mrschef1's Profile
4 Days at Van Duzer - ISO Dallas region dining recs
We're going to be spending 4 days at the Van Duzer winery after 4 days eating our way through Portland. Are there any special or especially regional places for a couple of foodies on holiday within say 1/2 hour?
4 days in Portland = 20 dining options?
Read your blog. How do we make Charles recreate the foie-bacon waffle thingie?
4 days in Portland = 20 dining options?
We do know that about Laurelhurst. If it were a choice between Laurelhurst and Olympic Provisions....?
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Olympic Provisions
107 SE Washington St, Portland, OR 97214
4 days in Portland = 20 dining options?
Any foie is good foie! But the Gaufre Gourmet looks pretty special too...
4 days in Portland = 20 dining options?
Thanks for all the great advice. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the special foraging dinner at Castagna Sunday night, so we'll begin with a bang!
Following is the culled list. I'm open to any last minute suggestions. We have one lunch with two iffy choices Wildwood vs. H5O (we're staying at Hotel Fifty so it seemed logical).
We're also hoping for a rec for one food cart breakfast.
Wildwood? / H5O? / ? Lunch
Beaker & Flask Happy Hour
Castangna Dinner
Tasty & Sons Breakfast
Laurelhurst Market Lunch
Heathman High Tea Happy Hour
Metrovino Dinner
Food Cart? Breakfast
Nong's Khao Man Gai Lunch
Departure Happy Hour
Aviary Dinner
Toast Breakfast
Ping Lunch
Yakuza Lounge Happy Hour
Aquariva Dinner
Wilfs Restaurant Entertainment/Music
Lovejoy Bakers Breakfast
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Nong's Khao Man Gai
SW 10th and Alder, Portland, OR
Laurelhurst Market
3155 East Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97232
Aquariva
0470 SW Hamilton Ct, Portland, OR 97239
The Heathman Restaurant
1001 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205
Castagna
1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214
4 days in Portland = 20 dining options?
Thanks for the helpful advise. Though I have to admit that I'm a little surprised. Many posts here sing the praises of most of those places.
4 days in Portland = 20 dining options?
Portland has so many good choices that I'm a tad overwhelmed. We are foodies with Sunday - Wednesday in Portland, then Thursday - Sunday in the Willamette Valley. In trying to narrow it down, I figure we can try the most places if we have bkfst, lunch, happy hour, dinner and late night happy hour. (sounds like a cruise!). Following is the "narrowed down" list. Are there any places that should be 86'd? Any that you'd recommend specifically for one of the meal options listed above?
H5O bistro and bar
Tasty & Sons
Laurelhurst Market
Heathman (High Tea?)
Departure @ The Nines (Happy hour?)
Food Cart - Nong's Khao Man Gai (lunch)
Wilfs Restaurant (Late night happy hour for Jazz)
Beaker & Flask
Aviary
Metrovino
Ping
Catangna
Nostrana
Aquariva
Bluehour
Cafe Nell
Clarklewis
Yakuza Lounge
Meriwether's Restaurant & Skyline Farm
Saucebox
The Daily Cafe in the Pearl
Toast
Wildwood
Ned Ludd
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Nostrana
1401 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR 97214
Bluehour
250 NW 13th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Clarklewis
1001 SE Water Avenue, Portland, OR 97214
Nong's Khao Man Gai
SW 10th and Alder, Portland, OR
Laurelhurst Market
3155 East Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97232
Aquariva
0470 SW Hamilton Ct, Portland, OR 97239
Meriwether's
2601 NW Vaughn Street, Portland, OR 97210
Saucebox
214 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205
The Heathman Restaurant
1001 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205
Cafe Nell
1987 NW Kearney St, Portland, OR 97209
Ned Ludd
3925 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97212
Portland Dining Month Recs
Ah, sorry. We're staying at Hotel Fifty. We have a car. We like everything from fine dining to local dives. We enjoy most ethnic food, but like to sample regional cuisine when we travel. When in Rome...
Portland Dining Month Recs
We'll be in Portland at the tail end of June. We hope to catch some good deals using the Portland Dining Month specials. There are so many good choices. We need some help to narrow it down.
Summer Restaurant Recommendations / Portland & Willamette Valley
Thank you zenon5 and syrahgirl. My favorite thing about fellow Chowhounds is finding out about spots like these!
Summer Restaurant Recommendations / Portland & Willamette Valley
My husband and I will be spending four days at a winery in the Willamette Valley (near Dallas) and another four at Hotel Fifty in Portland, in late June.
As neither of us have ever been to the Pacific Northwest, we're seeking recommendations about local restaurants of note. Hubby is a chef and I'm a devout foodie. We both have very adventurous palates and love to eat our way through a vacation; lunch and dinner (no fast food - not that I expect Chowhounders to go there).
We'll have a car, so travel is not an issue, but my research indicates that we may not need one to get to the best places.
lobster in deerfield
No, but I've been to their other restaurant in Lantana. The insider scoop up there is that the lobsters are VERY resonable in the early evening and then prices increase hourly until they reach full price. I'm not sure of the exact time frames, but it was well worth going early! I'd give Deerfield a call to see if they have the same policy if I were you.
Stone Crabs in Miami area
My husband and I love Catfish Dewey's! It's an old school seafood house, with different all-u-can-eat specials nightly, 4003 N Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309, (954) 566-5333. They have a website with details on availability of stone crabs, www.catfishdeweys.com, as they get them in fresh daily and the quantity varies. I've eaten at Joe's literally dozens of times and I like Dewey's better. The service is exceptional. Unlike many so-called "unlimited" offers, I have not once had to ask for a second basket of claws. The waitress just refills the bowl on the way past your table (with a smile). We always have to ask them to stop. It's unbelievable. They offer different sizes and quantities, as the previous poster mentioned. I think its 1 lb. 2 lbs. or all-u-can-eat in each size available that night. They also throw in the sides, but they will cut into your ability to gorge on those marvelous stoners!
bamboo fire--delray
We finally got there last night. We tried once before but they were, much to our chagrin, on vacation. I really have nothing new to add to the posts here, but I felt compelled to add my 100% agreement. Everything has already been said and it's all true! Beverly, Donald, the food and the restaurant are wonderful, welcoming and authentic. This is one of the reasons I love chow so very much. One only finds places like this via chowhound and what a find!
Recipes You've Never Heard of Outside Your Family
I'm running out to look for that book! Sounds touching and wonderful. Thanks.
Recipes You've Never Heard of Outside Your Family
Sorry, no cream in proper carbonara. The reaction of the fat and pasta water make it creamy.
Recipes You've Never Heard of Outside Your Family
Peanut butter on white bread, sprinkled with as much sugar as it will hold, fold & eat.
Recipes You've Never Heard of Outside Your Family
Soft scrambled eggs with cream cheese mixed in, so good. I also love Fritos (or pretzels) dipped in cream cheese.
Recipes You've Never Heard of Outside Your Family
One of the first "recipes" I learned to make was boxed mac & cheese, sauteed onion, canned mushroom stems & peices and tomato sauce. I made it for years, my kids named it mac-a-tooney. I remember once I began to learn more about food, trying to "gourmet it up" a bit. It was awful. Stick to the basics though and I'd still eat a couple of bowls full!
What are you a stubborn purist about?
Here Here! That is one of my pet peeves too. Just tell me. Taking liberties with a universally known preparation without informing your unsuspecting diner is just rude and egocentric. I don't care how talented a chef you are, if you're calling it by a name associated with a specific recipe, I'm going to judge you based upon my knowledge of that recipe. If you want to tweak it, please, just let us (your patrons) individually decide whether we're feeling adventurous or traditional that night.
Pronouncing Pho and Ordering Pho
Yes and you'll get your gyro whether you pronounce it he-ro or jy-ro, but IMHO once you've been taught the correct pronunciation of an ethic dish you should, out of respect, attempt to pronounce it accordingly.
It has to be authentic!
I agree completely with you. Couldn't have said it better myself.
It has to be authentic!
That reminds me of a trip to Lindos, in the Greek Isles. It's a very touritsty destination. I was really anticipating all the wonderful traditional foods of Greece. We had the hardest time finding any! They were so cognizant of catering to the European tourists, it was more like EPCOT. They had sausages for the Germans, Fish & Chips for the Brits, Pasta for the Italians...through perseverance we did succeed. Our first discovery was that there is not one Greek restaurant I've ever eaten in (in the US) that makes a true Greek salad. In Greece it consists only of some or all of the following: chopped tomatoes, cukes, green peppers, onion, olives and feta. No lettuce in sight, no pepperoncini and for those folks from Tarpon Springs, FL certainly NO POTATO SALAD.
It has to be authentic!
When we eat out, whether it's at home or when traveling, we strive for "autentico" especially in ethnic cuisines. But, I think I gained a greater understanding of the topic when spending a week on the Amalfi coast, in Italy. Authentic, regional, ethnic, in some ways it's region that makes the difference (excepting the wonderfully mixed-up nature of the US). Everything we ate was fresh, lovingly prepared, delicious...and used the same handful of seasonal, local ingredients. I soon found myself craving a new flavor palate.
There simply is no deciding "tonight let's have Greek" (or French or any other out-side ethnicity). You eat what's grown locally, every meal, every day.
Another time, we ate at a charming local, very authentic, Mexican restaurant. It was so autentico, that we didn't know what to order. We had studied the menu in advance, and I speak a smattering of spanish, but it was not enough. Again the food we did get was very good, but English "sub-titles", though inauthentic, sure would have helped us.
That being said, those events (and many others) really are what we're looking for when we want authentic. Something unique to a place or culture, that without this specific restaurant or shop or stand, we otherwise wouldn't get to experience.
Pronouncing Pho and Ordering Pho
I find that if I manage to pronounce "pho", a smiling server usually jumps in with "which meats?" Hey, it's a start, right? MMMM, going to our favorite Viet restaurant Monday for a bowl and a marvelous dac biet banh mi. What a great blend of flavors! I didn't think I'd get past ordering the delicious xa xiu, but I'm glad I decided to try, as I always do, the more authentic (or traditional) item. I'm hooked!
Applebee's - Worst National Chain Ever?
Theme park is not too far off. I think that was originally festival food. I know I've seen it at a renaissance festival. LOL, medieval fried mac & cheese, yet it somehow made more sense in that context.
Applebee's - Worst National Chain Ever?
I've been in that situation and tried the soup/salad/breadstick combo. It's purely awful! The soup is watery, as is the salad dressing and those gummy white bread sticks have no more personality than either of the above. Really, how much is it for the same combination at any small independently operated local Italian joint anyway?
Lunch in Downtown Naples?
Don't know whether it's close to downtown, but some of the best barbecue in Florida resides at Michelbob's in Naples across from the private airport. www.michelbobs.com
Seafood and Cheese Combos
There is a fabulous Greek shrimp dish which includes tomato sauce & feta cheese. I really do think it's a cultural thing and relates not only to regional tastes but to ancestral availability.
