Holiday Vacation in PDX
Portland, Oregon, PDX in travelers’ parlance, is a city on the Willamette River with many bridges, a population of 653,000 plus and is only 150 miles south of Seattle. The downtown and surrounding area is still low to the ground with few skyscrapers, so it’s a pleasure to walk for miles around the neighborhoods and catch the views and tour the many parks. There is not a Starbucks on every corner as it seems in Seattle, but there is likely a quirky coffee shop, like the Dragonfly, or a bar with locals like North 45. Near our hotel, the Silvercloud, which has its own cool bar and grill in the lobby, Urban Steel, 21st Avenue NW and 23rd Avenue NW stretch for blocks with small independent shops and restaurants, many more than Seattle has. Even the new residential buildings host independents in the retail spaces at street level.
The week before Christmas is one of my favorite times to visit Portland. The decorations are up. People are feeling festive. The hotels are not busy. But I took no chances on dining and made reservations for restaurants two or three weeks ahead because I had my heart set on new ones with buzz. Like Seattle, the weather is typically chilly but not stormy. We enjoyed a fun holiday party with cousins who live nearby and feasted on roast beef, sweet potatoes and collard greens. A souvenir of the event, shown below, was a charming hand made, two-sided embroidered ornament. Strolling the avenues this trip took us to Powell’s Book Store as usual, the Portland Art Museum, the Benson Hotel Bar, Brix Restaurant, Jake’s Famous Crawfish, Shigezo Japanese Grill & Bar, The Japanese Gardens and the Chinese Gardens. We always have a fabulous French meal at St. Jack that always begins with foie gras.
takibi is high level Japanese cuisine and new in PDX with a beverage program created by the famous Jim Meehan, author, journalist and bartender extraordinaire in his New York City days. One book of his I use a lot is The PDT Cocktail Book. I read about the restaurant on his Instagram page and had to go see for myself. The drinks menu is for serious students of mixology. Count me interested but not that educated. You can read about the ever changing menus on the web site link above but I included one view of the drinks menu to zoom in on to give you the depth of this very serene venue where you need to savor each sip or bite slowly. The lights are low and each table has a oil candle almost like a camping lantern. The name of the restaurant translates to campfire. My cocktail with the orange peel is titled, We Will, We Will Roku. The ingredients include Suntory Roku Gin, Wild Turkey Rye, Martini Rosso Vermouth, Campari, Aperol, Stone Barns Brandyworks Apricot Liquer and Angostura Bitters. Well! What does that taste like? A Negroni, a complex multi-layered Negroni. I liked it more as I sipped and looked for nuances. We also tried the Violet Hour and I can’t give you a comparison cocktail for that. The food was amazing. We tried at least six things from different sections of the menu: small plates, sashimi, fried, grilled, simmered, shime and dessert. I don’t have a photo for everything but I would order any of them again and would like to go back a few times to try everything else.
urdaneta is the newest Basque in town located in the Alberta Arts District and it’s as charged up in vitality as takabi is serene. I applauded the kitchen crew when we left and they took it like Broadway hoofers with gracious bows. It was difficult to limit the order to Bunuelo de Txistorra, Croquetas de Bacalao, Grilled Pulpo, Braised Oxtails, Lamb Albondigo y Foie Sauce, and Basque Cheesecake. Each dish had numerous accompaniments to highlight the flavor of the main ingredient. The grilled octopus for example includes chorizo meatloaf, Tokyo turnip, almond romesco, fennel jam, squid ink tuile and Sierra jus. The tuile was black, lacy and crunchy. A bowlful would be a nice snack with drinks. The food menu is a fine example of culinary artistry. The cocktail menu features Spanish favorites, a substantial list of vermouths, sherries, ciders and wines. urdaneta is an exciting experience at the table. I’d like to get intimate with this establishment.
Happy New Year!