Although it’s only been 2 week since when I had my 5 course Chef’s Tasting Republica PDX Dinner, I went back again this weekend. They aren’t kidding around when they say that their menu is always changing and has new items. In the week in between my last dinner and this one, they had dishes highlighting escamoles and huitlacoche that I missed out on. As soon as I realized I could make a dinnertime this week, I set up a reservation. I was able to enjoy 3 different dishes from the Meat and Fish forward menu that I did not get 2 weeks ago, and I was able to switch out to a new dessert that had appeared on the Vegetable and Fruit forward menu. So 4 of the 5 dishes I just had were different!
You can compare this Republica PDX Dinner to the last one that I recapped for exact dishes, but for this visit I opted to start with a cocktail as a reward for a hard-working week before dinner even began. This is one of many drinks crafted by Adriana Alvarez, with most cocktails highlighting mezcals and tequilas though there is a bourbon and a rum option available. The one I picked was the Where Without Whom, with Banhez Espadin & Barril (Mezcal), Ver Liqueur, Poblano Liqueur, Pineapple, Citrus, and Candied Pineapple. It was surprisingly easy drinking despite all the liqueurs.
To Snack
Republica PDX Dinner Menu for June 18, 2021: para picar, Maiz ancestral, chipotle, queso fresco, nopalitos. The corn masa boat with everything but the olive oil and queso fresco representing historical native ingredients from Mexico, and a nod towards colonialism and modern ingredients such as the oil and cheese being added to the indigenous diets.
I opted to try a distilled agave pairing along with the meal instead of wine pairings this time. Angel Medina, one of the co-owners (along with Chef Lauro Romano and Chef Olivia Bartruff) was the guide here. He explained where each bottle came from, the native plant and sometimes a bit about the distiller. The tastes were provided not so much to pair with the food while eating it, but as tastes in between.
I felt a little guilty in that I had wanted to come on a weekday so it was less rushed to enjoy it, but here I was on a Friday dinner seating. I would recommend to get the most of Angel’s knowledge, to try to come when he doesn’t have to balance your table with the rest of the full house on a weekend dinner night. We started out the first tasting with Derrumbes San Luis Potosi Mezcal, which I remember having a sweet fruit with highlight of salt, and not smoky. I had assumed mezcal had smoky undertones, so this was a surprise for me, and good learning.
Savory Courses 1-4
Course 1, Aguachile verde, sea bream, avocado. This week’s version was thicker then last weeks, making it easier for me to get it all on my spoon or chip to leave less behind.
Don Mateo de la Sierra Manso de Sahuayo Mezcal had more green herb quality then the previous
Course 2 Crab, tomato, chiles, maiz ancestral. All the menu lists are the ingredients for that tostada on the side. But can I just add extra appreciation for that intense “hangover soup that would usually have fish heads and bones but is more refined here”. Refined but still has all that earthy complexity of all the meats and bones liquified into a complex symphony. The light acidity of the tostada with that serrano foam was a bright contrast. I wish I could have better captured how that foam sparkled with rainbow twinkles in the sunshine, but I also needed to snap the photos fast before all the bubbles were gone. It’s always a balance between taking the photo memory and eating the food while it is at its best. 
This next bottle was the big discovery and aha for me. I had not heard of sotol before, but when I sipped the smoky, almost meaty savory flavors of the Sotol la Higuera Wheeleri I was in love. I saved a little sip to try with the next course of bone marrow, and wished I could have had more because I definitely contemplated what it would be like to pour it down the bone marrow into my mouth.
Course 3 Pine nuts, cauliflower, plaintain, bone marrow. The creamy mole blanco with a few drops of mole negro, the sous vide then seared plaintain, scraping that bone marrow for a smear on that tortilla, decadent but not too heavy.
Next pairing is the El Jologario Mezcal. Apparently this is a beverage often used for celebrations and festivals and rituals. I was still swooning over the last mezcal, but tried to appreciate the more vegetable tones to this that also had hints of fruit, pepper, and smoke, so well balanced.
Course 4 Pork, peach, almond, chiles. That depth of so many flavors in the 72 hour mole, the melt in your mouth pork belly, that balance of the peach, all this without a fire heating element in the kitchen for Chef Lauro Romero to use… he’s making miracles back there.
Next pairing is the Bozal Ibérico Sacrificio Ensamble Mezcal. This was the most intense smoke and earthy of all the beverages – I was thankful for the palate cleanser that I knew would know would follow because this one had a long finish that lasted from each sip. If you like whiskey you would enjoy this mezcal.
Plate Cleanser, Sweet Treats
para el paladar: Tuna roja, limon
Course 5 Tres leches. I learned that tres leches is a relatively new dessert of only a few hundred years and brought by colonizers with their recipe in a can to sell condensed milk. Pastry chef Olivia Bartruff used the same ratios, but lightened it up so it was a little fluffier, and then added in the roasted strawberry ice cream and the fennel. I could have eaten 2 of these.
Final pairing, a sweet La Venenosa Raicilla Sierra del Tigre that has a bit of cheese savoryness and was thinner almost like a port with hint of berry and caramel?
A surprise final treat from the kitchen were these peanuts with amaranth, a nod to a traditional Mexican snack of nuts and this nutritious seed that has been appreciated as far back as the Aztecs.
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