Chez Joly (French)
December 26, 2009
- Restaurant website
- Location: Pearl District
- Price to feed two (well) for dinner: About $40 (booze extra)
“Don’t you usually have a PRAAAAY FIX-AAAAAY?” I asked the waiter.
He looked puzzled for a minute, then asked, “Do you mean “prix fixe?” he asked, “Yes we do,” and he showed me the prix fixe menu ($20 per person for salad or soup, entree and dessert) while I blushed a bit.
OK, in most places in the US (outside New York and DC), if you ask for the “prix fixe menu,” you’ll just confuse them. “Prefix to what? Do you mean an appetizer?” they’ll ask, with a little eye roll. If you mispronounce it with long aaaaaaas, they just might get it.
Except in Chez Joly, which is the closest thing to a real French bistro I’ve seen in the great Northwest. [Read more]
Eleni’s Philoxenia (Greek)
December 24, 2009
- Restaurant website
- Location: Pearl District
- Price to dinnerize two people: About $50, booze extra
I parked the car about a block away from Eleni’s (I was meeting Sara there for dinner), got out and tripped over about a dozen tipsy Santas coming from a rally in the park. I looked around and saw HUNDREDS of Santas, dressed in everything from fur-trimmed red Lurex catsuits to the pillow-bellied real deal.
What in the world? As I pondered, a lady Santa ran full-tilt into me, grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me right on the mouth. “MISTLETOE!!!!” she hollered, and handed me a tiny candy cane before running to her next victim.
Le Bouchon
March 6, 2009
- Restaurant website
- Location: Pearl district
- Cost for two for dinner: $80 with tip, beverage, dessert
Robyn and I seem to have this magical ability to empty restaurants, or at least we frequently wind up being the only patrons in the whole place, and our last adventure was no exception: Le Bouchon, a tiny French restaurant across the street from Lux Lighting in the Pearl.
Now, continentally speaking, it was 7pm so we were a bit early, but not THAT early, not for Portland. “Lately we’re crowded for lunch,” shrugged the hostess, “but at dinner…this.”
We promised to make loud, crowd-like noises and she seated us at a tiny table for two next to the window. A board held the day’s specials in addition to the regular menu, but I didn’t need to glance at either to order; I’d seen what I wanted on a sign outside. “I’ll have the cassoulet.”
Robyn chose comfort food, French-style: Duck confit on a bed of gruyere and sliced potatoes. Think upscale hash. The food would be filling and pricey enough–that was a $21.95 cassoulet I’d be chewing–that we didn’t bother to accompany it with salads or veggies or whatnot.
For those who haven’t gone to heaven on their tastebuds yet, cassoulet is a sort of navy bean soup on steroids. Rich, thick, savory and tangy, it can have, variously, chunks of game, sausage, mushrooms, etc., but it’s always finished with a confit of duck or goose.
I made my first cassoulet during my Julia Child phase, as a teenager. At 22, I had a superb version at one of the best continental restaurants in the US, Erna’s Elderberry House–Erna used to celebrate fall harvest with a “peasant night” in the wine cellar, complete with incredible cassoulet and the new vintages. I continued the love affair years later in France, where great cassoulet variations were a seasonal staple in just about every small village bistro.
Outside of Erna’s, a couple of places in New York that require a credit check to get in, and Chez Panisse down in the Bay area, however, I haven’t found really good cassoulet in the US. You can luck into a home-made version, but most restaurant chefs seem unwilling to spend three or four days making all the component parts, letting them age awhile longer, and then combine everything and spend another couple of days simmering the rich result.
So I’m always on the lookout for cassoulet, but I don’t expect much. Probably a good thing here: The cassoulet at Le Bouchon was rich and tasty but more akin to a fabulous bean soup. A good cassoulet will send me to the moon and back with every spoonful; I stayed firmly in my seat at Le Bouchon.
I still enjoyed it, though perhaps not 22 bucks’ worth. Robyn’s duck confit was equally tasty. We finished with a creme brulee that, like the cassoulet, was tasty but not transcendental.
In the end, it was a good, serviceable meal. Only one thing really disappointed: The bread. Our hostess brought out a basket of baguette slices that tasted more brioche than baguette.
(begin rant)
What the heck is it about Portland breads? Given Portland’s terrific emphasis on quality food, you’d think the bread would be superb, but I’ve yet to find bread that’s as consistently good as those I can find on any street corner in New York, Boston or Washington DC.
(end rant)
The making of French bread is an art in itself, but its ingredients list is surprisingly simple, without much in the way of fat or dairy. That’s what gives French baguettes their signature airiness and crackly crust. Le Bouchon’s baguette was tender, dense and almost crustless, full of the wrong kind of flavor. It was clearly made with SOME kind of dairy product, a mistake that grocery stores often make but one I don’t expect from a French restaurant.
It absolutely didn’t belong in my cassoulet, anyway.
So…Le Bouchon is a nice little place and given the prices I can see why it’s more of a smash at lunch in the current economic climate. I wouldn’t mind trying their onion soup when I find myself there at noon. But please, fix the bread first.
Firkin & Frog
August 28, 2008
- Restaurant website
- Location: Vancouver, Wa
- Price to fill up two people: About $30
Who Stole My Dead Husband?
May 3, 2008
- Dinner theatre website
- Location: SE Portland (Hawthorne district)
- Showtimes: Generally Fridays and Saturday nights (make reservations)
- Cost to fill up (and entertain) two people: $140 plus tip
And youse said I don’t got no cultcha. Ahhbviussly, you was wrong.
Robyn texted me Friday to ask if I wanted to see who stole her dead husband. I briefly debated sending flowers to my cousin Jeff’s funeral, but it turned out she was talking about a dinner theatre event I’d never heard of, in SE Portland. [Read more]
Savoy Tavern & Bistro
April 12, 2008
- Savoy Website (Citysearch)
- Location: SE Clinton area
- Cost to fill up two people: About $40
Bunch of us were down in the SE Clinton district on Saturday night, looking for a quiet place to talk and eat. Somehow we wound up in Wisconsin (or at least the northwestern version of Wisconsin) at the Savoy Tavern & Bistro.
Outwardly, the Savoy looks like any other semifunky tiny Northwestern cafe. There were a couple of wrought iron tables outside (with the requisite cute baby and dog), about six small tables inside, and a small, select menu of sandwiches, savories, and entrees that included deep-fried cheese curds.
Cheese curds are salty, milky, tofu-like nuggets, an interim step between milk and cheese, and they squeak against your teeth. They’re pretty common in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and hard to find if there’s not a cheese factory nearby. The waitress explained that the restaurant owner’s from Wisconsin.
In any case, we opted for the olive salad as an appetizer (it was good), and burgers with Wisconsin cheese. The service was lovely, the waitress extremely patient with the vagaries of a bunch of art types. Interestingly, the wines were mostly French, definitely NOT from the Great Lakes.
Tip: If the waitress sets a small bowl of creamy goop next to your salad, do NOT assume it’s the salad dressing. Taste before applying to your greens, because it may in fact be your tablemate’s very spicy honey mustard, capable of setting your nose on fire. (ask me how I know this)
Alexis Greek Restaurant
March 16, 2008
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Location: Chinatown
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Cost to fill up two people: About $45
If you head north from DC to Silver Spring, MD, head back behind the Lee Building on Colesville and Georgia Avenues, there’s a little Greek restaurant that can make your tastebuds sing. Tonight Robyn and I hit up Alexis, which we were told would do the same.
Nope.
Nicola’s Italian
January 10, 2008
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Area: St. John’s
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Price to fill up two people (minus booze): About $30-$35
A colleague had a small art show opening at a little shop in St. John’s (Jason Lucey, actually, who by day is an SEO expert, but also is a photographer).
Robyn and I met there, mentioned our restaurant quest and the crowd unanimously suggested Nicola’s, a nearby Italian restaurant on Lombard. “It’s the closest thing to New York Italian you’ll find in Portland,” they assured us.
OK, not quite. And I suspect Nicola’s pizza is really where it shines. But the other food is not bad, the folks are friendly, and it’s a kitschy enough Italian place that it’s kinda fun.
Robyn had the “small” calzone (which still filled up the plate and was more than enough for two). I had the tortellini pancetta, which violated my new Italian restaurant rule (order the picatta or something bolognese, which are two things any Italian restaurant tends to do well). Probably should have stuck with my rule because while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t just over the moon sin like a tortellini in cream sauce oughta be.
(I should note that neither of us felt like chicken florentine, which we were assured was the best thing on the menu, so there’s still an exploration to be made if you’re interested.)
But it was OK food, nice people, dinner for two with beverage was about $30. I don’t think I’d drive all the way to St. John’s just to eat there, but it’s a nice little neighborhood find if you’re there.
Nostrana Italian
December 1, 2007
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Location: Southeast Portland
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Cost to fill up two people (minus booze): $70-$85
If you’re willing to hit the $75 range for full dinner for two (minus booze) this is some of the best Italian food I’ve had in the Northwest (including a couple of gazillion-star hotshots in Seattle).
It’s not downtown, it’s over on the SE side, and good luck getting in on a Friday night. But I will brave the crowd for their woodfire-baked ciabatta, and their antipasti is a sin. Never had an even questionable morsel there.
My only complaint: Crowds and noise—think Italian soccer riots. I may see if a Saturday lunch is any quieter.
Tip: If you want to tone down the budget a bit, opt for one of the antipasti or cheese plates and the rhubarb crisp for about $20. You’ll get the best of the restaurant (IMHO) and save some bucks.
Paley’s Place
August 1, 2007
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Location: NW 23rd Avenue (restaurant row)
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Price to fill up two people: $50-$75
OK, I’d like these guys just for their website–it’s one of the nicest small business sites I’ve seen in awhile, and they’re also on the glass in Portland list. I probably should call it “northwestern” cuisine–they do.
It’s northwestern, though, because they opt for organic, locally grown and sustainable raw ingredients, and when they get through with it you understand why. In most restaurants, the vegetables are pretty much platefillers. Here, you come in looking for greens. I particularly like what they do with poultry–it’s juicy and flavorful. And, oddly, a colleague ordered a liver dish on the menu that day, and we all loved it.
Again in the not-cheap category–if you are conservative, a salad, entree, veggie and beverage (plus tip) is going to run about $50 each.