Molecular Gastronomy Meets Coffee… and More
October 20, 2006 by Food Dude
Filed under News/Discussion
This weekend is the Northwest Regional Barista Competition at Wonder Ballroom. Coffee Geeks from all over the Northwest will be there competing for the overall championship. As part of the competition, each barista has to come up with a signature coffee drink. Billy Wilson of Albina Press is taking the signature drink to new heights with the use of molecular gastronomy, which we covered here a few weeks ago. For his specialty drink, he’ll be using “sodium alginate, a jellylike thickener, to forge his tear-drop-sized beads, which he fills with espresso” using a syringe. “Melting quickly on the tongue, the small droplets magically yield full-bodied coffee flavor”.
Wow. This is one coffee drink I’d love to taste.
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One of Oregon’s largest premium and organic chocolatiers, Dagoba Chocolate, from Ashland has sold out to corporate chocolate giant Hershey’s. If you’ll remember, Dagoba had a little, well big actually, recall problem earlier this year to do higher than safe lead levels being found in some of their products. You can read all about the buyout here. Props to Jack Bodanski from www.bojack.org , for the heads up.
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A few days ago I mentioned a new restaurant Virgo and Pices Bar and Grill going in to the old Zefiro/Basilico space on NW 21st. A bit more information has filtered in. The people involved are named Steve and Barbie Kwak. Google didn’t yield any useful info for me. They intend to be open by Thanksgiving, which if you ask me on a place that big, and thus requiring such organization at the back and front of the house, is overly optimistic. Especially since work has not started yet.
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Mexican restaurants seem to be multiplying like rabbits. D.F. and La Vanguardia in the Pearl, Los Baez on Burnside, and Taste of Mexico on NW 21st. Now comes news from today’s Platter section in The Oregonian that Meanwhile, a new restaurant called Isabel hopes to open by December in The Elizabeth, a t NW 10th and Flanders. According to the Oregonian, “Owners Isabel Cruz and William M. “Billy” Tosheff II have operated an ad hoc collection of dining spots in San Diego since 1991, all of them different… Cruz’s menu, Tosheff says, will be “Latin-inspired with Asian influences, eclectic breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.” Read the rest of the story here. [link to the Oregonian no longer valid.
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5 Responses to “Molecular Gastronomy Meets Coffee… and More”
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We had the misfortune of eating at Los Baez on Saturday. I don’t know if the new location has just not had time to find its groove or my standards for Mexican food differ significantly from others’, but it was seriously the worst meal I have had in a really long time and I spent the rest of the weekend apologizing to the two people who had eaten there with me.
The tortillas were cold and tough, my boyfriend’s chili relleno was surrounded by a spongy coating of something that resembled abused tofu, and every plate came with a pointless, pitiful pile of iceberg lettuce topped with a pale slice of Sysco tomato.
It is not hard to make good Mexican food. There is no excuse for the poor quality of what we were served at Los Baez. I’d love to hear what someone else thinks after going there; maybe I just went on the wrong day.
Back in the dark ages, say around the late ‘80’s, the first Los Baez around PDX, at least as far as we knew, opened in Tigard. It (which we cleverly re-named Joan Baez) was relentlessly mediocre (get it?). It was OK if you had a good buzz on, which was our usual state of being. (We also thought we were extremely clever, but looking back, we were probably just hammered.) Anyway, Becca, I feel your pain, but have to admit I haven’t visited Joan in about 20 years.
—mcz
Los Baez on Burnside. We heard nothing about it but wanted to try something new. We were so disappointed. Although the service was friendly, the salsa was bland, the chile verde was horrible, and the menus were filthy. I did like my mojito however. If I would have drank several more, I may have enjoyed the food. I was very surprised that the restaurant did not offer corn tortillas with the meal. No plans to return ever.
My family eats at Los Baez almost every Friday. We love the food and the service so much we frequently have our family get togethers there. The servers are efficient and courteous, the food is the most authentic mexican food we have found in the area, the price is good, the fresh tortillas are amazing and they make them while you watch, and the live entertainment on the weekends is very enjoyable. Los Baez is a family owned business. We have never been disappointed by either the food or the service.
I agree Tara, I have been there a few times since they opened the location on Burnside. I have been very appy with the food, and enjoyed it thoroughly. The tortillas and enchilada sauce is the best I have ever had. Maybe some other folks here aren’t used to the authentic-style mexican and would enjoy going to Chevy’s more than they would Los Baez.