Urdaneta for Portland Dining Month

Earlier this week, I had a chance to enjoy Urdaneta for Portland Dining Month. I will also be back to Urdaneta shortly for their Basque Supper Club. If you haven’t heard, on Sunday April 8th at 6PM Basque Supper Club will be doing the only Portland screening of the film “The Txoko Experience: The Secret Culinary Space of the Basques”. Basically, Txoko is the Basque version of a supper club. This Basque Supper Clubevent, with tickets already sold out, includes watching the movie, a Q&A with the scriptwriter  and a Txoko inspired 6 course dinner by Urdaneta. Chef Javier was inspired to create Urdaneta and Basque Supper Club based on his own childhood experiences with his grandfather’s txoko so I am super excited to learn more about Txoko and get a personal take story-wise and food-wise from Urdaneta.

I’ll recap that experience and meal later, but for now I can’t emphasize enough that you have 2 meals left to get over there for Portland Dining Month. Fortunately, some of the dishes are also on their regular menu, so even if you can’t make it today and tomorrow you can still enjoy some of these dishes.

This is not part of the Portland Dining Month, menu, but it is impossible to resist ordering some pintxos every time I come here whether I am only coming here for Dumpling Week or for Portland Dining Month. Go ahead and give in and get a few starter bites after browsing the menu with the marinated olives. A sherry flight or sangria or Basque cider (sidra) would also be great choices to wash down your pinxto bites.

The Urdaneta pinxtos you see are the

• Sobrasada, a soft chorizo in fry bread with grilled halloumi and truffle honey;
• Albondiga, a lamb meatball with house tater tot, spicy brava sauce, apple, sofrito aioli;
• Camarón, grilled shrimp al ajillo with tomato conserva, ajo dulce, chili, dill, and toasted bread;
• Morcilla, a grilled blood sausage with dad’s marinated peppers, piquillo jam, piparra, and toasted bread
  

Now onto the Portland Dining Month options…

For first course, your options are the Brócoli, grilled broccoli rabe, arrope, caña de cabra, bagna cauda espuma, dukkah are normally on the menu, but the Croquetas are usually filled with jamon and for Portland Dining Month you can get one with salt cod – aka Fish and chips , aka salt cod and potato fritter, sidra tempura, tomato conserva and piparra honey

Second course is normally on the menu, but it is hard to resist the Filete de Culotte, culotte steak, romesco, leek marmalade, valdeon foam. The photos I’ve seen of the Portland Dining Month exclusive for March 2018, the Bacalao with black cod, butter clams, piperrada vasca, uni bèarnaise and saffron broth, look fantastic though… but I just love the bold flavors of this steak with the valdeon foam!

Finally, with dessert, you have options of Flan de Cabra with apricot, escabeche, caramel and sherry cream – or – Pastel ruso with toasted meringue, butter cream, almonds and espresso fluid gel – I opted for the Pastel Ruso. Wash it down with a little glass of sherry again, like one of Urdaneta’s limited bottles of Valdespino Vino de Quina for a perfect pairing.

I also have enjoyed dining at Aviary and Bluehour for Portland Dining Month this year – where have you gone and what did you enjoy most?