A recap of Desayuno PDX popup

Last week, I braved the heat to attend a special pop up at St Jack’s by Desayuno, Mexico City-inspired brunch pop-up with food by Ben Morris and cocktails by Justin Garcidiaz (both employees of St Jack’s). All proceeds at this Desayuno PDX popup benefited Pueblo Unido PDX, which whose mission is to empower and provide resources to Latinxs with vulnerable immigration status, including assisting those in need to hire attorneys to fight deportation, get released from detention, and return to their families, as well as organizing and rallying community engagement.

The word desayuno means breakfast in Spanish, although really this was more of a brunch pop up. The menu for this first event boasted an impressive five savory dishes, two desserts, and seven original craft cocktails including ones that featured mole spices, or masa, or mezcal worm!

Ok, so I wasn’t brave enough for the beverage with the mezcal worm, but I went for the beauty (I think everyone at the bar had this gorgeous cocktail – once you saw it you couldn’t resist getting it yourself) of the Polanco Margarita featuring pueblo viejo blanco, lime, cointreau, st. germain, rainbows, pink salt. Does it look like two different glasses? That’s because I totally had two of these.

I also ordered this excellent smokey beast of the Chilango, featuring mole spices, pueblo viejo, mezcal los javis, fernet-valet, angostura amargo, palo santo. It was the perfect pairing with dessert of Bunelos with star anise, cafe de olla, whipped queso cotija. The aroma was incredible, prompting unsolicited comments from people on either side of the bar from me on how good it smelled. As beautiful as the Polanco Margarita was, this was my favorite drink of Desayuno PDX.

Here’s a closer look at those Bunelos with star anise, cafe de olla, whipped queso cotija

The other dessert was Tamal Dulce with banana leaf sweet tamal, roasted banana, guava sorbet, pepitas. I liked how this was not too sweet, and was balanced with the texture of the pepitas and the cool acidity and brightness of the guava sorbet.

Here’s the full listing of Comidas

• Albacore Tostada with blue corn tortillas, avocado, grape, salsa macha, pickled serrano, quicos, and cascabel
• Huaraches con Pulpo with guajillo, masa, octopus pastor, pickled pineapples, chicharrones en salsa verde
• Chilaquiles with tortilla chips, salsa verde, sikil pak, crispy queso oaxaca, and fried egg
  
• Pepino with cucumber, prawns, guajillo, melon, and crema
  

  It’s supposed to be 99° tomorrow, so you’re gonna want to eat something cool and refreshing. Something like the Pepino, with guajillo, prawns, melon, crema, and watermelon jus, perhaps? 📸 by @carly.e.diaz

  A post shared by Desayuno (@desayunopdx) on Jul 14, 2018 at 11:35am PDT

• Aguacate with avocado, lamb barbacoa, pickled fresno, hoja de aguacata, masa frita This was my favorite dish, with no avocado skin so you could just sink your spoon into bites of avocado coated with avocado leaf powder (flavors similar to matcha!) and meaty lamb barbacoa and scoop up some crispy masa and enjoy.
  
• Tamal Dulce with banana leaf sweet tamal, roasted banana, guava sorbet, pepitas
• Bunelos with star anise, cafe de olla, whipped queso cotija

Which of these sound intriguing to you and that you would want to try? To stay apprised of their next event, make sure to follow Desayuno PDX on Instagram!

Who says you shouldn’t play with fire? Chilango – mole spices, @puebloviejo_usa reposado tequila, @mezcallosjavis, Fernet Valet, Angostura Amargo, and palo santo smoke. 📸by @carly.e.diaz

A post shared by Desayuno (@desayunopdx) on Jul 11, 2018 at 1:36pm PDT