Fish On!

Here's a quick hit for all of you lucky enough to live close to my new favorite restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Get your appetites in to Clyde Common and order the striped bass for two that chef Jason Barwikowski has on the menu. But grab it quick, because he told me it might not last through the weekend. I had this treat from the deep last night at an incredible wine trade dinner for a bunch of Austrian and German winemakers last night. This fish is absolutely perfect...perfectly roasted, the skin salty, crisp, and savory. The inside is moist, fresh, and tender. Plus the sides of white beans and aioli aren't too bad either. Also don't miss the seasonal fava bean salad (to the upper right of the fish in the picture) and the french fries with foie gras...crazy!!

The dinner last night was killer. CC kept the family style dishes coming, course after course. And those Euro winemakers can drink like nobodies business. There were five different producers, and they each brought their best bottles.

The winemakers from Hexamer, Berger, and Nikolaihof early on, before the wines spiralled out of control!

The corks on these top shelf gruner-veltliners and rieslings were popping nonstop. Hans, Fritz, and Helga (Or whatever their names were. I kind of lost track after about the twelfth bottle) had it going on, and by the time I rolled out of there three hours later, I was not only half loaded, but a convert to these awesome whites. My new fave summer sipper: ice cold gruner-veltliner, preferably with a platter of freshly shucked Fanny Bay oysters!