Pechluck's blog

Highlights of Portland Dining Month (June 2012), upcoming Zoo Brew

The month of June is dining month, where multiple restaurants around Portland offer a sampler of their menu via a prix fixe 3 course meal for $25. Some of the restaurants whose offerings as listed on the Portland Dining Month website particularly stood out for me include

• 23 Hoyt- offering a First Course of Spring greens salad with Portland Creamery chevre, Oregon hazelnuts and currants, Second Course of House-made fettuccine with braised duck ragu and pecorino Toscano, and Third Course of Strawberry shortcake with black pepper biscuit and balsamic syrup. I'm a sucker for duck.
• Acadia Bistro- offering First Course of rhubarb salad with spiced oat granola, fromage blanc, mango, endive and arugula with a “put up” strawberry vinaigrette (sounds so delicious with that mix of flavors and healthy!), Second Course of Chicken Clemenceau (mm rich and meaty) with Brabant sweet potatoes, foraged mushrooms and English peas, and Third Course of Vanilla bean bread pudding with white chocolate-Frangelico sauce and pecans
• Biwa- whatever homestyle Japanese dishes they are serving in the Omakase is ok with me, I've always wanted to try this restaurant
• Clark Lewis- offering First Course of Bruschetta with fresh ricotta, arugula and shaved porcini, Second Course of Housemade Tagliatelle with SuDan Farm Lamb ragu, rosemary and pecorino toscano, and Third Course of Buttermilk panna cotta with Oregon strawberries and shortbread cookies. Yeah, I'm a sucker for lamb too.
• Clyde Common- First Course of Late spring greens, pickled grapes, smoked almonds Second Course of Clyde Common porchetta, roasted fingerling potatoes, pickle relish Third Course of Lemon-buttermilk pudding cake, walnut-thyme crust, rhubarb preserves, cream. Did you read that... porchetta. Mmm.
• Olympic Provisions NW- because I already love their charcuterie, having a meal there can only be just as awesome, whatever they are offering... Leave the vegetarian at home.
• Oven and Shaker- on my wishlist since they opened yet I'm still waiting to enjoy the drinks and pizza here. Their offerings include choice of 3 salads, choice between 5 different pizzas, and a dessert of their housemade gelato and sorbetto
• Country Cat- First Course of Salad of Snow Peas, Cast-Iron Cornbread, Goat Cheese, & Wildflower Honey, a Second Course of Two Pieces of Cast-Iron Skillet Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy of Third Course Manhattan Chocolate Cake. Meow you had me at fried chicken...
• Wildwood- any and every time I have gone, they have been delightful.

Also, if you make you reservation through OpenTable (which I love and have been using for years to see availability of restaurants and make reservations. Sometimes when travelling I will use this on my phone to find restaurants nearby and make a reservation right there in the car- pulled over or before I start driving of course), OpenTable will also make a donation to the Oregon Food Bank as long as you use this link.

Anyone up for dinner this month?

Also to mark the beginning of June is the upcoming Zoo Brew this coming Friday June 1. It is an event where the zoo is open from 5-10pm exclusively for adults, along with adult beverages courtesy of 30 local breweries and 7 cideries that use the regular token system to buy tastings (or 4 tokens for a full filling of the glass I think), so you can enjoy animals, workshops, and carnival games while voting for favorites for beer themed prizes. Proceeds from Zoo Brew benefit the Oregon Zoo's animal welfare, conservation, education and environmental sustainability programs and activities.

A visit to Leaky Roof

Leaky Roof Gastropub visit  started out with a full appetizer of Vanilla Bourbon Brie, with Coconut-panko crusted Brie, house made berry compote, grilled baguette, as well as a happy hour portion of the Hummus Plate with Hummus, tomato, Chevre, pickled onion, cucumber, Kalamata olives, pita

For the main event, I opted for the delicious and well executed duck entree (the risotto was a bit overly rich with cream and didn't have enough season to bridge between that richness and the bright perks of the sundried tomato- maybe if they had used arugula isntead of baby spinach it could have evened it out a bit, but still great duck) of Grilled Duck Breast Risotto with Grilled duck breast with a creamy sundried tomato and roasted garlic truffle risotto over baby spinach. He had the satisfactory Vegetarian Black Bean Burger of Black beans & barley infused with cilantro, lime & jalapeño, Tillamook Cheddar, chipotle aioli & avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion. The meat burgers all sounded much better.

I saw many people around me ordering the burgers, but given the quaility of the duck entree, I think they are missing some goodness there. Sure, they are not far from the Timbers stadium and Leaky Roof does have a great happy hour... but they also serve some quality entrees that are equal to the quality of the impressive whiskey flights they also offer. Their food is more on par with what you might get at the Oregon Culinary Institute probably down the street than many of the other more homey casual grills and other eateries with beer that are more typical in the Goose Hollow area- aka Leaky Roof is more gastropub than just a pub by the socccer stadium. Service is prompt and very friendly (the waitress suggested the happy hour portion of the hummus instead of the full knowing the sizes of the dishes we were ordering), and I would call this a neighborhood hidden gem.

Transylvanian Eggplant Casserole: from Moosewood

F has a Moosewood cookbook... he swears he used to have two, but one got lost somewhere in his moves from Portland to Chicago back to Portland. It doesn't matter, because he never really cooks. However, for a get together on a warm Monday evening, I had called for a potluck. While I prepared the watercress orange soup of last post, I picked out this Transylvanian Eggplant Casserole from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant for his contribution. I had always been curious about it.

He didn't quite follow it as he adapted it based on what we had. For instance the recipe calls for all the spices except for the parsley to be dried... but he went the opposite, where everything but the parsley was fresh. We also switched out the pine nuts (which he thought were too expensive) for slivers of almonds instead because i still thought the nuts should be present to add some crunch texture. And he did not do the original topping of sauteed bread crumbs and pine nuts in butter on top, instead using some Italian seasoned breadcrumbs I already had in the pantry.

The yield of this is enough for 8 people, and takes about 1.5 hours of bot prep and cook time. It's a great way to get a lot of vegetables in, and is a pretty healthy recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch round slices
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cups, about 1 lb of sliced mushrooms
• 4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons marjoram
• 3/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 4  cups cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (or to taste)
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts (although we used slivers of almonds instead, and increased the amount to 2/3 cup)
• 4 eggs (though we used egg whites)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (the recipe calls for whole wheat, but we used Italian seasoned bread crumbs)
• Optional: additional topping made with 2-3 tbsp of oil or butter, 2/3 cup pine nuts, more parsley, and sliced pepper. He didn't do this step.

Steps:

1. Place the eggplant slices on an olive oiled baking sheet, salt them lightly, and cover them with aluminum foil.  Bake at 400 degrees until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, saute the onions in the oil until translucent. 
3. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook, covered on medium heat until the mushrooms have released their juices and become soft. 
4. Stir in the tomatoes, marjoram, thyme, paprika, salt, and black pepper.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
   
5. Combine the rice, lemon juice, parsley, and pine nuts.  Instead, we substituted almond slivers instead of pine nuts, and we increased the amount of 2 tablespoons to 2/3 cup.
   
6. To assemble the casserole, oil a 9x13x2 1/2 inch baking dish.  Spread half of the rice mixture on the bottom and cover with half of the eggplant slices.  Spoon half of the sauteed vegetables on top of the eggplant layer.  Repeat this process using the remaining rice, eggplant and vegetables.
   
7. Pour the beaten eggs (though we just used egg whites) evenly over the top of the casserole so that they drizzle down into it.
   
8. Optional: Combine the bread crumbs and nuts and saute them on low heat in the oil or butter for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly.  Top the casserole with the nut mixture. What you see below is that he decided against the additional oil or butter and just topped the casserole with Italian seasoned breadcrumbs.
   
9. Bake the casserole, covered, at 350 degrees for about 350 minutes.  Then uncover and bake for 10 minutes until the top is crisp and the casserole still moist. 
10. Optional: Garnish with parsley and peppers.

Watercress and Orange Soup

I realized I haven't done a cooking post for a while, so I thought I would honor the quite warm weather we are having in Portland (in the mid 80s) this Mother's Day weekend with a soup that can be served either hot or well chilled.

Overall the recipe only takes about 20-30 minutes and serves 4 as a main dish (total recipe yield is a little more than 5 cups).

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped (I used sweet onion)
• 2 bunches of watercress that have been chopped
• 2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 orange - you will want to grate all of the rind, and also then squeeze all the juice
• 2/3 cup of cream
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Salt and Pepper

Steps

1. Saute the onion in olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat until it is soft and transparant.
   
2. Now add the watercress and cover the pan. Wait about 5 minutes for the watercress to soften.
   
3. Remove the pan from heat and add 2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock that have been pre-mixed with 3 tablespoons flour and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, as well as the juice and grated rind of one orange.
   
4. Simmer the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove and and let cool enough to pour the entire mixture into a blender or food processor and puree.
   
5. Return the puree into the pan, and add the 2/3 cup of cream that has been premixed with the cornstarch. Bring the mixture to a boil on low heat. You can salt and pepper to taste.
   
6. Now you can serve hot... or place in a container and chill in the fridge.
7. When serving, you can add a swirl of cream or yogurt (about a tablespoon), and add an orange wedge, or croutons. Or, what I did... which is add a tablespoon of some crispy crumbled bacon.

 

 

Noodle House Food Cart

Handmade hand pulled noodles from a Portland Food Cart called "Noodle House", located at SW 9th and Alder. They are open from lunch to about 6pm, which means they are great for grabbing noodles to go for home for dinner too! Great comfort food for a cool rainy day while also feeling good supporting a small business where this husband and wife are shivering in their cart (and remember their prep time making those noodles beforehand), waiting to cheerfully take your order and cook it to order.

The noodles are thick and chewy, picking up a lot of the coating from the sauce so your face will get dirty as you slurp up these long firm doughy strands. They are cooked to order (here, shown stir fried) noodles along with the veggies of carrots, cabbage, peppers and onions, and here, with plump chunks of spicy chicken, so you may have to wait a little bit depending on the line but you will be rewarded when your dish is up and she proudly previews your meal for you before closing it up and handing it to you. The portion is generous for slightly more than a fistful of dollars- kept me going for two meals! Don't worry- the spicy is not as spicy as it looks at all.

Next time I'm getting the seafood one!

Pics from Eat Mobile Festival 2012

This year, the location for the fifth annual Portland Food Cart Festival, Eat Mobile Festival 2012, moved a few blocks over to the OMSI parking lot. This gave this festival of one admission price ($18 for General Admission and $47 for Pre-Tasting VIP which gives an extra hour before GA) and then graze at each of the carts (1 sample a cart) the physical space to expand to three rows of 52 carts. In the middle and back row (towards the waterfront), there was also room for cocktail tables and sitdown tables, with butcher paper stamped Eat Mobile 2012, in order to eat, another great improvement. But, the row without tables, the one closest to the street, was the most comfortable to move around thanks to the lack of tables (though this left people sitting against the chain link fence they put up surrounding the parking lot) so it was easier for lines to each cart stand to logistically be queued in a straight line. They still seemed to be oddly pinching on the number of garbage cans, which seemed far and few between.

One of my first stops because I recall good things about their cart last year was PDX Six Seven One, serving Guam food.  They had a meat and veggie option: the veggie option of Linechen Gollai, Spinach served ina  spicy citrusy coconut milk, and a meat option of Estufao, Carlton Farms pork shoulder simmed in a marinade of soy sauce, vinegar, onions, garlic, and bay leaves served with white rice. PDX 671 would go on to win the Judge's Choice Award. Their cart location is at D Street Noshery.

The one I actually voted for though for People Choice award was Briskets, who offered two options of brisket- and sides of mac n cheese, maple bacon beans, slaw or potato salad. I wish they had a sign up which had advertised their awesome sample concoction... I was already on my 2nd glass of wine and the list of details eluded me when they told me verbally. But, it was awesome. They are only open M-F for lunch at their NW 19th and Quimby location though, so I'm not sure how I will get to them for more given I work in Beaverton.

I really liked Timber's Doghouse PDX (located @ SE Woodstock) too- they had an amazing setup with their sexy ladies in their red tank top black skirt uniform, and a table that included dog water bowls and unicorns. Their sampling of burger (meat or veggie, pictured is veggie sample) with fresh greens topped with what they dub "Momentary Indiscretion" (they have a clever menu- this burger topping equals grilled mushrooms and onions, chantarelle salt, asiago, roasted garlic, and truffle aioli) was one of my favorite samples too, but unfortunately ran out pretty quickly: when I came back with friends with the regular admission entrance, there was nothing left.

Another one I enjoyed was the Mini Monte Cristos (they also offered Empanadas of spinach and gruyere with black olives) from BLT- Breakfast Lunch Today (NE Alberta).

I liked the cute setup of the sign for Bagel & Box (located at N Lombard), which advertises their Brunch Bindle of  1/2 dozen bagels, 1/2 lb of cream cheese, 1/4 lb smoked salmon salad, sliced tomato/cucumber/red onion, 1/2 dozen donuts, a quart of home fries, a quart of fresh OJ, and a checked table cloth... how adorable is that? I want an excuse to get one now. They were one of the few carts that really shined in taking advantage of Eat Mobile to advertise... it obviously worked for me! Their offering of an apple cream cheese with rosemary, white pepper, and bacon bagel bite also convinced me that their bindle will be tasty enough to offer at brunch. Later I saw them offering tastes of their home fries, but I had already had my 1 sample.

Other Misc Photos:

• Batavia's Indonesian cuisine (from the 3rd and Washington downtown cart pod)
• Visiting from Corvallis, OR was Creperie du Lys, offering both a sweet and savory crepe bite of either chocolate hazelnut spread or smoked salmon spread with sour cream and capers.
• Buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy and smoky collard greens from Blues City Biscuits (from D-Street Noshery cart pod)
• Oregon Bay Shrimp ceviche from El Gallo Taqueria (SE Woodstock)
• Little bites of dessert from Sweet Jane's at the front table of the Mara's Ladle food cart (SE 41st Hawthorne)
• Shut Up and Eat's famous meatball sample of their Italian comfort food (SE 50th) never disappoints
• Hog Time's fries with pulled pork and queso fresco and a touch of spicy aioli (from the 3rd and Washington downtown cart pod)
• The Oregonzola fries at Violetta, courtesy of their rolling mobile truck version "Etta" (Violetta is located at Director's Park, Etta by definition travels around since it's an actual food truck, not a cart that theoreticaly can move...



• I stopped at Fifty Licks as usual for ice cream... but also discovered a love for a new ice cream food truck, Scoop (N Killingsworth). I did have two of these- both the Salted Caramel and the Strawberry Balsalmic, both excellent. They also offered Trailhead Expresso and Basil Pineapple Sorbet to round out the four flavors



• Taco Pedaler is an actual cart on a roaming bike that pedals to a location to deal out their locally sourced tacos... they bike pulling these carts you see them prepping on behind!



• An actual conversation that took place between us and some strangers: "Hey, where did you get that chicken wing" "Oh, these spicy garlic chicken wings are from ::pointing:: These Guys" "From where? ::looking around behind:: which guys?" "Yeah... the tent there that says THESE GUYS" "Oh... ha ha..." These Guys Brooklyn cart (SE Milwaukee) offered samples of their smoked meats via smoked Carlton pork shoulder and spicy garlic chicken wings



• 808 Grinds (Sw 9th Washington downtown cart pod) offered their 808 Fried Chicken and 808 Crunch (Chex Mix concoction)... one in my eating party found their concept for their 808 crunch apparently somewhat revelatory because he mentioned it several times afterwards as future inspiration. I just had enough going on as I had to restrain myself from taking a second portion of their fried chicken when I went back in line with my friends and there was a line behind me of others anxious awaiting for their truck doors to swing open so they can have their bite of fried wonderfulness.



• Lardo's generous sampling of their pork meatball banh mi- people were lining up almost the length of an entire row to get their hands on these. (Lardo is located at the Good Food Here cart pod)



• The Mini Sandwich Shack (SE Powell) generously was offering four options of sandwiches

Most of these carts are not used to having to prep and serve over 2000 people a day, and here at the Eat Mobile festival the attendance easily was over that, and all within 3 hours. This sweet cart of Breakfast Lunch Today was hand rolling individual empanadas in the last hour of the festival, trying to still feed hungry interested patrons. Because I sympathize with all these small business owners having to create all this food and so quickly getting in the weeds when the general admission opens, I purposely did not visit some carts that I already have tried their food- such as Pizza Contadino, Oregon Ice Works, Koi Fusion, PBJ's, Emame's Ethiopian, Gaufre Gourmet, Somtum Gai Yang, Flavourspot, Brazi Bites, The Dump Truck...

There are also other samplings I did not photograph, such as the always tasty healthy juice shakes of Sip, the beer chili of Robb's Really Good Food, spicy chicken of Cackalack's Hot Chicken Shack (awesome name), and clam chowder of Chowdah, the lil ice cream of Fifty Licks... all of which I really enjoyed despite lack of photographic evidence.

Thank you to all the food carts and Willamette Weekly for putting together this event again, of which proceeds benefit Mercy Corp's Northwest's local economic development program that assists entrepreneurs in securing funds for small businesses (including food carts). I also appreciated Vitamin Water providing complimentary thirst quenching for all the food, and the music provided by the DJs and the performance of the Pynnacles kept me rocking.

Pizzetta from Decarli, and other pizzas too...

A Happy Hour at Decarli with a pizzetta with prosciutto, taleggio, arugula, shaved grana padano, olive oil. I have never gone wrong with any pizza that had arugula.

As a side note, boy is happy hour at Decarli popular! You have to be there, standing in line, before they open for happy hour at 4:30 or good luck finding a seat. Fortunately the bar service is very fast and friendly, the drinks are good, the food is good... so I can see why the crowd that fills up the bar area right away. Price-wise it's not as competitive as what you could find downtown... but since we are talking about Beaverton here for the location, but with the atmosphere and offerings like it's a chic downtown place, not having to go through the logistics of going all the way downtown is worth those extra few dollars if you live or live/work in the area. Actually compared to any other major city, the HH is more than fair price anyway, we're a bit Portland spoiled.

If you do stop by Decarli's, I recommend sitting at the bar for the best service and so you can watch the drink making action, and besides the pizzetta I also really like their polenta fries, as I wrote and photographed about in this previous visit. The burger I saw a coworker ate also looked tempting, though I was not as impressed with the panini I had that visit.

In other food porn, I decided to share a few photos of other awesome food memories of pizzas in my past eatings...

• Tarte Flambee Pear, Bleu Cheese, Walnut, and Garlic Chip (“classic Alsace style pizza”) from Brasserie Jo in Chicago (restaurant closed).
• A Mano restaurant (since closed) in Chicago's $5 wood oven pizza of Wild Mushroom & Caramelized Onion, White Truffle Oil, Taleggio Cheese, Hazelnuts and Oregano.
• Chicago's Scoozi: the restaurant is famous for their white pizza, the shot is their asparagus with roasted garlic, aged parmesan, and truffle oil pizza.
• Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder's half pounder pizza pot pie... I can't believe I don't have any photos of any deep dish pizza from Chicago. Must be corrected next time.
• And, all the way from Boston, Bertucci's pizza "Carmine" I was recommended, with Fresh mozzarella balls, Romano cheese and caramelized onions with roasted tomato sauce.

All in Portland....

• Pyro Pizza's (located in Cartopia)Italian style wood oven fired (but from a food cart!) White Truffle pizza that has white truffle oil brushed on the dough and then is topped with romano cheese and a dash of black pepper. If you go, remember to ask to add as an additional topping basil or sundried tomatoes!
• And, Nostrana's Funghi Verde pizza with shiitake mushrooms, house mozzarella, garlic, arugula, pecorino sardo, lemon oil.... served with shears to cut your slices.
• Gruner appetizer of tarte flambee "bonne anee"- alsatian pizza with sweet onions, maine lobster, smoky bacon, fromage blanc & chives
• Finally, Deschutes' Brewery Portland Pub's grilled washington pear and goat cheese pizza:Spent Grain Dough topped with Pears, Goat Cheese, Mozzarella and Hazelnuts. Topped with Fresh Arugula tossed in White Balsamic Dressing.

 

Spencer! Brought to you by PB&J

I stopped at the PB&Js Grilled cart with Spencer in mind as something to enjoy as I continued running my errands yesterday. I was thrown off my game slightly because of the debut of a new special, a shiny sign with photo of a luxe bottle of bourbon and the red wax all sexy while alongside, the words read "Makers Mark Hair of the Dog". Wait, does that bold print say Makers Mark soaked french challah toast? Does that say and with apple wood smoked bacon? And their peanut butter and blueberry jam and maple syrup!??? I had seen on their FB that they were concocting something, but missed what the result was and that it would debut that day! Well...

No. No. Stay strong. I stuck with Spencer: Campagnola bread, Walnut butter, Caramelized onion, Capicola, Brie, Pear Jam. That is what my intention was when I stopped by, let's not get distracted. I told myself I would eat just half of that warm sammie, and then run into the stores I needed and finish the rest later. Yeah, it didn't make it. I couldn't stop. People were jealous as I took the photo below too- and who wouldn't be, just look at it!

I was disappointed to miss their event with Upright Brewing that they did a couple months back when I was out of the country traveling for work, so am anxiously anticipating their grand opening of their brick and mortar in the future (still in the works - the overhead of opening a real place is a lot to try to do at the same time as running your everyday operations, new partner gigs they do, exploring new special combinatons to feature, and they will be Eat Mobile - the food cart/foodie festival that was their initial big debut just 2 years ago!). Each of their sandwiches are yes, versions of peanut butter and some sort of fruit jam sandwich, but that's like saying french fries are just a version of potato...

I can't wait to try more from their brilliant minds of flavor combinations once they have access to a bigger space for both storage and execution of more of their ideas. It's hard to believe the huge menu they have from their little grill that varies from sandwiches with 4 different kind of breads, a dozen different kind of jams, a few different nut butters, and other toppings besides ranging from half a dozen of options for cheeses to sweets like chocolate or caramel or coconut fillings to the savory like the bacon or for the Spencer, the big pieces of Capicola- which ultimately what edged the Spencer to the top of my to do list. Can you imagine the possibilities with a real kitchen?

And, I will be back for that Hair of the Dog.

Slabtown Ribs & BBQ - Get the Ribs

Slabtown Ribs & BBQ gave me a chance to enjoy some low and slow American bbq. They are only open on the weekdays because they focus on the weekends on catering and competitions: indeed, a whole wall about half the length of the restaurants if full of their ribbons from those competitions, some of which are showcased in the window, and they have been fighting the meaty saucy fight since 2005.

Thanks to a Groupon, I had an excuse to try it out. I went with the BBQ Combo, which offers  a sampling of most of their food, including sliced brisket, two of their St. Louis Style Pork Spare Ribs, a mini pulled pork sandwich, and a small sample of Zenner’s German sausage, and the combo includes two sides of your choice. I picked mac and cheese and the collard greens, passing up on the Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Red Potato Salad, or Buttermilk Biscuits. You also have your choice of 3 sauces: Kansas City Classic, Texas Hot, or Carolina Style Mustard. The only thing not in the combo was their BBQ chicken.

Of the combo plate, my favorite was definitely the ribs, which even though they had only ladled a spoonful of the Kansas City Classic sauce, I was wiping off to put on the brisket instead because these smokey tender ribs didn't need any additional flavor. The brisket was ok- that's where the sauce was needed, as well as the pulled pork slider. I also found that the ends of the brisket were very dry- I didn't end up eating the ends of my last piece because I couldn't take it anymore. I'm not sure how the German sausage fits in, but it was a good sausage. The mac and cheese was mushy and needed some additional seasoning of pepper, while the collard greens at least had a nice slightly sour tang to counter my meat plate.

The restaurant itself is barebones in terms of seating only 50 people at most, with cheap tables and chairs so that you could easily imagine this was a late night fast food hole in the wall that could be serving burgers or mexican just as easily. They have a few touches of warmth, but the focus seems to be making sure the meat is taken care of. They don't have a bar inside Slabtown, but they still offer beer and mixed drinks by fetching it next door, which allowed patrons to sip a cold brew or in my cases, an ok bloody mary.

I would definitely recommend the ribs. Two guests after me, they were actually sold out of their BBQ chicken, so I never got to try it but maybe is a hint that those might be tasty. or, maybe because it was getting close to their 8pm closing time (I got my food close to 7pm) so they were running out of their earlier prepped food, and maybe that's why my food was more along the middle line. I liked the bun the pulled pork was on, but on the combo plate they hadn't added any sauce to it- if I had known that, I might have ordered an extra side of a different sauce to try for the two extra quarters.

Overall, I found this a decent place, and the service was fast and friendly. I like smoke, so I really liked the ribs plain to best taste that smoke, and the amount of meat on those rib bones was a perfect thick amount. I mean look at that picture- that's a pretty decent size of rib! But if you are looking for more juicy meat you might be disappointed.

Unfortunately, Slabtown can't quite reach the standard of the best bbq I've had yet, which was at Jimmy's BBQ (Lexington, NC). Their, I had the chopped pork, including the "outside brown" our friend/guide Dan instructed us to order so we also had those darkened portions that have been closest to the smoke. The sauce is kept warm in a coffee pot and served on the side. I cannot explain to you much of this fatty smokey meat was moist and tender. I ate 98% of it without sauce.

Brave Horse Tavern & Serious Biscuit, Spur in Seattle

I happen to be a fan of of the Tom Douglas Restaurants empire- at this point I've experienced the output of four of his twelve restaurants. I've tried Serious Pie pizza for lunch (delivered to the office I was visiting), the doughnuts of Dahlia Bakery, happy hour at Palace Kitchen, and a breakfast at Serious Biscuit. For another visit to Seattle recently, I revisited one place while increasing my total by visiting a new Tom Douglas concept. As before, I was not disappointed- it is quite dependable.

Previous eatings: doughnuts at Dahlia Bakery. Also, at Serious Biscuit, the fried chicken with Buttermilk Biscuit and tabasco black pepper gravy (both soothing me with its creaminess and making my tongue tingle with every bite). I added a smothering of Beecher's cheddar to mine, and that boneless hunk o chicken was juicy and extremely crispy, holding up to the generous drenching of gravy.

This time, I went to Brave Horse Tavern for their all day Sunday happy hour, and also for Serious Biscuit in the morning for a second breakfast visit. At Brave Horse Tavern, I tried their hand made pretzel with 3 of their spreads: beer cheddar fondue, sour cream and crispy onion, and smoked peanut butter and bacon. While half the table liked it the traditional way with the mustard on the table, I was a fan of the smoked peanut butter and bacon. The other two were ok but didn't leave much of an impression beyond that. On the other hand, it was a much different atmosphere at Brave horse then I had seen at the others which had been a bit more of an urban modernity feel. Brave Horse Tavern had a much more casual open feel, including big open tables like you would expect in Lucky Lab here in Portland or a brauhaus in Germany. Not sure whether it was because it was all day Sunday happy hour or not, but the other patrons leaned more towards late 20s to mid 30s and had a flirty vibe of comraderie and outgoing energy.

For breakfast the next day, I went with the other choice that had tempted me my first visit: their biscuit with truffled frittata, tomato caper relish, arugula  and I ordered that same  tabasco black pepper gravy on the side... wow, it came in a big mug for me to dunk my forkfuls. I don't like their biscuits enough to have them plain without gravy- they still seem a little dry and hard on the outside instead of flakey (although the inside is moist), probably because they aren't oven fresh, making it an ok but not particularly special. But, put that biscuit with all that other wonderful stuff they offer together though and I ate every single bite and stayed full and satisfied for most of the rest of the day. Just like the last time, this is a knife and fork kind of meal. 

Between these two visits to Tom Douglas restaurants was a fabulous dinner at Spur Gastropub. At first, when our table of 7 received our initial small plates of the Castlefranco Radicchio Salad with candied pecan, blue cheese, and sorrel and the Winter Beet Salad they have with buttermilk, caraway, and arugula, we were unimpressed, though at least the beet salad had a little surprise with the beet powder to add a bit of grit texture.The Slow Cooked Pork Cheeks with white bean, leek and guanciale or the Veal Sweetbreads with braised greens, squash and apple also were not memorable.

However, we were delighted with other dishes. The Sockeye Salmon Crostini ($4 each) with mascarpone, caper, and pickled shallot was a wonderful combination though only worth $1 per bite, if you nibbled. Yeah, these tasted wonderful but if you have to order 2-3 dishes per person and these dishes are already the price of a normal entree at a restaurant, your bill adds up- probably $50 a person along not counting drinks or dessert. Don't come in super hungry and wanting to get full quickly- you want to come to mostly converse and nibble your dinner as you go.

Each of these, and every single dish actually, was plated beautifully... too bad the extremely dark lighting of the restaurant made it difficult to appreciate (and capture). Some pin lighting just in the middle of the table to spotlight the food but still leave everyone in romatic candelight would have been a better compromise instead of having everyone peer at their food. Just by luck, later in the evening I happened to accidentally set my camera to "action" setting which ended up with the more intake of what light there was towards the end of these pictures- but those are definitely brighter then it was actually looking down at our table. 

Our favorite dishes, and I could have eaten it just all by myself (it was a dish that disappeared in minutes as we passed it around the table family style) included the Black Truffle Gnocchi  with baby turnip, parmesan, and greens that melted too quickly in decadance on your tongue, as did the perfectly cooked Wagyu Sirloin with rutabaga, pear and mustard. The Merguez Sausage with chick pea, harissa and tender herbs offered a bit of spark with its spicyness. The Pork Belly Sliders topped with celery root, apple and smoke (hey, that's what the menu lists) on soft buttery brioche also went down quite easily- we somehow found the room even as we were already getting filled up because it was so tasty. The Tagliatelle with duck egg, oyster mushroom and pine nut was an ok dish that is evidently popular and a regualr on the menu, but since it followed after the Black Truffle Gnocchi it couldn't quite measure up to that previous dish.

The three desserts were ordered were all good in different ways. The Parsnip, Banana, Coconut, sponge cake, crumble, ice cream was a tropical light respite from the dinner but I thought needed something else to balance it like a small touch of earthiness, maybe mint? I appreciated the play of textures here though. Meanwhile the Chocolate, Pistachio, Pear, sorbet, pudding cake, praline dessert offered the rich chocolate luxury. Finally, the Passion Fruit, Grapefruit, Fromage Blanc, custard, sorbet, streusel dessert plate cleansed and refreshed.

I would definitely try Spur again- the ones that were a hit were amazing, while others were meh- so I might do a little research next time to see what people highlight in reviews next time I visit. And, I'll come when it doesn't get dark so quickly so I can appreciate my food. I would also go with a group: the small plates concept they have going here is playful and modern, which tastewise sometimes paid off handsomely, and sometimes not in anything but posing as cool looking. So you want to up your chances of getting something great by ordering a lot of dishes- and also see my earlier comment about the price and pace.

I'm not sure why it's called a gastropub since their trendy cocktail list offered some interesting concoctions but there wasn't as much to choose from beer-wise, and the setup definitely is more of a cocktail and place then beer. Thankfully, this also meant the service was much smoother and polished then I might expect at a gastropub- thanks Jared! Overall, I would like to support their continue experimentation and pushing of the boundaries.