The Portland Episode

*NOTE:

Today's episode was:

Specifically, Portland

I know...You're probably thinking, "I thought this blog was called Sacramento Food in the Hood. What the eff?"

Well, you'd be right to ask that. However, when you get an invite to a new city from an old friend, the correct response is always, "You show me where and food is on me...but not literally on me though...ok?"

I'd never been to Portland before. The closest I'd ever been was Beaverton for a Nike soccer tournament as a teen. Which is, I suppose the equivalent of going to Roseville and saying you'd been to Sacramento. I was long overdue for a trip to one of the hippest cities on the west coast for food and everything else. Between all of my friends who had visited, raving about it and Mr. Bourdain deeming it a food destination, I knew I would not be disappointed. Let me assure you...I wasn't. The only challenge in Portland, however, was to find a place to gush about that fit the criteria of this blog- Humble food by humble people. This is not to say I would limit my eating, because I did have some pretty indulgent, high brow food.

My only fear about the whole thing was my utter dislike of the cold. I mean, my people were not designed to operate in the colder, northern climes. We are more suited to the sunny 105 degree heat of the Central Valley, not the cold overcast of the Willamette. Then again, I do sometimes have a habit of hyperbole. I provide the following conversation as proof of my hyperbole combined with my fear of the cold.

Aaron: I think I'm going to buy a scarf...maybe some gloves. I hate the cold. It makes my soul hurt.

Lori: Silly...this isn't Siberia

She was right. It wasn't soul crushingly cold like I had expected. In fact, the weather was awesome- mid-60s, overcast, slightly humid. After some confusion about where to be picked up, Lori and I were on our way to start eating our way across Portland.

After we ditching my luggage, we headed downtown, with Lori taking the long route, showing off some of the distinct neighborhoods around the Portland. What struck me most was the lay out of the place. Here in Sacramento, we have our fair share of cool little neighborhoods within the city (Midtown, Downtown, East Sac, Land Park), but Portland's neighborhoods have a different feel. Many of them aren't centered around a wide thoroughfare, like J St. in Midtown or Freeport Blvd. in Land Park. Rather, the shopping districts of Portland seem to appear out of thin air on the more regular "narrower" types of streets. Driving down a Victorian house lined street there suddenly appears a random restaurant between a couple of houses and then a little corner store and then a couple of blocks of boutiques and then more Victorians. The equivalent here in Sacramento would be if there suddenly were restaurants and little stores on G St., between 19th and 28th in Midtown (like that would ever happen...the NIMBYs would have a fit). All in all, very cool.

Once we got over the bridge into downtown, our first stop, because we are nerds, was not a restaurant, but:

Powell's- The largest independent new & used bookstore in the world

After coffee and books (I snagged an old paperback copy of Graham Greene's "The Quiet American") we made our way to the first of a few epic meals. Now I told Lori that I didn't care where we went. I just wanted to eat some of the good food Portland was known for. The Hood Food would find us eventually, kind of like the Zen proverb: When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. With the criteria of having no criteria, she suggested a place called Clyde Common in the Ace Hotel. If I had to compare it to anything, it would be to the Grange and the Citizens Hotel here in Downtown Sacramento. Both are boutique hotels with restaurants centered around the use of local ingredients attached. I took no pics and I'm not going to write about it per se, since it doesn't meet the blog criteria. I will say this: The food was great.

Quick Rundown of the meal (for those keeping score)
Beef Carpaccio, Grana & Truffle Oil (Starter)
Grilled Whole Fish, Potato Hash, Saffron, Salmoriglio, Garlic (Lori)
Grilled Steak, Romaine, Poached Egg, Aged Balsamic, Piave (Aaron)

Bellies full, we wandered and drove in circles for a little bit until we found a parking spot across the street from the original punk rock Voodoo Doughnuts. We really couldn't help ourselves and were feeling a bit indulgent. I think it was the drizzle. Regardless, Lori opted for a doughnut covered in fruit loops while I had to get a maple bar topped with two pieces of bacon. So based on the old maxim, "You Are What You Eat", I reckon Lori is loopy, or sweet or both, and I am a ham, or sweet, or both. Go figure...Again, no pics because, again, as awesomesauce as the Voodoo Doughnuts are, they don't meet the Hood Food criteria, which I guess begs the question:

"Where is the Food in the Hood? If I wanted to read a travel novel, I'd have gone to Rick Steeves' website."

I'll grant you that.

So, wait for it...wait for it...

I present to you:

PINE STATE BISCUITS!!!

Where to begin...I have to give props to a colleague of mine (Mad Props Spencer!). When I mentioned I was going to Portland to eat, he mentioned a biscuit place there where they made their own biscuits and served soul food- gravy, greens, fried chicken, grits. If that isn't Hood Food, I don't know what is! Now I understand this place has been on the Food Network, but I don't have cable and I love biscuits. So there...

The place is small and is open from early morning until early afternoon. The place only has 4 small tables, so most people stand in line (yes, there was a line out the door for the yummy gravy goodness) and take it to go, or gamble and order it to eat there in the hopes a table opens up. As we've established my tendency to gamble on things we ordered our food to eat there.

You have to love a place with Golden Rules...

...and Cock Lamps!

As you can see below, the menu is a bit overwhelming. So much good southern food to choose from, but we had a plan. I was going to order biscuits and gravy topped with two eggs, over easy and Lori opted for a simple biscuit with egg and bacon with the two of us sharing a plate of hash browns and some collard greens (we had to get something remotely healthy).

The Menu of Gravy Biscuit Goodness

So we ordered and waited with baited breath. Not so much for the food, but in the hope that the universe would conspire to somehow get us a table to consume our feast.

This is where The Magic happens

So we waited, sipping on our Stumptown Coffees, contemplating how the universe seemed to be, generally, an ironic universe. However, we also discovered that the universe also conspired to give Sacramentans in Portland tables to sit and share amazing breakfasts. No sooner had our food arrived than a table opened up. Clearly, we were meant for this moment...I mean can you question it when you get to sit down in a place with only four tables and this?

Biscuits & Sausage Gravy topped with Two Eggs, Over Easy



Biscuit with Bacon, Egg & Cheese
(F.U. and your breakfast biscuits McDonalds!)


Plate O' Hash Browns!

Collard Greens
(because we had to order something vaguely healthy to overcome all of the grease)




Some local heat held in hands that look like mine...only with smaller pinkies

We kind of sat there in awe of all of the food in front of us. Had we ordered too much? Could we finish it all? Would we suffer massive coronaries on the spot? No. Yes. No.

Where to begin?

This was all home cooking...which is clearly why people willingly wait in line in the rainy Portland cold to get their fix. The gravy was creamy, but not coagulated like your run-of-the-mill Denny's/Lyon's type gravy you get, enhanced by the huge runny egg yolks (the mark of a great short order cook- able to keep the yolks nice and liquid when they get to the table). It was slightly spicy (which I had to kick up a bit with habanero sauce) with little sausage nubbins that seemed to melt in the mouth. The biscuits were soft and flaky (this was more apparent in Lori's biscuits- not drowned in gravy like mine) with the taste of fresh and salty butter teasing the tongue.

We both went nuts over the hash browns. We both seemed to agree as Sacramentans (Me: Current, Her: Former) that the industry standard for hash browns in Sacramento is the Lucky Cafe. Well these were better. I dare say that they were even better than the hash browns I've had the pleasure of eating at Morton's. Crispy brown on the outside, firm and potatoey on the inside, they were perfectly greasy without being greasy at all. Their awesomeness perfected by the slight hint of the griddle lingering ever so slightly on the front end of the flavor.

Lori pointed out the slight vinegar taste of the collard greens. Firm and just crispy enough, they provided a good palate cleanse between bites of biscuits and greasy gravy goodness.

This was without a doubt, an epic breakfast win.

We finished our food and kind of sat there in silence in awe of our accomplishment. We knew we had been able to overcome the odds to sit victorious over our empty plates. We bussed our table, as per the rules and went to try to walk it all off, rain and all.

We shared even more good food, which matters here nor there, since our food journey was more on the high road than the low road. That being said, we were sharing tapas at Toro Bravo when Lori looked over to me.

"Why aren't you taking any pics of this?"

"This isn't what I take pictures of..."

"But look at this!"

"Well, only 'cause you say so. I will make some food porn for you..."

Scallops with a Spicy Aioli Sauce
(Here's your gratuitous food porn...)

As quickly as I was there, it was back to Sac. I stuffed a whole lot of food and experiences in to what was essentially 48 hours. Thank you Lori for being such a great hostess and Portland Sherpa. You helped me discover an amazing place. Hopefully I can return the favor and show you some new places in The Hood here in the Golden State.

To everyone else, I hope you enjoyed this little detour...next stop: ???