Jack Yoss leaving ten-01 leaves Portland food scene remarkably unaffected

Just read this post by FoodDude that chef Jack Yoss is leaving Ten-01 this March. According to FD he's leaving for a "world tour" of eastern Europe and Asia. Must be some damn good piroshkis and chicken paprikash to be had. I would disagree with FD's conclusion that "this is a huge blow to the Portland restaurant scene". Granted he resurrected Ten-01 from the culinary dumpster it was residing in, but with so many talented chefs doing equally good and innovative cooking (Kevin at EVOE; Kurt at Alba Osteria; Benjamin at Nuestra Cocina; etc.) and also the fact that Ten-01 really wasn't that high profile (I don't know if any restaurant/chef in town is) to warrant that judgment. It is much more of a blow to the restaurant itself than to the PDX food scene in general.

Restaurant Deathwatch PDX: Lucier update

My post a few days ago about Lucier being on the ropes appear to have come true already. A post on Portland Food and Drink today is suggesting the place may shut their doors as soon as this weekend. We may not have seen the last of Lucier, though. At dinner out with two friends in the restauarnt biz last night, they said they had heard that Lucier may attempt a relaunch, perhaps as soon as late this/early next year, a la Ten-01, which a few years ago performed one of the most remarkable Lazarus imitations in local food history. Sympathies to those who may soon find themselves out of work.

It is a terrible time to be unemployed, but I fear that after everyone's holiday distractions are over, the first quarter for restaurants here in Portland (and everywhere else for that matter) is going to be brutal, and a big shake out is coming. Two articles in the NYT (here and here) highlight how more people ar cutting back on going out and cooking at home, and that trend will only increase after the first of the year. Scary times, indeed.

UPDATE 3:30pm- Lucier is a confirmed casualty as of this weekend. Wine oriented minds want to know: what's going to happen to that million dollars worth of inventory. A better question: why did they have a million dollars worth of wine??!

Death Watch Portland: Lucier

I would have said this after my first time dining a few months ago at Lucier, the overblown temple to someone's ego in the South Waterfront district. If you want to see how people can piss away $4+million, check it out. On second thought, don't, because your money is so better spent elsewhere....anywhere! I just read this post on Portland Food and Drink that links to Oregonian food critic Karen Brooks' review of Lucier where she gives it a generous C-.

A Wine Spectator "Award of Excellence" for your wine list without having to open that pesky restaurant?

I was tipped off to this awesome story by food dude at Portland Food and Drink. What we all suspected about the Wine Spectator is apparently true. At least when it comes to doling out their Award of Excellence to various restaurants for their supposedly "superior" wine lists. Turns out if you want to win one of the coveted prizes to impress your friends, it doesn't cost near what you thought. In fact, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO OPEN A RESTAURANT!! With their rubber stamp firmly in hand, the arbiters of wine taste at the Speculator gave one of these awards to a bogus restaurant that writer Robin Goldstein invented in his head, complete with fake website, menu, and wine lists. The upshot is that his regular wine list was a normal selection of quality offerings, while his "Reserve" list was a listing of wines the Spectator themselves had panned in previous reviews, including (and borrowing this from PFandD):
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BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO “LA CASA” 1982 (Toscana) Tenuta Caparzo 200,00 €
Wine Spectator rating: 67 points. “…Smells barnyardy and tastes decayed. Not what you’d hope for…”

CABERNET SAUVIGNON “I FOSSARETTI” 1995 (Piemonte) Poderi Bertelli 120,00 €
Wine Spectator rating: 58 points. “Something wrong here. Of four samples provided, two were dark in color, but tasted metallic and odd…”

SASSICAIA 1976 (Toscana) Tenuta San Guido 250,00 €
Wine Spectator rating: 65 points. “…Even Sassicaia could not apparently escape the wet weather of this memorably bad vintage in Tuscany. It lacks harmony, having oxidized…”
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Read the whole unbelievable...or really believable story here. Well done Robin!

Postscript: you can read Wine Spectator editor Thomas Matthews rather lame mea culpa here. Matthews passing off the whole episode as an "act of malicious duplicity" is the worst kind of victim mentality.