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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Our 2-week experiment of living like locals in Portland, OR (cont’d)…

As we reluctantly approached the end of our 2-week “trial period” of living like local Portlanders, we experienced a wave of contrasting emotions — first, we felt the mounting pressure to see and do as much as humanly possible in our remaining three days…coupled with a nagging feeling of disappointment at the idea of soon leaving this beautifully odd place…yet, at the same time, thrilled at the prospect of being able to return again soon…and next time as official Oregon residents. People have many different ways of dealing with complex emotions. I’ve always found that eating and drinking are pretty good distractions, and we happened to be in the perfect place to drown our sorrows (or celebrate our good fortune, depending on how you look at it) with trendy cocktails and soothing ramen.

Day 12:

If you’ve recently searched for a new home, you know that Sunday afternoons = residential open houses. And in our effort to reconnoiter the entire Portland real estate market during our two-week stay, we spent both Sundays canvassing open houses. Anxious to get to know the market as deeply as possible, we endeavored to see everything in our target price range and our desired neighborhoods, but also homes above or below, near and far, just to supplement our mental data base of knowledge so that when the time comes to pounce, we’ll be ready. As a result of our extensive research, we discovered some interesting, new areas, saw some really dreadful houses and learned exactly how far out of town is too far for our liking. Bottom line: Mike is still very optimistic and fully convinced that we will eventually find our dream home…I am slightly less so. Not to be a pessimist, it’s just that it’s a dog-eat-dog world in the Portland real estate market — and I much prefer to call myself a realist.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the real estate market in Portland has exploded in the past five years due to the recent influx of tech companies moving to the area, as well as the flood of people, like us, who are relocating to PDX because of its many positive attributes. As a result, housing prices have become grossly inflated to a point that, in some cases, it’s almost offensive. But does that minor road bump dissuade us or veer us off course? Of course not. It just makes us even more resolute in finding that hidden diamond in the rough.

That evening, after a long and fairly discouraging day of house hunting, we decided to reward ourselves with a meal that would assuage our sorrows, and the logical solution was, naturally, ramen…the greatest comfort food of all. Portland is a ramen town, pure and simple. I mean, what’s better than tucking into a steaming bowl of slurping noodles on a drizzly day? You will find ramen shops on practically every block of every quadrant of the city. Is it a passing trend or does it have staying power? No one knows for sure. But at the same time, there’s no indication that Portlanders are losing interest. A majority of the ramen shops around town are situated in neighborhood store fronts, hole-in-the-wall carry-out restaurants or even food trucks, but there are three notable exceptions that have achieved critical recognition and are considered to be the best in Portland — Marukin, Noraneko and Afuri. We decided to try the latter based on its consistently superior reviews and close proximity to the house.

Located in what appears to have been a mechanics’ garage in the city’s east central district, we were initially struck by the enormity of the restaurant. This is definitely not your average mom-and-pop shop! Afuri (923 SE 7th Ave.) is a study of contrasts — from the industrial feel of the garage doors and the soaring exposed ceilings to the glimmering minimalist sake bar and the simple, unadorned tables and counters of the main dining area (below center). The open chef’s kitchen occupies the entire west side of the restaurant providing seating for a dozen or more patrons, and immediately we knew that’s where we wanted to be seated, so we could watch the action in the kitchen.

With no advance reservation, we took our chances that there would be a wait to be seated at the kitchen counter, and were prepared to hunker down at the bar (below) until seats opened up. It must have been our lucky night, however, as we had barely scanned the sake menu when we were informed that our seats were ready.

From the end of the counter, we had a panoramic view of the bustling kitchen and an up-close look at the final prep station, where they were turning out beautiful steaming bowls of ramen and putting the finishing touches on other enticing dishes.

The most ironic aspect of our visit to Afuri was that, despite our initial plan, we ended up not ordering the ramen for which they are so acclaimed. We had every intention of testing the validity of the critical claims, but when we spied the substantial portions of ramen coming out of the kitchen, we knew that we could either settle into a bowl of ramen or we could sample a variety of their other very tempting menu items. But before we could focus on our menu selections, we needed some libations to ease the process, and we were certain that a sake flight would help us make the most inspired decisions.

No, Afuri is not just a ramen house, not by a long shot. Their extensive menu ranges from cold and hot appetizers to grilled skewers to sushi and sashimi, a small selection of entrees, and eight different ramen and tsukemen (in which noodles are served separate from the broth) dishes…and all of it looked incredible coming out of the kitchen. After much deliberation, we started with the char-grilled shishito peppers with bonito flakes and tamari which were perfectly grilled so as to be infused with the wonderful smoky char flavor yet still sufficiently crisp and tender…

…followed by two cold sashimi appetizers: the hamachi jalapeno carpaccio with yuzukosho viaigrette…

…and the albacore crudo with fried lotus root and tataki sauce. Both were outstanding and plentiful, well worth the $15 price point.

Additionally, we selected Afuri’s karaage (deep-fried chicken thigh) served with yuzukosho egg salad…

Karaage has long been a favorite of my children. Long before they had an appreciation for sushi (which, btw, was much gentler on my wallet), we were able to lure them to Japanese restaurants with the simple mention of karaage. I have seen it prepared in a variety of ways — bone-in, bone-out, lightly battered, tempura-style and so on — but this was one of the very best I have encountered. The coating was perfectly crispy and crunchy, and the use of boneless chicken allowed the batter to drizzle down into all the nooks and crannies. Yet the chicken was still juicy, tender and undeniably flavorful, just the way you would expect it to be.

Finally, the delicious spider roll was prepared in the traditional style but was elevated by the well-executed soft shell crab tempura and the house-made spicy aioli.

Without a doubt, it was an outstanding meal through and through, even without their celebrated ramen. And furthermore, we have something to look forward to upon our inevitable return.

Day 13:

A few months back, I read a Thrillist citing the best chicken wings in the United States, and Pok Pok’s Vietnamese fish sauce wings were included in that list, so we made it our mission to test their worthiness while in PDX. Located at 3226 SE Division, just a block from where we were staying, we had probably passed Pok Pok a dozen times, and each time there had been a line of eager patrons waiting to be seated. In fact, on Saturday night when we foolishly attempted to just pop in, we were informed the wait would be an hour-and-a-half to two hours. So, this time, we decided to go for lunch and to get there right as they were opening. This insightful strategy proved effective, as we were seated right away. Because it was a fairly chilly day, the hostess guided us past the bar and through the open-air restaurant to an inconspicuous interior dining room that we didn’t even know existed.

Pok Pok PDX at 3226 SE Division is the restaurant group’s original location, and its characteristic rustic, casual ambiance — with corrugated tin roof, simple wooden tables and dine-in counters — embodies the atmosphere of a typical southeast Asian restaurant.

Pok Pok PDX

The distinctive menu offers a variety of dishes inspired mainly by the cuisine of northern Thailand but also incorporating other southeast Asian items, as well. You won’t find your typical Americanized Thai dishes on this menu – no Pad Thai, no Pad Woon Sen, no noodles at all really – but what you will find are beautifully prepared, traditional Thai dishes that are truly outstanding. Pok Pok’s food is intended to be shared family style, so even though we were just two, we ordered a couple of items to share. We started with the Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, of course (the whole reason we were there). While I’m not convinced that these belong on the list of the “best chicken wings in the country,” I will agree that they were very nicely done, and I’m certainly willing to give them a second try…in the name of research, of course. With a slightly crispy crust on the outside and tender, juicy chicken on the inside, they were definitely meaty and satisfying. I suppose I expected more of the fish sauce flavor to come through, and while they were quite tasty, they could have been even more pungent and flavorful.

Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, Pok Pok PDX

Being careful not to overeat, as we had at so many other lunch destinations, we decided to order only one additional item, despite the inherent challenge that presented in narrowing down their vast menu to just one dish. I let Mike choose, and he selected the Tam Kai Yaang, a spicy roasted chicken salad with long beans, tomatoes, peanuts, Thai chiles and cilantro in a traditional garlic, lime juice and fish sauce dressing. Given the choice of three different rices, we opted for the fragrant jasmine rice, which I thought was the prefect complement to the abundant flavors of the chicken salad.

Tam Kai Yaang, Pok Pok PDX

Pok Pok is southeast Asian street food at its very finest. The atmosphere is fun and unique, and the food is equally as distinctive and interesting. With so many other tempting dishes to try, I can’t wait to return. Next time, maybe I’ll try their iced hibiscus drink or, if I’m feeling particularly adventurous, their “drinking vinegars,” which don’t sound particularly appealing to me, but they are definitely a thing. Available in a variety of flavors, they’re rumored to aid digestion and have other health benefits. Pok Pok’s chef owner, Andy Ricker, discovered these drinking vinegars, called Som, in Asian markets and felt that their inherently tart-sweet flavor was a perfect complement for his spicy, salty entrees. He began experimenting with different flavors and now has a rotating menu of exotic tinctures, such as pomegranate, pineapple, ginger, apple, basil, tamarind and honey. Ricker likes to serve them on ice with soda water, or you can add a shot of liquor (gin is best, I hear) for an even bigger “punch.”

Pok Pok’s strawberry-basil drinking vinegar

Our delicious and exotic meal at Pok Pok inspired us to go in search of some interesting international food markets. With all of the incredible chefs in Portland, certainly there are some wonderful ethnic markets from which they source their ingredients, right? Seeking out new and noteworthy markets is one of our favorite pastimes, and we had yet to find a respectable grocery, so we were off to do some hands-on research.

And since we were already in the SE quadrant, we started with an Asian supermarket that I had seen in Portland Magazine. Fubonn, located at 2850 SE 82nd Ave., is advertised as the largest Asian shopping center in Oregon. Upon entering the “mall,” you will find a random selection of small booths selling everything from stereo equipment to mattresses and very oddly expensive statuary. But by far the most prominent tenant is the massive supermarket which comprises a majority of the mall space. If you have never been to a sprawling Asian grocery before, you will find the assortment of merchandise to be particularly unusual, such as this…

But once you get past the cookware, kitchen implements, plastic figurines and 50-pound bags of rice, you will likely find some curious and fascinating food items as well, like salted jellyfish, shredded squid and fish sausages (pictured below):

The meat department of Asian grocery stores is always of particular interest to us, as you can often discover some unique and hard-to-find items, like paper thin slices of beef and pork to simmer in hot pots. Fubonn was no exception and featured a couple of unusual items I actually had not seen anywhere before, and that’s saying quite a lot. Our favorite grocery back home, Fresh Farms, is a veritable feast for the eyes, the stomach and the imagination. Although predominantly Eastern European in scope, it offers just about everything in one very impressive store. The meat department at our Fresh Farms has at least a dozen butchers on any given day busily slicing, dicing and portioning meat products for customers. Beef tripe, stomach casings and whole pig heads are commonplace. So, the fact that Fubonn was displaying chicken feet, pig ears and pig hooves was not an unusual sight for us. But whole duck heads? That was a new one. And to think that their short lives were only worth $.99 per pound. 😦

My objection with Fubonn is the fact that their prices across the board are no better than those at, say, Safeway or Fred Meyer. Typically, I find that prices at large Asian markets tend to be significantly lower than average, providing a really great value. But not in this case. Additionally, I was unimpressed by the quality of their vegetables and other “fresh” produce — again, an area in which Asian markets traditionally excel. For those two reasons, coupled with its fairly remote location, it’s unlikely that we will be returning to Fubonn. But I’m still hopeful that we can find a market with greater selection, lower prices and better quality closer to home. So, off we go…

Since we were already on the far southeast side of town, we decided to check out Portland Mercado which Mike had discovered on a list of markets recommended by another food blogger. Located at 7238 SE Foster, it wasn’t difficult to find — just look for the colorful, multi-hued building and the gathering of food trucks on the south side of the street near SE 72nd Ave. (you will find ample parking around the back).

It turns out that Portland Mercado is less of a market and more of a Mexican food pod. In the modest interior space, you will find a small meat shop, some prepared foods and a bakery, as well as a few shelves of packaged products. There’s also a convenience store of sorts. But the real draw, I suspect, is the outdoor plaza where several food trucks offer a selection of Mexican and Cuban dishes, fruit smoothies, coffees and churros. A cluster of picnic tables provides plenty of seating for patrons to enjoy a meal and some live music. We happened to be there in the middle of the afternoon, so there were only a few customers milling about, but I’m sure it’s hopping during the lunch and dinner hours on a nice day. It’s very likely a great place to have lunch and pick up a few specialty items, but its limited inventory precludes it from being anything other than a dining destination for us in the future. So, we keep looking…

Next on the agenda was ABC Seafood which also was included in the list of food purveyors recommended by another blogger. Eager to discover a good, reasonably priced fishmonger, we were hopeful that ABC would be a real find. A small and unobtrusive storefront located at 6509 SE Powell Blvd., we actually passed right by on our first attempt to locate it. This is a no-frills seafood supplier. There’s nothing fancy about it, and I say that in only the nicest way. The front room showcases a variety of freshly caught fish, shellfish and mollusks, while the back room houses the large live lobster and fish tanks.

I must admit that I was underwhelmed by the minimal selection, but what they did offer appeared to be very fresh, likely caught locally or flown in that morning. And while there were some bargains to be found, like the Manila clams at $3.59/doz. (vs. $.50/ea. that I’m used to paying), other items, such as the lobsters for $13.99/lb, weren’t particularly good bargains worth going out of your way for. And since we were only window shopping on this visit, I can’t attest to the actual quality of the seafood; however, if their 4 1/2 star rating on Yelp is any indication, they must run a very respectable business. I look forward to going back to ABC when we are residing in Portland full time. Now I know where to go to find our annual New Year’s Eve lobsters.

If ABC Seafood skewed towards modest and unpretentious, our next stop was the complete antithesis. Stunningly beautiful Providore Fine Foods (2340 NE Sandy Blvd) is absolute eye candy and a foodie’s fantasyland. Both a shopping and a dining destination, PFF offers an impressive array of produce, meats, seafood, fresh pastas, baked goods and rotisserie items. Come to shop, but stay for a glass of wine and a dozen freshly shucked oysters.

Providore Fine Foods

As I have mentioned many times before, Portland is a town that embraces locals and locally made products. From the community-owned neighborhood co-op groceries to the abundance of locally sourced ingredients in many of the restaurants, Portland is all about supporting local purveyors. And nowhere is it more apparent than at Providore Fine Foods — the flowers, cheeses, fruits and veg, ice creams and butters, meats and alluring sundries lining the shelves, most everything in the store comes from the state of Oregon and is marked with the name of the farm, dairy or producer that created it. Take, for example, the “Three Little Figs” line of jams pictured below left. Made right in Portland, they blend locally grown figs with other regional ingredients to create sweet and savory spreads such as Sparkling Nectarine Jam, French Onion Confit, and Tomato Tapas Jam.

“3 Little Figs” preserves

Pasta selection at Providore Fine Foods

Similarly, the “Bee Local” line of artisan honeys (pictured below) is made in the farmland areas surrounding Portland. Stumptown Coffee Roasters offers Bee Local honey syrup as an alternative to sugar for their coffee drinks, and Pok Pok uses Bee Local honey for its honey-flavored Som drinking vinegars. All examples of local businesses supporting other local businesses.

One would naturally think that locally sourced foods would come at a more affordable price point, seeing as though they didn’t have to travel far to get there. But that’s typically not the case (although we did find some good values at the Portland farmers’ market). Since they’re produced in much smaller quantities than mass distributed items, such as what you might find at a Safeway or Walmart, their prices typically reflect their small-batch, artisan nature. In fact, pretty much everything at PFF is very high-end and high-priced, but it’s all so tempting and beautifully displayed that you almost don’t care.

Cheese selection at Providore Fine Foods

Providore Fine Foods

Additionally, PFF carries some very unique and hard-to-find items, like the Haku line of shoyu (traditional Japanese soy sauce), available in a variety of flavors including cherry blossom, smoked, and whiskey bottle fermented. For years, I have struggled to find a convenient source for fino sherry and champagne vinegars, but here I found a whole selection of them.

Providore Fine Foods

My husband excitedly found his beloved Tuscan pici pasta, and I found Japanese shiso leaves in the produce department, a product that has been frustratingly elusive…until now. If nothing else, that will keep me coming back.

Providore Fine Foods should have been our logical stopping point, the final act in our ongoing drama to find Portland’s best markets. But, alas, there was something still missing…something vitally important that we had yet to locate…sausages. So, we aimed the car for SE 12th Avenue and Edelweiss Sausage Shop. A tiny German-owned butcher and deli, Edelweiss is an authentic old-world market with a vast selection of meats, wursts, sausages and plenty of weiners. If you love sausages like we do, you owe it to yourself to check this place out. From braunschweiger, bier sausage and mettwurst to salami, pepperoni, liverwurst and andouille, these guys know a thing or two about encased meats. Almost all are handcrafted on-site by the Baier brothers who learned the trade from their father who emigrated from Bavaria to Portland in 1959. Additionally, the market stocks an impressive selection of German beers and European specialty foods, such as imported chocolates, German breads and an array of mustards.

Edelweiss also doubles as a sandwich shop, so go hungry. The hard part is deciding what to order — a Black Forest ham sandwich on rye? Bologna, possibly? Or a grilled sausage with sauerkraut and potato salad? Grab a bottle of Hoffbrau beer to help you make your decision. And on your way out, stock up on some Maultaschen (German-style ravioli stuffed with bratwurst) for when you’re hungry again later.

So, at the end of the day, we uncovered some highly interesting and distinctive specialty food stores — some of which we will return to, others that we likely won’t. But one thing I’m certain of — Edelweiss and Providore Fine Foods will be in the regular rotation. What we still didn’t uncover, however, was a full-service international grocery to replace our beloved Fresh Farms back home — one that offers an extensive selection of high-quality, reasonably-priced produce, meat and seafood, along with an expansive deli and assortment of packaged foods from around the world. Normally, I would say that finding all of that in one place would sound too good to be true, but believe me, it’s alive and well in Chicago, and the one thing we will surely miss. But we haven’t completely lost hope, so the search will continues. [If you’re reading this post and you know of a worthy international grocery in Portland, please drop me a line!]

Bar Avignon

After a long afternoon of research, we returned to the house for a little R&R. And although still slightly full from lunch at Pok Pok, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity for yet another Portland food experience, so we decided that a light meal of charcuterie was in order (or possibly we were inspired by our visit to Edelweiss). We walked a dozen blocks west on SE Division to a little corner wine bar that we had passed several times. As it turns out, Bar Avignon, 2138 SE Division, is the most quintessentially perfect, little wine bar you can possibly imagine. It was a quiet night, so we grabbed two seats at the bar to capture a view of the action behind the counter where the chefs and the bartenders share fairly tight quarters.

The kitchen at Bar Avignon

When in Rome, do as the Romans, they say…and when at a wine bar, drink wine…so I solicited the bartender for a recommendation for a yummy Willamette rose, while Mike chose a gibson martini spiked with pickle and brine. Due to the compact nature of the kitchen work space, Bar Avignon does not offer an extensive menu, but they have cleverly devised a well-balanced selection of charcuterie and sharing dishes, as well as a half dozen entrees. We started with Freddy Guy’s hazelnuts roasted with rosemary, sea salt and paprika (right). Who’s Freddy Guy you might ask? Well, like many other restaurants in Portland, Bar Avignon sources most of its ingredients from local vendors, like ‘Charles the Mushroom Man’ (below), and apparently Freddy Guy is their go-to nut purveyor.

Next, with guidance from our helpful server, we picked five selections from the charcuterie menu: 3 cheeses, chicken liver mousse and rabbit terrine.

Charcuterie at Bar Avignon

Cheese selection at Bar Avignon

Each was accompanied by a different spread carefully procured to complement the flavor of that particular item, like a house-made quince jam for the rabbit terrine and a local honey for the gorgonzola dolce. And each was absolutely delicious in its own right, particularly the little pot of silky chicken liver mousse which honestly I just wanted to bathe in.

After relishing in the breads and spreads, we weren’t particularly hungry, so we opted to share a bowl of their French onion soup which seemed like the perfect choice for a cool fall evening. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the only misstep in an otherwise wonderful meal. The chefs took some liberties with the traditional French-inspired recipe and the result was a cloying adaptation that was too thick, too rich and too sweet to be a satisfactory substitute in my opinion…and I missed the customary crown of gooey gruyere on top. But despite that minor gaffe, the evening was memorable, and I look forward to returning to Bar Avignon for Happy Hour and the opportunity to throw back some of their $2 oysters and another bottle of that delicious rose.

Day 14:

With only a couple of days left in our journey, we were anxious to get another hike under our belts, and we were ecstatic to wake to a beautiful, cool but sunny October morning. With his handy and invaluable ‘All Trails’ app on his phone, Mike plotted an in-town hike up Wildwood Trail through Forest Park to historic Pittock Mansion.

Forest Park comprises over 5,000 acres of hiking, biking and equestrian trails on the eastern slope of Portland’s northwest hills, which Native Americans originally called the Tualatin Mountains. The 30-mile Wildwood Trail within Forest Park is part of the region’s 40-Mile Loop system that links pedestrian routes along the Columbia River, through southeast Portland, along the Willamette Greenway, and back to the Marquam Trail in southwest Portland (which you may recall from Part III of my earlier blog post).

Unable to allocate enough time to complete the entire loop, we decided to pop in midway along the Wildwood Trail at the Macleay trailhead, located just east of the Audubon Society on NW Cornell Rd. The lower portion of Macleay Trail was closed for maintenance and erosion control when we were there, but we were primarily interested in the upper portion which leads to Pittock Mansion. We crossed the street from the designated parking area and accessed the clearly marked path.

Although rated as a moderate hike, there are some fairly steep uphill portions of the climb of about a mile or mile and a quarter, but it’s a nice, wide, well-groomed trail and very doable if you have a remote level of fitness. For the least amount of foot traffic, both on the trail and in the mansion, plan to leave around 9-9:15 a.m. (the mansion ticket office opens at 10:00 a.m.). You will know when you’ve reached the top of the hiking path when you ascend into a parking lot. Look to your left, and you will see the entrance to the Pittock Mansion compound.

Pittock Mansion

Completed in 1914, the 46-room mansion was built by Henry and Georgiana Pittock. Henry, a born Englishman, had traveled to Oregon in 1853 and began work at the Weekly Oregonian, a paper he took ownership of only seven years later. Georgiana was dedicated to improving the lives of local women and children, helping to found the Ladies’ Relief Society in 1867.

The French Renaissance-style chateau on 46 acres was, and still is, a stunning example of architectural excellence. The interiors were modeled on an eclectic collection of styles, including Jacobean, Edwardian, Turkish (below left) and French Renaissance, all based on the couple’s extensive travels abroad.

Turkish dome in the smoking parlor

Main staricase

The mansion also featured an elevator, two telephone systems, a walk-in refrigerator, a central vacuum system and multi-jet surround showers, among other newfangled innovations that only the wealthiest could afford at the time.

Henry and his children, including his two daughters, were all avid hikers who loved the property’s enviable position on top of the Tualatin Mountain range. From this vantage point, they enjoyed views overlooking town and of Mt. Hood in the distance.

View east from Pittock mansion

Georgiana, recognized for originating the tradition of Portland’s annual Rose Festival, enjoyed the extensive panoramic gardens surrounding the property. The mansion served as the couple’s home for only five years. Georgiana died in 1918; Henry a year later. The city of Portland purchased the estate in 1964, and it is now a beloved local landmark.

Plan on approximately one hour to see the mansion, the Gate Lodge and the surrounding gardens. Afterwards, you can make your way back down the Wildwood Trail, the same way you came up. Round trip hike with tour – 3 hours. If you’re not able to or interested in making the hike to the mansion, you can access it by road at 3229 NW Pittock Drive.

After emerging from Forest Park’s canopy of trees, we were slightly chilled and mighty hungry. This was the perfect time for a comforting bowl of steaming ramen! We headed straight for Marukin Ramen at Pine Street Market, 126 SW 2nd Ave. Arriving just slightly before noon, we were able to acquire two seats at the counter, where we could peer into the kitchen as they prepared the beautiful bowls of ramen. Unlike the extensive menu at Afuri, Marukin pretty much only offers ramen dishes, so we weren’t tempted to order anything other than their specialty. I opted for the tonkotsu red with pork, spinach, mushrooms and bamboo shoots in a spicy pork bone broth (left). Mike ordered the paitan red, a similar dish but in a spicy rich chicken broth (right). Both are also available in a non-spicy variation, but don’t be afraid to try the ‘red’ option, as they are not too spicy to be enjoyable.

Tonkotsu Red at Marukin Ramen

Paitan Red at Marukin Ramen

You think you’ve had ramen before, but then you try this and realize that what you’ve had before was only a sad imitation. Marukin is renowned for their hand-pulled noodles and rich bone broths, both made fresh, in-house every day. Mike and I agreed that my broth was slightly more complex than his, but both were utterly delicious and exploding with flavor. Afterwards, we felt as if we had been rejuvenated by a restorative soup for the soul.

Once revitalized, we were confronted with the dilemma of which adventure we would tackle in the remaining afternoon hours. Then, it came to us…the one thing we had yet to do in Portland…SHOP! It takes a miracle to get Mike into a clothing or home goods store, but one mention of hardware, and he’s ready to go. I’d seen an article in Portland Magazine about a funky place called Hippo Hardware (1040 E. Burnside), so we set off to see what interesting odds and ends they might have.

Hippo Hardware

You know you’ve arrived when you spy the Grecian-clad hippos adorning the columns out front. I’ve been to all sorts of quirky and eclectic hardware stores in my day, but this one broadens the scope. It’s actually not a hardware store per se, not in the modern sense of the word anyway, meaning that they don’t carry tools or paint or cleaning supplies. Hippo Hardware is more of museum — three levels of relics salvaged from derelict or delinquent properties displayed in an amusing sort of organized chaos. From vintage doorknobs and knockers to bathtubs, odd parts and old windows, there’s almost too much to see, if that’s possible. Imagine an entire floor of light fixtures from every imaginable era, displayed haphazardly this way and that…

Lighting dept. at Hippo Hardware

…and check out the antique porcelain sink with peculiar brass fittings and the old zinc tub with attached water tank that’s heated by a butane burner…

Hippo Hardware

But by far, our favorite item was the 1963 Electro-Sink Center, a handy all-in-one appliance that combines sink, mixer, blender, juicer, ice cream maker, and more all into one mind-boggling unit. It’s rumored that that perhaps Laura Petrie had this in her kitchen in one of the early episodes of the “Dick Van Dyke Show.” I’m tempted to watch all of the episodes just to see it in use.

1963 Electro-Sink Center at Hippo Hardware, Portland

The owner of Hippo Hardware is a quirky gent with plenty of stories to tell about his various merchandise, and he had plenty of fun telling us how he had acquired seven of these peculiarly intriguing Electro-Sink units. Some might call him a curator, and some might call him a hoarder who conveniently created a store to hide his addiction. But whatever you choose to call Hippo Hardware, it’s definitely a highly entertaining way to spend an hour or so. And, who knows, we might just need some of that stuff when we finally find our house!

After the curious Hippo experience, it was difficult to select a subsequent destination that would be half as compelling, but then we remembered the string of vintage shops we had often passed on SE Hawthorne and headed the car in that direction. We started with the most obvious, and the most visible, Vintage Pink, located at 2500 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Painted a conspicuous shade of bubblegum pink, you simply can’t miss it, and we had been vowing to go inside for nearly two weeks.

The vast 6,000+ square-foot showroom houses an impressive collection of mid-century modern, vintage, Danish, and retro furnishings and accessories compiled by some of Portland’s best vintage dealers. Each booth varies in scope, but everything is carefully selected and in excellent condition.

Vintage Pink Portland

Vintage Pink

From Vintage Pink, we headed 10 blocks west to Lounge Lizard, 1310 SE Hawthorne Blvd., which surprisingly turned out to be even more impressive in the quality of merchandise, as well as pricing. The bright and welcoming warehouse was brimming with premium vintage furniture and home accessories, kitschy lamps made of old toasters and other interesting finds. Right off the bat, I found two pieces that sparked my interest — an Asian sideboard and a vintage Lane lowboy dresser, both in near perfect condition. If only I had a house in Portland.

Lounge Lizard

Next door to Lounge Lizard, we couldn’t help but notice a kooky collectibles shop, curiously called Really Good Stuff, and their odd array of wares arbitrarily displayed on the sidewalk. Mike is always willing to browse any shop that might offer items of historic or cultural interest, and this one showed some potential. Once inside the cluttered and disorderly shop, we quickly realized that Really Good Stuff is not a misnomer. If you don’t mind some dust and are willing to dig, you can find some pretty cool stuff here. Each room is filled to the ceiling with an array of old antiquities and oddities, such as an 1890s butter churn, a functioning railroad crossing sign, a selection of accordions (not just one), film reels, an Indian headdress, old stereo equipment, vintage albums, and much, much more — it’s a veritable rabbit warren of fascinating finds.

Really Good Stuff, Portland

Two other must-see destinations for home interiors are located across the street from each other in the east central industrial district:

Rejuvenation Home, 1100 SE Grand Ave., offers a blend of new and salvaged home decor. For those of you unfamiliar with Rejuvenation (as I was), it’s basically a spin-off of Restoration Hardware with similar styles of furniture, lighting, bath fixtures and hardware, but with an interesting and eclectic mix of vintage/antique furnishings thrown in. Prices are relatively high compared with the other businesses on this list, but it’s definitely worth a visit.

Grand Marketplace, 1005 SE Grand Ave., houses dozens of vendors specializing primarily in carefully curated antiques, industrial items, and unique architectural items, although you will find much, much more in this treasure trove of home furnishings. Prices vary by vendor, but overall prices are quite reasonable.

Day 15 — our sad farewell:

Despite our attempts to fend off the inevitable, the culmination of our two-week stay had regrettably arrived. We spent the morning packing and tidying the house, and then there was one final decision to be made – where to go for our last meal. I was thinking we might grab a sandwich at Meat, Cheese, Bread, but Mike had a different idea — he wanted to return for another meal at Pok Pok…and I couldn’t disagree with that logic. So, we strolled down SE Division one more time, arriving at Pok Pok PDX just as they opened for lunch service.

Despite a slight chill in the air, we asked to be seated in the open-air front portion of the restaurant under one of their many heat lamps. I sincerely debated about trying one of the drinking vinegars, I really did, but ultimately I chickened out and instead ordered the Naam Manao, a fresh squeezed fizzy Thai limeade. A little sweet and a lot sour, it was simply delicious and a very good choice.

While snacking on their addictive spicy peanuts, we both spent a good twenty minutes reading over the in-depth menu before finally making our decisions. After much deliberation, I settled on the Yam Makheua Yao, a charcoal grilled eggplant salad topped with pork, prawns, shallots and crispy garlic, finished with a spicy dressing of Thai chiles, lime, and fish sauce. The smoky flavor of the charred eggplants was reminiscent of Middle Eastern babaganoush, which happens to be one of my very favorite dishes when done right. And this was done very right! The crumbled egg was an interesting, clearly regional, addition, as was the dried shrimp which somehow seems to find its way onto several of their dishes despite being inherently strange and difficult to chew. But the overall blend of flavors, completed by the pungent cilantro, was a winning combination and resulted in one of the better dishes I’ve ever had.

Yam Makheua Yao, Pok Pok PDX

Mike selected the Neua Naam Tok, a spicy flank steak “salad” with shallots, lemongrass, mint, cilantro and toasted rice powder (whatever that is), a dish that I also had had my eye on. Our server warned him that it is, as it states, very spicy, but never one to shy away from a challenge, he wasn’t deterred. She recommended the sticky rice as a soothing accompaniment, and we heeded her advice. But when she arrived with a plate of mustard greens tucked into a bed of ice and explained that chewing on the chilled stems is helpful in lessening the burn, he knew he might be in trouble.

Neua Naam Tok, Pok Pok PDX

After the first couple of bites, his forehead began to perspire, and then the coughing ensued. But he valiantly rose to the occasion and powered through to the end. I braved one small bite, which I can truthfully confirm was extremely hot. But, at the same time, the flank steak was very tender and tasty…if you can get beyond the heat factor. I, for one, was happy retreating to the comfort of my smoky eggplant.

Following lunch, we slowly strolled back to the house, past the restaurants, bars and coffee shops that had become our temporary neighborhood. After two weeks away, you would think we would be anxious to return home, but conversely Portland was starting to feel like our home. We had fully accomplished our intended goal of living like locals, and what we learned is that we absolutely can and will be able to assimilate in this funky town. We were sad to be leaving, but soon we will return as legitimate locals…real Portlanders-in-training, trying to blend in in a city of misfits just like us.

As we boarded the plane back to Chicago, we were high-fiving ourselves for having the foresight to book seats on the right side of the plane so that we could once again be rewarded with the tremendous view of Mt. Hood. It just never gets old. Maybe, if we are really, really, really lucky, we’ll find a house that affords us that amazing view every day. Only time will tell.

So long, Portland. Until we meet again…

If you missed the first installments of my Portland blog and want to read more about things to do, see and eat in the City of Roses, please visit the following links:

Part I — From the banks of Lake Michigan to the Oregon coast

Part II — From da farmers’ markets to da Bears and beyond

Part III — The days of wine and roses

Part IV — Doughnuts and pancakes and food trucks, oh my!

This travel guide of Portland is brought to you by 2peasinapod.online.

Day-by-Day in PDX – The Final Leg Our 2-week experiment of living like locals in Portland, OR (cont'd)... As we reluctantly approached the end of our 2-week "trial period" of living like local Portlanders, we experienced a wave of contrasting emotions -- first, we felt the mounting pressure to see and do as much as humanly possible in our remaining three days...coupled with a nagging feeling of disappointment at the idea of soon leaving this beautifully odd place...yet, at the same time, thrilled at the prospect of being able to return again soon...and next time as official Oregon residents.

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Living like locals in Portland — Our 2-Week experiment (cont’d)…

One week down, and one to go…our first full week of living like locals in Portland proved to be an extremely worthy and informative exercise. And with one week still ahead of us, we felt incredibly lucky to have more time to delve even deeper into Portland’s unique culture. There’s no limit to the things that we still want to do!

Day 8:

Another stunningly beautiful September day. It’s imperative that we spend it outdoors taking advantage of every drop of sunshine. So, we decide to go to another of Portland’s city gardens. Due to its moderate climate and verdant terrain, Portland is abundant with beautiful flora and lush gardens. Mike and I last visited Portland two years ago in June, and it seemed the entire city was virtually exploding with vibrant blue hydrangea.

In my last post, I mentioned the spectacular International Rose Test Garden as well as the Japanese Garden, both located in the expansive Washington Park green space that comprises a good portion of west Portland. Today, with our friend and house host, Heather, we decided to check out the Lan Su Chinese Garden, which is conversely located right in the heart of downtown, at NW 3rd and Everett Streets, in the Chinatown neighborhood.

When you step through the Chinese gate and into the first inner courtyard, you immediately feel as if you’ve been transported to a peaceful, sheltered oasis. And that’s not by accident. The garden’s unusual city location is intended to reflect the opposing yin and yang of modern urban and peaceful garden. In the photos below, you can see the juxtaposition of the garden and the adjacent modern high-rise buildings just outside the garden walls.

But to call Lan-Su just a garden is a gross understatement. In cooperation with Portland’s sister city, Suzhou, the idea for the garden was developed in the 1990s and the current site was selected. Subsequently, the garden and its structures were designed and built by 65 artisans in Suzhou. It was then shipped to Portland and reconstructed by elite tradesmen over 14 months. The name Lan Su, aka ‘Garden of Awakening Orchids,’ was ultimately selected to represent Portland (Lan) and Suzhou (Su).

Opened in 2000, the garden is only 17 years old but gives the impression of being much more established. All of the plants in the garden are native to China and have flourished in Portland’s temperate weather. Don’t miss the miniature ginkgo tree – the original yin yang plant because it is both male and female. And make sure to follow one of the excellent and knowledgeable guides so that you can fully appreciate every detail of the intricate and exquisite space and learn about the 5 interconnected elements of a Chinese garden – architecture, plants, stone, water and poetry.

We were lucky to visit Lan Su on a quiet weekday in September, but I can imagine it gets quite crowded in the summer months and on weekends, so try to be selective with your times, if you can. We arrived at 10:30 in the morning and conveniently finished our tour right at lunchtime (allot at least an hour if you plan to follow a guide). Seeing as though we were already in the trendy Pearl District — home of Portland’s infamous flagship Voodoo Doughnuts, 22 SW 3rd Ave. (below), we headed for Pine Street Market to refuel.

Pine Street Market (SW 2nd Ave/Pine St.) is a food-lover’s paradise. Less market and more indoor food hall, it’s home to nine different mini-restaurants, including outposts of Marukin Ramen, Salt & Straw ice cream, OP Wurst and Trifecta Annex (pizza and bakery).

After perusing the menus at each, it was an exercise in self-discipline to pick just one. Not an easy decision, but as luck would have it, we all independently settled on Kim Jong Korean Smokehouse. Mike and Heather both opted for the bibimbap bowls — Mike’s with Galbi short rib and Heather’s vegetarian — while I chose the steamed buns with pulled pork. The short rib mounded on the bibimbap (below left) was especially tender and tasty, and extremely plentiful. The pork buns (below right) were less filling but also less flavorful than the bibimbap. The side of sweet and spicy gochujang sauce added some zest to the shredded pork but not quite enough. Maybe next time I’ll try it with the kim chee mayo instead.

After lunch, we decided to get some culture of the literary variety by venturing over to the renowned Powell’s Bookstore (Burnside btwn NW 10th and 11th Aves).

Who says bookstores are dead? Amazon may be taking over the world, but Powell’s Books apparently didn’t get the memo. Comprising an entire city block, it is the largest independent bookstore in the country. Like a rabbit warren of rooms spanning three levels, it’s so massive that they have to offer color-coded maps to help customers find their way around the store – either that or provide breadcrumbs.

As we entered, the three of us decided it would be most efficient to separate and go our own ways, agreeing to meet back at the main entrance 45 minutes later, which it turns out, is not nearly enough time to even begin to make a dent in Powell’s vast inventory. However, that didn’t stop me from swiftly covering some territory and ultimately picking up the latest release from author Michael Chabon and a fascinating photographic history called “Portland: Then and Now,” while Mike giddily walked out with two books detailing all of the many hikes in and around Portland.

Following our express bookstore excursion, we decided to seek a different kind of culture, this time on the wild and wacky streets of Portland. There are virtually dozens of intriguing neighborhoods scattered around the city, each with its own personality. These distinctive shopping and dining enclaves might be as small as 3-4 blocks (such as the NE Mississippi neighborhood mentioned in my last post) or as long as a mile or more, like Sandy Boulevard, but each is worthy of a visit. We chose to set our sights on NE Alberta Street, a vibrant district stretching at least 15 blocks from NE 14th Street east to 30th Street. A culturally diverse neighborhood, Alberta is literally awash in color — many of the area’s restaurants, shops and businesses are artistically adorned with vivid murals, making for an interesting and enriching visit.

In my opinion, one of the most appealing aspects of Portland is that, unlike many US cities today, its areas of commerce are populated with bespoke local businesses, privately owned cafes and coffee shops, one-off boutiques, food truck pods and distinctive neighborhood establishments. In lieu of strip malls and chain stores, you find block after block of unique and fascinating shops, restaurants and small businesses catering to the immediate community. Alberta is a prime example. Strolling the ‘hood, we passed a local craft brewery, numerous independently run dining and drinking establishments, a community-owned and operated co-op grocery (common in most neighborhoods) and even a sticker shop (yep, he sells a very limited selection of stickers).

Each and every neighborhood is made all the more vibrant by the local residents, all unique in their own way. People-watching in Portland is essentially a sport. The city’s self-prescribed motto is “Keep Portland Weird,” but it might as well be “live and let live.”

You would never catch anyone craning their neck or even batting an eyelash at the sight of a dude with a mountain-man beard down to his waist or a fully tatted-out guy (or gal). That’s just Portland keepin’ it real. If anything, Mike and I felt downright pedestrian, feeling slightly self-conscious that we stuck out like sore thumbs despite our deliberate efforts to try to assimilate. If we plan to live here, we might need to get real hip real quick.

That evening, we wanted to take our friend, Heather, out for a nice dinner as a small gesture of appreciation for allowing us to camp at her charming home during our 2-week Portland experiment. Without her generosity and hospitality, we wouldn’t have been able to “live like locals” and completely immerse ourselves in the Portland lifestyle. With so many incredible restaurants to choose from, we relied on Heather to pick a worthy destination for our celebratory meal. The choice: Ken Forkish’s central eastside eatery, Trifecta, which also houses the full-service bakery that turns out the sweet delicacies available at Trifecta Annex, his Pine Street Market location.

Appropriately named, Ken Forkish has long been a pioneer of the Portland culinary scene. Since opening Ken’s Artisan Bakery (NW 21st St.) in 2001, followed by Ken’s Artisan Pizza (SE 28th St.), Forkish has become somewhat of a legend, attracting the praise of many, as well as a James Beard Award for best pastry chef in 2013. The following year, he made the logical next step from sweets and pizza to full-service restaurant with the opening of Trifecta (726 SE 6th Ave.). Housed in an old industrial warehouse, Trifecta’s high ceilings and open spaces are sufficiently warmed by the lipstick-red walls and cozy booths.

On a Wednesday evening, it was not particularly crowded, although most of the tables filled as the evening progressed. The hostess escorted us past the bustling open kitchen to a quiet corner banquet. Soon, we were presented with a basket of Ken’s beautiful breads, baked on-site that morning, and a crock of freshly churned butter. I don’t normally waste my appetite on bread, but this was altogether different. This is Ken’s first love and his specialty, his bread-and-butter so to speak, and I’m glad that I didn’t abstain.

For starters, we decided on the deviled eggs and the fried cauliflower salad to share. For someone who doesn’t fancy eggs, I strangely adore deviled eggs, and these were expertly prepared with just a hint of Dijon. The evening’s two preparations — one topped with shaved zucchini and a piquant tomatillo salsa, the other with sausage crumbles and chile sauce — both were delectable orbs of goodness. But it was the fried cauliflower salad that was the unexpected standout. Tossed with smoked farro, radicchio, pickled sour cherries and almond sauce, it sounded convoluted and overly complex on paper, but in fact, it was an inspired and noteworthy concoction that somehow worked (pictured below).

For the main course, I was sold as soon as I spied steak frites on the menu. I don’t eat red meat all that often but if I did, steak frites would be my jam. There’s something about the simplicity of the dish that I love, and whenever I have it, I’m automatically transported back to Paris and a favorite little bistro on the Left Bank. In this case, unfortunately, Trifecta’s preparation left me a bit flat (below, left). The bavette steak that they use is too tough in my opinion to be cooked rare, as good steak frites should be. And with little or no marbling, it lacked the depth of flavor that I was hoping for. Mike’s crispy bone-in pork shank (below, right), on the other hand, was immensely tender and melted right off of the bone. The underlying bacon broth could have been thicker and more voluptuous, but it was still quite good.

The real show stopper, however, was again a dish that I likely wouldn’t have selected if left to my own volition: the curried chickpea ragout. There are good reasons that I’m not a vegetarian, and chickpeas are one of them. Steak frites might be another. But, always game to try pretty much anything, I sampled Heather’s chickpea ragout, and it may have changed my opinion of chickpeas forever. Bursting with flavor from the fragrant curry broth and paired with puffy house-made flatbread (more like na’an) and a dollop of Greek yogurt, it was truly outstanding.

Although sadly too full for dessert, which is practically a crime considering Forkish’s passion and aptitude for creating world-class sweets, we didn’t leave disappointed. As we passed Trifecta’s in-house bakery on the way out the door, we were encouraged to choose from the day’s leftover pastries to take home, like a sweet, little parting gift. So, laden with morning buns and croissants, we waddled back to our car with full bellies and the prospect for a very good morning!

Day 9:

Today, our youngest daughter is coming out to Portland for the weekend, and we can’t wait to show off our newly adopted city. As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the many great things about Portland is its convenient proximity to the airport. From SW Division, we were at the Arrivals dock in a mere 15 minutes to pick her up. There’s quite a lot of talk about the growing traffic problem in Portland these days, and I’m certain that it has worsened as the city has grown, or more accurately outgrown, its small town infrastructure over the past decade. But if you have the luxury of traveling other than peak hours, you can still get around fairly easily. And let’s be honest…it’s all relative. Portland’s traffic problem is small beans compared to Chicago’s diabolical mess, so for us it really isn’t a game-changer. However, that’s not to say that it won’t become completely unmanageable in the near future, as more and more outsiders (like us) move to the area, overcrowding Portland’s finite urban space.

For the ultimate Portland experience, we decide take her directly to a food truck pod for some lunch. In Chicago, there are so many restrictions on food trucks (not to mention Chicago’s notoriously long and cold winters) that it’s nearly impossible for them to succeed and prosper. Requiring trucks to change locations every two hours and to maintain a distance of at least 200 feet from any business that sells food (including convenience stores and pharmacies), the imposed sanctions cause the trucks to be fairly elusive. In Portland, conversely, food trucks are embraced instead of discouraged. So much so, that the city has reserved several open lots for food trucks to convene in, providing local residents and tourists alike the opportunity to find delicious, reasonably priced food, and concurrently allowing food purveyors the ability to sell their wares without the exorbitant cost of a brick-and-mortar storefront. The largest, known as the Alder Street Food Pod, is located at SW Alder between SW 9th and 10th Streets and boasts upwards of 40 food trucks. On any given day, you can choose from Korean, Ethiopian, Thai, Vietnamese, German, Egyptian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, savory or sweet crepes, ice cream, waffles, and even more obscure cuisines, such as Viking Soul Food.

But as we were inclined to stay on the east side of town, we instead chose the Cartopia pod at the corner of SE Hawthorne Blvd. and 12th Ave., which in addition to a wide selection of food options, also offers plenty of picnic table seating and even a fire pit for cooler days/evenings. Many food trucks even have liquor licenses to sell a selection of imported and craft beers, wines, and cocktails, making these pods great drinking and dining destinations day or night.

As is the case with any of the Portland food pods, there are simply too many tempting items from which to choose, so it eventually comes down to just making an arbitrary choice and being resolute in your decision. The benefit to having so many options, however, is that everyone in your group can choose whatever they please. And so we did. Each of the four of us decided on a different food truck — Mike went for the roasted chicken from Chicken & Guns; our daughter chose a cheeseburger from Bubba Bernie’s; I was seriously considering lamb schawarma from Tahrir Square but made a clutch game day call and opted for the pesto and artichoke pizza from Pyro Pizza; and Heather couldn’t resist the urge to try the quirky PB&J fries from Potato Champion. Yep, you read that correctly, PB&J fries, which is essentially poutine topped with house-made satay sauce (PB) and chipotle raspberry jam (J) instead of gravy (pictured below, right). Not my personal favorite, I must admit, but certainly an interesting and unique concept.

My personal pizza (above, right), on the other hand, was an excellent choice. Prepared in a wood-burning pizza oven on-site (or in-truck, as the case may be), the blistered, perfectly chewy crust was crazy good, as was the piquant homemade pesto. Mike’s Latin-spiced chicken (above, left), served with a delicious chimichurri sauce, was ridiculously juicy and the hands-down winner of our ad hoc food truck challenge. Ashton’s burger, although well-prepared, was neither innovative nor particularly special, making her the challenge loser by default. But she enjoyed it nonetheless, and that’s the beauty of a food pod – everyone leaves sated, happy and with a few dollars still in their pocket.

After lunch, we gave Ashton a condensed version of the requisite newcomer’s driving tour of downtown Portland — across the Burnside bridge, past the notable White Stag sign (top), west on Burnside, north on 23rd Ave, south on 22nd, and up Vista Avenue to Council Crest Park. From there, we aimed to impress her with the awesome 4-mountain view from Council Crest Park. Once again, like our previous trek up to Council Crest, it was another gloriously clear day, so we were rewarded with unsurpassed views of the big 4 — Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Ranier. An inspiring sight for any visitor, but even more so for someone from the Midwest where the terrain is as flat as a Chicago pizza.

That night, our hometown Chicago Bears played their age-old rivals, the Green Bay Packers, so we returned to our newfound favorite Bears bar, Hobnob Grille (SE Morrison St/34th Ave.), to watch the game alongside other like-minded (and empathetic) fans. Win or lose, we would celebrate or lament together. In this case, it was the latter. Unlike our last fateful trip to Hobnob, this visit didn’t bring us a win, but it did allow us to further ingratiate ourselves with the friendly Hobnob owners and staff, who we plan to see much more of in the future.

First thing the next morning we would be off to Eugene with our daughter for a campus tour of the University of Oregon, so it was an early night. (Note: for the purpose of this post, I won’t detail the side trip to Eugene, except to say that U of O, located a quick hour and forty-five minutes from Portland, is a beautiful and impressive mid-sized campus (21,000 undergraduate enrollment). Whether she decides to go there or not, Mike and I will definitely be adopting the mighty Ducks as our regional college team to support.)

Day 11:

After a memorable boondoggle down to Eugene, we returned to Portland first thing the following morning to experience another obligatory Portland activity — soccer. There is undoubtedly no other city in the U.S. that embraces soccer more than Portland. With no professional football or baseball teams in town (only the Portland Trailblazers), soccer has effectively filled that void, and devoted fans come out in droves to attend home games for both the Portland Timbers (men’s) and the Portland Thorns (women’s). Another distinct advantage is the proximity of Providence Park stadium, located just off of West Burnside, right in the heart of downtown (SW Morrison ST/18th Ave.).

Our daughter, a goalkeeper for her high school soccer team, first became a fan of professional soccer (aka football) when we lived overseas in London. An avid Manchester United devotee, she grew up admiring Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and the others. Upon returning to America, however, she started following the U.S. women’s soccer team and became mildly obsessed with the remarkably talented players, such as Hope Solo, Abby Wambach, and Carli Lloyd, who served as her role models.

Eager to take her to see a game at Providence Park, we checked the schedule and, as fate would have it, the Portland Thorns happened to be playing our hometown Chicago Red Stars that very day and good seats were still available. We grabbed three mid-field tickets and headed for the noontime game. As we neared the stadium, we immediately noticed the massive number of people heading the same direction, many of them sporting Thorns jerseys and scarves. Back in Chicago, the Red Stars struggle to attract even the smallest of crowds, despite the fact that they have some the best players in the league on their roster. In Portland, however, the adoring Thorns fans come out by the thousands to show their support.

Once inside the stadium, we noticed that a majority of the seats were already filled. The fans were on their feet, chanting and singing, just like you would see at a European football match. The impressively large crowd of 5,000+ would be enormous for a men’s soccer game in Chicago – yet this was all in support of the women’s team. All three of us were dumbfounded and thrilled to experience such enthusiasm for women’s sports.

Throughout the duration of the game, the entire stadium was focused on the action on the field…and for good reason – between the two teams, there were fifteen U.S. national team players, including Kelley O’Hara, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan. The remarkable skill and sportsmanship of the players was nothing short of impressive.

The Thorns fan club, affectionately called the “Rose City Riveters,” complete with a full band, held court in the end zone, constantly leading fans in cheers and keeping the excitement level up (they literally never sat down). And whenever the Thorns scored, the Riveters sent up a red cloud of celebratory pixie dust, as the crowd went wild.

It was an exceptional way to spend a late September afternoon and one that I would recommend to any sports enthusiast. And to make it even more appealing, the local craft beers on tap are a welcome bonus…not to mention the extremely reasonable ticket prices. The same lower level midfield seats that we had for the Thorns game ($35 each) list for more than 4 times that price for Timbers games, despite the fact that the Thorns were runners-up in last year’s championship game and are on track for making the play-offs again this year.

After an exhilarating day of soccer, we returned to the house to kick back and watch the Ducks v Cal game on TV. We decided to stay in for dinner and go fridge-diving for leftovers, knowing that in the morning, we had a date with Slappy Cakes.

Day 12:

Our daughter, Ashton, loves breakfast. Let me rephrase that, she LOVES pancakes! So, when I read about Slappy Cakes (4246 SE Belmont St.) and their table-side griddles, I knew that we had to take her there for DIY pancakes.

Let me preface this by saying that brunch in Portland is huge. As a result of the city’s extraordinarily vibrant and diverse restaurant scene, many locals are unable to keep up with all of the ever-changing dining options. Therefore, they often use brunch as a means of trying restaurants they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get into or afford for dinner. As such, I expected that there would be a wait at Slappy Cakes (there are lines at almost all of the brunch restaurants on a Sunday morning), but I was unprepared for the hour and fifteen minute wait that we were quoted. Regardless, we remained resolute and agreed to wait it out at the tiny coffee shop across the street, cunningly named Never Coffee. This better be worth it, we were silently thinking to ourselves and hoping that the wait would be less than they estimated. It wasn’t. But upon being seated at our own personal griddle table and presented with a couple of very tasty Bloody Marys, all was forgotten.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Slappy Cakes is a concept imported from Asia. Think about it…Benihana-style cooking, but for breakfast. Brilliant, right? What surprised me, however, was that such a liability (a searing hot griddle in the middle of the table) would be allowed in a U.S. restaurant that caters to small children. Regardless, we were beyond intrigued and anxious to get started making our own pancake creations. The way it works is this: 1) you select a batter (buttermilk, chocolate, peanut butter or seasonal – in this case, pumpkin spice, of course) 2) then you choose from a long list of sweet and savory fixin’s (from fresh coconut, blueberries and pecans to bacon, chorizo and cheddar cheese) 3) and finally you select a topping, such as maple syrup, lavender honey, lemon curd, PB, Nutella, and so on. Ashton opted for chocolate chips, bananas and whipped cream — a mighty good combo, if you ask me. Within minutes, our server arrived with a squeeze bottle of batter and the edible embellishments. The griddle had already been pre-heated and it was ready to get cookin’. Let the games begin!

The other surprising aspect of the whole experience was that Slappy Cakes is actually less of a novelty and more of a really legit restaurant with unexpectedly good food! Ashton, a self-proclaimed pancake connoisseur, asserted that their pancakes were some of the best she has ever had and almost as good as the ones I make her at home (wink, wink). Feeling obligated to taste test for myself, I had to agree that the homemade buttermilk batter was indeed impressive. And furthermore, Slappy Cakes doesn’t limit its culinary competency solely to pancakes. The Forest Mushroom Scramble (below, right) with bacon, spinach and goat cheese was really quite good, and Mike’s Steak-and-Onion Hash with poached eggs (below, left) was very well-executed and downright delicious.

Steak-and-Onion Hash at Slappy Cakes, Portland

What an unexpected bonus — a trendy concept restaurant with legitimately good food! We all agreed that we would be back to Slappy Cakes. And next time, I plan to try one of Never Coffee‘s signature drinks as I wait. Will it be the “Hug” with cacao, smoked chiles and cinnamon or the “Oregon” with hops, dulce de leche and sea salt. Only time will tell.

Stay tuned for the fifth and final installment of “Day-By-Day in PDX.” And if you missed the first three posts in this ongoing chronicle of our two weeks in Portland, you can catch up on them here:

Part I — From the banks of Lake Michigan to the Oregon coast

Part II — From da farmers’ markets to da Bears and beyond

Part III — The days of wine and roses

Day-by-Day in PDX – Part IV Living like locals in Portland -- Our 2-Week experiment (cont’d)... One week down, and one to go...our first full week of living like locals in Portland proved to be an extremely worthy and informative exercise.

#Alder Street Food Pod #Cartopia food pod #Chicken & Guns #Council Crest Park #Ken Forkish #Kim Jong Smokehouse #Lan Su Chinese Garden #Pine Street Market #Portland Thorns soccer #Providence Park Portland #Pyro pIzza #Slappy Cakes Portland #Trifecta Portland #Voodoo Doughnuts

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Living like locals in Portland, Oregon – Our 2-week experiment (cont’d)

Day 6:

As part of our ongoing relocation research, it’s vitally important that we check out as many Portland neighborhoods as possible. How can we know where we want to live, if we don’t see it all? So, this morning we’re heading to the NE quadrant and specifically to NE Mississippi Avenue.

The best way to get to know the vibe of a neighborhood here in Portland is to find a local coffee establishment and park yourself for an hour or so. We picked The Fresh Pot, located in an old Rexall drugstore on the corner of N. Mississippi and Shaver St.

One thing I’m quickly learning is that, like the neighborhoods themselves, every coffee shop has its own unique flavor — both in design style and the coffee itself. No two are alike. I order the same coffee drink at each and yet they all taste somewhat different. And that’s what makes Portland so appealing — it’s in no way a predictable, cookie-cutter town.

After our morning coffee and requisite people-watching, we walked the neighborhood for a bit, keeping our eyes peeled for a good lunch spot. Mississippi Ave is abundant with interesting restaurants, so it’s a tricky task. We really wanted to grab a pizza at Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty, which specializes in Neopolitan-style pies, but it was Monday and sadly they were closed. Ultimately, we selected Mee Sen because, in the meantime, we had developed a hearty hankering for some Thai food. The restaurant’s quirky, rustic decor and tin cups made me feel like I was back in the camp mess hall, but the authentic food transported me straight to Bangkok.

I ordered the Pad Kee Mow medium spicy, and it was fresh and delicious and packed a real good kick. The dueling heat from the sizzling wok pan and the Thai chiles was enough to make me keep on eating long after I was full, lest I stop and feel the ensuing burn.

Mike enjoyed the Gai Thoon with braised chicken, shiitake mushrooms and wide noodles in a rich and complex beef broth.

After lunch, it was finally time to meet our realtor for an afternoon of property hunting. He had eight tours lined up for us, and we were anxious to get started.

The afternoon proved to be extremely informative and very worth our time. We had been scouring the online real estate sites for months and felt like we had a pretty good handle on our target neighborhoods, but you never really know a neighborhood until you’ve walked it, and you never really know a house until you’ve checked out every bathroom. And let’s be honest, online listings only show the “sellable” features of a home, strategically disregarding the potentially negative aspects, like the damp-smelling, linoleum-floored basement or the bizarre, grotto-like master bath. You only get the full picture when you physically walk through the door.

By the end of the day, we were encouraged that we could, in fact, eventually find something in our price range in the neighborhoods we had selected, but we were awakened to the reality that it wouldn’t be an easy or a quick process. The real estate market in Portland right now is one of the hottest in the country, just behind San Francisco. With Nike, Intel, Google and other tech companies bringing more and more jobs to the region, coupled with all the positive press Portland has received in the past few years, people like us are swarming here like a pack of flies. And with that increased interest comes competition in the real estate market which only leads to elevated housing prices. We’re not the only bees in the hive. But alas, we will keep looking and hope that the perfect house will eventually arise. We will not be deterred!

Returning home around 7:00, a little tired and with a lot to talk about, we decided to stay local and hit the restaurant on the corner, Ava Gene’s. Now mind you, this is the same restaurant we tried to go to on Saturday night but were turned away with the promise of a 1.5- to 2-hour wait. Tonight, thankfully, we were seated right away at the bar. But it was pure luck that two seats happened to open up just as we walked in; otherwise, there would have been a wait again. Moral of the story – Portland never slows down. When we commented to our server about how busy it was for a Monday night, he told us that “Monday is the new Friday” in Portland. Restaurants are so busy on the weekends that people have to defer to Monday nights to get into their restaurants of choice. I believe it!

Ava Gene’s (SE Division/34th) is a beautifully designed restaurant. Twinkling with dozens of overhead lights, it gives the impression of a night sky full of fireflies.

They offer traditional table seating under the lights, seating at the bar or at the chef’s kitchen, as well as outdoor seating in agreeable weather.

The highly competent bartender was also a very amicable server, so we took the opportunity to chat him up and probe him with questions about the neighborhood. One thing we’ve noticed on both of our visits to Portland is that all the people here are genuinely and effortlessly friendly. Without exception, everyone we’ve met has been relaxed, casual and, well, downright happy.

But I digress…back to Ava Gene’s. You have to appreciate and respect a menu that feels obligated to state: “Foraged products are not inspected.” That unwavering dedication to farm-to-table cooking is the nature of Ava Gene’s and very simply personifies the Portland restaurant scene as a whole. Any restaurant worth its salt here, serves only ingredients that are sourced locally — the beef likely came from just over the mountain, the lettuces were probably grown in a plot behind the restaurant, and the shiitakes were foraged by some guy with a beard earlier that morning. Just ask, and they’re happy to tell you all about the free-roaming farm where the chickens were raised on organically grown corn and watercress.

Mike and I started with a couple of items from Ava Gene’s ‘fritti’ selection. Directly translated, ‘fritti’ means fried, but don’t get the impression that these were anything like your typical fried calamari or worse, deep-fried mushrooms. We decided on the baby artichoke and the gnocco fritto, which is basically a savory beignet sprinkled with freshly shaved parm. Served with thinly shaved prosciutto, the gnocco was nothing short of sublime. And the diminutive, delicately fried artichokes were so fresh and flavorful that they bring a whole new meaning to the widely overused term farm-to-table.

Selecting a main course from their innovative menu was surprisingly easy for me because I never seem to be able to turn down Pasta con Vongole (with clams) when it’s on any menu, and Ava Gene’s preparation with fresh mint and Calabrian chiles sounded too interesting to pass up. Unfortunately, the dish proved to be more intriguing than it was inspired. The abundant chiles way overpowered the subtlety of clams and the mint didn’t elevate the dish as much as it became a distraction. I appreciated the chef’s ingenuity, but it just didn’t work. It’s tough in a town with such a high level of culinary competition to continually create a menu full of worthy dishes, and this one didn’t quite make the grade.

One the other hand, Mike’s pasta with wild mushrooms was expertly prepared. The earthiness of the mixed mushrooms was complemented by the bitterness of the radicchio and a rich yet light bianco sauce for a lovely combination of flavors.

After a long day and a big dinner, we were glad we were only a block from home and our beds.

Day 7:

We woke up to beautiful sunny skies, and you know what that means. Sunshine in Portland means it’s time to hit the trails! You don’t even have to leave downtown to find a great hike. There are hundreds of miles of trails for all levels of hikers right in town. We decided to take the Marquam Trail up to Council Crest Park, where on a clear day, you can see all four mountain peaks in the Oregon/Washington region from its very accessible vista.

On our way to the trailhead, we stopped into Zupan’s Market (W. Burnside/23rd St.) for picnic provisions. Zupan’s is not your average, everyday grocery – imagine if Whole Foods and Harrod’s had a beautiful baby, that would be Zupan’s. Take a look at these incredibly exotic displays…

And their expansive deli counter abounds with beautiful prepared foods, sandwiches and salads. We grabbed a couple of baguette sandwiches and some bottled water and made a promise to return for more comprehensive shopping later (noting that Zupan’s is one of the closest markets to where we hope to live).

Reaching the trailhead, located at the Marquam Nature Park near OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University), we parked and started the trek to Council Crest Park. The up-and-back 3.2-mile hike is rated as ‘moderate’ for its uphill portion which consists of a variety of 25- to 40-degree inclines. It’s a beautiful walk on well-groomed trails under a soaring canopy of evergreens.

We made the initial leg in a little under an hour, reaching the Council Crest Park just in time for lunch. But first, we stopped to admire the incredible 360-degree views from the vista. Looking east, you can spy the four snow-capped peaks of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helen’s and Mt. Ranier, ranging in elevation from 8,300 to 14,000+ feet. The closest to Portland, Mt. Hood (elev. 12,400) is only 50 miles away and therefore has become synonymous with the Portland landscape.

To the northeast you can see Mt. St. Helen’s (elev. 8,364) with its distinctive flat top, a result of the 1989 volcanic eruption, and Mt. Ranier (the tallest at 14,410 ft) in the distance behind it.

To the west, you can see the sprawling Tillamook Mountain range, and that’s precisely where we parked ourselves to enjoy our Zupan’s sandwiches and the view.

After lunch, we made the easy downhill trek back to our car – the entire hike and picnic completed in just over 2 hours.

But our interest in capturing the view didn’t stop there. We hopped in the car and drove down the Marquam Hill to the South Waterfront district to take the tram up to the viewing terrace at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).

OHSU is a massive in-town complex that encompasses most of Portland’s healthcare facilities, as well as the university’s medical, dentistry and nursing programs. The teaching hospital is located halfway up Marquam Hill (fondly called ‘Pill Hil.’ Once OHSU outgrew it’s original location in 2003, it began expanding to a second campus in the South Waterfront area directly below on the banks of the Willamette. To connect the two campuses, they cleverly installed a cable car system to ferry patients and hospital employees up and back. Thousands of people a day utilize the trams to access the hospital and the upper campus. As is the culture in Portland, most come to the lower tram station by public transportation — train, trolley, streetcar, bus — or by bicycle…

In the photos below, you can see sleek tram and the ever-expanding lower campus below.

To ride the tram, you can by tickets from the kiosk at the lower station. Board the gondola and enjoy the view of the Willamette River, the bridges, and downtown Portland as you ascend the upper station and the OHSU campus. Once at the top, cross over the pedestrian bridge and just before entering the hospital, take a right through the doorway on your right which leads to the vista terrace. There you will find unobstructed views of Portland and the four peaks in the distance. Look for the then-and-now vintage photo of Portland that shows the similarities and differences between the turn of the century town and the current city.

Another option to consider, if you have the time, is to tackle the “4T” which cleverly combines trail, tram, trolley and train for for the ultimate Portland experience. Start by hiking the Marquam trail from Council Crest down to the OHSU campus where you can catch a free ride on the tram down to the South Waterfront district. From there, hop on the trolley into downtown and the Pearl district, where you can catch the MAX light rail train back to the start.

Portland 4T Trail

But we didn’t have time for the full 4T excursion because we were off to explore a different vista, one of a very fragrant variety — the International Rose Test Garden. Portland, aka PDX, aka the “City of Roses,” is home to the largest and most established rose test garden in the United States. With 7,000 rose plants, it spans over 4 acres.

Started in 1917, the garden originally served as a safe haven for European hybrid roses during World War I. Today, the garden boasts 550 different varieties, more than any other garden of its kind, and regularly receives new cultivars from all over the world. Due to its temperate climate, Portland is considered an ideal location to test new specimen for fragrance, color, disease resistance, heartiness and other attributes.

The thousands and thousands of rose plants are terraced into embankments and artistically laid out in rows, clusters and patterns. As the garden expanded over the years, more and more “rooms” were added, each with its own design.

Located adjacent to downtown Portland in the beautiful 410-acre Washington Park (which also houses the Portland Zoo, arboretum, children’s museum and Japanese Garden), the Rose Test Garden is easy to access and shouldn’t be missed. Since it draws visitors from around the world, it can get quite crowded at peak times, so if possible try to visit on a weekday and/or off-season (Portland is beautiful in September!). There is no fee to enter the garden, only nominal metered parking fees apply, a small price to pay for the beauty that awaits you.

Before you even enter the gardens, you’re struck by the unmistakable and intoxicating aroma that only thousands of roses could produce. Sadly most commercial roses these days no longer have that distinctive rose fragrance. After decades of over-production, they typically have no scent at all. Not so for the heirloom hybrids at the Test Garden. Each one I breathed in had its own unique scent, including one that smelled oddly of black licorice. Wander through the rows of roses, and I dare you to try to pick a favorite.

Adjacent to the rose garden, you can enjoy the Shakespeare Garden and the grassy amphitheater which offers concerts and theatre productions in the summer months. Or head over to the Japanese garden for an altogether different experience for the senses.

But for us, it was time to leave the garden, knowing that we would have the luxury of returning again and again when we move to Portland permanently. For now, we needed to hit the grocery store to procure the necessary foodstuffs we needed to prepare a welcome home dinner for our friend and house host, Heather, who had arrived back in Portland from L.A. while we were out smelling the roses.

Day-by-Day in PDX Living like locals in Portland, Oregon - Our 2-week experiment (cont'd) Day 6: As part of our ongoing relocation research, it's vitally important that we check out as many Portland neighborhoods as possible.

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Living like locals in Portland, OR – our 2-week experiment (cont’d)

Day 4:

It’s Saturday, and you know what that means…it’s farmer’s market time! Portland has more farmer’s markets per capita than any other city and for good reason — it’s literally surrounded by farms on all sides. Fruit orchards to the east, vineyards to the south, produce and dairy farms to the west – it’s a veritable Garden of Eden! I can’t wait to see what interesting and oddball tidbits we find today.

We headed straight for the largest of the markets, located in the heart of downtown at Portland State University. Parking was a little tricky, so we opted for a parking garage a block away which offered a very reasonable $7 weekend daily rate (in Chicago, that same space would have cost us $40). When we entered the market, we were blown away by the sheer size of it. There must have been 60-70+ market vendors lining both sides of the PSU quad with food pods at either end.

The first thing that struck me as different was the immense variety of produce – a vendor might offer 8 different types of peppers or 5 sizes of artichokes, from ginormous down to baby-size. Not just one or two types of eggs, but eight.

The other aspect that intrigued me was the artistic displays that they created to present their wares – cupboards made of old windows, wooden crates, whatever materials they could scrounge up…and it all looked awesome and cool.

And then there was the food itself, all made or grown locally, of course, and representing every imaginable food category — flavored salts, seafood, nut butters, chocolates, jerky, mushrooms, and so on — and every ethnic flavor, from Middle Eatern and Vietnamese to (very respectable) Chicago-style pizza (below) and vegan (lots and lots of vegan!).

There was a booth selling half a dozen varieties of peppers that they were grilling on-site in a big rotating roaster that resembled a giant bingo spinner…

And then there was this…

And this…

And if that’s not enough to pique your interest, there’s always the quirky entertainment. On this particular visit, we were serenaded by a guitar/kazoo duo and a guy playing a saw (yes, the tool) which, if you closed your eyes, sounded a lot like an aging B-grade opera singer…

In total, it was a fun and memorable morning, and undeniably a feast for all of the senses.

After the market, we strolled down the green to the Portland Art Museum for some culture. Unfortunately, one of the two buildings that comprise the museum complex was closed for a special event that night, but we were offered free entry to the one building that was open which housed the museum’s American and modern collections…

Guess we will just have to return another time to see the European and Asian collections. Darn.

All that culture made us downright hungry, so we headed east to 2nd Avenue and a popular Vietnamese restaurant called Luc Lac (835 SW 2nd Ave.). Being Saturday, the place was packed, as are most Portland restaurants on a weekend. But they have devised a brilliant tactic to get patrons through quickly. While standing in the queue to check in for a table, they provide menus and then take your order before seating you…sort of like a very high end, hipster Chipotle but with a full bar.

Menu at Luc Lac

The bar at Luc Lac

Within 10 minutes, we were seated at the bar. Having already placed our orders at the hostess stand, all that was left to do was enjoy or cocktails and wait for our food to arrive.

In an effort to eat a little lighter, I had ordered the shrimp-and-pork spring rolls and the Bo Tai Chanh (raw steak salad), both of which were delicious. As is the case with good Vietnamese food, fragrant fresh herbs play a leading role. In this case, the mint in the spring rolls and the abundant cilantro in the salad took the dishes to the next level. Mike ordered the pork Bahn Mi — an explosion of flavors and truly outstanding. Expertly prepared and well-balanced with a nice, crusty French bread, it was a winner.

After lunch, we headed to the SW quadrant to view a couple of residential open houses and then back to our ‘hood in the SE quadrant. One of the many great things about Portland, we’re finding, is the ease with which you can get from one neighborhood to another and the unique personalities of each. Once back in SE, we decided to park ourselves on the outdoor patio of OP Wurst (SE Division) and soak up the elusive sunshine. What better way to pass the afternoon than with beers in hand, listening to live music and watching people enjoy the sunny weather playing ping pong and corn hole? It just works, trust me.

Dinner that night proved to be a little trickier – a novice learning curve, you might say. Eager to try some of the great neighborhood restaurants, we headed out to Ava Gene’s on the corner only to find a wait of 1.5-2 hours for a table. Undeterred, we moved on down the street to Pok Pok – same 1.5-2 hour estimation there. Restaurants 3 and 4 – the same story. Even Salt & Straw, the ice cream shop, had a line down the block. Sufficiently disappointed and plenty hungry, we returned home to whip up some pasta and drown our sorrows in wine. Lesson learned – don’t go out on a Saturday night in Portland without a reservation or a very high level of patience.

Day 5:

Like many American households, Sunday means one thing: NFL. And when we’re on the road, it still means NFL; it just means we have to be a little more resourceful to find our game. Mike is a lot of things, but first and foremost he’s resourceful. Portland doesn’t have an NFL team, so most Portlanders adopt another team, typically the Seattle Seahawks. But we needed a bar that would be live streaming the Chicago Bears game. With a few Google searches, Mike found the Hobnob Grille which appeared to be a Bears-friendly bar. And boy was it! When we arrived, unsure of what we would find, we were greeted by a table of excitable, Bears jersey-wearing fans screaming expletives at the TV screen. It felt like home!

We grabbed two stools at the bar and ordered a round of very respectable Bloody Marys.

As we looked around, we noticed that absolutely everyone was dressed in Bears gear, including the staff. We had found our place!

We were expecting typical pub grub, but this is Portland and nothing is typical here. Even neighborhood corner bars have talented chefs and inspired menus. Since it was brunch time (Games start at 10 am Pacific time – something we will have to get used to. Bloodies help.), I ordered the pork belly benedict and Mike ordered the brisket and hash.

Pork belly benedict with BBQ beets at Hobnob Grille

Simply wow. The pork belly was incredibly tender and flavorful, and when layered with the soft egg and bacon-dripping hollandaise, it was ridiculous. The brisket and hash browns were equally delicious and highly recommended, but I think Mike was expecting something more resembling corned beef hash. Either way, he wasn’t disappointed. And I overheard the couple next to us repeatedly assert that the Philly omelette they ordered was the best omelette they had ever had. Quite a statement for an unassuming corner bar.

Yes, we have found our Bears go-to bar, and yes, we will be returning Thursday night for the Bears-Packers game. Hopefully it will bring us another win!

Sunday afternoon was filled with more residential open houses — one slightly encouraging, the other quite disappointing. But that’s the nature of house-hunting. After you see a lot of dogs, you really know when the right one comes around. It makes the hunt all the more compelling.

Later that evening, we were anxious to get out and grab some dinner. Seeing that it was Sunday, we hoped that we would have better luck than the night before getting in some place. But not willing to risk it, we made an advance reservation. Since it was a nice night, we decided to walk the dozen or so blocks to La Moule, a little Belgian restaurant tucked away in a tiny pocket neighborhood at SE Clinton and 26th. I’m learning the these quaint little pockets exist all over Portland. You turn a corner and boom, there’s yet another interesting pod of shops and restaurants.

La Moule is a lovely, sophisticated little corner restaurant, consisting of two narrow rooms and an open kitchen.

We were seated in the back room which, with its dim lighting and glowing bar, made for a nice, romantic atmosphere – a great place for a date!

As the name implies, La Moule specializes in mussels, a traditional Belgian dish. The typical ‘Mariniere’ preparation involves a mound of mussels swimming in a broth of shallots, tomatoes, garlic and wine. But La Moule offers several other variations, from Korean and Puttanesca to Saffron-infused. I selected the Vietnamese preparation with bone broth, bean sprouts, jalapeño, cilantro, mint and lime. (Sorry for the lame photo below.)

The mussels were plump and incredibly tender, and the fragrant herbs and bone broth added a balanced complexity. I didn’t think I could finish the entire bowl, but somehow I found the inner strength to power through. Mike order the lamb t-bone with crispy artichokes, baba ganoush and sea beans.

Again, due to the dim lighting, the photo doesn’t do justice to the dish, but hopefully you can see the delicately fried artichoke on the left because it was a little gem of deliciousness and deserves to be recognized. The accompanying lamb steak with a flavor-packed spice rub was prepared to perfection.

Despite being completely stuffed from the mountain of moules, I never seem to be able to pass on the temptation of a cheese plate…so bring it on! A beautiful selection of sheep’s milk, pungent gorgonzola dolce and ricotta-style goat — all locally produced and truly delicious — paired with a Belgian Westmalle Trappist ale. The perfect ending to a meal. And thankfully, we had a nice walk back to stretch our legs and encourage digestion. What will tomorrow bring?

Day-by-Day in PDX Living like locals in Portland, OR - our 2-week experiment (cont'd) Day 4: It's Saturday, and you know what that means...it's farmer's market time!

#bahn mi #Hobnob Grille #La Moule #Lamb t-bone #Luc Lac Vietnamese #OP Wurst #Portland Art Museum #Portland Farmer&039;s Market #Vietnamese-style mussels

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Living like locals in Portland, OR – Our 2-week Experiment

Our families and friends don’t understand why we want to move to Oregon. Why would we want to give up all the comforts of the Midwest to pack up and move halfway across the country? To that I say, why wouldn’t we?

Well, to all the naysayers, maybe this will change their minds…

So on this, the second of our investigative, fact-finding missions to Portland, I will keep an ongoing account of our explorations, so all can see the reasons why we’re so enamored with this weird and wonderful place.

First of all, the fun begins before you even land at PDX. If you’re heading east to west, you will want to reserve a window seat on the left side of the plane, so you can take full advantage of the awe-inspiring views of Mt. Hood, its peak capped in snow regardless of the season. At 11,250 feet of elevation, it sits almost eye level as you make your final descent into PDX.

But don’t worry if you can’t secure a seat on the left side — the views of the winding Columbia river from the right aren’t too bad either.

Another benefit of flying into Portland is the proximity of the airport to town. To be honest, that was one of the features, among many others, that originally attracted us to Portland…we wanted to have easy access to an international airport. And in Portland, depending on where you live or where you’re staying, you can be there in 15-25 minutes.

As soon as we arrived at our destination, our home base for the next two weeks (a million thank yous, HM!), we bee-lined for a late lunch at the brick-and-mortar outpost of Op Wurst Sausage Bar on SE Division St. (they also have a stand at Pine Street Market). Owned and operated by the meat-centric brains behind Portland’s acclaimed Olympia Provisions, I knew their butchery expertise would shine through in their encased meats (i.e. sausages). I opted for their Daily Dog special, a “BLT,” and a local amber ale. Turns out, the so-called Daily Dog wasn’t a dog at all; it was, in fact, a BLT sandwich — and a very good one at that. With plenty of excellent quality bacon and homemade garlic aoli that was so good I wanted to take a bath in it, it was definitely a winner…even if it wasn’t the sausage I was expecting (and I was awfully curious to see how they were going to stuff bacon, lettuce and tomato into a sausage casing).

Sticking to his roots, Mike ordered the house made Italian sausage with grilled peppers and onions. He gave it high marks for its respectable fennel-spiked flavor (any Italian sausage worth its weight must be long on the fennel), and that’s saying a lot from a guy who has sampled quite a few Italian sausages in his lifetime! And please don’t overlook their fries which are quite good, especially with a side of the aforementioned garlic aoli for dipping.

After lunch, we decided to check out the local Fred Meyer grocery store to pick up a few staples for the kitchen. I don’t have a lot to say about Fred Meyer except that I don’t need to go back any time soon. A cross between a meh grocery, a pharmacy and a Target, it offers a bit of this and a bit of that and specializes in absolutely nothing. It’s like one of those restaurants that advertises that they have gyros, pizza, fried chicken and sushi. Really? Why don’t you stick to one thing and do it well.

Returning back to the house, we unloaded the groceries, still full from lunch, and realized that we probably wouldn’t want or need dinner after all. We both agreed it would be a wine and cheese night in our pajamas instead.

Day 2: Up at a reasonable hour (which is never a guarantee when traveling from east to west and factoring in the backward time change), we were anxious to hit one of Portland’s innumerable coffee establishments. And since it was just up the street, we started with Stumptown’s flagship coffee shop on SE Division. Set in a small, unassuming storefront on a mostly residential block, its hard to comprehend that that is where it all began for the now nationally recognized coffee roaster. But we all know that size doesn’t matter, and there was no doubt that they know their way around a cup of java. I ordered the decaf mocha (as always) and Mike the latte. Completely sublime. Enough said.

Refueled and ready to go, we spent the morning scouting neighborhoods and feeling our way around the city until it was time to make the daunting decision of where we would choose for lunch. Based on proximity to where we were at the time, we opted for Lardo on 12th and Washington. In case you didn’t know, there’s a sandwich war going on in Portland, and it’s dog eat dog. Many name the front runners as Lardo, Bunk and Meat Cheese Bread. We plan to try all three while we’re here and make our own assessment, so we started with Lardo. It wasn’t an easy task to select just two items from their inspired menu, but we finally agreed on splitting the Italian Cubano and the Korean Pork Shoulder. Regardless of which you choose, I don’t think you could possibly go wrong here (the chicken meatball bahn mi is rumored to be unreal). Both our choices were flavor-packed stacks of goodness, but we both agreed that the Korean pork number stole the show. The tender and tasty pork paired with crunchy kimchi and Sriracha mayo got a double thumbs up. And the magic doesn’t end with the ‘wiches — don’t miss their garlic parmesan fries sprinkles with sea salt and rosemary!

The afternoon consisted of more house-hunting and a trip to Blue Star Doughnuts (recommended by the more discerning critics over the more well-known Voodoo Doughnuts — but I’m personally still, and always will be, a Krispy Kreme devotee). Then, being just close enough to cocktail hour (it’s 5:00 somewhere), we decided to head back to our neighborhood and to The Woodsman Tavern which happens to be next door to Stumptown Coffee, where we started our day eight hours earlier.

Over cocktails — an expertly prepared Manhattan for Mike and a delicious local rose for me — we devised a plan for the next day. After consulting the weather chart, Mike said smugly, “Hey, you wanna go to the coast tomorrow?” And, of course I replied, “Absolutely!” Because, why not?

Once again too full and too lazy to make dinner, we ordered a small pizza and called it a night, excited to get an early start the next day.

Day 3: Bright and early, we were on our way to get our first glimpse of the Oregon coast. Undaunted by overcast skies, we grabbed a coffee to go (even the Starbucks cups are cooler out here!) and set the GPS for the town of Tillamook. As we headed west on Route 6 with Portland in the rearview mirror, the clouds began to dissipate and the sun broke through, just as the forecast had promised.

The first thing I noticed was that we were out of Portland proper in no time and with relative ease. Within minutes, the shopping malls and local commerce were replaced by hilly terrain and ridiculously scenic rolling farmlands. We’re definitely not in flatland Illinois any more! We wound through the verdant Tillamook Mountains, awed by the mischievous clouds playing hide and seek between the dips and crevices of the hills.

In just over an hour, we arrived in Tillamook. Most notable for its cheese production, Tillamook also enjoys an enviable position on the Tillamook Bay.

As we descended out of the mountains and approached the town, we noticed one consistent and overiding theme — dairy farms. And where there are dairy farms, there are cows. Brown ones, tawny ones, black-and-white ones — all lazily munching on grass in the picture-perfect valley with the mountains providing shelter on all sides. I think there must be no better place to be a cow.

We passed through the town of Tillamook and skirted around the bay to the tiny oceanfront hamlet of Cape Meares, where we parked the car and headed straight to the beach for our first glimpse of the Oregon coast.

No, it did not disappoint. My first impression, aside from its obvious natural beauty: you truly feel as if you’re at the end of the earth. (And if the tsunami evacuation signs are any indication, maybe you are.)

Also, I was expecting a rockier coastline, so the exceptionally wide, sandy beach was a bit of a surprise. Strewn with the sculptural carcasses of enormous petrified trees that had washed ashore in one storm or another, it was truly a thing of incomparable beauty.

I easily could have stayed all day, breathing in the fresh sea air and walking the beach, but our stomachs had other plans and lunch was calling. So, we returned to the car reluctantly, but knowing that we would return again very soon…as Oregon residents.

Heading back through the town of Tillamook, we arrived at The Fish Peddler in Bayside, a casual restaurant, market and oyster processing facility that prepares hundreds of oysters a day for their local clientele and for shipment all over the country.

Unfortunately, they don’t offer an outside patio or a view of the bay — which is a shame since we were lucky to be there on a gorgeous day — but the food more than makes up for that minor deficit. (Our car, on the other hand, had a lovely view of the bay from the parking lot – below.)

We started with a cup of their clam chowder – always a good way to assess the real worth of a seafood restaurant. They passed with flying colors. It was properly thick and creamy without being pasty or cloying. With an unexpected hint of bacon, it was truly outstanding.

We followed the soup with a half dozen of their raw oyster shooters – my first Pacific oysters. They were nice-sized and very fresh, but too cold for my preference. I suggest removing them from the bed of shaved ice, allowing them sit for a few minutes to come to room temp. I also prefer mine still in the shell. Served in plastic cups, I missed the “liquor” that typically collects in the shells and provides the delicious briny flavor.

Their baked oysters, which are available in a half dozen different preparations, were truly inspired. We chose their Kilchis style, named for a neighboring cove a half mile away, which exploded with flavor from the pesto, Parmesan and hot sauce. Outstanding!

Baked oysters with pesto, parm and hot sauce – The Fish Peddler, Tillamook, OR

The tuna melt was one of the best I’ve ever had. Upon arrival, it idn’t look like much, but the flavor made up for anything lost in its presentation. Let’s be honest, on paper, a tuna melt doesn’t make any sense — warm mayo-based tuna salad and cheese. Who pairs fish and cheese? It sounds terrible by any estimation. But somehow it works. And this one excelled in every sense. Made with locally caught and smoked tuna and Tilamook cheddar from around he corner, it was sublime.

Mike’s oyster po’boy was equally outstanding. The plump oysters were lightly dredged in flavorful herb breadcrumbs and quick fried. And the homemade tartar sauce was flecked with minced dill pickle, just the way it should be.

After lunch, we headed back through Tillamook, stopping in at the cheese factory, of course — an impressive facility indeed. Milk from the local dairy farms is turned into cheese or ice cream within 24 hours. And every day they churn out 170,000 pounds of cheese, keeping the cows and the factory very busy!

Then, we were off to the town of Oceanside and the coastal lighthouse at Cape Meares State Park. Built in the late 1800s, the lighthouse has since been decommissioned and its once vital function replaced by satellite navigation. But it remains a worthy tourist draw. (The free guided tour of the lighthouse was very informative and worth the time.)

If not for the lighthouse itself, then certainly go for the massive views of the Oregon coastline and a visit to the odd 8-armed Octopus Tree. With a 46-foot circumference and more than 105 feet in height, the 250+-year-old tree remains a mystery. Was it shaped by Mother Nature or by Indian hands? We’ll probably never know, but it’s a thing of beauty and curiosity nonetheless.

Seeing that it was nearly 4:00 pm, we decided to begin our return trip to Portland. Retracing our steps past the bay and back through the Tillamook Mountains, we made the trip in about an hour and a half, not bad for Friday at rush hour. Back at the house, we decided to kick back with some cocktails and a jigsaw puzzle. Later, we prepared some cavatelli with fresh tomato and basil sauce and watched Narcos. Maybe tomorrow we’ll actually venture out for dinner. Maybe.

Highlight of the day…

Day-by-Day in PDX Living like locals in Portland, OR - Our 2-week Experiment Our families and friends don't understand why we want to move to Oregon.

#2 weeks in Portland #Lardo Portland #Op Wurst Portland #Oregon coast #PDX #Portland OR #Stumptown Coffee Roasters #The Fish Peddler #The Woodsman Tavern #Tillamook OR

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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South-of-the-Border Skirt Steak

Tailgating this weekend? Having an end-of-summer BBQ? This easy skirt steak is the answer!

A tailgater’s best friend… Skirt steak has long been one of my favorite cuts of beef. It’s juicy and flavorful, and it’s a great grilling steak. So, before grilling season completely skirts us, I want to share with you a skirt steak rub that I created a few years ago and has become a family favorite. I would also like to add that this makes excellent tailgate fare! It can be quick grilled on…

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#Ceylon cinnamon #Mexican skirt steak rub #skirt steak #skirt steak rub #tailgating #The Spice House

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Cukes, cukes and more cukes… Got cukes? I've got bushels. So I thought this would be a good time to re-post my blog entry from this time last summer when my garden was also flush with cucumbers.

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Meyer Lemon and Gin Slushees

Gin and juice is the quintessential summertime refresher, and this frozen variation made with Meyer lemons adds a whole new element of fun to an old favorite. It’s a little sweet, a little tart and a whole lot of cool — like an adult Slurpee! With its sunny yellow color and flecks of lemon zest, it even looks like summer. I served these in shot glasses at our recent neighborhood picnic, but it…

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#Adult Slurpee #Frozen gin cocktail #Gin and juice #Lemon and gin slushee #Meyer lemon and gin cocktail #Meyer lemons #Orange Flower Water #Summer gin cocktail

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Part Due: The riches of the Montepulciano Region

“In vino veritas.” (In wine there is truth.) – Pliny, the Elder, 23-79 A.D.

Italy, though smaller in size than France or California, is actually the world’s largest wine-producing country and one of the oldest, dating back to Etruscan times (from which the name ‘Tuscany’ is derived). With 20 wine regions stretching from its north to south end, Italy also offers the most variety of wines. Looking closely at the center of the map below, you will notice the large pale blue area (Tuscany) that makes up a good portion of Italy’s central wine-producing region. Within that area, many of the most notable wines come from the world-renowned Chianti and Montepulciano regions, where the climate and soil conditions seem to be ideally suited to growing the Montepulciano and Sangiovese grapes for which the region is lauded.

If you read Part One of this post, you will recall that our 12-day tour of Italy was broken down into 3 distinct regions. The first, the Chianti region, is located in the northernmost part of Tuscany, just south of Florence. (If you missed that post and would like to read more about the beautiful Chianti region, including Radda, Volpaia, San Gimignano and more, please click here.) For Part Two, we travel slightly south to the famous Montepulciano region, another of Italy’s renowned wine-producing territories.

Rising early on day 4, we were anxious to begin the second leg of our journey, starting with the hilltop town of Montepulciano — from which the surrounding wine region takes its name — and then on to our second lodging — a private medieval tower in the tiny hamlet of Monticchiello.

The drive to Montepulciano from Radda in Chianti is a quick hour and a quarter on the autostrade. A couple of important things to note about driving in Italy: 1) a good GPS is a must — preload it with maps of Italy before you go; and 2) Italian drivers are quite a bit more aggressive than American drivers. They drive faster, and they have a tendency to tailgate…a lot. 3) The unspoken rule about driving on the autostrade is that you never linger in the fast lane, as drivers tend to do in America. The left lane is for passing only. Once you have overtaken the car ahead of you, you must return to the right lane immediately to allow others to pass. And if you don’t comply, other drivers aren’t afraid to remind you by attaching themselves to your back bumper (refer to tip #2). Take my word for it, and just stick to the right lane unless you are passing.

After exiting the autostrade, we arrived at the outskirts of Montepulciano to find traffic backed up for at least a mile from the centro vecchio (old center) and the polizia turning cars away. It wasn’t clear why traffic was being rerouted, but we opted to follow the other cars that were veering off the main road and parking along the side streets. We were quite a distance from the old town center, but we had comfortable shoes and embraced the opportunity to walk off a tiny bit of the food that we had been storing up in our ever-increasing bellies, like camels amassing water for a long desert journey.

As we approached the city gates, we realized that the traffic was the result of a large festival with dozens of vendors selling a variety of wares and food items along the streets and piazzas. Little did we know that May 1st is a national holiday, “Festa dei Lavoratori” (Italian Labor Day), so locals from all around the region had come to Montepulciano for a day of eating, drinking and festivities. Aside from the inconvenience of the expanded crowds and traffic, it was wonderful to see local families out in full force, celebrating their much-deserved day off.

On any given day, Montepulciano is a must-see destination. A beautifully preserved medieval city, it is much larger than others we had visited on this trip, but no less charming as a result of its grander scale. In fact, with its winding cobblestone streets, narrow passageways and grand piazzas, it oozes old world charm. And because it caters to locals as well as tourists, it has many shops of substance selling lovely local products, as well as innumerable restaurants and cafes.

With all of the festivities and extra foot traffic, we were extremely glad that we had an advance reservation for lunch at L’Altro Cantuccio Ristorante. The entrance to L’Altro Cantuccio is hidden down a tiny alley off of the main artery, Via di Gracciano del Corso. It’s easy to miss, but you won’t want to. This was one of the best meals we had during our 10 days in Tuscany. If the artichoke flan (bottom left) is on the menu, grab it. It’s light, airy and simply packed with flavor, especially when paired with the local white wine, Papeo Vermentino Reserva, which is creamy and well-balanced. When in Tuscany, Mike always likes to order the pici whenever he gets the chance, and this was no exception. Pici, similar to bucatini but without the hole, is a regional pasta variation and typically found only in Tuscany. Featuring a delicious wild boar ragu and fresh fava beans (in season in May), his pasta was quite impressive. But the winning dish was without question the hand-made tonnarelli, a regional hand-pulled pasta, flavored with local Nobile de Montepulciano wine and paired with bacon, zucchini and pecorino (below).

The complexity and originality of this dish was beyond words. There are many things that Tuscans do extremely well — the obvious pasta, wine and cheese, come quickly to mind — but right up there at the top of the list is the production of top-quality pork products, especially cured meats such as prosciutto, salami, and bacon. I don’t know what they do to make their bacon so darn good, but it was by and far the best I’ve ever had. So good, in fact, that it warranted its own photo (below) to illustrate its inherent beauty. Look at that perfect marbleization and the seductively translucent ribbon of fat.

After a truly inspired meal at L’Altro Cantuccio, we wandered around Montepulciano, casually enjoying the sights and some shopping. You could easily spend an entire day in Montepulciano, so plan accordingly. But be warned that the streets are extremely steep, so it’s not for the faint of heart. On a hot summer day, the trek up to the main piazza atop town (below) can be pretty grueling, especially if you’re traveling with small children.

Before we knew it, it was time to work our way back to our car (this time thankfully downhill!) and head off for the neighboring village of Monticchiello, just a 10-minute drive, where we would find our lodging for the next three nights — our own private medieval tower (‘torre’) nestled into the ancient stone wall that surrounds the town.

La Torre di Carlo (center) at the very top of the village of Monticchiello.

We were met in the parking lot just outside of the main entrance to the village by Giusi, the charming son of the owner of La Torre di Carlo. Since visitors are not allowed to drive into the village, Guisi graciously transferred all of our belongings into his car and drove us up through frightfully narrow cobblestone streets to the highest point in the village, where La Torre affords a spectacular 360-degree view of the surrounding countryside.

La Torre di Carlo, Monticchiello

The unabashedly enchanting, La Torre di Carlo is the perfect nest for two guests. Despite being centuries old and part of the town’s medieval fortifications, it has been aptly updated with all the modern conveniences and very attractive decor. A soaring spiral staircase starts in the compact, but sufficient ground floor kitchen and leads first to the second floor sitting area with expansive views of the village and valley below. One more flight up and you find the snug but inviting bedroom (bottom left), also with panoramic views, and then on to the top floor and the remarkably modern bathroom, featuring a stunning view of the neighboring town of Pienza from the peek-a-boo window in the shower.

From the bedroom’s massive picture window, we soaked up the bird’s-eye view of the lush, sun-dappled terrain — as well as the spires and towers of the opposing hilltop town of Pienza, once the feudal enemy of Montecchiello — and for miles and miles beyond.

View from La Torre di Carlo

Even on a rainy day, the view of the countryside from the tower is astoundingly beautiful…

The sun setting behind Pienza illuminates the velvety fields, creates long, imposing shadows from the region’s indigenous cypress trees…

Torre di Carlo’s vine-covered terrace is the perfect place to take in the sunset with a bottle of local Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Among the innumerable charms of Monticchiello, and really all of the Tuscan villages, is the peaceful aura that settles over the town after the last of the tour buses has departed at the end of the day. Suddenly, as if all at once, you experience a distinct sense of calm and feel incredibly lucky to be left behind as evening casts its shadows over the village. You become mesmerized by the precious silence, broken only by the sound of chirping birds or the toll of the village bell tower. That’s when I really like to explore a town and capture the nuances of its innate beauty with my camera. Of course, I do realize that Mike and I ourselves are also tourists, covetously infiltrating the centuries-old town that others are lucky enough to call home, but as we are comfortably settled on the inviting terrace of our private medieval tower, we feel a tranquil sense of belonging.

[Side note: From my experiences, the most unforgettable place to be after hours is the town of Assisi. After all of the tourists have left for the day, the town fills with the ethereal sound of the monks’ low, droning chants as they make their way to evening prayers. If you choose to visit Assisi, I highly recommend you plan to stay overnight. It is a completely different, and utterly magical experience than the one you will find if you visit during the day alongside thousands of other tourists.]

La Cantina de la Porta, Monticchiello

Despite being such a tiny enclave, Monticchiello has a few surprisingly impressive restaurants, two of which — La Cantina de la Porta and Osteria La Porta — are run by the same owners, yet maintain very distinct personas in ambiance and menu offerings. The first night we arrived in Monticchiello, despite the rain, we decided to amble down the hill to La Cantina de la Porta (everything in Monticchiello is no more than a 5-minute walk). The more contemporary of the two, the newly renovated La Cantina (right) is refreshing and light-filled, accented with pale wood furniture and a giant clock face displayed on a multi-hued egg crate-covered wall. Their antipasti platter — all sourced locally — was divine, especially the finocchiona (salami with fennel seed), as was the house-made ravioli. Their extensive wine list proved to be too tempting for our indecisive sensibilities, so we ultimately ordered two bottles — one of the region’s renowned Brunellos for Mike and the Antinori “Bramito” chardonnay for me. After dinner, our server graciously re-corked what remained of the wines to ease transport back to La Torre for a later date.

In the morning, we anxiously awoke and threw open the floor-to-ceiling drapes to discover that the rains had moved on and had been replaced with low misty wisps of clouds dipping down between the rolling, green hills — a magical scene to be sure. With a full day ahead of us, we were quick to rise and set off to begin our circular tour of southern Tuscany.

View from La Torre di Carlo, Monticchiello

In advance of our Italian journey, Mike had completed extensive research to determine the very best route that would allow us to see as much as possible without spending extended amounts of time in the car. Let me reiterate that a good GPS is essential when navigating these country roads where a missed turn can get you way off track and off schedule. Here is the itinerary he created (red route, counterclockwise starting and ending in Monticchiello):

First stop, Pienza — the opposing hilltop village that we could see from La Torre — where we would find a cafe to grab a quick breakfast and review our route for the day.

Village of Pienza, in Tuscany, Italy

Arriving early in Pienza, we found convenient parking just outside of town (like most Tuscan towns, Pienza is pedestrian only) and walked directly to the piazza centrale by the town’s main church to seek out a coffee shop. We soon discovered that we were not the only ones with that idea; however, we were the only tourists among many locals. In Italy, everyone sits and enjoys their coffee over conversation with friends or opts to stand at the coffee bar to sip and chat, but no one…repeat no one…takes their coffee to go. In fact, the American practice of walking around with coffee in hand is considered gauche, uncivilized and, well, American. So, when in Italy, Mike and I fully embrace their custom of sitting, sipping coffee and enjoying the parade of passers-by…and the piazza centrale in Pienza is a perfect locale for people-watching. Stylish ladies with high heels and colorful hair (Italian ladies seem to love rainbow hues) walked their dogs, while their husbands ventured inside to order cappuccinos and croissants. Back out on the sun-warmed terrace facing the cathedral, they passed the morning with coffee and chiacchierare (chatting).

After our very satisfying morning repast (why, why, why is Italian coffee so darn good?!!), we wandered through the town of Pienza, a truly charming enclave which still brandishes its medieval past with aplomb. Pienza is not a large town and can be covered in less than an hour, but be sure not to miss the lovely pedestrian pathway behind the cathedral which offers remarkable views of the surrounding countryside (bottom).

View from the town of Pienza, Italy

In order to complete our circular route by late afternoon, it was time to get on the road towards our next stop: San Quirico d’Orcia. A mere 15-minute drive from Pienza, San Quirico d’Orcia is another small Tuscan town worth a stop, if you have the time. Spend a half hour or so wandering around the town, stopping at the lovely Romanesque church, below (where you may find a painting class in progress, as we did), and plan to browse a bit on the colorful shopping and dining street, Via Diomede Leoni (right). As we departed, Mike and I both agreed that San Quirico is the type of town that we could actually live in, should we ever be lucky enough to relocate to Italy — it’s large enough to possess the fundamental infrastructural elements one needs, yet still small enough, and utterly charming enough, to make you feel every bit of its centuries-old history.

Back on the road, we were heading to our third stop, the historic, fortress-guarded town of Montalcino, most notable for its world-famous wine, Brunello di Montalcino. We started with a brief visit to the 14th-century fortress which is, naturally, entered through the rustic wine shop and enoteca (wine bar). Purchase your tickets at the bar, and they will pull back the velvet rope to allow you access to the steep wooden staircase leading to the fortress anterooms. Look for a niche carved into the stone wall of the back room to locate the hidden staircase (very narrow!) up to the parapets. From there, you are rewarded for your efforts with an outstanding view over the distinctive red tiled rooftops of the town and the vast surrounding region (below).

View from the fortress in Montalcino, Italy

Return down the same way you came up and consider pausing for a glass of wine at the outdoor cafe, attractively situated within the fortress walls. Or continue on to the center of town where you will find many good wine bars, tasting rooms and restaurants from which to choose. To pinpoint the center of Montalcino’s main shopping and dining area, just look up to locate the tall bell tower (below and above) which will lead you to the bustling Piazza del Popolo.

Piazza del Popolo, Montalcino, Italy

If you’re particularly hungry, you can select from one of the many restaurants on the piazza that offers outdoor seating (some also offer valley views from their interior restaurant areas). But my suggestion would be to wait for lunch (see below) and simply sit, sip one of the region’s wonderful wines and take in the picture-perfect scenery. As you work your way back to your car, stock up at one of the many wine shops or stop into the leather goods store on Via Panfilo dell’Oca for fine leather products — purses, belts, jackets, etc. — at reasonable prices. (Note: many shops close by 1:00 pm.)

For lunch, I recommend one of two options: 1) You might consider a stopover at the Fattoria dei Barbi winery on your way out of town. They offer free winery tours and have a wonderful restaurant and cantina. OR 2) Procure picnic food items (wine, cheeses, salumi, bread) in one of the many shops in Montalcino and head straight for Abbazia di Sant’Antimo, the next stop on our circular tour, and just 9 km (5.5 miles) away.

Situated in a tranquil valley surrounded by terraced vineyards and rolling hills, Abbazia di Sant’Antimo is the perfect picnic destination. The idyllic, protected site was originally occupied by a Benedictine monastery, said to date back to Charlemagne’s time in the 9th century. The existing Romanesque Abbey can be documented back to 1118, a date that can be found inscribed into the altar step. “This was the period of greatest power of the abbey, which had authority over 38 churches, from Pisa to Grosseto, and control of about 1000 mansi, or farm estates, throughout Tuscany. The most important possession of the abbey was the castle of Montalcino, which was the residence of the abbot.” [Wikipedia] Over time, Sant’Antimo lost power to Montalcino and the abbey was abandoned and eventually fell into a state of disrepair. In the 1870s, the Italian state restored it to its original grandeur, and today you can once again hear the melodious chants echoing throughout the imposing stone walls, as the current monks in residence recite their daily canons.

Abbazia di Sant’Antimo

The sprawling grounds of the Abbey make the perfect location for a picnic or an afternoon siesta in the sun. Be sure to walk around and admire the towering Cyprus trees and the gnarly, centuries-old olive trees scattered around the grounds.

Ancient olive tree on the grounds of Abbazia de Sant’Antimo

Tuscan olive tree

Detail of olive tree

After enjoying a little down time at Abbazia di Sant’Antimo’s serene surroundings, it’s time to head out once again for the 5th and final stop on our tour. (Note: there are many other worthwhile villages to see on this circular route, including Castelnuovo dell’Abate and Castiglione d’Orcia, but for time’s sake, Mike selected only five stops so that we could make the most of each visit.) And be sure to factor in time to stop along the way to capture the astounding beauty of the region, such as this stunning golden carpet of flowering rape seed (used to make canola oil):

Field of flowering rape seed, Tuscany

Continue south and east, approximately 14 miles from the Abbey, towards Poggio and Castiglione d’Orcia, until you reach Bagno Vignoni. As the name suggests, this was, and still is, the site of volcanically warmed thermal baths which date back to Roman times. Located along the main route that pilgrims traversed to reach Rome, weary travelers and those who suffered from a variety of ailments, would stop to take advantage of the restorative waters. Today, you can still see the ruins of the early Roman baths and saunas. Don’t miss the unique village square which is dominated by a large pool (below) that contains the source of the underground volcanic aquifer that feeds the baths.

Bagno Vignoni

Sculpture at Bagno Vignoni

“Do as the Romans,” they say, so I didn’t waste the opportunity to soak my tired feet in the naturally warmed spring that runs through the village, a welcome respite at the end of a long day of touring. Temporarily revived, it was time to head back to Monticchiello and our cozy tower for a well-earned cocktail on the terrace.

Our second night in Monticchiello, we decided to try the Cantina’s sister restaurant, Osteria La Porta, which had come highly recommended for the excellent quality of both its food and service. Located immediately inside the village’s main entry gate (right), the restaurant maintains an enviable position for attracting both tourists and locals. We had hoped to sit on the outdoor terrace, but the weather proved to be too cool that evening, so the terrace was closed. But not a problem, as the interior of the restaurant exudes coziness with its quintessentially Italian decor. High beamed ceilings give a sense of openness to an otherwise snug space, while walls covered with wine- and produce-laden cupboards add warmth and charm.

Interior of Osteria La Porta, Monticchiello

Asparagus Flan, Osteria La Porta

Tables are close enough to strike up a conversation with your neighbor, which we did eagerly, comparing notes on photography with the couple on one side, while learning quite a bit of useful information about the University of Wisconsin from the very affable mother-daughter duo on the other. The amiable owner, Daria, even joined in for much of the friendly chit chat, and all were happy to discuss the highlights of the menu, of which there were many. Mike and I started with the Insalata di Lingua (beef tongue salad) and a deliciously light and flavorful asparagus flan (right). The restaurant, and the region as a whole, is known for the characteristically Tuscan Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a plentiful T-bone or porterhouse steak, simply rubbed with salt and pepper, and grilled rare (don’t ask for it otherwise). Unless you have an extremely hardy American appetite, it is intended to be shared between two people. We ordered it in the traditional Tuscan way, accompanied by a side of lemon-infused cannellini (white) beans and an arugula salad. As usual, the cut was so plentiful that the two of us together barely made a dent. Daria graciously prepared a “doggie bag’ for us which we gladly took back to La Torre for the following night’s dinner alla casa.

Bistecca alla fiorentina, Osteria La Porta

Amaretti Bagnati nel Caffe, Osteria La Porta

Normally, if I can’t finish my dinner, I pass on dessert, but in this case, I’m very glad I didn’t follow my own doctrine. I love a good tiramisu — who doesn’t?! — and I didn’t think that that sublime combination of flavors could ever be improved upon, BUT…that was before I met Osteria La Porta’s Amaretti Bagnati nel Caffe (right). This blissful blend of amaretti biscotti dipped in coffee and served with marscapone and chantilly cream is sheer perfection. Daria described the concoction’s simple preparation which I am determined to try next time I have guests over (and I will certainly share the results with you then).

If you are lucky enough to visit Monticchiello during the warmer months, be sure to book ahead so you can secure a seat on their lovely outdoor terrace which is atop the town’s medieval wall and enjoys a spectacular view of the Val d’Orcia landscape below.

Terrace at Osteria La Porta

Terrace at Osteria La Porta, Monticchiello

The following morning, we set off on another adventure of sorts. Truly, every day spent in Tuscany is an adventure — you never know what you will discover around the next bend or what surprises may lie ahead in the next town. But in this case, we really didn’t know what we would find when we arrived for our 10:00 am appointment at the curiosity known as La Scarzuola, located an hour and twenty minutes from Monticchiello, just beyond the town of Montegabbione in Umbria.

About a week before leaving for Tuscany, I had thrown a figurative wrench in Mike’s tightly organized itinerary by telling him about a bizarre compound, a fantastical villa of sorts, that I had stumbled upon unexpectedly through social media. With some slight modifications, we were able to rearrange the plan to include a morning boondoggle to La Scarzuola (below).

La Scarzuola, Montegabbione, Italy

Originally a Franciscan convent, founded by St. Francis of Assisi himself in 1218, the property is set in an isolated and serene landscape in the rolling Umbrian hills. From Monticchiello, we followed the autostrade south to the town of Fabro, where we began the windy route up towards the tiny hamlet of Montegabbione. Just past Montegabbione, we saw signage for La Scarzuola and followed the narrow, unpaved road for a couple of miles before reaching the compound’s imposing gates.

Possibly because of its remote location, or perhaps due to a shift in religious power, the original monastery eventually fell out of favor and into ruin. In 1956, the remaining deteriorating structures and accompanying property were purchased by an eccentric Milan architect named Tomaso Buzzi. For two decades, Buzzi set out to carefully reconstruct the existing church, as well as create his own Utopian “city” on the sprawling grounds.

La Scarzuola

Buzzi took inspiration from some of history’s most significant architects, artists and notable structures — from the Acropolis in Athens to the Coliseum in Rome, the Parthenon, the Pantheon, Villa d’Este and much more. His resulting “citta ideale” (ideal city) is an intriguing, yet inexplicable mash-up of famous facades (all empty inside) in miniature form, jumbled together as if one rambling assemblage of follies. Somehow, from his semi-controlled madness arose a kind of disorderly Wonderland-esque order.

Upon Buzzi’s death in 1981, the property was passed down to his nephew, Marco, who leads the Italian-speaking tours with great pomp and flair (his British partner, Brian, leads the English-speaking tours). We arrived a few minutes past our reservation time and found the gates already closed, so we tugged the pull-rope which clanged the old monastery bell, and eventually Brian arrived to allow us entry. After hearing our distinctly American accents, he informed us that the morning’s tour would be offered in Italian only (apparently my email correspondence in Italian was so convincing, they thought we were Italian). But since we had come such a long way, we agreed to follow the Italian-speaking tour regardless.

With my limited Italian, I was able to understand only bits and pieces of Marco’s speed-talking dialogue, but it was apparent that he very much enjoyed the sound of his voice and was quite entertained by his own sense of humor, much more so than his guests, evidently, who at times appeared disinterested and a bit restless. However, despite the long-winded verbal accompaniment, Buzzi’s structures are most curious and amusing. The cacophany of architectural styles and designs are cleverly juxtaposed one next to another — an amphitheater, 6 additional theaters, a myriad of stairs leading to nowhere, a whimsical numberless clock, several Dali-esque decorative features and a larger-than-life nude, to name a few — which together create a surreal and slightly bizarre, yet fascinating, composite.

La Scarzuola

If you plan to be in the region and don’t mind veering off the beaten path, I would say that La Scarzuola is definitely worth a visit (and I hear that Brian leads a witty and engaging English-speaking tour). However, being unable to sufficiently follow Marco’s rambling Italian discourse (and possibly being a bit distracted by the rumbling of our stomachs), we stealthily peeled away from the group and followed our imaginary breadcrumbs back to the entrance where we found our trusty car ready to transport us to our next destination: Lago Trasimeno in the province of Perugia (most notably associated with the world-famous Perugina brand of confections, including the familiar Baci “kisses,” which are prevalent everywhere from coffee shops to gas stations).

[Side note: If a visit to La Scarzuola seems too remote or simply doesn’t appeal, you might consider an alternate day trip to the province of Perugia that would include visits to Lago Trasimeno, the city of Perugia (tour the chocolate factory or take a confectionery class, perugina.com), and the unmistakably beautiful medieval town of Assisi.]

A pretty little lake, slightly smaller in size than its fashionable cousin, Lake Como, to the north, Lago Trasimeno is far less famous but not without its alluring qualities.

Lago Trasimeno

We arrived at the charming, lakefront town of Castiglione del Lago just in time for lunch at the tiny enoteca L’Angelo del Buon Gustaio. Located right on the town’s main pedestrian thoroughfare, Via Vittorio Emanuele, it could easily be mistaken for a storefront, which it is, but it also serves admirable antipasti platters and fine wines.

Owned by a congenial, young Italian couple, L’Angolo del Buon Gustaio (“The corner of good taste”) offers a very limited menu, but that doesn’t detract from its exceptional appeal one bit. Simply order the sharing plate and let Ricardo make the selections for you from their vast inventory of locally sourced meats and cheeses. Our masterpiece including a wide selection of outstanding and exotic cured meats — assorted salamis (including duck and deer), prosciutto, Parma ham, bresaola, etc. — a variety of aged pecorinos, a homemade quince paste and lovely fresh bread. A veritable feast for the eyes and the stomach!

Antipasti at L’Angolo del Buon Gustaio, Castiglione del Lago

Before departing their company, we did a little shopping inside their pocket-sized store, where we picked up some local pici and a gorgeous prosciutto to bring home to our girls back in Chicago. With full bellies and delectable goodies in hand, we bid farewell to our lovely hosts and wandered through town to the fortress overlooking the lake. From there, we decided to head down to the lakefront park for a little siesta in the sun.

Lake Trasimeno has three islands but only one — Isola Maggiore — that is inhabited. If you have the time, catch the ferry from Castiglione del Lago to Isola Maggiore and visit the tiny fishing village that dates back to the 14th century, as well as the 19th-century Guglielmi castle (currently closed for restoration but still a place of interest).

Lago Trasimeno

With a 45-minute drive still ahead of us, in addition to a grocery stop to procure the necessary provisions for our evening meal alla casa, it was time to begin our return trip to Monticchiello. By the way, if you want to get a real taste for any foreign location, just visit a local grocery store. Mike and I always try to walk through a grocery, even if we don’t need to buy anything, just to see what interesting items we can find and what local shoppers are buying. Throughout our travels, we have discovered some good markets, some not-so-good ones, and some truly memorable ones; but regardless, I always find something of interest, and in this case, I unearthed gorgeous, hand-picked arugula and vibrant, fresh-from-the-vine fava beans.

Once we were back at La Torre, we got right to work preparing our meal. Mike prepped the tomatoes, garlic and basil for the pici, while I started in on the fava beans. Shucking fava beans can be a time-consuming endeavor but made all the more palatable with a glass of wine and a stunning view (right). Fava beans have two shells that need to be removed in order to get to the bright green inner legume. First you must split open the soft outer pod to reach the interior beans, each of which is encased in a tightly sealed skin. It’s a labor of love to be sure, but completely worth it. Frozen fava beans are sometimes available, but I find that they don’t compare to fresh, so when in season, I gladly grab them and start shucking!

Mike and I always love to work in the kitchen together, and this endeavor was no exception. Cooking in someone else’s kitchen with limited resources is not without its challenges, but complications aside, we had a ball whipping up our Tuscan meal in our Tuscan cucina!

Inspired by the exquisite lunch we enjoyed two days prior at L’Altro Cantuccio in Montepulciano, we quickly blanched the fava beans and tossed them with some aged pecorino, a hefty squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of good EVOO to create a delicious salad for the spicy arugula. We topped the homemade pici with blistered cherry tomatoes to accompany the Bistecca alla Fiorentino that we had brought home from the previous night’s meal at Osteria La Porta. I’m not sure if it was the exceptional quality of the ingredients, the delicious local wine, the captivating company or the sublime ambience, but that was one truly enchanted evening!

As with any home-cooked meal, however, there’s always some clean-up to do, so we tackled the dishes and turned in early to get a good night’s sleep — sadly our last at La Torre di Carlo — before setting off for Umbria first thing in the morning.

I hope you have enjoyed this second installment and will stay tuned for Part Tre of our tour of central Italy. Next stop, the beautiful mountainous region of Umbria — from Orvieto to Spoleto — and then on to Rome. Hope to see you there…Ciao!

This timeless travel post brought to you http://www.2peasinapod.online.

Tuscany’s Timeless Treasures Part Due: The riches of the Montepulciano Region “In vino veritas.” (In wine there is truth.)

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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“With some fava beans and a nice chianti…”

The Tuscan countryside in the springtime is nothing short of breathtaking. The undulating hillsides — a patchwork of dramatic greens and yellows so vibrant that they could give the Emerald City a run for its money — appear to be made of soft, silky velvet. Are you sure this is Italy and not the verdant highlands of Ireland? A quick check of Google Maps concurs — definitely Italy.

From the bedroom of our private medieval tower in the tiny enclave of Montecchiello in central Tuscany, we have a bird’s-eye view of the lush, sun-dappled terrain — as well as the spires and towers of the opposing hilltop town of Pienza, once the feudal enemy of Montecchiello — and for miles and miles beyond.

We’ve recently returned from 12 unforgettable days in the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside, starting in Florence, ending in Rome and eating our way through everything in between. Having previously lived in London, Mike and I have been to Italy many times before and have explored many different regions, but our hearts are always pulled back to the incomparable natural beauty and culinary delight of Tuscany. For this trip, Mike planned an itinerary that included some areas and towns that we had not previously visited, as well as a couple in which we simply wanted to spend a little more time. He broke it down into three distinct regions — Chianti, Montepulciano and Umbria — three nights in each and one final night in Rome. In each, he chose a centrally located village to serve as a jumping off point for that region. For brevity sake, I will cover each region in three different posts.

One thing to keep in mind when planning a trip to Italy, as with any travel destination, is the weather and the best time of year to visit. Italy is a long country that spans from the mountainous northern regions abutting Switzerland and Austria, all the way down to the rocky coast of Sicily at the southern tip of the “boot.” The weather patterns and temperatures vary dramatically from one end of the country to the other. Tuscany finds itself conveniently located in central Italy between Florence and Rome, and the weather might be comparable to Virginia or the North Carolina mountains — fairly temperate, yet cool in the winter and hot in the summer. Apparently, that makes for the perfect grape-growing conditions because Tuscany is abundant with vineyards and famous for creating some of the world’s great wines. For travelers, the very best time to visit is late May/early June — when it’s starting to explode with color but before the heart of the European tourist season begins — or alternately mid-September — after the bulk of the summer tourists have left and the vines are laden with grapes just prior to the harvest.

If you have never visited Tuscany before, you will want to start with the tried-and-true favorites — Florence, Sienna, Assisi, Lucca, and so on. All are beautiful, historic cities that must not be missed. But since Mike and I had already had the opportunity to visit those unforgettable destinations, he looked for some slightly less traveled locales, specifically focusing on the wine regions of Chianti and Montepulciano because, hey, who doesn’t like good wine and good food?!

Mike researched this trip for weeks to create a varied, yet tight itinerary. He exactingly planned out each day’s route, factoring in the distances between destinations and how long we would need to fully appreciate each town or village. He spent all that time doing the research, so you don’t have to.

But despite all of the time and effort put into the preparations, no trip is without its unique challenges. That’s just part of the inherent complexity of travel. Nothing – no matter how much you try to plan and prepare — is fool-proof.

Our first challenge came on day one, as we attempted to land in Florence. The Florence airport is located in a valley shaped like a bowl and suffers from unusually short runways. As such, it’s impossible for huge, long-haul jets (747s and the like) to land there. Therefore, we planned to fly direct from Chicago to Amsterdam, where we would switch to a smaller jet that could land in Florence. All went as planned until we prepared for our final approach into the Florence airport. Very anxious to finally be at our destination and start our vacation, we noticed that we weren’t getting any closer to the ground. Soon enough, our suspicions were confirmed when the pilot announced that the winds were too high to be able to land safely in Florence. It was then that Mike told me that he had experienced the same situation on a previous flight into Florence. Ultimately, the flight was rerouted to the neighboring city of Bologna, where we were met by hundreds of passengers from other airlines whose flights also had been rerouted to Bologna. As this is obviously a recurring problem, the Bologna airport was well-versed in this exercise and managed the crowds and all their luggage adeptly. Before too long, we were placed on a bus and transported back to the Florence airport (an hour-and-a-half journey), where our rental car was awaiting our arrival. Moral of the story: think twice about flying into Florence. In hindsight, had we realized, we might have done this itinerary in the inverse, flying into Rome and out of Florence. Something to keep in mind for next time.

Although we had unfortunately missed our lunch reservation at Il Vescovino, promising “a fantastic view over the vineyards of Panzano,” we were finally on the road and anxious to reach our first destination: Radda in Chianti. A short drive south of Florence, the Chianti region is the northernmost of the Tuscan wine districts.

Made primarily from the Sangiovese grape, Chianti has been produced in this region for over 300 years. Today, it is most often associated with its distinctive straw-bound bottle (below) and made infamous by Anthony Hopkins in “Silence of the Lambs.” As a result, Chianti wines tend to have the undeserved reputation for being a bit less refined than their neighbors to the south, but, in fact, there are many excellent, highly respected Chiantis, such as the Ruffino Reserva Ducale and the Fontodi Chianti Classico. Chiantis tend to have medium-high acidity and medium tannins (which is especially nice if tannins give you a headache, as they do me). When purchasing Chianti, always look for the trademark Black Rooster seal on every bottle to ensure that you are getting a wine produced in the Chianti region and containing at least 80% Sangiovese grapes.

As you start to make your way through the region, you can’t help but notice that there are grape vines everywhere…and I mean everywhere — in back yards, behind restaurants and on every possible hillside. No matter how small the tract of land, every square inch is planted with grapes.

After exiting the autostrade and working our way up the narrow and windy mountain road, we arrived in the medieval hilltop town of Radda to find our charming hotel, Relais Vignale. Knackered from the overnight flight, we were anxious to check in and stay put for a few nights. The front-desk staff was extremely friendly and accommodating, even upgrading us to a lovely deluxe room (another benefit of traveling before the main tourist season). Relais Vignale consists of two buildings – the original inn (below left) and a newer annex located across the street. We had requested to be in the main hotel, and we were rewarded with a charming second-floor room (#42) which featured beamed ceilings and a private patio overlooking the scenic countryside.

Relais Vignale, Radda

View from room #42

The room and en suite bathroom were both charming and very well-appointed, although I will admit that the mattress and pillows were a little too firm for my taste and the Wi-Fi, while free, was very weak. But the breakfast spread, served either in the brick-ceilinged lower-level cellar or on the lovely grape-laden terrace, depending on weather, was quite impressive and included a variety of made-to-order egg dishes upon request (included in the room price).

The town of Radda itself is a quaint, little village boasting impressive views of the surrounding farms and vineyards from every vantage point. It is made up of just two streets – one pedestrian and the other the main auto route through town. Relais Vignale is located right on the main street, so you will want to request a room on the back side overlooking the valley below. The entire town of Radda consists of just a few shops and restaurants and a pretty church which is curiously situated above the small piazza. We happened to be there on a Sunday and enjoyed hearing the peeling church bells and seeing the locals in their Sunday finery.

Due to its central location, Radda is well-positioned to be a good jumping off point for day tours of the Chianti region, hence why Mike chose it as our home base for the first three days of our Tuscany experience.

After a good night’s sleep and a much-needed wake-up call by a neighboring rooster, we flung open the shutters to soak up the Tuscan sunshine and the ridiculously lovely view of the countryside. Strengthened by a breakfast of meats, cheeses and pastries, we made a bee-line to the nearby town of Greve to catch their Saturday morning market. Just a short 30-minute drive from Radda, we reached Greve to find it bustling with activity. The market was easy enough to find by simply following the people carrying market baskets and the signs for “Centro” indicating the city center — it’s a good bet to assume that a market will be situated in the main piazza. There we found a maze of vendors selling everything from locally grown veggies (right), regional cheeses and dried fruits to clothing, table linens and nail clippers. It was a feast for the eyes to be sure, but the real gem of Greve is the centuries old macelleria (butcher shop), Antica Macelleria Falorni (below), which is known throughout Tuscany as the very best in the region and was recently recognized by Food & Wine as such. Located adjacent to the main square, you can’t miss it…and shouldn’t miss it, if you have any appreciation for an old-world shop selling quality meats. Founded in 1806, Falorni has been producing world-class salumi, proscuitto, bresaola, and any other cured meat you can think of for generations, all of which you can sample in their tasting room. Our favorite is the finocchiona which takes its name from the fragrant fennel seed sprinkled throughout. Make sure you pack some ziplock baggies to take any piquant acquisitions such as this home in your suitcase…and maybe an extra suitcase as well, like we did.

Antica Macelleria Falorni in Greve

After procuring all the booty we needed from the Greve market and Antica Macellaria Falorni, we were off to one of our favorite Tuscan towns, San Gimignano. Just a quick 50 minutes away, we arrived in San Gimignano around 10:30 and found parking in one of the designated lots just outside of town. Almost all of the Tuscan towns are pedestrian-only, so parking can be tricky, especially during the high season. Yet another reason to travel slightly off-season.

But regardless of when you visit, San Gimignano is bound to be populated by tourists because it is included in basically every Tuscan tour book ever written, and for good reason. The mid-sized town of San Gimignano once boasted as many as 72 towers at its heyday during the Middle Ages. It was an text book example of the proverbial “keeping up with the Joneses” effect, as each family attempted to outdo the others with a bigger, better and taller tower than their neighbors. Today, San Gimignano only has 14 remaining towers, but that’s about 10 more than any of the other Tuscan villages, so it’s a sight to behold as you see it perched on the hilltop, towers reaching for the sky.

You will enter the walled city through one of two gates and immediately be met by shopkeepers peddling their wares to multitudes of gaping tourists. Most all of the shops in San Gimignano are geared towards tourism, so unfortunately there’s not a lot of substance. I suggest moving right on past the souvenir shops and working your way to the main piazza where you will find people relaxing in the cafes, enjoying the sunshine and a coffee or wine, depending on the time of day. There’s plenty to do and see in San Gimignano, so consult your guide book and plan your visit accordingly. I would, however, suggest a stop at Osteria Del Carcere for lunch. Located just off the main piazza and just far enough away from the maddening crowds, Osteria Del Carcere is a tiny wine bar that serves simple, yet expertly prepared Tuscan fare. The menu posted outside is written only in Italian which tends to keep apprehensive tourists at bay, but don’t let that stop you. As is typical of an osteria, they don’t have a broad menu, and they don’t serve pizzas or pastas. But they do serve beautiful antipasti platters, homemade soups and salads and plenty of wine!

Shaved pear and hazlenut salad

Antipasto

Bar at Osteria del Carcere

There are only 10 or so tables on the two levels and only one server, so plan your time accordingly so that you can relax and linger over your meal, as the Italians do. You will likely notice a variety of handcuffs and other prison-related decorative accents and that is because ‘carcere’ in Italian means prison which may be an indication that the building at one time was a prison or possibly it’s a reference to the torture museum which is located next door (yes, there’s actually a museum dedicated to various means of torture. How medieval is that?!)

After we had had our fill of the sights and flavors of San Gimignano, we headed back to the comfort of our quaint room at Relais Vignale for some R&R. It always takes at least a day to fully recover from the stresses of travel and to adjust to the new time zone, so it’s wise to plan some down time into your first day (see photo right). After a casual dinner at a local osteria, featuring a very memorable goose carpaccio (see below), we returned to the hotel for a nightcap in their charming bar area and then turned in early.

Goose carpaccio

The following morning, being Sunday, Mike didn’t plan anything into the itinerary until lunchtime, so we spent a relaxing morning wandering through town, taking in the sights and sounds of Radda on a peaceful Sunday morning. All of these Tuscan villages are best enjoyed before the tour buses arrive and after they leave in the evening.

For lunch, Mike selected Osteria Le Panzanelle in the valley just below the town of Radda. We had hoped to enjoy their outdoor terrace, but it was still a bit too cool, so they seated us in the upstairs beamed-ceiling dining room. Since it was a Sunday, the place was filled with local families sharing a post-church mid-day meal. We were the only non-Italians, but the staff was welcoming and attentive. My knowledge of Italian, as limited as it may be, did come in handy a few times, although they made every attempt to speak English whenever possible. After a delightful lunch of pecorino and fava bean salad (below left), eggplant involtini (below right), spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) and pasta with boar ragu, we set off with full bellies for Castello di Volpaia and our 3:00 reservation to tour their wine and olive oil facilities.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, maybe something similar to the wineries I had visited in Napa or South Africa, but this was definitely nothing like that! First of all, Volpaia isn’t as much a vineyard as it is a tiny medieval town perched on a hilltop surrounded by vineyards in every direction. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny – as in, the whole town consists of less than a dozen stone buildings — 2 of which are churches, as well as a small inn and a darling family-run cafe. I was a little sorry we hadn’t known about the cafe, with its outdoor terrace in the main square, as it appeared to be a very pleasant environment, bustling with activity and patrons enjoying an afternoon of sunshine and plenty of good food and local wines.

Almost all of Volpaia’s ancient structures have been transformed into facilities for the production of their wines and olive oils. From the exterior, the buildings appear to be charming, centuries-old 2-story stone houses, but upon entering, you’re surprised to find the huge steel vats in which the grapes are pressed, strained, fermented and converted into the Chianti for which the area is famous. In another room, you find the giant granite grinding stone used to pulverize the olives for olive oil production (below). Hidden on the second floor is a large room, previously a series of bedrooms in generations past, where the grapes are hung from the beamed ceiling to mature after being harvested from the vineyards. The windows provide natural climate control, and rain is welcome, as it adds just the right amount of humidity to encourage the mold that is necessary to aid in the fermentation process. You may wonder where they store the wine for aging, as we did. Well…under the church, of course! Where else would you expect to find wine storage? We were brought around to the back side of the church and through a nondescript door (photo left below), where we found barrel after barrel after barrel of wine tucked into the dark caverns of the church cellar, unceremoniously awaiting their bottling date.

Oak barrel for aging the Chianti wines

Grinding stone for olive oil production

Our tour guide, a young woman from Sienna who prefers the countryside to the city, was knowledgeable, friendly and had an impressive command of the English language. I suggest you call ahead for a reservation if you’re interested in a tour, as the groups are very small and intimate (www.volpaia.com). After a substantial wine tasting, complete with bruschetta and samplings of their olive oils and flavored vinegars, we left sated and entranced by our afternoon in the tiny enclave of Castello di Volpaia. (There are many other wineries also worth a visit in Chianti — including Castello d’Albola, Castello di Meleto and Castello di Broglio — so if that interests you, make sure to call ahead to schedule tours and tastings.)

Rising early the next morning (day 4), we were giddy with anticipation of the day’s journey to Montepulciano and then on to our next lodging — a medieval tower! — in Monticchiello.

Please check back for part two of my post detailing the Montepulciano wine region and the towns of Monticchiello, Pienza, Montalcino, Castiglione del Lago, Orvieto, Abbazia di Sant’Antimo and Bagno Vignoni.

This post brought to you by http://www.2peasinapod.online.

Tuscany’s Timeless Treasures "With some fava beans and a nice chianti..." The Tuscan countryside in the springtime is nothing short of breathtaking.

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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Grilled Tomatillo Salsa

Ever notice that funny, paper-wrapped sphere in the vegetable section of your grocery and wonder, “What in the world do you do with that”? Take a second to peel back the papery husk, and you will find something that looks like a small, firm green tomato; and, in fact, it shares many similarities with its cousin, the tomato. Also a member of the nightshade family — along with tomatoes, eggplants,…

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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If you want to hit the road this summer, here’s your destination…

Honestly, I never had any intention of going to Niagara Falls. It was one of those out-of-the-way places that seemed intriguing but a little too remote to make the top of my travel bucket list. And, let’s be honest, it’s just a down-sized Vegas or, better yet, Atlantic City, right? Well, yes, sort of…BUT don’t be discouraged by the flashy casinos and tacky tourist attractions because the Falls themselves are what you’re coming to see. One of the world’s greatest and most awe-inspiring natural formations, Niagara Falls is definitely worth the trek.

Looking for an alternate route back from New York to Chicago, Mike decided to take us north through New York State and into Canada instead of the typical east/west route through Pennsylvania and Ohio. And the surprise element for me was an unexpected stopover at Niagara Falls. Located just 17 miles northwest of Buffalo, NY and 75 miles southeast of Toronto, it’s actually easier to get to than I realized.

Grilled Faroe Island salmon with grilled avocado at Savor, Niagara Falls Culinary Institute

We arrived in time for a lovely lunch on the outdoor terrace of Savor, the public face of the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute (http://nfculinary.org). A sparkling gem among fool’s gold (i.e. Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe, etc.), Savor offers one of the only fine-dining options in the area. The lunch menu, while concise, was well-prepared and very enjoyable. The Salade Maison — their take on a Ceasar featuring a soft egg and toasted breadcrumbs — was truly outstanding; the Pizza Bianco with garlic confit, whipped ricotta and arugula was flavorful and featured a nice, chewy crust; and the grilled local salmon salad with grilled avocado (above) was very tasty, although not quite as rare as I ordered (and would have preferred) and also a bit under-dressed. But one must keep in mind that it is a teaching institute and far superior to anything else in the area. So, after being sated with fine food and a nice bottle of wine produced by the school’s viticulture students, it was time to tackle the Falls.

The Niagara River flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and straddles the New York/Ontario border. The boundary line, originally set in 1819, has been a much-debated point of contention for many years. Little did I know that Niagara Falls is actually made up of three waterfalls which dump 85,000 to 225,000 cubic feet of water per second (depending on the season) into the glacially formed gorge. The largest and most iconic (and most photographed) of the falls is Horseshoe Falls, so named because of it’s distinctive 180-degree horseshoe shape (below). At 2,600 feet wide and with a vertical drop of 188 feet, Horseshoe Falls is truly mind-blowing.

Located half in Canada and half in the US, Horseshoe Falls flies two flags. The American Falls (below) lie on the east side of the gorge on the American side, as the name implies, as does the relatively smaller Bridal Veil Falls.

Below you can see the distance between Horseshoe Falls on the right and the other two falls on the left — about a rainbow’s distance, I would estimate.

The American side is easily reachable from the town of Niagara Falls, NY by following the signs for Goat Island. Per our research, we were prepared for hordes of crowds and long waits to work our way up to the viewing railings, but somehow our dumb luck prevailed and we happened to be there on the day following Memorial Day, when everyone seemed to have returned from whence they came. We parked in the closest lot, casually walked into the half-deserted park grounds and right up to the falls. Boom!

Before you actually reach the Falls, your nose detects the distinct smell of water, and as you get closer, you begin to feel the mist. We wandered over to the top of the falls (above) to see the vigorously flowing upper Niagara River tripping over rocks, completely unaware of what dangers lie ahead. As it reaches the crest, it plummets at such a powerful rate of speed that it’s hard to comprehend. The sheer force of the water is astounding and intimidating.

It was at that point that Mike recounted the story of a woman who went over the falls in a barrel in 1901 and survived. A 63-year-old schoolteacher, Annie Edson Taylor (below left) braved the stunt for fame and fortune. Short-lived fame she got, fortune she did not. Astonishingly, between 1829 and 1995, seventeen people actually made the daunting fall over the Falls and a miraculous 10 of them survived. And that doesn’t include Nik Wallenda (below right) and other daredevils who have attempted the unthinkable feat of crossing the falls in one form or another.

Annie Edson Taylor signs autograhs in 1901

Nik Wallenda crosses the Niagara River on tightrope in 2012

From the upper level, you get close-up views of all three falls, but if you crave even more adventure, you can opt for the “Cave of the Winds” tour 175 feet down into the Gorge (shown in the bottom right of the photo below) or the Maid of the Mist boat ride right up to the base of Horseshoe Falls (bottom photo below).* The intense force of the water produces a constant heavy mist which combined with a sunny day often creates a vibrant rainbow for the lucky visitors. It also makes for a pretty hairy boat ride! (No, I didn’t enhance that photo, that’s the real deal.)

Cave of the Winds Tour (lower right) to the bottom of the American Falls.

Gold at the end of the rainbow — “Maid of the Mist” boat tour takes you right up to the base of Horseshoe Falls.

Short of time, we were content remaining fairly dry up top and admiring the view from above. I snapped dozens of amazing photos, not realizing that the views from across the river just might be even more impressive.

If you decide to make the trek to Niagara, the most important thing to remember is: don’t forget your passport! Viewing the falls from both sides is a must. Every angle offers a different perspective of these incredible water formations.

After we completed our exploration of the US side, we grabbed our passports and crossed over the Canadian border which is located immediately on the other side of the bridge spanning the Niagara River. Again, we happened to be there on a relatively quiet day which allowed for quick passage, but I’ve heard that the lines at customs can back up quite a bit, so plan to leave plenty of time to make the crossing.

Bridal Veil Falls and American Falls in the right foreground; Canadian Immigration point in the upper left.

To my surprise, the Canadian side hit me as even more flashy and touristy than the American side…but the views from there are unmistakably astounding and shouldn’t be missed. From across the river, you get an awe-inspiring panorama of the three Falls and their vast enormity and astounding beauty. Watch in amazement as one-fifth of the world’s freshwater crashes down to the basin below.

Unlike the New York side, there isn’t designated park land on the Canadian side to create a natural buffer between the parking areas and the viewing areas, only a busy boulevard and a wide promenade along the river which admittedly provides massive views. But like the U.S. side, if you want to get closer, you can opt for a variety of interactive experiences.* You can don a poncho and feel the mist of Horseshoe Falls from 13 stories below at the “Journey Behind the Falls,” you can ride an antique cable car across the Niagara River and/or you can take the Hornblower Cruise up to the Falls.

Parking was a little tricky, but we fortuitously stumbled upon an hourly parking spot on the street near the police station. It seems luck was on our side that day, as a stunning double rainbow appeared over the Falls just as we crossed the street to the viewing area — an undeniable illustration of just how astonishing Mother Nature’s handiwork can be. We walked the length of the promenade, from the awe-inspiring crest of Horseshoe Falls to the American Falls vista — me frantically snapping pictures of the Falls wrapped in a rainbow hug and Mike encouraging me to get out from behind the camera and experience it in real time. He was right, it warrants undivided attention and complete respect. But, to my defense, seeing as though I will likely never get back to Niagara, at least I have the photos to remind me of it’s wonder!

Having the opportunity to view the Falls from two countries is truly a unique experience and reminds us of just how close we are to our friendly neighbors to the north. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the benefit of time to allow for an overnight stay in Canadian Niagara, as we were moving on to our final destination of London, Ontario for the night, but I’m sure it would have been an entertaining experience. And what a way to wake up in the morning – with a view of one of the world’s greatest natural creations right outside your window!

But if the thought of staying amongst the glitz and glitter of Niagara for the night doesn’t appeal, I hear that the quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, located on the south shore of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Niagara River, is a charming place to visit. Either way, whether you pop in for a few hours or stay overnight, you will be very glad you stopped to take in what is surely a candidate for one of the great natural wonders of the world.

*Both sides offer package deals — called Discovery Pass on the NY side and Adventure Pass on the Ontario side — that include the major attractions and up-close-and-personal experiences.

Niagara Falls Rocks! If you want to hit the road this summer, here's your destination... Honestly, I never had any intention of going to Niagara Falls.

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2peasinapodme-blog · 8 years ago

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My father-in-law, Armand (aka “Cook”), is easily one of the coolest people I’ve ever met and undeniably “the most interesting man in the world.” Not only is he always primed with a valuable lesson, a fascinating anecdote or an entertaining story from his many life experiences, but at 82 years young, he’s still writing and re-writing his own story every day. We’ve just spent the long holiday weekend visiting him at his beautiful home in Orient Point, NY which is located at the very tip of the North Fork of Long Island.

This map of Long Island shows the entire North Fork, pinpointing the vast number of vineyards. Orient Point (show in the upper right) is where one catches the ferry to/from New London, CT.

In my estimation, the North Fork is the far superior of the two distinct Long Island peninsulas. Unlike the “lifestyles of the rich and famous” atmosphere of the Hamptons and the other wealthy enclaves of the South Fork, the laid-back North Fork is thankfully still in touch with its agricultural roots. Populated with lovely vineyards and farmlands, it still retains a rural atmosphere which in turn feeds the relaxed personality of the region. Peppered with family-run farm stands, farm-to-table restaurants, local breweries and very respectable wines, not to mention quintessentially quaint port towns bursting with charming coastal New England architecture, it’s easy to see why one would choose to live here.

Originally a native of northern New Jersy, Cook spent years boating all around the eastern Long Island area and in 1993 decided to drop anchor permanently in Orient Point. In 2001, he learned about a newly formed organization called SPAT (Suffolk Project in Aquaculture Training) in the neighboring town of Southold and, as an outlet for his interminable energy, he elected to join as a volunteer apprentice.

“Spat” is the word for the tiniest form of shellfish that has settled onto the place where it will live out its life. The SPAT program was created to encourage community members to become stewards of their environment and to restore shellfish to the depleted Peconic Estuary after the brown tide of 1985 all but eradicated the population of clams, oysters and scallops. A brown tide, so named because of the murky brown water it creates, is caused by the proliferation of single-celled marine plants called phytoplankton which detrimentally impacts the eelgrass beds that provide safe spawning grounds for fish and shellfish. The result was a near extinction of the shellfish population in the region.

SPAT has spent the past 17 years reintroducing clams, oysters and scallops to the Peconic Bay area of Long Island. SPAT’s year-round work, in partnership with Cornell University’s Marine Program, is intensive and extensive, spanning the entire lifespan of the shellfish — nurturing newly spawned microscopic larvae until they’re big enough to be “planted” in the protected waters of the Bay where they are observed and cared for until they reach the desired size and can spawn on their own in the wild. All of this takes patience, experience and devotion, but it also takes considerable physical strength to haul the shellfish-laden cages in and out of the water in order to measure them, clean them and ultimately harvest them. Did I mention that my father-in-law is 82?

After 16 years volunteering his time and expertise at SPAT, Cook is now one of the program’s veteran workers and clearly a very respected elder member of this unique community which has grown to more than 200 member families. We’ve visited SPAT many times with Cook over the years and are continually impressed by the immense aptitude and professionalism of all of the volunteers. This most recent visit, however, was especially enjoyable. Being a holiday weekend, there were loads of volunteers and visitors at SPAT — working, educating and learning. We took two of our 20-something daughters, Alex and McKay, to literally work for their supper. As is typical for a visit to the North Fork, the girls had requested fresh oysters for dinner. Typically in this situation, Cook would single-handedly haul the oysters, clean them, shuck them and serve them. But this time, he decided to put their young, nimble hands to work.

Looking quite at home in his fisherman’s overalls and rubber boots, Cook took us into the lab and explained the process through which oysters spawn. As a visual aid, he showed us a single droplet of water under the microscope that contained an estimated 370 oyster larvae and extrapolated that the ordinary-looking bucket of “water” from which the droplet had been extracted therefore contained millions (yes, millions!) of newly spawned oysters, invisible to the naked eye. Later those microscopic “babies” will be placed into controlled tanks (below left) fed by water from the Sound to accelerate their growth process. Eventually, the oysters will grow a tiny “foot” which will adhere to a grain of sand and begin to form a shell (below right).

Over time, as the oysters grow, they will be moved to different tanks and eventually out into the protected waters of the Bay. Cook escorted us down to the dock where he pulled up a multi-tiered cage weighing around 35-40 pounds.

Inside were about 12-14 dozen 2-year-old oysters, each approximately 3-4 inches in length, the perfect size for a tasty treat. He dumped them out on the prep table and demonstrated how to rinse them, scrub them and knock off any new shell growth.

Everyone chipped in and before long we had 2 big bags of booty and a mighty appetite for these homely treasures from the sea.

Back at home, Cook asked if anyone was interested in learning to shuck, and McKay eagerly raised her hand. A kind and patient teacher, he demonstrated the two methods, helped her get her sea legs and then together they proceeded to shuck 2 dozen of the briny beauties for the anxiously awaiting crowd.

Many people prefer a dollop of cocktail sauce with horseradish, but I think the strong flavors mask the inherent subtlety of the oyster. Like Cook, I’m a purist when it comes to eating oysters — simply slurp it right out of the shell with a little squeeze of lemon. I’ll use a scant bit of mignonette (shallot, red wine or champagne vinegar and lemon juice), if it’s available, but I really prefer to taste the oyster’s own “liquor,” the mixture of sea water and oyster brine that collects in the shell. Never, ever dump out the liquor!

This time, since we had a few people in our group who don’t prefer raw oysters, Cook introduced us to an alternate preparation — grilled. And it’s as easy as it is delicious. Simply place the unshucked oysters on a hot grill and close the cover. The heat will force them to open on their own, no shucking necessary! Once they’re open, even a little bit, carefully remove them with tongs or a hot mitt (they will be hot!). Pry back the top shell and place a dab of butter and some freshly minced parsley on top of the oyster meat. Eat and repeat. Perfectly divine!!

If you’re planning a trip to the North Fork and want to try your hand at shucking your own oysters, go to Little Creek Oyster Farm & Market, located in the iconic bait & tackle shack on the waterfront in Greenport, NY, where they will set you up with lessons, gear and plenty of oysters to perfect your technique. And if you have time, I highly recommend making an appointment to tour the SPAT facility in Southold. It’s a remarkable place.

Between the oysters, the winery and brewery tours and the comaraderie, it was truly a wonderful weekend. At the end, we all had to return to reality — Mike and I to Chicago, Alex to Washington DC, and McKay, armed with her newfound skill and a big bag of fresh oysters, was excited to return to Manhattan and prepare a special surprise for Nick, her oyster-hungry boyfriend.

We always look forward to our next visit to the North Fork, and I’m sad that it will likely be a whole year before we get back there. Until then, thanks for a great weekend, Cook. We’ll see you back on the North Fork as soon as we can bust out of this place!

Awww, shucks! My father-in-law, Armand (aka "Cook"), is easily one of the coolest people I've ever met and undeniably "the most interesting man in the world." Not only is he always primed with a valuable lesson, a fascinating anecdote or an entertaining story from his many life experiences, but at 82 years young, he's still writing and re-writing his own story every day.

#grilled oysters #Little Creek Oyster Market #North Fork of Long Island #North Fork vineyard map #NY #Orient #Orient Point NY #Oyster shucking #raw oysters #Sep&039;s Market North Fork #SPAT Southold

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