Country Cat

It’s been just over a year since Country Cat opened, and I thought it was time to go back and take a second look.

Ever since it opened, Country Cat has been a subject of heated debate. Should the fried chicken be boneless? Should it be drizzled with maple syrup? If you look at the comments below from my original look, you’ll see some of the back-and-forth that has taken place.

Country Cat does not try to be an

50 Plates Media Preview

As any self-respecting, self-indulgent food blogger would hope, after some time a few perks trickle in. Locally here in Portland, granted they aren’t that many, but somehow I’ve found myself on the list of a few publicists in town who send me invites to new restaurant pre-openings. Besides being shakedown runs for the kitchen, they also hope that if they ply you with enough free grub and drinks that you’ll forget any bad things that happen and focus, and report,

Local Figs: A Love Letter to a Short Sweet Season

Portland has been raining figs. There are big brown, black and green blobs on the sidewalks, on top of cars, and backyards have been turned into slippery landmine fields. It won’t last long though, because we are reaching the end of the local fig season.

Fresh figs remind me, somewhat sadly, that summer has now peaked and I need to savor every last bite of it, for there are only a couple of the good weather months

How do you get a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence?

What would happen if someone created a fake restaurant website, with a fake menu, populated the wine list with less than stellar choices, and submitted everything (along with a $250 entry fee), for a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence? This is exactly what Robin Goldstein, author of The Wine Trials did. For his trouble, the fake restaurant won an Award of Excellence.

Mr. Goldstein presented the result at the meeting of the American Association of Wine Economists, which was held in Portland last week.