Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Had a great night at one of downtown’s newest restaurants, Mucca Osteria, where Bert and I recently shared a nice pasta dish, samplings of wine and a lovely parade of antipasti from chef Simone Saviano: melon and prosciutto, organic greens, thinly sliced medallions of seared lamb, and an artful stack of heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella.

I’ll leave the full review – and the English translation of the restaurant’s name – to the Portland Mercury. But in a word (or four): It was just right. And it was nicely paired with a post-meal stroll around downtown, window-shopping at Canoe and other West End retailers.

A small sampling of the many things worth trying at Olympic Provisions. Though best known for sandwiches and sausages, the kitchen's vegetable creations are equally impressive.

Hello. My name is Marcus and I am a meat eater. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember and I don’t see kicking the habit any time soon, especially since Olympic Provisions opened recently on Portland’s east side. Olympic Provisions is the first USDA-certified salumeria in the state – making artisan sausages, pâtés, dry-cured salami and other meaty creations by hand – but that’s not all. The restaurant also features delicious sandwiches at lunch and creative entrées for dinner, balancing the tasty meats with fresh vegetables and other ingredients. Though they’ve become known for their sandwiches, don’t discount the dinner menu. Olympic Provisions is located in the Centennial Mills building close to downtown, and their meat products are also beginning to show up at other specialty retailers in Portland.

I’ll admit it — I never cared much for saké. I drank it with sushi, because that’s what you drink with sushi, right? I love wine, I love beer, and I love coffee. I love all of them made in Oregon. So, I guess it’s fitting that after I visited SakéOne in Forest Grove, I decided that I like saké. A lot.

At SakéOne I toured the brewery and tasted a few styles (none of them served hot), which gave me a much broader understanding of the beverage, and all of its flavor possibilities. Ever thought of pairing saké with ginger-molasses cookies? Well, the Momokawa Organic Junmai Ginjo compliments them perfectly. These types of pairings are brought out in SakéOne’s new “Saké Shock” flight (more…)

I had a fantastic meal a couple of weeks ago at Tanuki, a small izakaya in Northwest Portland. Izayaka means something like “place that sells sake,” and the food is served tapas-style in small, shareable portions to accompany your drinks.

I’d been reading about Tanuki, which opened in spring of 2008, and had heard that ordering omakase — chef’s choice — was the way to go. I don’t know a lot about Japanese food, but I’m eager to learn, so I liked the idea of getting recommendations right from the chef — no guessing my way through the menu and no hesitating over items that sounded too foreign to my palate.

Omakase came through in a big way. My friend and I ordered drinks (very interesting sake shandies — sake and ginger beer with a shot of fresh carrot juice) and set a price of $20 each for food. Here’s what we got:

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50 different dishes from around the country, but made at 90% with local ingredients. That’s the concept of one of the Pearl District’s newest restaurants, 50 Plates.

Located on the edge of the Pearl District at 333 NW 13th Avenue, the 3,000 ft former industrial space now plays host to a swanky bar and one large dining room with private party capabilities. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, but also for breakfast (the pastries are so yummy, and they serve Stumptown Coffee).

I ate there today for lunch and was in heaven. Of course, the salad and appetizers were delicious, made from local ingredients picked at the farmers’ market (the co-owner’s wife is the Director of the Beaverton Farmers’ Market); but most of all, they have a dreamy dessert menu. With no less that three chocolate cakes, and three “melted chocolate” drinks. What more could I be asking for??

Cool fact: the bar offers a different, thematic happy hour every day. Manhattan Monday, Whiskey Wednesday, etc.