Aramsey Spiced Brunch

I’ve been a fan of Ruchikala, the name of the food business of Kusama Rao, for years. Unfortunately with her time divided between Arizona and Portland we don’t get access to her food as nearly as much as I and many of her other fans would like given that was the main feedback from this meal (and pretty much all her others) from multiple guests. So, whenever you see an opportunity announced on her social media, be sure to jump at the opportunity!

For this particular popup she collaborated with another all female owned business, Public Provisions, who provided cocktails to go with the four courses for this Aramsey Spiced Brunch. Public Provisions  which is a traveling bar service run by partners Melanely Schmidt and Malia Meyers. Lucky for all of us, Public Provisions is also opening a bar where you can reliably enjoy some of their creative and fun drinks – more on this at the end!
Aramsey Spiced Brunch with Ruchikala and Public Provisions  Aramsey Spiced Brunch with Ruchikala and Public Provisions: Rogan Josh, a spicy lamb curry. Here, the long simmered spicy lamb curry is combined with black cardamom, kashmiri chili oil, salt cured lemon coconut mustard polenta with yogurt, saffron, clove, nutmeg and other spices.

For now, let’s take a look at this special Aramsey Spiced Brunch I enjoyed with four courses and four paired cocktails.
Aramsey Spiced Brunch with Ruchikala and Public Provisions

Course 1

The Bengali Breakfast Sando, with Panch phoron maple sausage, habanero carrot halva butter, and Kumi’s house sourdough english muffin with all sorts of spices like nigella seed, fenugreek.
Aramsey Spiced Brunch with Ruchikala and Public Provisions: Bengali Breakfast Sando, with Panch phoron maple sausage, habanero carrot halva butter, and Kumi's house sourdough english muffin with all sorts of spices like nigella seed, fenugreek Aramsey Spiced Brunch with Ruchikala and Public Provisions: Bengali Breakfast Sando, with Panch phoron maple sausage, habanero carrot halva butter, and Kumi's house sourdough english muffin with all sorts of spices like nigella seed, fenugreek
This was paired with an Indian spiced Bloody Mary that included sarina pudi, carrot, lovage, blistered jalapeno, sesame oil, and more spices as picked out by Kumi included toasted cumin. Of all the courses, all were spectacular but this was probably my vote for favorite if I had to choose.
Aramsey Spiced Brunch with Ruchikala and Public Provisions: Indian spiced Bloody Mary that included sarina pudi, carrot, lovage, blistered jalapeno, sesame oil, and more spices as picked out by Kumi included toasted cumin Aramsey Spiced Brunch with Ruchikala and Public Provisions: Indian spiced Bloody Mary that included sarina pudi, carrot, lovage, blistered jalapeno, sesame oil, and more spices as picked out by Kumi included toasted cumin

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Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge

It’s hard to believe that it’s now been four years from when I first I was introduced to Nodoguro at their first pop up at Yakuza Lounge (which I had recapped here). Many dinners later, they are still going strong now in their permanent space customized (with a lot of DIY) by them, and they are starting a new pop up concept – Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge. Here’s a look at what that offering means.
Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail

Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge utilizes their back lounge area only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, after their other ticketed dinners. To come to Peter Cat, you also need to make a reservation/pre pay for a ticket online, just like their dinners – this helps them manage the capacity of that lounge for now, which fits maybe 12 people. What dates are available on the ticket page of their website under the Peter Cat tab. Right now this is an experiment for June, so we’ll have to see in July what this may look like. Also check the page often – sometimes you’ll find cancelation tickets available from people who had date/time conflicts come up.

The name Peter Cat is taken from Haruki Murakami’s own Tokyo Jazz bar which he owned before he became a writer and even probably was in while writing a couple of his books – he named the bar after his pet cat I believe. You may recall that their Haruki Murakami themed dinner previously was one of the most well received (well, of many beloved dinners). In homage to that Peter Cat, Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge also will be playing jazz on vinyl, and is meant to be cozy. Expect seating to probably be at a communal 8 top table, or at a couple lounge chairs and a couch with tray stands.
Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail

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Fimbul Icelandic Dinner Spring 2018

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.
Fimbul Icelandic Dinner Spring 2018

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.
Fimbul Icelandic Dinner Spring 2018 Fimbul Icelandic Dinner Spring 2018
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Dia de Los Muertos Dinner with Hand Made Mexico

I love pop up restaurants because it allows chefs to have a life without the grind and debt of a brick and mortar restaurants with set daily hours, and these more intimate dinners always present an opportunity for a chef to come in front of the guests and talk about what inspired the food or how they made the food. The recent Dia de los Muertos Dinner with Hand Made Mexico series is a perfect example of how going to a pop up, even solo (you are sitting usually at communal tables and meeting people anyway!) is worth it for those backstories.

Dia de los Muertos Dinner with Hand Made Mexico with Chef Cynthia Vigil and Feastly

The dinner was a family affair, with references to food memories of meals by or with Chef Cynthia Vigil’s  mom or with her sister, and hearing the techniques (some time consuming, some causing blisters!) passed down through generations being used to make our dishes. Here’s a look at the dinner, which also served as a fundraiser – 10% of the total sales were donated to Pintando Esperanza (Painting Hope) to help build houses for those who lost everything on the 9/19 earthquake in Mexico City and Morelos.

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Paella Sundays at Chesa

I mentioned Paella Sundays at Chesa in my recent post about Summer Pop Ups in Portland 2017 where I listed pop ups and special summer series events that didn’t make it into my Eater PDX article Portland’s Hottest Supper Clubs, Summer 2017, but wanted to share even more detail! Purchase tickets and see exact dates ahead of time or you can try your luck at walk ins. The next Paella Sunday by the way, is this Sunday (2nd Sunday, August 13, and next August 27!)
Paella Sundays at Chesa Paella Sundays at Chesa
Yep, Chesa the restaurant may be closed, but there’s still the original restaurant Ataula, churros at 180, and on the 2nd and last Sundays the Chesa space is still being used by sexy and down to earth chef couple extraordinares Jose Chesa and Cristina Baéz for Paella Sundays. These take place on the patio towards the back of Chesa, are family friendly and dog friendly. Paella Sundays at Chesa give you a glimpse of a casually enjoying Spanish food with your Spanish best friend’s family patio.
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