Quick Bites PDX: Autentica and Laurelhurst Market

The "Feel"
I've written before about how certain chefs just have a "feel" for food. When they put ingredients together, it just works. Chef Anthony Cafiero at Tabla gets it. Two other recent, and equally satisfying, restaurant experiences here in Portland further illustrate that delicious point....
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AUTENTICA
The fact that I don't make the trek to Oswaldo Bibiano's great Mexican restaurant Autentica more often is an oversight that has to be corrected. Bibiano, who is originally from Guerrero, Mexico, is making some of the most interestingly flavored food in town, Mexican or otherwise. He has a way with chili's that absolutely makes your mouth light up. Not just from the heat, but from the electric flavors infused into his dishes. For me his Pollo en Mole Guerrerense, a half chicken covered in a darkly colored, house made mole (easily the best version in town), always satisfies. Mole is a dish that shows who takes shortcuts and who goes the distance. Needless to say Bibiano's 30-ingredient mole is like running a marathon of sensual delights. Rich, intense, so many flavors that are perfectly balanced. Awesome stuff. Sis had the Barbacoa de Res, which was also excellent with tender, slow cooked beef that that was pungent and layered with flavor. Bro-in-law had the Chuleta de Puerco, a thick cut Carlton Farms pork chop that was served with a delicious dried chili mole. w's Pescado con Hueso was the one weak spot in our entrée lineup. She thought the roasted fish steak was a bit bland, especially compared to the other dishes, which had flavors that were practically overflowing the plates.

To end at the beginning here's my recommended starter: Tostada con Puerco Frito...think about it... shredded fried pork with black beans, cabbage, cotija cheese, and pickled jalapeño on a whole crispy tortilla. Let me restate: shredded fried pork. Get it? The guacamole is a very credible version (but if you want to make the best version ever at home, try this!), but the chopped pulpo (octopus) app didn't really work for w and me. Oh, and margaritas, delicious ones at that...lots of 'em!

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LAURELHURST MARKET
I mentioned on twitter what an exceptional meal I had at Laurelhurst Market Monday night. Someone commented back that she "hearts Laurelhurst Market". After this last experience, I heart Laurelhurst Market, too! I gave a quick review previously after my first visit to LM, and this last meal only reinforces that these dudes know their way around various cloven hoofed beasts better than virtually anyone in town. Again, that "feel" for your product is in abundant evidence. With my friends DOR and Bar Avignon owner RG along, we indulged in a meat fest of epic proportions. How epic? You know you're going all in when you have a charcuterie plate for dessert! The highlights.....

Foie Gras Torchon...served with almond butter and peaches, with three small biscuits to spread the goodness upon. Amazing, the almond butter a surprising and satisfying accompaniment to a great piece of foie.

Gazpacho...feeling we needed to introduce some form of non-protein into our meat-centric meal, we had the excellent pureed gazpacho. I'm not a big gazpacho guy, but the LM bowl with bits of Dungeness crab sprinkled on top is one I'd eat any day.

Salt Cod Fritters...not quite up to Toro Bravo standards, but very, very close. A nice amount of cod, and a delicious aioli dipping sauce. Aioli...is this the greatest condiment ever, or what?!

Beef Brisket with a house made bbq sauce...I'm not quite sure how to describe how mouthgasmic this piece of beef was. Hmmm...tender, succulent, fatty in that melt in your mouth way. This is the best piece of brisket I have ever had, with crusty bits on the outside, moist, incredible juicy fork-tender meat that is cooked perfectly. The sauce is rich, but doesn't overpower the meat. A sensual, almost...oh, fuck almost, it IS...a sexy piece of meat! Makes me feel nothing but pity for those poor vegetarians out there who are living but half a life.....

Rib-eye with Roquefort butter and Bavette with romesco....the other two plates to hit our table, both cooked exactly medium rare, with a rich beefy taste. The blue cheese butter and romesco each, like the bbq sauce on the brisket, complimenting and not stealing the show. The quality of the meat cuts at LM is absolutely stellar.

French Fries...some of the best in town. Different in a thicker, more American way than Castagna Café's perfect potatoes, but delicious none the less. But actually perfect with this type of food. With yet more aioli dipping sauce, so how bad can they be?

Charcuterie plate...after all the above gluttony (with pre-dinner drinks...I highly recommend their daiquiri with crème de violette....and two bottles of wine, and other stuff) we opted, with great restraint I think, for the small charcuterie plate to help wash down one last bottle of wine (a fab 2006 Thevenet "Morgon" Beaujolais).

Laurelhurst Market is the best steak house in Portland, a beacon of beefiness that I will go back to again and again whenever my cholesterol drops to those dangerously low levels!

Quick Bites PDX: Toro Bravo

Fried anchovies with fennel and lemon....Brandy soaked dates stuffed with foie gras....Lamb Rillettes....Jamon wrapped chicken....Oxtail croquettes. Such are the restaurant nightmares of any number of pallid skinned vegans. Conversely, these are the very things I dream about in my healthy, robust state, and last night at Toro Bravo the very things...plus more...we happily munched our way through at a birthday dinner for my sister. Restaurant recession? Not at John Gorham's temple of Iberian tapas treasures on NE Russell Street. Tuesday night and it was rocking. Once again the equation of delivering real value plus superbly crafted food trumps the economic realities. And as ever the TB menu provides endless ways to satisfy any craving you might be experiencing.

We started out with cocktails and wine (and I heartily recommend their Txakoli (pronounced chac-o-lee) as the perfect starter white. Although on their very fairly priced wine list there are any number of red and white temptations worthy of your attention. With the liquid portion out of the way, we dug right into plates of their salty, perfectly fried anchovies with fried fennel and lemon (right photo) on top of a piquant romesco. This is one of Portland's great appetizers, and almost worth the trip to TB just to experience its singular delight. Other things we sampled in the food madness parade:
-Lamb Rillettes...delicious especially smeared with the orange marmalade it comes with.
- Manchego and Paprika Fritters...a little pedestrian, not much distinction. Pass on that next time.
- Salt Cod Fritters (left)...okay, the other classic PDX small plate, this almost ubiquitous starter is done better here than anywhere else, especially dipped in the offered aioli. Stoner food for adults!
- Sautéed Bruseels Sprouts with bacon sherry cream sauce...do I even need to tell you how good this was? Bacon sherry cream sauce...'nuff said!
- Squid Ink Pasta...another "wow" dish, rich and spicy. I LOVE this pasta!
- Calamari a la Plancha...sautéed fresh calamari, tender and seasoned just enough. Delish!
- Oxtail croquettes...a TB standby and something I could eat way too many of.
- Seared scallops with romesco...yes, more please, especially with that sensual, creamy romesco.
- Jamon wrapped chicken with pisto manchego...the pisto was wonderful as was the jamon, but hard to keep intact for bites with the chicken. Still quite good.

After this you'd think five healthy adults would have the good sense to leave, but we are also dealing with five healthy adults who also have semi-unhealthy food addictions, and besides what's a b-day dinner without dessert?
- Churros and chocolate (left)...really nice, better than I had in Spain. The fried dough not oily at all, and the dark chocolate was so good I wanted to drink it right out of the cup.
- Olive Oil Cake...moist, nutty, and somehow light, even with the apple-pear caramel sauce and whipped cream ("Light"? I know, I sometimes have a disconnect with reality).
- Caramel Panna Cotta...what's up with serving it in a custard cup instead in letting it be all jiggly on the plate as is traditional? Just call it custard with a (too heavy) caramel sauce. Skip this.
My bro-in-law and I also had a muscat-ey, honey-florally, very smooth Ransom Grappa to ensure good health (did I mention a disconnect?) and we left TB as always very happy. The cost for all of that was a more than reasonable $44 a person (before tip), and once again Gorham deserves credit for creating one of this cities best dining experiences.


photos from Eat.Drink.Think. and flickr

Can you keep a Secret?

It used to be that while waiting for a coveted table at the still über-hot Toro Bravo restaurant here in Portland, the only option was to be crammed into that tiny elongated closet off to the side, packed liked sardines around the tables in the front, or waiting outside. Now, for all of us who want to go to TB but hate to wait, relief is a short walk upstairs, where for the price of a well-made cocktail you can join The Secret Society. The owner of the building that houses Toro Bravo, Matt Johnson, used to have his office in a room that looked out over the sidewalk in front of Toro Bravo. Night after night he'd see crowds of desperate, hungry, and probably thirsty diners waiting...and waiting. Being a smart boy who knows opportunity when it rears its profitable head, he transformed his office into a cozy, darkly lit den of adult refreshment with the titillating name The Secret Society. With its high ceiling, dark red walls, and very inviting bar with ice water dispensers for proper absinthe making on the bar, it reeks of retro cocktail cool (and you can see w looking very of-the-moment at the bar above). Various snacks are available to soak up the well thought out list of libations being offered. Absolutely not just a place to go while waiting for a Toro table, this charming, romantic bar should be on any cocktailistas list!
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Oh, and how as dinner at Toro Bravo? As always it was outstanding. Highlights for me were the always addictive salt cod fritters with aioli (that's an armada of them steaming across a sea of aioli at left) and the squid ink pasta with an hazelnuts and an egg yolk attractively positioned on top. I am always impressed at how consistent this place is considering the crowds. Owner John Gorham really has it working, and at an always reasonable price.