Dining Out Alone

The Critic We have food, the food is good, And so we will eat together. So we will eat together So we will eat together. When we eat, ’twill be a treat, So let us sing together As we march along. –“Marching to Pretoria” A meal out shared with a cherished one, family members or a few close friends is a special pleasure. Together we satisfy one of our primary human... [Read more]

Foster & Dobbs Authentic Foods

Foster & Dobbs I’ve been passing the Foster & Dobbs store at NE 15th and Brazee (next to the new Mio Gelato) for the past few weeks, but it has always been at night when they were closed. Today I made a special trip to see what they were all about. This is a somewhat higher-end food store. By “somewhat”, I mean they tend to carry things that are... [Read more]

Service with a Snarl

Carolyn Manning writes about a service experience in a Portland restaurant. When is “Bad Service” bad enough to keep you from going back to a restaurant? What will we forgive and why will we forgive it? Answering the third question first, we might forgive bad service if the food is really good, or if the restaurant is one where you would not expect world-class service... [Read more]

Those Turkey Leftovers – Inieka Vishniovim Sousom

What do I for Thanksgiving? It is actually the most difficult holiday for me because of some personal reasons. At one time it was a huge feast, all home-cooked of course. Now it is a meal out. Over the last few years I’ve had dinner at multiple places: Higgins (terrible dry awful turkey!), Paleys (great, but too darn romantic), and this year, Wildwood. Thanksgiving at... [Read more]

On the Price of Cheese

Montana Cheese In my last discussion about cheese here at Portland Food and Drink, several commenters mentioned price as a big part of their decision to buy (or not to buy) domestic artisan cheese. This intrigued me, so I’ve been pondering the issue for awhile. The first part of my thinking involved some retail research. I visited a local cheese purveyor a few days ago... [Read more]

Ristretto Roasters

Note: Ristretto Roasters now has two locations which are listed below. Their coffee is also found in many local area restaurants. My hands are shaky after I spent a happy afternoon at the new Ristretto Roasters on NE 42nd & Fremont. They are one of the few Portland coffeehouses that roast their own coffee, so it is all hand-crafted. Owner Din Johnson, roasts the beans every... [Read more]

Stumptown Annex

A guest writer, Eric Lundgren weighs in on the Stumptown Annex. Thanks Eric! Most coffee is a commodity. If you like, you can trade coffee futures, and most of the money in coffee goes to publicly traded transnational companies. And I don’t just mean the first mate of the Pequod. Nestle, Philip Morris/Kraft, Sara Lee, Proctor & Gamble, Dunkin’ Donuts, and McDonalds... [Read more]

More Matthew Stadler, “writer in residence for the Ripe culinary complex”

Matthew Stadler, “writer in residence for the Ripe culinary complex”, gave an interview to the Portland Mercury. Here is a choice snippet, talking about the Back Room Discussions at Ripe: MERCURY: You leave room for improvisation. Yeah, and in fact, the sort of key element is a commitment to not know much ahead of time—to actually arrive there interested, and... [Read more]

A Reader Question – Is it Okay to Request Substitutions?

“During dinner last Friday this subject came up and as far as I know you are the only person who might be able to give me some insight on my situation. When out to eat I find that often there will be main entree’s that I would really like to try, but perhaps the side dishes are something I don’t like. So the “ginger pork loin” (hypothetical)... [Read more]

Dessert Tank, Don’t Desert Me!

When I was growing up, nightly dinner was a fairly formal occasion. We’d all sit around the table in relative silence, just trying to get through it as quickly as possible so we could leave before we made a mistake. You see manners were of utmost importance to my father. God forbid you accidentally scrape your plate with the knife or commit some other gaffe; a glare would... [Read more]

Restaurant Wine Temperature Tantrum

I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore! “What’s causing this frustration?” you ask. No, it’s not the national debt, not the high price of gas, nor the recently arrived $4100 Multnomah County tax bill (although the thought of paying $465 for the Portland Police/Fire Pension plan really ticks me off when some of these guys are collecting pensions as... [Read more]

Esquire Writer Get’s Free Meals – and Writes Good Reviews

Nancy seems to have been three weeks ahead when she wrote about how a restaurant like Olea gets named “One of the best new restaurants in the US”. From Johnathan Nicolas column in the Oregonian today: “…This week the Los Angeles Times weighed in: “When Portland, Ore., publicist Lisa Hill heard that Mariani was traveling to Oregon last July, she... [Read more]