The Pearl's New Gourmet Grocery Store: Safeway???

No, that wasn't a mistake. Safeway has entered the Pearl. But it is unlike any Safeway I've ever seen before: it's Safeway shi-shied to the nth degree.
The Pearl District is quite possibly Portland's fanciest urban neighborhood, and for years the only grocery store in situ was Whole Foods. Fancy store, fancy prices. But hey, you have to have a pretty fancy wallet to live in this neighborhood, so it all made sense.
But now Safeway has entered the picture. And although it still has all the regular Safeway stuff, such as sales, double coupons, etc, it also has special features to compete with Whole Foods:

• A self-serve hot food bar, just like Whole Foods (different contents, though), for the lunch-time crowd.
• A special fancy wall of mushrooms, at least 10 different kinds.
• Beautiful, glistening doughnuts, plump with custard housed in a vaguely Italianate bakery.
• Most astonishing of all, a gelato bar!

Yes, you did not misread that. Apparently three gelaterias just weren't enough for the neighborhood, so Safeway got in the game too.
I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with the aesthetics of the place.

I bought a box of Satsumas: only $2.99 with my Safeway club card!
Some things never change.

A Cena

On my birthday, I decided to go to A Cena for dinner before the party. It's housed in the former Assaggio spot in Sellwood (I loved Assaggio, RIP), and is another Italian place with house-made pasta. We all started off with Negronis, naturally, and then moved on to a salad composed of beets, goat cheese, and capers. Delicious, but unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of it until after it was gone, and it was gone in a hurry. So here's a photo of an empty plate.
Next up was a corn and mascarpone stuffed agnolotti, accented with butter-poached lobster. Can you say decadent? I think you can.
Next up was a whole trout with polenta and lamb with gnocchi, roasted radicchio, and huckleberry agro dolce. Everything was perfect.
For dessert, we ordered an apple tart and espressos. I could have sworn I took a picture of it, but I guess not. Sorry about my faulty reporting, but it's been a week (Is that all? It seems a lot longer than that.) Anyway, I was quite impressed with everything, and plan on going back.



Here's the vital info:
A Cena
7742 SE 13th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97202
(503) 206-3291

Carafe Bistro

Saturday night, Alex, Bruno and I went to see "Swan Lake" at Keller Auditorium. We were hoping to go out to eat beforehand, but Alex had been helping me move all day (see Brain Transplant Journal), so we ran out of time. After the ballet, we hoped that nearby Carafe would still be open, and it was!
Carafe is a French bistro a block from the auditorium. It's in the bottom of a skyscraper, which seems like sort of a weird atmosphere for a bistro. But up close, it actually felt rather Parisian (yes, I will someday post photos from Paris on my other blog, I swear), and was furnished the same way as the ubiquitous bistros I saw all over Paris.
Now for the important part: the food.
Overall, it was really good, and pretty simple, the way it ought to be. I ordered the bifsteak frites, which was delicious: chunks of steak charred on the outside and pink on the inside--perfectly cooked. This was accompanied by very good (but not perfect) frites: wonderfully salty and herby, but a little on the soft side. I thought they ought to be a little bit crispier on the outside. Still really good though. Also on the plate was a little dish of bearnaise sauce, probably intended to be used with the steak, but I dipped the fries in it instead. Mmm. Finally, there was also a little bit of lightly dressed frisee'.
Bruno had the Marseille Sandwich: stuffed inside with merguez sausage and frites. Unexpected, but very good.
Alex ordered mussels in a light herb-cream sauce. They were fine too, but didn't thrill me.
Alex and I also ordered cocktails. I had the "Cider-Car" a variation on the sidecar, using apple cider. I really enjoyed it. Alex imbibed a classic gin martini. He seemed quite pleased with it, and said that the olives they used were very good.
Finally, dessert. We opted for the apple tart. It came topped with a caramelly-pecan ice cream. It was gone in a minute, if that gives you any indication of our review.
Our server was kind of unfriendly, though. We wanted to order wine, and he never really gave us opportunity. It was late, and maybe he was having an off night. Who knows.
All in all, I really enjoyed Carafe, and am looking forward to going back.
Carafe Parisian Bistro
200 Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
503.248.0004

A Discussion on Hamburgers

I've come to a realization: you often get a better hamburger at a dive bar than you do at an elegant restaurant. Sure, at the elegant restaurant is might come with a dollop of roasted red pepper-infused aioli, or what have you, but, when you want a hamburger, you're usually not in a roasted red pepper-infused aioli kind of mood. At least I'm not. When I'm in a hamburger mood, I'm in the mood for classic, greasy, meaty goodness. Hamburgers aren't fancy food, and shouldn't be treated as such.
This epiphany came about last night. I was at a law-school get together at a bar near campus. It was a dive far, hands down, complete with bizarre, worn out beyond their natural age women, and young women who were doing their best to catch up to said worn out women. Country music playing on the juke box. Indoor smoking is permitted. One of the servers had one eye that veered off randomly into corners, while the other one stayed focused. In other words, not a place I would normally frequent. But you know what? They made an awesome bacon cheeseburger.

So here's my review of hamburgers around town:
Tryon Creek Bar and Grill: That's the dive bar I was talking about above. They make a damn good bacon cheese burger--a big patty of pinkish beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, healthy strips of bacon, onion, pickles, mayo---classic.
Verdict: One of the best hamburgers I've had in a while.

Everett Street Bistro: Could have been good, it comes with cheese, bacon, and avocado, but it was burnt. I mean charred to the point of carcinogenic. Dry. I've tried the hamburger there twice now, since it sounds good on paper, but has proved itself to be on one occasion unimpressive, and the last occasion, just plain bad.
Verdict: For now, I would avoid it.

Clyde Common: Decent, but dressed with snooty-tooty non-traditional condiments. Don't quite remember, but it might actually come with some sort of roasted red pepper aioli. And pickled onions. I don't like pickled onions, but maybe that's just me.
Verdict: Gets the job done.

Doug Fir Lounge: The first time I had a hamburger there, it was hands down, the best one EVER. Seriously. Pink, juicy, meaty, it was amazing. The next time I tried it, it was still excellent, but not the epic moment I experienced when I tasted it the first time.
Verdict: Strongly recommended.

McMenimans: They use Oregon Country beef, which gives them bonus points. Will definitely satisfy when you crave a classic hamburger, but you won't have any epic moments.
Verdict: Gets the job done, and doesn't come with stupid pickled onions.

Laurelwood: Huge, messy and delicious. I strongly recommend the barbeque bacon cheeseburger. Yes, it's a heart attack on a bun, but once or twice a year won't kill you.
Verdict: Strongly recommended.

Masu East: Fancy-schmancy Kobe beef burger was...uh...dry and boring. A big hockey puck of grey meat with few condiments. I don't even remember there being any lettuce. They should stick to sushi.
Verdict: Avoid!!!

My New Favorite Salad, and a Word About Wine in Spain

I invented this a couple weeks ago, and thought I would share it with you. It's sort of a variation on the classic caprese salad.
Combine chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, sliced fresh basil, torn lettuce (I grew it myself, btw), and chunks of mozzarella di bufala (a little spendy, but totally worth it). Grind a little sea salt and pepper on top, and drizzle with a good, robust olive oil. Voilá! Lunch is served.

Next, I thought I would mention this because of the recent heat wave. In Spain, I noted a very curious method of serving red wine: chilled. Yup, chilled. "But that's wrong!" you say, "red wine shouldn't be cold!" It was served this way often, even in fancy restaurants that definitely know a thing or two about wine. As I type, I am sipping an Oregon Grand Rouge, chilled, and you know what? It's great this way! Very refreshing, even, which is not how I would normally describe any red wine. Try it, you won't be sorry, I promise.

The Crop So Far

My crop so far includes tons of turnips, yellow squash, zucchini, Syrian squash, and garlic. I was very surprised by how well the garlic turned out: full size heads with long stocks which I braided together. I also have some wax beans, a million heads of lettuce, and mint (not shown).

Mmm, Jam

I went berry-picking with the law students yesterday, and although there didn't seem to be an abundance of any one particular type of berry, I was able to pick enough of a combination of blackberries, marionberries, and raspberries in order to make jam. I've tried making jam a couple times before, with mixed results (once, too thick, the latest time, just not good) but this time, I actually followed directions, and it came out perfectly!