Pechluck's blog

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.

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.

 

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.

Photos of a dinner of small samplers at Aviary

Aviary Restaurant. Betweem the two of us, we shared 3 appetizers, and then 3 of the slightly larger and heavier small plates (everything at Aviary is small plates though). First to appear at the table was the bread with butter dipping sauce (I particuarly liked that one of the breads was an olive bread), it was a thoughtul and welcome start. Then came the first dish from the kitchen,  tempura pumpkin with red curry, scallions, thai basil. This was our favorite of the appetizers thanks to the crispy lightness of the batter surrounding the warm firm/softness of the pumpkin with a bit of spice from the curry which was rounded out by some coconut cream in the curry.

Second best was the ox tail croquettes tomato jam which were ender bites of rich meatness. The fried chicken skin salad with watermelon, bitter greens, baba ganoush was raved about in reviews, but we found it the weakest- I was expecting a better pop of contrasting flavors between the luxury of fried chicken skin with the bitterness of the greens, acid of watermelon, and smokiness of baba ganoush, and this just wasn't realized. Part of me was also hoping the fried chicken skin would be really crunchy crispy- sort of the equivalent of when  you get extra crispy from fast food place- and I guess I expected the fried chicken to be in the kind of quantity ratio to the salad like a normal chicken breast would be in a salad with chicken breast. You can see from the picture the greens seem to barely qualify this dish as a salad.

In terms of slightly heavier small plates, we went with a trio of one pork, one beef, and one chicken. The weakest was the crispy pig ear atop coconut rice, chinese sausage, and avocado and greens, again where similar to the fried chicken skin salad, the fat wasn't balanced well enough by the other components, and leaned instead towards layers of different types of oils. I did like the smoothness of the coconut rice, but then the rest of the dish didn't balance out for me.

Her favorite was the hoisin glazed short rib with farro and turnips and yuzu pickles, which I really did like- it was so juicy tender and the meat disintegrated on your mouth while teasing you with a bit of the pomegranate and the creaminess of the farro mixing in with that savory melting meat- and a playful texture difference betwen them all- but it was also a very heavy dish. That's why my favorite was the four cup chicken with taro root, dried apricot and truffle, wood ear mushrooms, all subtle flavors that you could individually appreciate but also harmonized well with the tender juicy chicken. I could probably actually eat that whole dish, but would get overwhelmed after a while with any of the others even though they were good for the first shared portion.

Honestly, we ordered 2 small plates too many- although all the plates are small, this would have really been better at a table of four rather then two. The clean simple decor of a lot of warm wood and candlelight made the space seem very empty and open, but this minimalism also lacked a bit of character- we could have been in any Portland restaurant, I wish there had been a little more there in terms of atmosphere to give a better feel of its personality. However, the service was smooth and friendly, paced wonderfully as we enjoyed our bottle of '08 Scipt & Seal Bourdeaux to get us food quickly but then considerately let us linger with our conversation without much interruption. Also, they did survive a fire (started from fireworks that landed on the roof) that closed them down for a while, so I give them a break for rising like a phoenix from the ashes.

If you visit, make sure you take more people to share dishes and reduce how much of a single dish you need to eat (four seems like it would be a perfect number). Aviary is really a restaurant that seems best suited to lots of little bird bites of many of the rich dishes- so plan your dining party accordingly.

EaT: An Oyster Bar... Baked Oysters!

I have only once visited at EaT: An Oyster Bar on N Williams (once they open their location in the Pearl I'll have easier access for more visits)- I wanted a little snack before a HipCooks class. I don't have oysters often, but mainly that is because although I really enjoy them, they usually are not a good value for your money in terms of amount of food you get. Ironically, I think historically because oysters used to be more plentiful and are a relatively less effort type of animal to get since they are basically just gathered from sea beds, oysters used to be much more affordable and normally eaten by anyone living by the sea. But demand and disease has changed that now. Every time I have them I feel like I'm treating myself, be they raw, fried, or baked.

I know there are people who say they don't like oysters, but I would definitely recommend you try them more than once because I basically think you are wrong. Perhaps you want to start with the cooked kind first instead of raw, and I like both- just like fish. I often compare it to a bit like sashimi and sushi- at first you may think you are repulsed by the idea of eating raw oysters for instance (obviously not the case with fried or baked), but that really isn't much different then eating raw fish. They have a mild taste of the ocean (but not too much- not if they are fresh). Per the Seafood Watch list which rates various seafood in terms of ocean-friendly food, oysters (depending on type) are rated pretty high. Even if you don't like sashimi, you may still like sushi be it perhaps certain kinds of rolls or ingredients or sauces... and also, even if you don't like raw oysters, you will probably like them cooked.

On the day I visited EaT I tried them baked, though I definitely want to go back and try them raw. They had what seemed like would be an interesting flight of oyster shooters with the variance between them being chili-infused vodka vs chili-infused rum vs chili-infused bourbon. They also had one with beer.

Baked is a nice in-between texture step from the more wet silky but firm with juice texture of having them raw and the chewiness of the fried (not counting the crispness of the batter of course) in terms of texture. With baked, I still can enjoy slurping them from the shell and getting a touch of brine, but I keep them in my mouth for more chews to enjoy the flavor then when they are raw and slippery. Baked oysters tend to also be more rich and savory, while raw ones are zesty in the overall flavors in your mouthful- similar to how a pasta can be highlighted either by a cream sauce or a tomato based or light olive oil based sauce. They are all great, depending on what you want to taste at that moment.

The three preparations of baked oysters I got were two regular and one seasonal special. In the front is the special, which is 2 oysters with arugula and manchego cheese. I don't think arugula was a good choice as it was a bit too bitter, maybe a more peppery mixed green would have been better. This was my least favorite of the three.

Behind to the right is the Rockefeller with spinach and watercress puree but with a touch of Absinthe before topping with Parmesan.

My favorite are the oysters to the left, the Bienville with mushroom bechamal with sharp cheddar. It had the freshness of the oyster with a bit of salty brine balanced with the richness of the mushroom but a bit of edge from the cheddar- really wonderful, one of the best baked oyster flavor profiles I can remember.

I also had a Hurricane, which really knocked me for a bit- equals a good Hurricane. Theirs is rum mixed with their own house fruit juices topped with pomegranate vodka. It was a perfect way to kill a little time - milking my Hurricane, trying not to eat my oysters too fast as I watched the evening commute on N Williams, a long busy parade of so many cars and bicycles. They have other Cajun offerings, but if you come here, you must have oysters anyway. I mean, it's right in their name, how could you not?

I'm glad I didn't give up when the first time I had oysters I just chewed and chewed and spit it out in the end- don't let one bad experience taint you because oysters are awesome. Just to show another kind of cooked oysters, here is a photo of my favorite food memory of fried oyster, from Firefly at Dupont Circle in Washington DC- they came with a chipotle tarter sauce but I couldn't dip them because these were perfect on their own- better or equal to fried chicken, definitely better then calamari.

I still remember this years later and how happy I was, even though my teeth were aching from wearing braces at the time and having them tightened that I was forced to take little itty bitty bird bites even of my crisp fries. But this meal made that a wonderful lunch and memory. I haven't yet found a better fried oyster yet, but I'll keep looking.

Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen

What was Pho PDX has blossomed into adulthood recently with Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen. It cleans up its late night pho act by leaving the food court mall equivalent of a just graduated out of college continuation of a dorm room/first apartment, and is now getting all modern and sophisticated like it now has a respectable full time white collar job and the same interior decorator who designs those apartments used in backdrops in TV shows.

They have deep red booth seats with little gold buttons and antique-recalling wooden red mismatched chairs paired with modern dark wood tables and a minimalist bar (including the I hope you have a small butt barstools) which are softened by pink parasols hanging from the ceiling and the whimsy of sketched black and white lions with fetching blue eyes jumping around playfully on one wall to counter the damask wallpaper on the other wall. It seems just too classy for a place that stays open until 4am. It's like a sexy supermodel or actress who loves sports and videogames- who's complaining about the upscale-ness?

After a little holiday shopping downtown, we stopped for dinner. They have a menu on a chalkboard, but grab the printed ones by the register when you first walk in and order there at that corner. They give you a table # so then you find your seat and wait for your food delivery. This definitely makes sense for the pho lunch rush to get orders in as fast as possible- and thankfully unlike say the teeny Pine State Kitchen or Bunk Sandwiches which also runs on a "order first and then get your seat", there is plenty of real estate to establish your eating space- it's more akin to Noodles and Company or Boke Bowl with the table numbers meaning you will at least get your food delivered to you without trying to carry your pho anywhere.

It just looks so nice it almost seems like it would be a full service restaurant- especially when you are at the more laid back dinner hour. Consider this though- then you'd be at the mercy of someone waiting and checking on your table. The biggest boon to this is for cocktails. I only had two that night, but let's say I want to try them all (and let's say that's not untrue, but probably should not be done in one trip). I would easily be able to every time I want a refresh, just hustle up to the bar and get instant gratification of ordering something instead of having to flag someone down as they try to service everyone else. It is a more casual service model, but I don't mind. There's nothing wrong with sometimes preferring the service at In N Out over a tablecloth restaurant.

For food, we started out with the Fresh Spring Rolls (rice paper stuffed with vermicelli noodles, romain, sprouts, and mint and your choice of pork&shrimp, shrimp, or tofu- we had tofu) last time, so this time went with the Vegetarian Crispy Rolls with tofu, celery, cabbage and carrots. The end of our comparison was that crispy rolls aren't as good- we like the peppery flavor inside, but the wrapper added an extra oiliness that isn't as refreshing and "I feel healthy" as the super fat spring rolls (even though you are eating something 4x the size). Definitely go with the Spring Rolls (you can see photos of them at my previous blog on Pho PDX).

For the main, I tried out the expanded menu from pho with the namesake Luc Lac, cubed beef tenderloin wok seared with hennessey, beurre de france, garlic, black peppercorn, served with field mixed greens and tomato fried rice. This is some seriously steak quality meat that is flavorful and a nice cut of beef, it made the greens underneath just by being underneath super tasty. The tomato fried rice was ok but I would have preferred plain jasmine rice to not compete with the flavor of the beef.

The other main, Lemongrass Stir Fry with tofu option (instead of chicken) with veggies and lemongrass-tumeric chili sauce over rice, was the same as previously served at Pho PDX- ok, but why get that when you have so many other better options with their bigger kitchen? They now offer tempting sounding Ga Ro Ti of roasted half game hen marinated in lemongrass, spirces, and garlic with greens and tomato fried rice, Nem Nuong Pork Sausage either as vermicelli bowls or rice plates or Banh Mi (or awesomely a combination plate with grilled pork, grilled chicken, grilled chrimp, the nem nuong as crispy rolls), Chicken wings caramelized in fish sauce and garlic, Mussels in lemongrass tamarind broth with mushrooms, Sugar Cane Shrimp...

Yes I'll be back please. I'm going to have every cocktail they offer by Spring 2012, you'll see. Those cocktails kick a$$... and is all the reason you need to expand from the pho to try everything else on the menu.

Dinner at Tabla Bistro

A dinner at Tabla Bistro on Dec 16, 75% motivated just because their homemade pasta dish of Tajarin is so loved and was accompanied by such enticing pictures by Portland Monthly's Eat Beat recently. You can order a prix fixe for only $28 that yields your choice of one appetizer, one half order of fresh pasta, and an entree off their main menu.

For us, the starters were beautiful orders of Fall Vegetable Salad with turnip greens mousse, feta, market vegetables, mustard seeds and the Sous Vide Egg with sunchokes, speck, watercress coulis, chanterelle cream. I suppose we could have ordered bread and butter (additional $3) to wipe up the sauce, but we didn't.

For the fresh pasta course, the half order of Tajarin with truffle butter, parmigiano reggiano. The pasta here are really very delicate and gentle, and should not be missed as part of your meal. For the mains, another half order of pasta, this time Chestnut Cavatelli with braised lava lake lamb, fiore di sardegna pecorino, and the vegetarian Bob’s Red Mill Polenta with maitake mushrooms, brussels, sprouts, salsa verde.

Dessert included Winter Squash Cake with candied walnuts, maple caramel, creme fraiche and either housemade blackberry gelato or salted caramel sorbettto to give us a break from all the richness of their offerings during the meal.

Gnocchi night at Nostrana

The highlight of this week was a dinner date with my coworker, since both our husbands left us for work travel, and in a fun extra credit I introduced her to my JnJ- she also has a JnJ. We had quite a list to pick from, and after lots of careful menu deliberation I went with Nostrana.

I enjoyed two delightful beverages from their Rooster bar: one was the "Bubbling for Apples" which is carbonated to order in a Perlini shaker and composed of Liquore Strega, Jonagold apple juice, fresh lemon, Laird's bonded applejack, quince peel syrup, served on the rocks. I started and ended my meal with this fizzy drink. I also tried "Yesterday, today, & amaro" which was less apple forward with its mixture of Flor de Cana extra dry rum, Averna amaro, spiced quince puree, lime, sparkling apple cider, served up in a martini glass. Although this latter drink definitely was better looking, it was hard to compete against the Bubbling for Apples.

For dinner, on Thursday's Nostrana has Gnocchi Thursday (dinner and for lunch as well), in which they offer three gnocchi treatments of their handmade potato dumplings in the Roman tradition of ‘giovedì gnocchi'. I was torn between the one in lamb & salsify ragu and the other with taleggio, savoy cabbage, leek, caraway and black pepper and decided on the latter lighter one. It is as melt in your mouth as it looks. I ate the whole thing so fast it was so good...I think when I originally ordered it I thought I would share it, but after the first bite, it was like that thought never existed (I did share tastes).

Nostrana also has an wood fired oven and serve their pizza uncut with scissors they give to you at the table to cut up your pieces as you'd like. I went with the Funghi Verde pizza with shiitake mushrooms, house mozzarella, garlic, arugula, pecorino sardo, lemon oil... yeah, lots and lots of arugula so I could feel like it was a healthy dinner despite the gnocchi.

The apple and pear crisp takes 20 minutes to prepare, and is well worth it- but is definitely large enough to share between 4 people. Based on the foursquare recommendations I had to get the Budino with caramel and salt which is indeed so decadent.

Thank you J of JnJ and my coworker for such a wonderful dinner date. The kitchen brought out food quickly and our server very well versed on the menu and wines, with the atmosphere even though it got full for dinner quickly, still being easy to have conversation and privacy so that it felt intimate and warm, although as you can see from the photos, the lighting is dim. While the restaurant is casual, the staff seemed to treat it like it was higher end with their smooth service that is in and out of your way quickly and professionally- which is nice to see in the super-informal service industry Portland seems to allow.

Beard Nominee and owner Cathy Whims also opened Oven and Shaker in the Pearl, and I definitely want to visit there soon to see what she has done there. They change their menu daily, so it was exciting to be teased about what would be for dinner as I looked at the Wed dinner menu and the Thur lunch menu (the Thur dinner was not up when we went for dinner- it seems they are behind on uploading it online, though they always do eventually update it that day-I looked at it the next day in writing this blog). There had been a crab pizza that had been offered the day before which wasn't that day- next time I'll find it online and go that day.

It felt a little Portlandia when on the back of the menu was a list of 20 some local farmers and purveyers she sources all the food from the menu from- but in a good way... it was clearly about sourcing locally so it is fresh and seasonal, not for the absurd guilt reason of "was this animal happy before it was killed so I could eat it". Not quite as awesome as when my coworker bought eggs which a sticker on the box listing the "Hen of the Month" including that her favorite snack is cracked corn and favorite pastime is "scratching the dirt looking for seeds". Heh, the hen, not my coworker.

Steaks at Urban Farmer with my brother

My brother came to visit November 17-19, 2011. We started out with a first meal- well, really a snack- at Little Big Burger after we met up at Powells City of Books. After we settled in at home and relaxed for a bit, then we had a steak dinner at Urban Farmer. He selected Urban Farmer barely over my other multiple choice options to him of the happy hour steak of El Gaucho and the quality local butchered steaks of Laurelhurst Market because the Urban Farmer menu offered a larger variety of steaks to choose from on the menu.

All of these photos are courtesy of his skills and Canon EOS 60D camera.

We started out with the appetizers. I went with the smaller order of Artisanal and house-made selections of pâté & cured meats pickled vegetables, preserves, mustard. None of them are local unfortunately, and my brother left before I got to show off Chop's pate or Olympic Provisions charcuterie which I love... and now that I've had those, this homemade/imported offerings plate from Urban Farmer just couldn't measure up to my new higher bar.

His choice in appetizer, the Foie gras, veal sweetbreads, roasted peach, hazelnut plate, was better. We weren't sure we liked the roasted peach as part of the plate as only a small bite was so sweet and seemed to overbalance the savoryness of the meats. But, the foie gras and the sweetbread were very flavorful and I liked the slightly crispy outer texture. It's hard to believe how far we've come from the very first time my sister accidentally ordered sweetbread during our family vacation in Las Vegas a long time ago but thought it was actual bread (she was vegetarian at the time) and the waitstaff took it back graciously.

Anyway, back to the Urban Farmer dinner. After they took our appetizers away they presented us with the cornbread and warm rolls to tide us over while waiting for our main meal.

We were torn by the sides we should order, and settled on the waitress' recommendation of the Creamed spinach gratin (which was super rich and melt in your mouth but also greatly helped by the crunchy topping for texture) and we meant to order the fries but were so torn by either fries or mashed that I accidentally said Potato purée instead... so we got the mashed. This was also super decadant, very buttery and cream.

For the entrees, he and I conspired together where I would order the 24 oz Painted Hills, Oregon, grain-finished, bone-in Ribeye and he would help me, and he was also ordering what I wanted to taste compare, the New York Steak Tasting of 6 oz each of Oregon grass fed, Brandt prime, and Painted Hills twenty-one day dry aged. Both were ordered medium-rare. Of the NY steaks, I liked the aged, while he preferred the grass fed. Both of us loved the juicyness of the Painted Hills grain finished ribeye best of all the entrees.

Unfortunately we did not have room for dessert. I really like Urban Farmer's atmosphere, which unlike most steakhouses which seem to be full of wood and shadows and are remisicent of a old men's club, Urban Farmer is located as part of the upscale and trendy boutique Nines hotel in the Macy's downtown (originally the Historic Meier & Frank Building, circa 1909). So, its atmosphere is much younger and hipper with its decor a cross between a nod to nostalgia of the farm with canned fruit and flaked wood and animal print, but also the modern urbanity of clean lines and layout that makes it almost seem like it's all outdoors (while still being indoors as part of a hotel). It is located on the 8th floor is also the atrium of the hotel, so you don't feel as enclosed and can even get a peek of the sky via their skylights. Their menu also celebrates a lot of local meat (except for their charcuterie, as mentioned). It definitely reconfirmed its place as one of the steakhouses I recommend.

As a side story, this was also the same day that the Occupy protestors took theier walk and only a few hours earlier, were pepper sprayed at the Chase Bank area just on the other side of the square...

Original Dinerant and a Thanskgiving Gravy Cocktail

I knew it was a holiday trick to get me in the door. When I read in Eater's email that the Original Dinerant was offering a new stunt food cocktail called "the Red Eye Cocktail" with a main ingredient of warm Thanksgiving gravy, along with Wild Turkey and rum and strip of bacon. I was 75% appalled, and 25% intrigued. A work colleague moved my intrigue percentage up when she asked me about it, and so taking one for the team, I went to try it.

I admit I summoned some courage at Bailey's Taproom first.

But then it was time for the Original Dinerant. When I asked the hostess about it, she told me it was usually on their brunch menu, but they good-naturedly hustled to produce it. Another worker from the kitchen (by his outfit, I am guessing here... it might have even been the originator of the recipe but he was here and gone in a flash) even came by to ask me how it was only a few minutes after I received it and unfortunately had not tried it yet as it was still quite warm and I was steeping the bacon for extra flavor.

According to the Thrilllist recipe from the Executive Chef, it calls for 3 oz of hot liquid brown gravy (I don't understand the specification for it to be in liquid form...), 1 1/2 oz American honey Wild Turkey, 1/2 oz Cruzan black strap rum, 3 oz coffee, 1 oz hot water, and 1 piece of bacon. If there was any coffee in it, I did not detect any. The recipe called for salt and pepper on the plate, but I would have preferred if it had been all pepper- those salt granules were pretty big.

It tasted more like a light gravy broth with a kicky burn at the tail end in my throat. It was similar to how chicken broth is not the same thing as creamy thick chicken soup. I would always pick the soup over broth because the soup has a thicker texture and more flavor... but there are some broths that offer quite a bit of flavor even while being thin. This gravy was not like that. Really, the key is that you better have really quality tasty gravy to make this drink work. After having amazing gravy at various places such as Screen Door and Dahlia Workshop, perhaps I have serious standards for gravy. I was looking for a savory drink, but this was not savory enough because of its watered down nature and a gravy that didn't have a stronger profile to be the foundation for this admittedly new look at a hot holiday drink.

The Dinerant saved my dinner experience with my totally indulgent dinner plate. On the menu, it is listed as the "Chicken Double Down ham, gruyere, honey mustard". It comes with a side of soup salad or fries that you can upgrade to poutine or chili cheese fries. I went with the poutine (aka fries with cheese curds and gravy). When it came out, I was a little frightened. I confirmed that they need some serious help on their gravy.

But wow, that sandwich is good. Instead of buns, you just have fried chicken breasts holding together your sandwich of ham and cheese. Just. For $12.95 this is an awesome value for a sandwich too. I am having the other half of the sandwich today for dinner and am sorta excited.