform for you to observe – the packaging of the cup where you seal the cup,
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients

then you shrink wrap the cup
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients

Then you inflate a protective bag using an air pump
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Inflate a protective bag using an air pump as the final step Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Inflate a protective bag using an air pump as the final step

Now you can wear it as a ridiculous necklace accessory.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. You decorate it yourself and choose the ingredients for a custom ramen mix

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Fourth Floor

The Fourth Floor is the Noodles Bazaar, which is essentially a food court offering instant ramen flavors from around the world at various stations that you then eat in an open cafeteria area. Our goal was to go to another Ramen Museum which had ramen representations of different prefectures o eat, so I only have a few pictures to show you the atmosphere here since we didn’t eat any ramen.

All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market

So, what did you think of this Ramen Adventure part 1? Is it what you expected from an Instant Ramen museum? Would you visit this museum or not, and what would you decorate or choose for ingredients in your custom Cup Noodles cup?

Next week- Ramen Adventure part 2 to Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum.

If you’d like to read a little more on Momofuku Ando, it was his 105th birthday on March 5 2015 and Google had a cute doodle for him you can read here!

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

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Baker’s Dozen Coffee Beers & Doughnuts Next Weekend

March 3, 2016 by 11 Comments

I wanted to give you a heads up before the tickets sell out for Brian Yaeger’s Baker’s Dozen Coffee Beers & Doughnuts Festival!  Taking place next week from 10 AM – 3 PM on Saturday March 12, 2016 at Culmination Brewing, this was a fantastic event I attended last year that had me wired for the rest of the day thanks to all the caffeine from the coffee beers and all the sugar from the doughnuts.

Baker's Dozen Coffee Beers & Doughnuts 2016

This year, the festival again takes place at Culmination Brewing, which just recently won Best  New Brewery of the Year at the 2016 Oregon Beer Awards. With 20 some taps, of which 3/4 of them are their own beers which span a wide variety of styles, it’s hard to believe this brewery is less than a year old but already pumping out classics as well as always tweaking and experimenting too.

Culmination Brewing Chalkboard at Culmination Brewing with the Beer List on June 20, 2015 Bar inside of Culmination Brewing Bar inside of Culmination Brewing
These photos are back before they put the chalkboard on the wall atop the tap – I’ve been visiting since they first opened!

Culmination Brewing is family friendly and dog friendly, and has several comfy outdoor seats to enjoy the good weather (as well as easy street parking in a lot or nearby streets in the neighborhood just off out SE Sandy), as well as a dozen seats at the bar and tables inside as well. It is really like a neighborhood brewpub, but with an impressive list of brews.

Outside seating at Culmination Brewing Outside seating at Culmination Brewing Outside seating at Culmination Brewing

For $24 a person (purchase your tickets online at Mercury Tickets before they sell out – they are only selling 400 of these 21+ beer tickets), at the Baker’s Dozen Coffee Beers and Doughnuts festival you get access to a thirteen 4-oz samples of baker’s dozen (13) coffee beers as well as samples of all thirteen different doughnuts from thirteen different breweries and local Portland doughnut shops all in one place.

Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing  Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing

And, it can be family fun! They are offering a Doughnut Decoration Station for kids and non-kids. Local roasted normal coffee will be provided too, along with live music. You can purchase additional beverages beyond the 13 coffee beers and/or house-made breakfast sandwiches too.

Here’s more of a glimpse of what this upcoming festival can be like, based on the Baker’s Dozen Coffee & Doughnuts Festival last year.  I collected multiple donuts on my plate so I could try pairing them with the various beers on the checklist you get when you check in in whatever order I want.

Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing Coco Donuts Espresso Donuts were my favorite donuts from the Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing Bakers Dozen Coffee Beer & Doughnuts festival (coffee beer and local donuts from all over PDX) at Culmination Brewing

Here’s a pro tip: when I went, I took ziploc bags with me because even with them cutting up the doughnuts into sample sizes of 1/2 or 1/4 of a doughnut, there was no way I could eat 13 doughnut morsels, so I took some home by putting them in the bag!

For a preview of some of the participating breweries brews and doughnuts check out the Brewpublic Article here on the 2nd Annual Bakers Dozen.

Unfortunately I’ll be out of town for the festival so will miss it, which just means I’ve freed up a ticket for you that you should snap up ASAP. Have you been to Culmination yet? Have you paired coffee beer and doughnuts before? Who is your favorite Portland doughnut provider? Do you spell doughnut or donut?

Culmination Brewing

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Filed Under: Beer Review, Festival Event, Food and Drink Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Japan Travel: Dining at a Ryokan

March 1, 2016 by 13 Comments

I had previously shared some of the details about onsen (hot springs) and staying at a ryokan (Japanese inn) by Lake Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji – Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. One of the incredible parts of the ryokan experience besides the onsen was the elaborate traditional Japanese meals I enjoyed. Dining at a Ryokan is a highlight of visiting Japan you should definitely try to enjoy.

When you check into the ryokan, you will be asked to choose a dinner dining time, and in our case a breakfast dining time as well – at Maruei these were certain time slots we could select from. With a traditional Japanese meal, you should expect lots of little dishes, all beautifully arranged and balancing options of raw and cooked, hot and cold, rice and soup, different cooking techniques like pickled, with sauce, steamed, etc. The dishes focus on being very fresh and seasonal, highlighting local specialty ingredients while conscious of colors and textures in the careful presentation. You can see a great breakdown of what are the kinds of foods you would see in a kaiseki here at Japan Guide and Japan Talk.

Traditional Japanese Dinner

Our dinner was served in our traditional Japanese room, with us sitting at low tables sitting or kneeling on the tatami mats that comprise our room floor.
Dining at a Ryokan: Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, photo she took from the sliding door to our traditional tatami mat room Dining at a Ryokan: Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, photo she took from the window side of our traditional tatami mat room

The placement of the multiple dishes, each one with artful presentation, was meticulous where she would adjust the bowl or chopsticks to exactly the right place. There were so many dishes she took multiple trips to bring them on her tray, and food just kept appearing unexpectedly! Below is NOT all the dishes we ate for dinner… just the first setup, and she has just lit the flames underneath the kettles and the cooking stone in the middle.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add!

Ok, now here are all the dishes! I should note at this point all the steak has migrated to my hot plate while vegetarian F has all the vegetables on his (and eaten quite a bit of them already). If you are vegetarian or otherwise have a special diet, definitely let them know when you first book your reservation. Unfortunately not all ryokan can make substitutions in their dishes so you may need to have backup food that you bring – I know we had rice balls and bakery goods we brought just in case.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add! She mostly spoke Japanese so it was a bit mysterious eating each dish because I didn't know what everything was... and I ate a lot because the dinner was included and couldn't be modified for any diets so it wasn't vegetarian so I ate Fred's portions too! Here the steaks have all migrated to my hot plate already while all the vegetables are on his (and he's eaten quite a bit of them while I'm taking photos)

I didn’t take a specific photo of it (I didn’t of the soup or rice dishes either – got too excited to eat!), but the miso soup was soooooo good. It gets poured it out of the kettle you see there over the flames in the corner. Towards the end I opened the lid to find it had all these little clams in it, which is probably why it was so delicious.

Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add! She mostly spoke Japanese so it was a bit mysterious eating each dish because I didn't know what everything was... and I ate a lot because the dinner was included and couldn't be modified for any diets so it wasn't vegetarian so I ate Fred's portions too! Here the steaks have all migrated to my hot plate already while all the vegetables are on his (and he's eaten quite a bit of them while I'm taking photos)

The server, who always gracefully would slide the door while kneeling, mostly spoke Japanese so it was a bit mysterious eating each dish because I didn’t know what everything was. A true food adventure.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add! Fred both both plates of this since it was vegetarian Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add!

The little basket of lightly fried vegetables was adorable. And I can’t complain about double steak helpings…
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, one of my favorite dishes and that little basket of fried veggies is adorable I had two servings of the steak and F took all the vegetables since he's vegetarian as part of our Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

Raw seafood dish. I still don’t know a graceful way to eat whole shrimp like this without going all in with my hands, so I was glad to eat it in the privacy of our room with no spectators except for disgusted F… hey at least it wasn’t live.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, was glad to eat the shrimp in the privacy of the room because it was messy to eat! Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, was glad to eat the shrimp in the privacy of the room because it was messy to eat!

Dessert
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei: Dessert

After this dinner F and I went to soak in the private onsen we rented (making it my 3rd onsen visit of the day since I had already visited the indoor and outdoor onsen segregated for women earlier to try those before they switched out the next day to the other 2 of the 4 at the ryokan). Then we opened some sake from our ryokan in room fridge and snuggled into our futon cover while watching TV.

They didn’t have many channels and so for our Christmas show they seemed to be showing a local feed of those holiday shows at elementary school where kids perform for parents, which was a hoot because it seemed the classes were sized at only 8-10 kids all under the age of 7 and of mixed understanding levels of the dance routine they had learned. Super cute and funny.

Traditional Japanese Breakfast

I woke up early to visit the last two indoor and outdoor onsen, and then we went to breakfast at our designated selected time. Breakfast was served in a communal dining room, and when we entered after giving our room number they already had a table with part of our breakfast set up. They also had another long table to the side where anyone could go up and pick up a few additional sides to add to breakfast.

Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. Breakfast came in specific time slots that we could select from. When we arrived, it was a combination of a set meal already ready for us, we could choose whether we wanted white rice, brown rice, or porridge, and there was also a small buffet of side dishes to choose from.

Here’s a better look at my specific setting. The main course you can see is the salmon in the upper left, and in the top middle is a tofu hot pot dish with mushrooms that is being heated from a small fire below. There is also fruit, some sort of custard thing in the yellow bowl, and a trio of three little bites in a lacquered tray.
Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. When we arrived, it was a combination of a set meal already ready for us, we could choose whether we wanted white rice, brown rice, or porridge, and there was also a small buffet of side dishes to choose from. The main course you can see is the salmon in the upper left, and in the top middle is yudofu (a tofu hot pot dish) that is being heated from a small fire below it. Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - a tofu and mushroom broth, salmon, fruit, some sort of custard thing in the yellow bowl and a trio of three little bites in a lacquered tray

For the tofu hot pot dish with mushrooms, there is another accompanying dish of sauce as well to further flavor it. There also is another dish that seemed to have some sort of melon soup.
Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - For the tofu and mushroom hot pot dish, it is being heated by a flame underneath it and there is another dish with sauce in it to add more flavor A melon soup as part of Kaiseki Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

You have the option of white rice, brown rice, or what I selected which is a rice porridge along with your breakfast.
You have the option of white rice, brown rice, or what I selected which is a porridge along with your kaiseki or traditional Japanese breakfast set at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei You have the option of white rice, brown rice, or what I selected which is a porridge along with your kaiseki breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

Part of the breakfast were these two dishes, an egg and a custardy mayo tomato lettuce thing you see in the shiny silver foil wrapper. And yum there’s more of that miso soup with lots of little clams in it.
Part of the kaiseki or traditional Japanese breakfast set at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei Part of the breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - egg and a custardy mayo tomato lettuce thing in the shiny silver foil wrapper

I didn’t take a photo of the side buffet, but here are some of the items I picked out to add to my rice and soup set: eggplant, tofu, some fried vegetable.
Eggplant, tofu, some fried vegetable from the side buffet at breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

And here’s our view next to our table during breakfast of Lake Kawaguchiko
Wakakusa no Yado Maruei: our view next to our table during breakfast of Lake Kawaguchiko Wakakusa no Yado Maruei: our view next to our table during breakfast of Lake Kawaguchiko

Staying at a ryokan was one of my biggest highlights of my trip to Japan. We got so relaxed at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei and it was such a much needed break after a week in Tokyo and before our next week in Kyoto and Osaka. Generally F and I are the kind of travelers who like to go out a lot – our lodging is just a place to sleep and can be no frills, and usually it’s location that matters most to us. In this case though, we went out of our way to visit this ryokan and it was so worth it that we wish we could have stayed another day just to do more nothing but eating, soaking in Onsen, and resting. We had made a choice when planning our trip to either have one night in a ryokan like this, or spend one night at Mount Koya at a Buddhist Temple – and we obviously picked the more pampering ryokan onsen experience over the spiritual and simple commune to try a monk’s life for a day.

The simple serenity staying at the ryokan nourished us in a way we didn’t know we needed, and it wasn’t just about the food (although definitely wonderful) that I shared above. The hospitality was warm yet also gave us our own space. There was no hustle of crowds or noises within the ryokan walls, and it seemed everyone was speaking in whispers to maintain the peacefulness of the atmosphere. And there’s the way onsen water heat just melts your body balanced with the chiller outside air and while gazing at the wind blowing snow off Mount Fuji that is somehow mesmerizing at the time and unforgettably memorable to me still now looking back.
One of the rotenburo, or outdoor onsen, at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei
One of the rotenburo, or outdoor onsen, at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei that I visited, during a brief 10 minutes when I had it all to myself
What did you think about the traditional dinner or breakfast I shared – do you think you could eat it? Would you rather dine in your room but sit on the floor at low tables, or be able to sit at tables and chairs like in the dining room at breakfast? What is your ideal view for an outdoor hot tub?

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

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My picks for Portland Dining Month 2016

February 29, 2016 by 11 Comments

It’s almost March (tomorrow! Where did February go, it flew by, even with the extra day!), which means it’s time for Portland Dining Month 2016 to begin! This is PDX Dining month’s 7th year. I’m glad to see they continue to make it a whole month long – did you know other cities that hold this type of special dinner menu special for a city last just a week? But we have all month – every day of the week for a whole 31 days! So I’m not sure I can accept your excuse on why you couldn’t make it to a single one all month long.
Portland Dining Month in March 2016

This year, a record-setting 122 restaurants will offer three-course dinners for $29 during Portland Dining Month 2016. Some restaurants are very specific on what your 3 courses will be – others provide options for each course, including sometimes vegetarian options. Still more may offer extra courses, or even a beer pairing or some restaurants awarded for their Oregon wine list may offer $15 wine pairings for each course. Pretty much all restaurants will always have their regular menu as well, so not everyone at the table has to eat the $29 prix fixe, so make it a date night, or family night, or catch up with friends.

When you visit, don’t be shy about asking for the Portland Dining Month 2016 menu if you don’t get it when you are seated as it may be a separate menu in addition to the regular menu.

Laurelhurst Market Portland Dining Month 2015 Laurelhurst Market menu and suggested beverages Laurelhurst Market Portland Dining Month 2015 second course of Ten-hour braised beef shoulder with potato pancake, warm oyster mushroom salad and beef jus

My visit to Laurelhurst Market for Portland Dining month in 2015

You dining out is also doing good for the world, not just for your tastebuds and as a reason to get together with others. Portland Dining Month is partnering with Oregon Food Bank to make a donation for every reservation booked through OpenTable links from the Portland Dining Month official website. You can see a list of OpenTable restaurants participating here for which you can make reservations online. For this blogpost, I used the same links if OpenTable was available for my top PDM picks for your convenience.

I usually will pick restaurants based on food options in their 3 courses that sound good, and then look at their regular menu to see if it is a good deal. It never ends up being less than $29 to order them a la carte if available, and some dishes are special for Dining Month, or you are getting an extra tremendous value on the price. Try upscale restaurants that have always been in your wishlist now like Imperial (OpenTable rez avail), Paley’s Place (OpenTable rez avail), Higgins (OpenTable rez avail),  Laurelhurst Market, Little Bird (OpenTable rez avail), the classic Ringside Steakhouse on Burnside (OpenTable rez avail)- whether it be the and such where usually again the entrees alone are in the mid 20 dollar range already.

Fogo de Chão grand opening - Linguica - cured pork sausage Little Bird Bistro's Chicken-Fried Trout, gribiche, fines herbes, radishes, pickled carrots Park Kitchen Milk braised pork with Your Kitchen Gardens leeks, curds and whey

Above, Portland Dining month options from Fogo de Chao (OpenTable rez avail), Little Bird (OpenTable rez avail), and Park Kitchen (OpenTable rez avail) – food shown is from previous years

Also on the list are hot spot restaurants like relatively new on the scene South American cuisine at LeChon (OpenTable rez avail), and already raved about Russian darling Kachka, smart Asian fusion smallwares (OpenTable rez avail), French fun at St Jack which is offering a vegetarian option too (OpenTable rez avail), and more!

Now is the time to visit that restaurant you’ve wanted to go to but haven’t been yet!  You should definitely check out the 3 course menu specials each one is offering to help narrow down from the bounty of choices.

I’ve mentioned already some of my top picks for Portland Dining Month 2016 above for you to check out. Here below are specifically the ones for consideration on my own personal To Eat in March list that stood out to me based on their menu options particular calling to me. Check back as I plan to go to at least one PDM dinner a week and recap them as I go.

  • You have no reason to keep saying you haven’t been to Ataula for Catalan (Spanish) cuisine by James Beard 2016 nominee for Best Chef Northwest Jose Chesa yet with this deal. The first two tapas together are usually worth $19 and a full version by itself of the third course dish is usually $34
    1. First course: Pulpo octopus carpaccio with sun-dried tomato, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pine nuts and pickled cipollini onions
    2. Second course: Tortilla de patatas con bellota with farm eggs, confit potatoes, onions and 4-year cured ibérico ham
    3. Third course: Mini rossejat negre with toasted noodles, calamari, squid ink, sofrito and harissa aioli
    4. Fourth!! : Doughnut, brioche, spiced sugar
  • Pono Farm Soul Kitchen with its mix of Japanese influence and sustainable Northwest meats from Pono Farm have been on my wish list for a while, and I finally am going to visit them in March. Their options for the Portland Dining Month 2016 menu include three options for first course or second course which sound really original in concept. (OpenTable rez avail)
    1. First course (choose one): Roasted golden and red Chiogga beet salad with wild greens, cherry-beet dressing and horseradish cream or Tempura soft-shell crab with hibiscus glaze, persimmon and pear salad with orange vinaigrette or Kakuni: 10-hour braised pork belly with sweet soy glaze, soft-boiled egg, apple and miner’s lettuce salad
    2. Second course (choose one): Market carrots, carrot purée, carrot vinaigrette, chrysanthemum, basil and walnut pesto or Mary’s free-range grilled chicken with chanterelles, frisée, black truffle sauce and red wine demi-glace or Sweet chili pork chop with roasted apples and mizuna salad
    3. Third course: Sake gelée of exotic fruits, yuzu froth and passion fruit cream
  • Willow is just opening in March right now, but they are participating in Portland Dining Month! Pretty brave to open to that guys. They won’t have a regular menu available though – this is their only menu for the month before shifting to their 6 course tasting menu in April, so here’s your chance to try them out on a smaller scale. Their food choices are
    1. First course: Cream of celery root soup with charred roots and thyme
    2. Second course (choose one): Short rib steak with glazed vegetables, potato and sauce bordelaise or Cauliflower steak with glazed vegetables, potato and sauce bordelaise
    3. Third course: Chocolate cake s’more with meringue and graham cracker
  • What I really like about Clyde Common‘s options is how it’s a mashup of Northwest goodness with a little bit of a hint of Filipino influence, which is a unique perspective. And those lumpia, which I’ve had before, keep bringing me back, along with the cocktails. I’ve been visiting the Clyde Common bar for years, but since Chef Carlos Lamagna took over the kitchen I’ve been going more often for lunch and dinner because the food options are now just as compelling as their award winning cocktail program at the bar. (OpenTable rez avail)
    1. First course:Pork and shiitake lumpia with house sweet and sour sauce and spicy greens (shown below is a multiple order plate of lumpia)
    2. Second course: Preserved ramp butter risotto with grana padano, chili oil and chicken chicharrónes
    3. Third course: Local bee honey panna cotta with chèvre whipped cream, mixed berry jam and candied pine nuts
      Clyde Common interior, taken from the 2nd floor Clyde Common dinner and happy hour dish pork and shitake lumpia
  • I really like how classic Northwest cuisine Park Kitchen gives you their famous chickpea fries and three options each for the other two savory courses that sounds really fascinating in its flavor combinations.  (OpenTable rez avail)
    1. First course: Chickpea fries with roasted squash ketchup
      Park Kitchen's Chickpea fries with pumpkin ketchup
    2. Second course (choose one): Ayer’s Creek barley with smoked beets and pomegranate or Blood orange with radish, pumpernickel and crème fraîche or Charred carrot with black olive, pecans and carrot tops
    3. Third course (choose one): Ayer’s Creek adzuki bean cake with braised collard greens and popcorn sauce or Blackened steelhead with cauliflower grits and watercress or Grilled Maupin Farm’s ham with Anthony’s garbanzo beans and green olives
  • Go visit Biwa if my Tuesday Japan travel posts have given you a Japanese craving, as they are offering
    1. First course of Sashimi moriawase, a selection of today’s sashimi dishes, including ocean trout with Deschutes Black Butte Porter shoyu (usually this option alone is $26 on their regular menu!)
    2. Second course of Otsumami and kushiyaki, many small dishes of varied and delightful snacks and grilled skewers
    3. Third course of Smoky miso vegetable soup
  • I love Aviary during dining month (ok, maybe every month. Chef Sarah Pliner is also a James Beard 2015 and 2016 nominee for Best Chef Northwest). Particularly for March though theiir dining month menu is always are a good deal (their entree usually is $23) and they always offer a special one off dish as part of their menu. And don’t forget their bread with bagna cauda is complimentary starter. I think pretty much every PDM every year I stop at Aviary! (OpenTable rez avail)
    complimentary bread service at Aviary is wonderful as instead of just bread with butter, they offered a bagna cauda (butter, garlic, anchovies) for dipping the bread. Obviously because this has anchovies it's not vegetarian so if that's important to you, you'll have to pass on the dip. One of the two breads on the plate was an olive bread.

    1. First course (choose one): Braised beef cheek dumpling of egg yolk, jicama, cucumber and peanuts or
      Prawn salad with snap peas, coconut, Cara Cara oranges, jalapeño and taro root crisp
    2. Second course (choose one): Red cooked kurobuta pork short rib with rutabaga, enoki mushrooms, fish sauce and pickled Thai chiles or Pineapple curry with glazed skate wing, Manila clams, cranberry beans, maitake mushrooms and sea beans
    3. Third course (choose one): Pistachio dacquoise yogurt mousse and grapefruit sorbet or Chocolate cremeux cake with passion fruit and crispy rice
  • Acadia, a New Orleans Bistro, is offering  (photos are from a previous visit of the shrimp and sheepshead – which is a fish btw. I remember with that shrimp I went back to the bowl and spooned the sauce right onto my bread. If you haven’t been here yet, get yourself here as I am putting this on my list even though I’ve had these dishes before because they are just that good.) Treat yourself to some different flavors then the norm with the bright Creole cuisine here.
    1. First course of Louisiana barbecue shrimp with lemon, black pepper, white wine and butter
    2. Second course of Bronzed wild-caught Louisiana sheepshead with buttermilk cornbread puree, pickled beet relish and sauce meunière
    3. Third course of Creole bread pudding with salted whiskey caramel, whipped cream and pecans
      Acadia Restaurant Portland, Louisiana Barbeque Shrimp with lemon, black pepper, white wine and butter. I went back to the bowl and spooned the sauce right onto my bread. Acadia Restaurant Portland, Bronzed, Wild-Caught Louisiana Sheepshead with Spinach Madeline pie and blue crab meuniére.
  • You can get a hint of one of the best restaurants in Portland Castagna and its genius chef Justin Woodward (he was a finalist for the James Beard Awards last year, also a James Beard 2016 nominee for Best Chef Northwest this year and previous 2 years and nominated for Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2013) by visiting the more casual Cafe Castagna next door. Their entree of milk braised pork shoulder alone is usually $24. (OpenTable rez avail)
    1. First course (choose one): Classic salad with a butter lettuce rosette and royale dressing or duck fat fried potatoes
    2. Second course: Milk-braised pork shoulder with shaved Tokyo turnips
    3. Third course (choose one): Butterscotch pot de crème  or Blackberry sorbet
  • Accanto is the casual enoteca experience if you want Italian, and they are raising the bar by offering four courses for your $29- and two options for three of the courses. (OpenTable rez avail)
    1. First course (choose one): Paté di Campagna: pork terrine with whole grain mustard, charred bread and parsley or Tortino di riso con carciofi: risotto pancake stuffed with artichokes, pecorino and tomato jam.
    2. Second course (choose one): Zuppa di pasta e fagioli with cannellini beans, macaroni, tomatoes and vegetable broth  or Insalata di Caesar with chicories, crispy ciabatta, parmigiano and boquerones.
    3. Third course (choose one): Strozzapreti con funghi e: ricotta, house pasta, soffrito with mushrooms, spinach, ricotta and soft boiled egg or Lombata di maiale balsamico: roasted pork loin, portabello and sundried tomatoes, escarole and balsamic demi-glace.
    4. Fourth course: Tiramisu

You can check out the official Portland Dining Month website  to see those restaurants and filter by location, cuisine, or view the details of the courses that will be offered and options for courses if applicable.

What are you eyeing to enjoy for March and Portland Dining Month 2016?

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Farm Spirit Vegan Restaurant

February 26, 2016 by 9 Comments

I visited Farm Spirit Vegan Restaurant last year as part of my September Dinner celebrating my wedding anniversary with F. Then earlier this month we went for a second visit to see what magic they could pull in terms of their artistic presentation and locally sourced all completely vegan celebration of flavors during a winter season.
Farm Spirit - a February dinner at their location at 1414 SE Morrison St, Portland

Also, we were celebrating a belated Valentine’s and dating anniversary. I don’t see why once you get married you wouldn’t celebrate both the dating anniversary and wedding anniversary, right? For Valentine’s we stayed in on the actual day and made fondue at home because it’s just too crowded and it’s more expensive to dine out – so we make this “Valentine’s Date Night” on a day after the actual holiday instead.
Farm Spirit - a February dinner at their location at 1414 SE Morrison St, Portland Farm Spirit - a February dinner at their location at 1414 SE Morrison St, Portland

Although Farm Spirit has a set spot that they use, they operate as a pop up restaurant where you purchase tickets to your dinner before you go from their website for either Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evening  – there is only one seating per day. Your online reservation will be to one of their Tasting Menu chef’s choice dinner courses for $75. The tickets prices listed already include a gratuity, so after paying for your reservation you only need to show up and enjoy! The courses are all vegan, and by request can be prepared gluten free too with advance notice. Some dishes do contain nuts.

Additionally, you can choose to buy a supplement of a beverage pairing of 6 total glasses to go with dinner that is either non-alcoholic ($27) or wine pairings($38). You can purchase this when you make your dinner reservations, or wait until you arrive and see the menu for the evening to choose, or purchase each glass a la carte.
Farm Spirit - a February dinner at their location at 1414 SE Morrison St, Portland Farm Spirit - a February dinner at their location at 1414 SE Morrison St, Portland

The logistics of service will change in April. They plan to have more seatings per night, starting at 5:15pm and going as late as 8:30pm by not seating all their 14 seats at once. When I return again to see their spring line up I’ll have to let you know how that is!

Even when they change their seatings, I expect they will continue their gorgeous presentation, vigilance to fine dining service with changing out of silverware and attentiveness to filling your beverage and making sure you want for nothing. But there’s no pretense here, In fact it is the exact opposite –  still very laid back as they might sing or dance a little to the music streaming, and they don’t mind and in fact encourage if you use your hands to eat, lick the sauce from the plate, and maybe when serving dessert serve themself a little bit of ice cream too.

When you arrive, you will look for your seats labeled with your last name,  all the seats are part of a chef’s counter so you can see them plating the next courses and speak freely with them on how they were inspired or created their dish.
Farm Spirit - a February dinner at their location at 1414 SE Morrison St, Portland

Then, the parade of colors begins… we were welcomed first with warm homemade bread with local olive oil as we waited for the other guests to arrive. Did you know you can get locally made olive oil in Portland from Oregon Olive Mill? At the end of the meal, we saw Chef Tim preparing the rolls for the dinner the next evening as our dinner service was ending so they would have time to rise – so your bread truly is made fresh that day that you are served it.
Greeted with homemade warm bread when seated at Farm Spirit while waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive at the single seating that evening. This will change in April when they go to multiple seatings, but maybe the bread will still be the welcome dish! Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, Chef Tim preparning the homemade rolls to rise for tomorrow's dinner

Head Chef Aaron Adams introduces everyone on the Farm Spirit staff we’ll be seeing this night, including himself, Chef Ricardo, Chef Tim, and Chef Taylor.
February 2016 Farm Spirit Dinner night - head Chef Aaron Adams introduces everyone on the Farm Spiritstaff we'll be seeing this night, including himself, Chef Ricardo, Chef Tim, and Chef Taylor The motley crew of Farm Spirit PDX - head Chef Aaron Adams introduces everyone on the Farm Spiritstaff we'll be seeing this night, including himself, Chef Ricardo, Chef Taylor, and Chef Tim (left to right) The motley crew of Farm Spirit PDX - head Chef Aaron Adams introduces everyone on the Farm Spiritstaff we'll be seeing this night, including himself, Chef Ricardo, Chef Taylor, and Chef Tim (left to right)

Now the dinner courses:

We selected the Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing, where there is one glass paired with every 2-3 courses. That started with Lemon and Thyme Kefir.
Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Lemon and Thyme Kefir Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Lemon and Thyme Kefir

Bouquet with filbert yogurt to snack, a dish we were encouraged to eat with our hands by holding the little bouquet and dipping it by not being provided silverware. I wiped the yogurt off the plate with my fingers til nothing was left.
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Bouquet with filbert yogurt to snack

As always, it’s fascinating watching the plating magic happen and their exquisite eye to detail – and the tease of seeing the next dish be created before your eyes and aromas of the next course after that being prepared!
Farm Spirit - careful plating that you can watch and you can talk to the chefs with questions as you sit at a chef's counter Farm Spirit - careful plating that you can watch and you can talk to the chefs with questions as you sit at a chef's counter

Warm smoked beets and preserved wild blackberries with fir, petite greens, and buckwheat
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Warm smoked beets and preserved wild blackberries with fir, petite greens, and buckwheat Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Warm smoked beets and preserved wild blackberries with fir, petite greens, and buckwheat

The next beverage pouring was Anise spiced Apple Juice
Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Anise spiced Apple Juice Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Anise spiced Apple Juice

Arugula raab, smoked walnut milk, raw croutons, herb stems, and itty bitty kale chips
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Arugula raab, smoked walnut milk, raw croutons, herb stems, and itty bitty kale chips Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Arugula raab, smoked walnut milk, raw croutons, herb stems, and itty bitty kale chips

We were all wiping the plate clean of this rich next dish of Smoked potato puree, charred leeks, potato chips, ash, and black shallot – porcini jus, I was so impressed how melt in your mouth and flavorful this is without having to resort to the normal butter and cream or lots of garlic which are the usual supporting players.
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Smoked potato puree, charred leeks, potato chips, ash, and black shallot - porcini jus Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Smoked potato puree, charred leeks, potato chips, ash, and black shallot - porcini jus

Swiss chard stuffed like ravioli with cultured filbert, vegetal kvass, and parsley oil. This beauty took a while to compose, and it was fascinating how they sealed those pretty little leaves into “ravioli”. It’s dishes like this that show off how just because food is vegan doesn’t mean it can’t be bold without having to resort to a lot of spices – here fermentation to produce the kvass (a fermented liquid).
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Swiss chard stuffed like ravioli with cultured filbert, vegetal kvass, and parsley oil Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Swiss chard stuffed like ravioli with cultured filbert, vegetal kvass, and parsley oil

Next up for the drink pairing on the housemade non alcoholic side was Ginger Beer
Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Ginger Beer Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Ginger Beer

When we saw the carrot course of Roasted carrots with burdock puree and herbs coming up F and I were bracing ourselves because it was our least favorite dish from our last dinner in September, but this time we really enjoyed it – the herbal flavor was dialed back from our initial experience.
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Roasted carrots with burdock puree and herbs Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Roasted carrots with burdock puree and herbs

Next Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing – Earl Grey Kombucha
Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Earl Grey Kombucha

Sunchoke (pureed flesh and crispy skins), watercress pudding and fermented sunflower seed puree was my least favorite of the night, if I had to choose from. I’ve enjoyed many a crispy sunchoke whether it be fried or baked and these didn’t measure up to the memory of those. I didn’t mind the watercress or the sunflower puree – but the sunchoke didn’t seem to get elevated in any way I could discern, which seemed like a missed opportunity when they were hitting it out of the ballpark with all the other dishes.
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Sunchoke pureed flesh and crispy skins, watercress pudding and fermented sunflower seed puree Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Sunchoke (pureed flesh and crispy skins, watercress pudding and fermented sunflower seed puree

Wild winter shroom, parsnip puree, turnip rapini, black garlic, and texture of roots
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Wild winter shroom, parsnip puree, turnip rapini, black garlic, and texture of roots

The most pretty beverage of the evening, Lingonberry Sage Rejuvelac
Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Lingonberry Sage Rejuvelac

At first, F saw how the little bruschetta like next course featuring pickled red onion and mustard seed sounded plain, and that as a non-onion lover he wouldn’t enjoy it. Thankfully, when we actually tried the course of Tim’s Volkornbrot with puree of filbers soured in rejuvelac, pickled red onion, and mustard seed, my hunch that Chef Tim’s homemade Volkornbrot bread would easily be able to stand up to such strong sounding flavors proved to be right. If I had to go on a diet of just bread and water, I would definitely pick Volkornbrot because it’s so hearty and filling packed with grains and seeds that’s healthy but also packed with chewy texture and flavors. If you haven’t had it before, I recommend visiting one of my favorite artisan bakeries in town, Fressen that specializes in German style bread. Anyway, when it comes to vegan bread though Tim’s Volkornbrot is the best vegan bread period I’ve ever had.
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Tim's Volkornbrot with puree of filbers soured in rejuvelac, pickled red onion, and mustard seed Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is Tim's Volkornbrot with puree of filbers soured in rejuvelac

Now we are getting to the last and final home stretch, the 2 dessert courses, and the final housemade beverage pairing of Sarsaparilla Kefir
Farm Spirit Non Alcoholic Housemade Beverage Pairing - Sarsaparilla Kefir

Fred’s favorite dessert of the two dessert courses was this Chewy and soft apple with chestnut and rosemary
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is the one of two final courses of dessert, here A chewy and soft apple with chestnut and rosemary Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is the one of two final courses of dessert, here A chewy and soft apple with chestnut and rosemary

However I throw my vote to possibly the healthiest dessert I’ve ever enjoyed, the Pumpkin seed ice cream, butternut, caramel, pumpkin seed milk, and granola
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is the last course and our 2nd dessert, here Pumpkin seed ice cream, butternut, caramel, pumpkin seed milk, and granola Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, this is the last course and our 2nd dessert, here Pumpkin seed ice cream, butternut, caramel, pumpkin seed milk, and granola

At the end of the meal, Chef Ricardo takes your order for final beverage service to end the meal (included with the meal so regardless of whether you had any wine or housemade beverage pairing). Thoughtfully, you get 4 choices, 2 coffees (caffeinated and decaffeinated, and you can get evaporated cane juice and/or hazelnut milk) or 2 teas (I went with the oolong here).
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, at the end you have choice of coffee or tea, and there are caffeinated and uncaffeinated options as well Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, at the end you have choice of coffee or tea, and there are caffeinated and uncaffeinated options as well

And sweetly, at the end they send you home with a little baked good to go that you can enjoy while thinking back on your wonderful meal during breakfast the next morning
Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, at the end they send you home with a little baked good to have for breakfast the next morning Farm Spirit Dinner in February 2016 - all vegan fine dining, at the end they send you home with a little baked good to have for breakfast the next morning

If you’re married, do you celebrate your dating anniversary? And whether you are independent or partnered, do any of the courses we had that night call out to you that you’d want to try?

 

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