Wanna Bite o' Sausage?

Stop by the Deck Family Farm booth at the PSU Farmers Market this Saturday, May 8th (between 10am and 12pm) to sample their new sausages. The booth is located on the west aisle just a few booths down from the Veggie Valet/Info Booth in the Northwest corner. I will be there with my chef coat and a nice collection of tastiness:

Beef Andouille
Polish Sausage
Sweet Italian Sausage
Garlic Sausage
Smoked Bratwurst

Consider getting local, tasty, humanely-raised sausages for a special Mother's Day breakfast. Because nothing says "I appreciate you," more than a sausage, some eggs, and a crepe/waffle/pancake/muffin breakfast...in bed!

Or just stop by and say, "Hello." See you there!

Pinot in the Pearl -- TODAY

Every first Thursday of the month Portland galleries and shops in the Old Town, Pearl District, and downtown neighborhoods stay open late. You can view new art exhibits, sip some wine, and listen to music.

This month, Chehalem Mountains Winegrowers presents:

PINOT IN THE PEARL
Venue Pearl
NW 13th & Flanders
5-9 pm

Tickets: $25 advance/$30 at door

This is no three buck Chuck event. Taste boutique wines unique to the Pacific Northwest--Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Reislings...and some Chardonnay. Then take some home with you. Food tastings will also be available from such restaurants as: 50 Plates, The Heathman, and The Painted Lady. Come hungry. Come thirsty and have a great time!

Look for me there. I'll be the one holding a wine glass.

If you can't make it tonight, visit the many tasting rooms in the Ribbon Ridge and Chehalem Mountains AVA (American Viticultural Areas).

Blueberry Pancake Breakfast

The best part is that you don't have to cook 'em!

Looking for something to do on Saturday morning! Join the folks of the Interstate Farmers Market for their first fundraiser.

Saturday, May 1st
9 am - Noon
Overlook Park
(N. Interstate and Fremont)

$6/person or $20/family of 4
Children 3 and younger FREE

Enjoy:
pancakes (regular and gluten-free)
bacon
coffee
orange juice

All proceeds benefit the Farmers Market and increasing healthy food access in North Portland.

Taste of the Nation

SHARE OUR STRENGTH
No Kid Hungry.

I can support that. So this coming Monday, April 26th, Share Our Strength's fundraiser Taste of the Nation hits Portland, Oregon. It is a fine dining event that helps make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.

I hope to see you there!

50 Restaurants * 20 Wineries * 5 Breweries
One Mission to End Childhood Hunger

Monday, April 26th
Luxe Autohaus
411 NE 18th Ave
6:30pm, General
with LUXE and VIP entry time starting at 5:00pm and 5:30pm respectively

Tickets:
LUXE $175 adv
VIP $125 adv/$135 door
General $75 adv/$85 door

From their website:

"PORTLAND, OREGON — With a passion to fight childhood hunger, Portland’s best restaurants, wineries, breweries and mixologists will gather for Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, the city’s premier culinary benefit. Taste of the Nation Portland will raise critical funds needed to support Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger in Oregon and across the nation. This year’s event will be on April 26th, 2010 at Luxe Autohaus at 6:30pm, with a LUXE and VIP entry time starting at 5:00pm and 5:30pm, respectively.

Oregon is a state known for its abundant production of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, and yet 1 in 6 kids in Oregon experience food insecurity and do not receive proper nutrition to grow and develop. The Oregon Food Bank has seen demand for emergency food boxes increase 15% over last year. Taste of the Nation works to end childhood hunger in the United States and abroad by ensuring that children and their families have reliable access to nutritious food, and by addressing the deeper causes of these conditions.

One hundred percent of ticket and auction revenue help ensure no kid in America grows up hungry."

If you don't live in Portland, check out the Taste of the Nation website to see when they will be in your city or one near you!

The People's Pickle...

has arrived!

Be still my heart. We were so excited that we ate half the jar before remembering to take a picture.

My friend, Erin McGovney, started The People's Pickle this year and this is the first delivery. Spicy Pickled Carrots. Yum. Just enough of a spicy bite but with a crispy snap.

Erin is a multi-talented entrepreneur who works full-time as a knowledgeable real estate broker, serves on the Board of the Interstate Farmers' Market (Weds 3-7 pm next to Overlook Park off the Max, May 19th - Sep 29th), started a delicious pickle biz, and runs a design business called RE.FRESH.

If you're interested in joining The People's Pickle, looking to buy a house in Portland (especially if it's your first!), or thinking about a home redesign, contact her directly: emcgovney@gmail.com.

Destination: Park Kitchen

Happy birthday to me. Danno took me to Park Kitchen for my birthday back in April. This is what I love about Portland...many of the dining establishments have seasonal menus! Living in Southern California helps one forget that there are actual seasons...it's always sunny, the leaves don't change colors and the sky, well, is always the same color (I won't say what color...).

This is not to say that So Cal restaurants don't have seasonal menus. Lucques (where I learned from the best) always has a Market salad and procures from the Santa Monica Farmers Market. But Portland has a strong Locavore movement. Maybe it's more apparent to me because Portland just isn't as expansive of an area as say, the Los Angeles Basin.

Anyway, on to Park Kitchen...it was a quiet night for them. This destination spot sometimes overflows with patrons waiting at the bar to be seating. That night, we were one of maybe four parties after 8pm. The previous Friday was apparently similarly unbusy but the Tuesday before was super busy. The economy is a crazy inconsistent creature.

Everything sounded so delicious that we decided not to decide and ordered the "Tasting Menu." It's the chef's selections for the day or night, as in our case. Let's start at the top...

Sizzling baby octopus...sauteed in butter, butter and more butter. The server recommended that we save the bread for last, in order to dip it into the buttery goodness at the bottom of the skillet. We listened to him the rest of the night.

Farm egg, braised leeks, nettles and duck ham...yeah, duck ham. I'm not the biggest fan of nettle but in combination with the creamy egg, tender leeks, and the flavorful duck oink, it was quite tasty.

You might not be able to tell, because I couldn't until I bit into it but that's a clam salad. Razor clams, celery root remoulade and ham to be precise. There was a surprising repetition of seemingly similar ingredients (clam, nettle, ham-ness) in the tasting menu but everything was refreshing. The julienned razor clam was tender and is warming me up to the larger clam's texture.

Nettle fettucini, saffron braised cipollini and clams was a surprise. I usually enjoy my smaller clams tossed in black bean sauce and my green pasta is usually spinach, so imagine my surprise when this plate arrived at the table. The fettucini was a tad more bitter than the standard green pasta but was nicely balanced by the mild cipollini onions.

Then we had Nic's sprouted salad with quinoa crunch. Apparently Nic is one of the cooks and grows sprouts in his garden. The salad reminded me of the Magic Mix from Jazzy Sprouts (sold at many So. Cal. farmers markets). The quinoa crunch was a thin, sweet cracker. It was simple and might have been my favorite part of the meal.

We finished the meal with a sticky date pudding with whipped yogurt and sesame and a rhubarb consumme, hibiscus, goat cheese panna cotta. I wasn't too crazy about the rhubarb or hibiscus but I loved the panna cotta. The other dessert ironically did not stick in my mind.

For us, the meal was definitely better than the dessert. It was a slow night for them so I hope that business picks up again for them this summer because it is a definite destination spot.

Gourmet Doughnuts??

Can there be such a thing as a gourmet doughnut? Probably not...to be considered gourmet requires food to be of high quality ingredients, prepared accurately, and presented artfully. Doughnuts will always come in a flimsy paper box or bag. If it didn't, I don't think it would actually be a doughnut anymore.

Voodoo Doughnuts does a great job being artful and delicious...but it's still a doughnut from a paper bag after all. But don't let that fool you. Vooddoo is not like any other doughnut shop. They do weddings as well. I am a lover of the fried pastry but I guess I'm not that much of a fanatic. I would choose our lovely museum courtyard wedding over having it in a large pink building full of fried dough any day.

There is actually a doughnut called the "Voodoo Doughnut" which is in the shape of a person...or doll...with a mini stick pretzel in it. At the time of the visit, I was too full for my own doughnut. Leave it to Danno to get an friggin' apple fritter. Don't get me wrong it was delicious, apple-y sweet, and fluffy.

I remember when I was in high school...I would sometimes stop at the donut shop on Charter Way to get a doughnut on the way to school. I think it was a Yum Yum Donut. I would get one of three: chocolate bar, maple bar, or glazed twist. But with doughnuts like: Grape Ape (raised doughnut with vanilla frosting and grape powder), Dirty Snowball (chocolate cake doughnut covered with pink marshmallow glaze and surprise filling), and The Memphis Mafia (chocolate chips, banana, peanut butter and glaze)...I kinda wanted to try something not-so-traditional here.

The fried goodness of Voodoo cannot easily be described. The variety and creativity of the menu is enough to get you to stop by and look into that rotating case. You'll be mesmerized and ingest a full day's worth of calories in one sitting. But it's really worth it. The traditional doughnuts are outstanding and all their specialty doughnuts will knock your socks off, no matter what kind of sweet you desire.

There's something for everyone--even our vegan friends!


Voodoo Doughnuts
22 SW 3rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel: 503-241-4704
Open 24 Hours!

&

Voodoo Doughnuts Too
1501 NE Davis
Portland, OR 97232
Tel: 503-235-2666
Open only 21 hours: 6:01am - 2:59am

Taco Cart Taco

When I was working at Lucques in West Hollywood, Douglas, then a pantry cook (he moved up to the line while I was there) ate either a chicken taco or burrito from a food cart (on Vermont near USC) and got so sick that he had to be hospitalized with an I.V. He swears never to eat from a roach coach again. Me, I may just stay away from chicken on wheels.

In my search for good Latin food (specifically Mexican, El Salvadorian, and Cuban) in Portland, I've so far only found one place that is somewhat good. I think I've been spoiled because I lived in California all my life. When I lived in Los Angeles, I couldn't turn my head without bumping my nose on a burrito joint or taco cart. In Stockton (back in the day), I had a longtime boyfriend whose mom owned and cooked at an Oaxacan restaurant. Whenever I came by, she would make me dishes off the menu because she knew what I liked. You really can't beat that.

So, unfortunately, Portland will never have Chinese or Mexican food as good as I had in Stockton. Kiko's Taqueria Uruapan comes close though. Of course I choose the pork options: pastor (marinaded in spices and cooked upright on a spit) and carnitas (slow-roasted or braised pork).

Located in Sellwood on Antique Row, it shares it's space with a couple other carts. But these bite-sized tacos are always my first choice. There is something about the three-bite taco that I find so satisfying. Maybe because I can get a few of them in a variety of flavor combinations in one sitting.

Kiko's tacos were hot and pack a mouthful of flavor and at a dollar each, it's quite a bargain. Danno, as always, got a burrito...the potato and green chile one this time. I believe there was pork involved. I wasn't as taken with the burrito as with the tacos but it was tasty and VERY filling.

Kiko’s Taqueria Uruapan
SE 13th Ave & Lexington St.
Portland, OR 97202
M-F: 11:00 am - 4:30 pm

March Madness -- What BUNK!

Wow. How did we get here? It's almost April!

So, I don't know if you know this or not but here in Portland, it rains a lot. Now that Spring is "here," things are beginning to bloom. But I've realized that I really miss the sun. Oh, glorious sun, I can't wait to spend a continuous number of days with you.

What Portland seems to have in abundance is pork. Yum. I have a fave sausage place called Otto's Sausage Kitchen...but that story will have to come later since, for some reason, I have no pix of yet. It might be because once an Otto's sausage gets in my hands, it quickly finds its way to my belly.

Which is a wonderful segue to my pork belly reuben. Yes, you heard me pork BELLY. If you like bacon, this is sooo much better. Bunk Sandwiches serves some of the best sandwiches I've ever tasted.

This sandwich is not for the faint-hearted or for those watching their cholesterol. It's marinaded, slow-roasted pork belly with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese on grilled rye bread. It was fantastic.

As a child, my mother would, after grilling or broiling a steak, trim the excess fat off the side; and before she knew what happened, that shimmering piece of goodness would find it's way to my belly, much like an Otto's sausages of today. Really, she would barely turn away. Innocently, I would gaze up at her, my only evidence of guilt being oily marks on my face.

So how could I resist the call of the pig belly? I'm glad that I am not that strong.

It was lunchtime and the line was long...and for good reason. Everything we had was delicious. Gillian had a chicken salad sandwich that looked like a Dagwood! Danno had the roast beef sandwich that melted in your mouth, followed by a mild tingle from the horseradish. We indulged in half sour pickles from Picklopolis (fresh made Portland pickles) as well.

For those of you who like sandwiches, check out Bunk, where the art of layering flavors is not lost on your tastebuds.

Bunk Sandwiches
621 SE Morrison
Portland, OR 97214
Open: M-SAT: 8-3
Tel: 503.477.9515

Superbowl-ish Wings

I don't know if you guys watched the Superbowl but if you didn't, you missed a good game. I'm not really a football fan but I like a good competition.

Usually I watch the Big Game for the communal experience and the over-indulgence of snack foods. My favorite is always a good 5-, 7-, or 9-layer dip, preferably homemade and chicken wings--the messier, the better.

There's a place in Portland called Fire on the Mountain. They have a choice of 16 sauces in which to toss their perfectly fried wings. Oh, and btw, they have a vegetarian "wing" option too. I haven't tried it yet. Maybe next time. I wonder if it is less fat grams per wing? Eh, I don't really care.

We got 24 wings. For every six wings you can choose a sauce. We chose Sweet BBQ, Thai Peanut, Tequila Chipotle, and Hot. The Hot was surprisingly good. But I think my favorite is the Thai Peanut. It's got a small kick to it and I love peanuts. They have a spicy range of no spice to El Jefe hot.

They have two locations. The Burnside place is unassuming, somewhat industrial and open. I haven't visited the one on Interstate.

If you like wings or just dipping little sticks of celery into sauce, this is the place to go. I know Red Bull can give you virtual wings, but these guys will give you the real deal.

4225 North Interstate Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
503-280-WING

or

1706 E. Burnside St.
Portland, OR 97214
503-230-WING

Open for lunch and dinner

Dim Sum Airport

Hey, wouldn't that be a great idea? To have a dim sum place in the airport. Just grab a variety of bite-sized morsels for the plane that won't be serving you any food...unfortunately PDX doesn't have that either but I bet it would go over swimmingly. Instead, we took Steph to Wong's King for dim sum before dropping her at the airport. Apparently we were bringing her on a tour of all our faves (so far), I guess.

This was our first dim sum experience in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I recommend, as with all dim sum places, getting there before 11am. When we arrived at 10:45am, we were seated right away. We didn't even pause at the doorway. The hostess asked us "How many?" as I was walking toward her. By the time we left, there were at least 30 people waiting to be seated and more flowing in from the over-crowded parking lot. But don't get there too early either or the selection will be much more limited.

So, Wong's King, it's a hot spot for dim sum in Portland. Unfortunately for WK, the dim sum in Los Angeles is outstanding. WK gets raves from the locals for its food. I agree that its lunch and dinner menus are outstanding but the dim sum left me wanting. It's unfortunate because I think they are the high bar in town.

Don't get me wrong, it was still good. I really liked the shu mai and the cheung fun stuffed with shrimp. And, look, we still had fun...y'know, I'm not really sure why they still let me take pix of them since I always get them with their mouths open.

What saddened me was the bland sauce in the cha siu bao and flat flavor of the har gow. Steamed pork bun and shrimp dumpling are two of the three pillars of dim sum cuisine (at least here in the States), pork dumpling (delicious shu mai mentioned above) being the third.

We'll definitely be coming back. It is Wong's King afterall. But not before checking out some of the other places in town.

Tea Time-r?

Getting to know the edible Portland is fun. I suppose I love getting to know all places through its food.

When I backpacked through Holland, Belgium, France, and Spain for a month, that's exactly what I did--I ate my way through Europe. Hmm, perhaps I'll dig up some food photos and reminisce with y'all.

Actually, I hit a lot of cultural spots, too. I remember getting to Madrid (the last stop) where I stayed with my friend, Benji (Oh, Benji, I miss you. You are a terrific travel companion and life-saving American-speaker!). He suggested going to the Royal Palace or the Prado Museum that first afternoon and I practically rolled my eyes at him and said something like, "I've seen sooo many palaces and museums." Can you imagine? I'm a little embarrassed by that but I was just so over-saturated by the centuries of history and culture. Anyway...

So here we were at Tea Zone and Camellia Lounge for, uh, tea. They take their steeping so seriously that they gave us each a timer! Once the timer was done, we removed the strainer basket full of leaves from the pot and pour. Look at that fancy one with the metal frame and cool orange sand (above). I'm so used to the cheesy, plastic ones that come with Boggle or Taboo.

I believe that Steph got an oolong (there were several) while Dan and I shared a green tea (also several).

It was new year's day and they were closing early. The staff was quite friendly to us even though we showed up 25 minutes before closing. I remember back in the retail days in high school when customers would come right before closing. I was never rude to them but boy did I wish they would get done quickly.

Tea Zone is in the Pearl District which is in the northwest part of the city. There's lots to do in that area so after you get your shopping done at Powell's Books or seeing a Portland Center Stage play, wander over to Tea Zone to relax with a hot tea, good service, and a cool timer. Their tea selection rivaled the beer selection at Lucky Baldwin's Pub in Pasadena, California.


Tea Zone and Camellia Lounge
510 NW 11th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
Tel: (503) 221-2130

The Minute You Settle...

Dan and I went to Gold Garden Seafood Restaurant on 82nd Ave (just north of Powell) the other day. It's been snowing so we rode the bus to a tire shop to get the "required" chains for our Prius whose front end slides around when braking in snow. It was mere blocks from one our fave Chinese restaurants.

There are two places "in town" that are well known to serve tasty Chinese food. One is Wongs King which I've already written about and the other is Gold Garden. Both get high marks for deliciousness. GG is more affordable and reminds me of some of those places I used to go in downtown Stockton when I was a kid.

There's always this hint of cigarette smoke from the attached bar, I think. The food is always served promptly and we always have a good time. GG seems like it's seen it's hey-day a decade or so before. It's dining room is large and it's menu is substantial.

This time D and I munched down on "Triple Delight in Tangy Sauce" and "Pork Mustard Green with Salted Egg Soup". Yeah, you won't find that at Panda Express. The delightful pork, beef, and shrimp were smothered in a spicy, sweet, sour sauce that blended well with the rice. The soup, well, reminded me of home. My mom used to salt her own eggs back in the day.

What does that mean, you ask? Well, she'd mix a salt water brine, place a bunch of eggs in a large jar, then pour in the brine until full and cap. Anyway, it would sit for months and the yolk would firm and darken. It was delicious then as was that soup.

What I love best is they always have roast duck and a side of roast pork hanging in the case for take out. Memories...

At the end of the meal, we get our fortune cookies, of course. Mine reads:

"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get less than you settled for."

This stupid fortune almost made me cry in the restaurant. Well, I guess it wasn't so stupid. So, don't settle, people. Live it.

If you get a chance and you like authentic Chinese food try:

Gold Garden Seafood Restaurant
3016 SE 82nd Ave
Portland, OR 97266
(503) 777-3399

They have $6.50 weekday specials and they give large portions. A good place to dine out during a recession.

Oh Sushi, My Sushi

My husband tells me I have no patience. He's right. But when it comes to salami and sushi, I can overcome...if it is indeed, worth waiting for.

Saburo's is just down the street from the cheese steak place. However, even though the pieces of sushi are about the size of the sandwiches and hoagies, the similarities stop there. Just check out that piece of eel. That's not an optical illusion, it is more than half the length of the chopsticks.

They don't take reservations so people wait up to 90 minutes to taste these morsels of goodness. There is no to-go or take-out. But you can take it with you. I have seen many customers order so much that a table of two walk out with two to-go boxes! It isn't full of teriyaki chicken and rice either.

I am always tempted to do that as well but with raw fish, you gotta eat it right away. I just don't know if I would be up to such a decadent breakfast. I don't usually need a midnight snack after Saburo's, if y'know what I mean.

The fish is fresh. One of my favorite rolls there is the Grand Roll. It's a deep fried, of course--no rice, bunch of spicy tuna around a krab core, wrapped in seaweed and lightly battered. Yum.

Our bill is always around 40 bucks for the two of us. I can't wait to bring my cousins here. (Lisa, you would totally love this!) The sashimi plate always comes with octopus and sweet shrimp. I don't know how they do it for $15.

My favorite sushi places, hands down, are still Matsuhisa Restaurant (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and Sushi Nozawa (Studio City, Calif.). They aren't quite as affordable but everything really melts in your mouth like butter. I've never known raw fish to melt in one's mouth until Matsuhisa and Nozawa.

But I gotta give props to Saburo. Tasty and affordable. I guess that's why we all wait in line for it.

Saburo's
1667 SE Bybee Blvd
Portland, OR 97202
Open for Dinner only.

A Philly for the Phils

Congratulations to the 2008 World Series Champions, Philadelphia Phillies! In honor of your win, I ate a cheesesteak.

I went to this place called Philadelphia's Steak and Hoagies. Y'know, I've never been to Philly, where I'm told by those who have lived in and around the city (shout out to Tory, Holly, and Philo!) that you haven't tasted a cheesesteak or hoagie if you haven't had one in Philadelphia.

Well, I didn't get a chance to hit Philly the last (and first) time I was in Pennsylvania, so I guess I still don't. But this one didn't seem half bad. I ordered a cheese steak, which according to the board is "melted American cheese on top of our thin sliced steak, grilled onions, on a hoagie roll with your choice of sauce or self serve condiment bar."

First of all, I'm told it's supposed to be Cheez Whiz or some kind of soft cheese-like product. I'm not opposed to quality but I think we're getting a little West Coast crazy using real cheese. Secondly, I found a few slices of mushrooms in the sandwich. Not unusual if I had ordered the Mushroom Cheese Steak. But I didn't. Let's just say it was a nice surprise for me.

I liked the hoagie bread. It had a crispy, flaky crust. The steak was thin and tender. I didn't add any condiments but there was horseradish, mayo, mustard, some sort of hot sauce, and I think ketchup.

Anyway, I love meat, bread, and melted cheese. I think you'd have to do something awful to a Philly to make it taste terrible. But I'm not sure how authentic this one is. I'll have to go to Philly to make a sound judgement. I must do it...for all of you.

However, if any of you are interested in trying a PDX Philly, go on Mondays, 6-9pm. Steak sandwiches and hoagies are 1/2 off then.

Philadelphia's Steaks & Hoagies
6410 SE Milwaukie Avenue
Portland, OR 97202

Bacon on Pizza--Genius!

I've been having a lot of pizza with bacon on it in Portland. It must be the Portlander's love of smoked, cured meats. But Apizza Scholls at 4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd. is to cry for (just ask my brother-in-law).

Sadly, I have no pictures of my own so I've snagged a few from Apizza Scholls own website. I apologize but the pizza was so good, we ate it up. I know, that looks like a bunch of anchovies on that pizza but believe me, it's delicious slices of delicate bacon, baked on top of handmade dough that's fermented for 24 hours at room temperature. Oh, and it's worth waiting for. It's crispy outside (from the extremely high heat ovens, from 650*F to a whopping 900*F) and chewy inside.

This is also why the crust gets caramelized like so (see photo). It may look burnt but it's not. It's smoky goodness and evidence of their dedication to pizza perfection.

It's a family run joint so everyone works every day it's open (unless sick) or they are closed--like on such days as Halloween and Election Day. Gotta love it.

The Caesar salad was also amazing. They make the dressing fresh daily with raw eggs. Gasp! They are purists. The salad is divine. I can't say enough about this place except "don't go." Some days they run out of dough (remember, it has to ferment for 24 hours) and close early. I don't want that to happen when I go so just stay away.

Seriously, it's too good to eat.

JADE

In southeast Portland, there's a neighborhood called Sellwood. It's a couple miles from my place in Eastmoreland and the family lives there so we go pretty often.

It's famous for its Antique Row, antique shops galore. But I go there for the food. This time my sis-in-law, Liz, with her baby, Gabe, and I hit Jade for some Vietnamese sandwiches. The last time I remember having a good V-sammie was back in the Bay Area. There was a place just outside my old apartment on Clement St. in San Francisco. Tho', there was also a really fantastic place in the San Jose area that my friend, Bernadette, used to take me to. I don't remember where or what it was called.

Anyway, it's been ages since those tasty pickled veggies in a crusty French baguette have touched these chompers. I was very excited.

Liz and I split this BBQ pork sammie, a bowl of udon, and a pot of Feel Better tea.

Oh, did I mention that it's a tea house, too? The owner, April, blends her own teas. Her mother, Lucy, is the chef and bakes all the bread and pastries in the basement. Apparently she went to France for some time and learned the tricks of the trade there. The place is immaculate and recently opened.

They are very kid friendly. There's even a rocking chair in the back because the general manager's fiancee is pregnant. But hey, you don't have to be her or pregnant to sit in it.

Anyway, everything tasted great. It didn't taste like the $2 sammies I used to get at the bakery next to the bar in SF. But then again, this place is much more upper crust (excuse the pun) and the clientele is different. I would have preferred more pickled carrots and radish in my sandwich and a little bit more fish sauce (sorry, Alyssa) in my pork. The BBQ pork in the sandwich was more Chinese than Vietnamese. But then, with the udon, which was also good but not like the stuff I've had in Japan, there's a bit of Asian mingling in the menu anyway. The baguette was outstanding!

I need to try the French pastries. They were beautiful and the little girl at the table next to us couldn't get enough of them. Jade has very tasty food at reasonable prices.

The staff and owner are really friendly, too. Such a bonus. So check them out if you get the chance:

Jade
912 SE 13th Avenue
Portland, OR
Tel: 503.477.8985
Open for lunch and dinner. Closed on Sunday.

My Comfort Food

Everyone has a comfort food. It's a sense memory thing, I think. For some it's pizza. Others it could be mashed potatoes or chicken soup. For me, it's my mom's cooking, or anything that gets darn near close to it.

Mmmm. Clams in black bean sauce with sweet peppers and onions. I love fresh black bean sauce. It's so savory and pungent. My mom used to cook with it all the time...and I'm not talking about the stuff that comes mashed up in the jar. In my opinion, that lacks the vitality and freshness (if one can use that word with a fermented food) of the whole fermented bean.

She would take some fermented black beans from a jar put them in a rice bowl, fill the bowl halfway with water, pick up and drop the beans a number of times then remove them (into her palm) and pour out the water. Once I asked her why she didn't just leave the beans in the bowl and pour out the water. It's because some of the pebbles (there are sometimes little stones masquerading as beans in the mix) and grit would get held back by all the beans and it wouldn't be clean. Ok. Gotcha. So she'd rinse them a couple more times in that same manner until the water was pretty clear except for the bean skins floating around. Using the back of a Chinese soup spoon, she'd s/mash the beans into a paste. Tah dah, fresh black bean paste--must be cooked with fresh garlic (and sometime ginger) for the right flavor.

Anyway, this is not my recipe for clams so I won't go into that right now. Stay tuned though because I may include that in the future...and it's good.

Instead, Danno and I scouted out this place in "outer" Portland called Wong's King on SE Division St just east of 82nd St. It's fabulously big and located next to some sort of fur revitalizing store (I didn't know the fur business was still so big).

Chef Fu Lai Wong has won a prestigious cooking award in China (there are plaques everywhere) and the restaurant was rated in the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the country according to Chinese Restaurant News (which is written in Chinese so I'll have to wait for my mother to translate before letting you guys in on the other 99).

We also got this steaming plate of King mushrooms with sauteed greens. The King mushroom is a large oyster (or trumpet) mushroom that is tender and also meaty. The green was spinach and the sauce was light and savory.

We went on a week night so the place was pretty empty but the service was excellent. After we paid the bill, our server came by to give us dessert, because we are super nice. Actually, I don't know why they did it but it was a nice touch.

Tapioca soup with taro and coconut milk. It was also piping hot and delicious. That hint of coconut milk really put it over the top. Oh, Wong's King, we'll be back for more...maybe dim sum. And at some point Mama Lee will be the judge of that.