Fimbul PDX is a pop up focused on Scandinavian and Icelandic cuisine. I raved about the dinner I attended last year, and am excited to see what they do this year. They took a little bit of a break as Matt and Aurora welcomed their beautiful daughter last year, but seem to be ramping up for more this year. After a short research trip by the Matts to Iceland, there is a possibility that we’ll be seeing more frequent offerings of Fimbul dinners (possibly even twice a month?!), so make sure you are following them on their email list (sign up on the website) and social media to be in the know! In the meantime, he’s a look at the recent dinner I attended, the Fimbul PDX Spring 2018 dinner on March 13.
They do have one dinner already planned – a collaboration with Johan Vineyards for their annual wine dinner in the vineyard on August 25th, 2018. Tickets available through Johan (info@johanvineyards.com). Expect that dinners may sell out, and you need to make reservations. The usual Fimbul pop up dinners are ticketed off their website, and you can choose to purchase just the prix fixe dinner, add on wine pairings, or purchase beverages a la carte there. The wine pairings for this dinner were all Wines by Johan Vinyards, and there were also spirits like Brennivin and Opal, both which are Icelandic liqueurs.
For the Fimbul Icelandic Dinner Spring 2018 edition, I attended the 5:30pm seating, and they did an amazing job of prepping beforehand so that we were out as the 7:30pm seating was coming in. Here’s the menu, and then I’ll go through my thoughts course by course.
I was welcomed with an Aperitivo with sweet vermouth, Aquavit and absinthe mixed with scotch infused syrup and two seaweed infusions. It had a nice light smokiness with bit of sea saltiness to it.
Snacks Course
A board of Cod Cheek with fermented barley, dill mayo and mustard flowers; Pickled quail egg with smoked vinaigrette and ash roe dust; Dung smoked trout (using local dung from Sauvie Island and hay) with honey roasted radish, hay honey butter; Dulse bread. Dulse is a nutritious reddish brown seaweed so it’s like a healthy bread very similar to having an oat or soda bread I think. If I had to pick a favorite part of the board, I really loved the pop of the quail egg that was not as sour as expected considering it was pickled – it had more of a hint of of smoke and saltiness along with the texture of that egg and yolk. This is then followed by the amazing trout and hay honey butter as my second favorite part of the board, but relaly this entire board was delicious.
Paired with Johan Petillant Naturel, Melon 2016
Courses
Last Summer’s Rhubarb with confit carrot (also in puree form and rounds), Lamb Blood Pudding croutons (with 90% rye), chamomile. This was really fun to try the various textures of carrot here, and how unique are lamb blood croutons adding that hard crunch to the soft sweeter puree versus the more smoky carrots. These unexpected dishes are why I treasure Fimbul so much.
Paired with Petillant Naturel, Rosé of Pinot Noir 2016. Sommelier Matt talked to us a bit about the swirling he was doing of the sediment that I would normally ignore in a red wine, but that he was making sure was incorporated in our pours and that it was intentionally cloudy.
Cod with dandelion, birch, potato – the cod is poached and also in chip form and the sauces are the dandelion greens and birch syrup below with potato foam. I wasn’t sure all of this dish got along, but it was a thoughtful experience trying the cod and potato with the greens vs the birch sauces and comparing the experience.
Paired with Grüner Veltliner, 2015 – look how golden the wine is!
Hay-smoked duck, Skyr, preserved huckleberries in whey, a broth of dulse and whey, rye dumpling. Inspired by how the North Arctic area early culture ate sea birds. Loved this duck, and the Skyr and whey creaminess here adding richness.
Paired with Drueskall, Pinot Gris, 2014 – it was served a little colder but Matt hinted to us to let it warm up to get the full flavors of tea and mushroom.
Parsnip and lovage cake, lovage crème anglaise with whipped sheep cheese, walnuts. Essentially an oil cake but surprise twist, with lovage
Paired with Noble, Chardonnay, 2014
Ostur
Ostur of blueberries, skyr, cream, a light staple dish for anytime, breakfast or dessert! We finished up with a little licorice in liquid form with Opal, skál (Cheers!).
What do you think of the various dishes, what intrigues you?
Wow what an adventurous and colorful spread! Looks like fun.
Oh man, you always go to the coolest restaurants in the city! And now that I’m further away I’m so behind on the Portland dining scene!!! Ugh. That duck dish caught my eye. It sounds delish, especially with those huckleberries! Yum.
How have I not heard about these pop-ups yet!? This looks awesome. I’m going to look into these so I can join the next one!
I remember your post from the pop-up last year. This year, that quail egg is so cute—and I’m not surprised it was delicious too!