Quick Bites PDX: Bunk Sandwich, pt.2; and Apizza Scholl's "Sicilian Sunday"

w's comment about Bunk Sandwich midway through lunch the other day: "It's very manly in here". She was referring I think to the overwhelmingly male clientele who happened to be working their way through meat meister Tommy Habetz's menu of fleshily fabulous sandos. She could just as easily been talking about the atmosphere. The hood was barely keeping up with the smoke off the grill adding to the olfactory assault, and right in front of us the guys on the line were chopping and slapping together the various offerings. My friend Joseph happened to wander in and grab a seat next to us at the counter...by far the best seat in the house....and he correctly observed that even though Bunk had only been open about three weeks (at that point) it had the feel of a place that had been around for years. Also the sandwiches with chips when they're put down in front of you don't look that big, but every time I'm done I am stuffed. Of course it also be the added and must have sides of incredible bacon and egg potato salad and the best red beans and rice in the city that I also consumed, but this is old school lunch the way it was...and now is!
I had to try the Meatball and Parm Hero (top pic), having heard raves. It was solid, nearly equal to the perfection that is the Garden State version. w, being one not to be intimidated by all the perceived testosterone, ordered the grilled eggplant and pepper sandwich (above). It was about as good as a vegetarian sandwich can get, although going veg at Bunk seems roughly akin to asking were the condoms are at your local Christian supply house. That's not what you should be tere for, right? In any event, more kudos to T.H. for nailing a concept and creating my new Monday addiction.

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A couple of Sunday's ago on a cold ass night, w and I were searching for sustenance after getting our holiday fix at a so-so performance of The Nutcracker by Oregon Ballet Theater. Now it had been snowing ever so slightly and the streets were mildly slick, so of course every person in Portland went into a panic and bars were closing all over town. Which is another reason east coast transplants laugh at us. We wanted a drink and a snack, and headed up to Higgins. Now I know a lot of people who are slavish devotees of Greg Higgins food, but I always seem to look at the menu and find it incredibly uninteresting (with an accompanying wine list that offers very little value). w and I grabbed a couple of seats in the bar, checked it out, and both of us were like "meh". So we beat it out of there, and continued the search. After driving by a couple of other places that were, of course, closed, we ended up in our 'hood at Apizza Scholl's, which has recently opened Sundays for their "Sicilian Sunday", where they offer meatball hero's and Sicilian-style pizzas with a thicker crust than their usual crisp crust version of pizza perfection. We had a half pesto-mozz/half meatball pizza (that's it in the lame cell phone pic) and it was rocking. The shocker is that this is the one day you can also order pizza to go. Of course you have to order in person, but for Apizza's "our way or the highway" mentality that is a seismic shift. Plus the Sunday thing, which runs from 4-8, is much mellower than the usual Tuedsay-Saturday mayhem.
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one year ago today @E.D.T.: going old school with a classic Sidecar Cocktail!

Quick Bites PDX: Alba Osteria; Bunk Sandwich

Two recent eating experiences bear mention. Last Saturday night we met our friends Carlo and Francesca at Alba Osteria, chef/owner Kurt Spak's temple to all things Piedmontese and delicious. Once again we were knocked out by what is without question the best Italian....REAL Italian...food in Portland. This is authentic, simple Piedmontese cooking which reflects Kurt's yearly trips to cook, eat, and learn. From start to finish it was almost without exception great execution. I didn't take pics, so highlights from our dinner include (in order, and it's only a partial list of the delights we sampled):
Starters:
*CARNE CRUDA- why more restaurants in town don't do this classic Italian starter is beyond me. Kurt's beef is so clean and lean.
* POLPETTINI AL CARPIONE- I could eat, if it wouldn't create dismay among those I'm dining with, dozens of these perfect little veal meatballs.
*SPINACH SFORMATO WITH FONDUTA DI RASCHERA- How something so rich and creamy could still be so light can only be described as fighting the laws of physics.

Primi:
*RICOTTA GNOCCHI WITH HEDGEHOG MUSHROOMS, PECORINO, AND CREAM- Kurt's gnocchi define this dish locally. Perfectly light, pillowy, with a velvety smooth sauce. After the wretched versions I had at DOC recently, these were heavenly.
*TAJARIN WITH BUTTER AND SAGE- The classic pasta of Piedmont done, as always, exactly right!
*CANNELONI BARBAROUX-one word: WOW! His canneloni again shows his light touch. Super thin pasta tubes stuffed with a meat (I'm guessing pork based) stuffing that were out of this world.

Secondi:
*BOLLITO MISTO- a classic of Italian cooking, this is a rich, brothy beef stew that according to the menu contains all these delicious ingredients: "brisket, guinea hen, cotechino and tongue simmered with 27 seasonal vegetables. With fresh horseradish, salsa verde, and saosa'd avije"
*FRESH COD FILLET- the "Today's Fresh Fish Selection" was outstanding. I'd tell you more about it, but I honestly can't remember what it came with. Curse those three bottles of wine had at dinner!!

We had two desserts, a deliciously spicy ginger cake and to ease the memory of the DOC panna cotta disaster, the divine Alba plate of jiggly goodness. All in all we were all incredibly impressed, not just with the food but with Kurt's obvious dedication and passion for doing things right!
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I also stopped by Monday at Bunk Sandwich, Tommy Habetz's new joint on the inner east side approach to the Morrison Bridge. You walk in the front door, make your choices off the blackboard to your right, and give Tommy your order (that's TH in taking orders in the photo at left). Knowing that Habetz knows his way around a pig, I had his porchetta sandwich, which was fabulous. Seasoned just right, tender and moist, stuck inside a crusty Fleur des Lys Bakery roll. It didn't look that big sitting on the serving tray, but this was amazingly filling. For my side I ordered, because it has three of my favorite things in the world in it, the potato salad with bacon and egg. Kind of the lunch time version of breakfast, I guess. This was fucking awesome potato salad, and if you think I won't be finding a seat in Tommy's cozy little joint next Monday to sample another sandwich and more of that salad, you would be sorely mistaken. He's also doing a small brunch thing morning. TH has a great rep around town among those who know good food, and while I was there Gabe from Le Pigeon was sidling up to a table to get his fix. I really like the semi-gritty feel here, and the menu looks killer (click on the photo to enlarge the blackboard menu).
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one year ago today @ E.D.T.: Fill your glasses full of cheer with these holiday cocktails!

Outside insight!

You can bet that as soon as the sun comes out and it's even halfway warm, sun starved Portlanders are going to be flocking outside to eat. I was meeting mom today for a little lunch and vacation photo sharing opp, and we ended up stopping by Meriwether's up at 2601 NW Vaughn. This has been on my list to try for weeks, ever since I had heard that former Gotham Tavern chef Tommy Habetz had taken over the reins in the kitchen. As we were driving by today on our way to another destination, I noticed the open sign out, so within moments of pulling a quick u-turn in the middle of the street, we were walking in the door. The hostess informed us that their patio was open, so even though I'd like to think I'm not like everyone else, when it comes to eating outside on a beautiful spring afternoon I’ll do the lemming thing too.
The bottom line: this is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, outdoor dining spots in the city. Some tables are completely in the open, and they also have a covered area with a fountain in he middle that burbles just enough to drown out other diners. Very Euro feeling, and an especially nice transition home after w and I spent the last two weeks having much the same experience in Italy and France. Also, the ceiling of the covered area has a line of heaters attached on two sides, so I'm guessing even when it gets a little chilly out, you can still be pretty comfy.

The menu has lots of tempting choices, but having a craving for all things good and American, I had to go with the char-grilled burger while mom had the roast chicken salad sando. I also added on their escarole hearts Caesar salad, and we each felt the need to relax with a glass of vino. The Caesar, even though the greens were a tad limp, was quite good, lightly dressed in a piquant dressing with crunchy foccacia croutons and shaved Parmagiano.

Our sandwiches arrived, and both were wonderful. Mom's chicken salad had a tarragon dressing and was mounded high between sliced foccacia with apple wood smoked bacon and avocado, with a small arugula salad on the side of the plate. She loved it, and there was enough to it that she took half home. Now I'm kind of...okay, extremely...particular about my burgers. For me, the Castagna Café burger remains at the pinnacle of local offerings. Having said that, this Meriwether's hunk of beef was delicious, and something I'd order anytime. Cooked perfectly medium rare as ordered, the meat was juicy, really nice "beefiness" to the flavor without that disturbing fattiness that you get when restaurants try to foist off inferior beef on you. But with a guy like like Habetz in control, and with his rep for getting the best local ingredients, I had a feeling that this hunk of cow would be about as good as it could be. It was topped with apple wood bacon and fried onions, and I added cheddar because I can. A pile of fries came on the side, good but to me could have been crispier and less limp.

Mom's chix salad sandwich





My super delish burger & fries





All in all, though, this was a first class burger and a top quality lunch in a really nice setting. The outside was packed and the servers were super friendly, even those who weren’t waiting on our table! I would absolutely put this on your list, especially if you're looking for a little al fresco experience, and I can’t wait to try the dinner menu 'cause I hear Habetz has a way with all things porcine!