Barista Billy Wilson will be leaving Albina Press. Turns out he’s looking for investors so he can open his own place. In the meantime he’ll be pulling a few shifts up at Coffeehouse Northwest on West Burnside. Billy has won enough competitions to make him one of the rock stars of the Northwest coffee scene. Where does this leave Albina Press? Just fine, I’d guess. Kevin has a fine staff and is very passionate about coffee.
Lucier over at SW Moody and River Parkway has opened, with some folks saying it is living up to all the hype. I was there the other night with what seemed like most of the Portland restaurant community (along with many bloggers.) I thought it was pretty good, but don’t really think it is fair to to do a detailed review this soon; too many things can change. The food is a little bit cutesy for my taste (think 2004 with lots of foams), but overall I had a good experience and will go back this summer. Prices? I’d guess the average bill is around $100 + alcohol and tip. If you want to experience the ambiance but can’t afford a full dinner, go check out the bar. There is a dress code, so use it as an excuse to dress up. There aren’t very many ‘destination’ restaurants in this city, and based on some of my experience’s lately, they had better tune up their kitchens. While I’m on the subject, I’ve gotten many letters that Lucier dumped Scott Calvert, a really nice guy and an excellent sommelier, the night before their opening. He spent months and months putting together what will be one of the best wine lists in the city and was unceremoniously canned the day before the place opened. I’ve heard the sommelier at Fenouil was also dumped earlier in the week (same company). Not a good way to treat employees when you are first starting out.
Rumors abound as to where Tommy Habetz will end up. Sounds to me he will be opening his own place in SE Portland. I’m not going to say any more… yet.
Cuisine Bonne Femme over at FoodCartsPortland filled me on some excitement in the Portland food cart scene. The Sugar Cube is coming to SW 9th between Alder and Washington, with fresh pastries made by pastry chef and baker Kir Jensen. She’s been in the industry for over a decade and has quite the following. Kir started in Chicago working at the Ritz Carlton and a four star restaurant called Trio. In Portland she has built up quite the resume- Blue Hour, Genoa, Noble Rot, Clark Lewis, Criollo Bakery and many others. Coming to a waistline near you. Fortunately, the cart is a short jog to the waterfront, where you can work off some of those calories.
In my last post, I neglected to mention that the Chili’s chain has closed their Portland area locations. I dated a woman once that thought Chili’s was fine eating. We didn’t last long.
I’ve been watching the last two polls with interest. I turns out most voters don’t care if the milk in their coffee is organic, but it is important to them that the ingredients in their food are. I’m confused. Can someone explain this to me? I will always take organic over non-organic ingredients, coffee or otherwise.
There is a reason I brought this up. Coffeehouse Northwest owner Adam McGovern was on a trip to NYC, and had “some amazing coffee drinks with 100% organic milk.” He was so impressed, he has started using it as an option in his coffeehouse here. I like the mouth-feel and body much better.
re: organic milk in coffee. i would guess (and thats all it is) that most people are so content with all the good espresso drinks around town (most of which, to my experience, use non-organic milk), that they figure it doesnt matter. can we have an informal tally? i think stumptown, fresh pot, and albina press all use non-organic. (do they all use sunshine?) it probably doesnt help that organic milk is roughly 30-50% more per gallon. there is a lot of milk in that latte.
would i rather be drinking organic? yes. do i care? in some sense of the word. do i find my non-organic latte disappointing? not at the good places!
The question I have is about where one can find a good organic milk, locally. Most of what is available is ultra-pasturized so I wonder if Sunshine’s local (And hormone-free) might actually be a better option. We try to use organic at Alma chocolate, and this is a real conundrum for me. I’m not convinced in our case that organic is necessarily better if the choice is ultra-pasturized. The only local option I have found is Norris dairy– is there another local organic option that is fresh?
Ultrapasteurised milk does not mean it is “more” pasteurised, just heated to higher temp than pasteurized but for a fraction of a second. Unpasteurised milk can transmit Salmonella, Brucella, Tuberculosis, Toxoplasma and a host of other infectious agents. Even in Portland political correctness and conspiracy inspired fictions should not trump basic scientific fact!
I feel like most folks look for bgh free milk over specifically organic.
“organic farming, particularly the hard-core variety, uses too much land to generate too little food, and it does so mainly to give people in wealthy countries a chance to feel good about themselves.”
http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/05/29/nullius_in_verba.php
Organic farming is diametrically opposed to the concept of “sustainability”, assuming one cares about that sort of thing.
You are a very short-sighted individual who has no concept of sustainability if that is your stance. Organic is not the only part of the answer, but to dismiss it as “diametrically opposed” to sustainability is pure ignorance. Nothing personal, just thought you should know.
We lost Chili’s. I see. Never been.
It’s a running joke on “The Office” when Michael takes the gang out to Chili’s, as if it’s some high-class special occasion kinda place! This from a guy who goes to NYC, wants to take in the “local flavor”, and heads to a Sbarros!
Brett: Organic diametrically opposed to the concept of sustainability, something I do care about? Then if you don’t care, why bring it up? By your implication, mega-scale corporate agribusiness that uses GMO, irradiation, pesticides, and fertilizer from the petrol industry is sustainable. I don’t see your logic.
The amazing drink I had in NYC was a cappuccino, and my decision to begin using Organic Valley in our cappuccino (and offering it for other drinks at soy prices) had less to do with its organic production and more the buttery, rounded quality it lent the mouthfeel and flavor profile. However, OV is too transparent and not sweet enough for exclusive use in a cappuccino, so we’ve begun blending a little Sunshine back into it as a way to balance the profile of the drink overall.
I hope our efforts to improve will more often tend to the overall quality of a specific drink than reflect some kind of brand- or certification-purism. The rest is not our business.
Billy Wilson leaving Albina Press?! I’ll be anxiously waiting to see where he lands. (Unfortunately for me, though Coffeehouse Northwest is a great shop, it’s even further off my beaten path than The Press.)
I’ll choose local milk over Horizon or Organic Valley any day. How do they make their milk so transportable over such long distances? Hmmm.
> nagrom Says:
>I’ll choose local milk over Horizon or Organic Valley any day. How do they
>make their milk so transportable over such long distances? Hmmm.
Uh, milk doesn’t care if it’s moving across the country for four days, or sitting on New Season’s dairy shelf for four days. It’s time (and temperature) – not distance – that are milk’s enemies.
Actually, there are local (Portland area) dairies that produce for Organic Valley. Horizon is ultra pasteurized (i.e., so denatured it may never sour), I think, and is actually the subject of a boycott by those who would prefer that the word organic pertains to animal/farm welfare rather than just serving as a marketable catchphrase.
does anyone know where Scott Calvert has ended up, after leaving Lucier in Portland, OR?
Catching up on various items:
Based on a walk-by last week, the Chili’s at Clackamas Town Center remains open — as I recall from one strand of the original story, that location is company-owned, whereas the west-side restaurants that closed were franchises.
Also based on a walk-by, the NE 12th/Broadway Rose’s has opened. There’s also a brand new Web site (http://www.eatatroses.com), listing the forthcoming West Linn location but not mentioning the downtown Wells Fargo building.
On the downtown grocery front, I’ve seen paperwork projecting a mid-November opening for a brand new Safeway at NW 13th & Lovejoy. (Whole Foods, watch out!)
There’s a new Best Baguette set to open in Beaverton this August.