NEW SEASONS

Everything bagel with cream cheese and lox.
Custard.

New Seasons Raleigh Hills
7300 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy
Portland, OR 97225

Not many of my friends think to have lunch at New Seasons. It's an Oregon grocery store chain that focuses on supporting local farmers, ranchers and manufacturers. They have a deli that serves really good sandwiches, so we like to go and eat lunch there sometimes.

Have I mentioned that bagel with cream cheese and lox is probably my favorite food ever? I grew up on it in Manhattan, my family frequenting H&H Bagels on the Upper West Side. Poorly made versions don't get past me.

TARTUFO BIANCO

Tartufo Bianco: Mozzarella (whole milk & fresh), pecorino romano with Truffle Oil & sea salt.

Apizza Scholls
4741 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR
(503) 233-1286

Apizza Scholls is the best pizza in Portland, period. We are fortunate to have many great pizza options in this city for different occassions- Pizzicato and Hot Lips for un-fussy, gourmet, family owned pizza experiences, Pizza Schimizza for creative flavors and toppings on your work lunch break. And dozens of other hole in the wall spots for grabbing a quick slice.

Apizza Scholls operates on the mission of upholding the standards and values of the old Italian "Pizzaiolos". Pizzaiolos are craftsmen who have dedicated their lives to the perfection of pizza. Their dedication is very apparent.

The pizza I happened to try on this trip was the Tartufo Bianco, a really simple white pie made with mozzarella, drizzled with truffle oil and sprinkled with sea salt. I'm a huge fan of truffle oil, so I was a huge fan of this pie.

CHEZ MACHIN

???: Savory crepe with brie, avocado, and other stuff?


La Miel: Local berry mix, honey, and crème fraîche.

Chez Machin
3553 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 736-9381

Growing up In Tokyo, my friends and I used to hang out every weekend in the bustling Shibuya neighborhood shopping for records and clothes, and eating from various food cart vendors. For dinner, we had Turkish Döner kebab, and for desert we would frequent the many sweet crepe stands hidden in the back streets. They were AMAZING. Dozens of variations and combinations of fresh fruit, cream, syrup and custard.

My only previous crepe experience in Portland was trying Vivace on 23rd street, which I remember hating. I should probably give it another shot, but it wasn't a good first impression. Chez Machin on the other hand was damn good. I don't recall everything that was in the savory crepe other than brie and avocado, but those were the two ingredients that drew me to it anyway. The desert crepe was great too. Next time I'm looking forward to trying the La Maison (Local berry mix with homemade custard.)

Also pluses: charming interior and a cute waitress.

BRIE AUX FINES HERBS

Brie aux Fines Herbs: Baguette bread with herb butter, Brie cheese, slices of cucumber, and crispy leaves of frisée.

St. Honoré
2335 NW Thurman
Portland, OR 97210
(503) 445-4342

St. Honoré is one my favorite places for lunch in Portland. When I'm not feeling adventurous, I have a rotation of regular spots here that I always end up at for lunch. They are Grand Central Bakery, Daily Cafe, Half & Half, Elephants and St. Honoré. Croissants and Brie are two of my favorite man-made inventions, and St. Honoré serves up delicious things utilizing both.

FRIED EGG SMOKED PORK

Fried egg and smoked pork loin sandwich
with fontal, whole grain mustard aioli, and twenty greens.

Blue Hour
250 NW 13th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
503 226 3394

Stopped into Blue Hour, a local favorite, for dinner tonight.

Decided to try the fried egg and smoked pork loin sandwich from the bar menu. Quite an interesting combination. Apologies for the terrible photo though.

CHIMAY CHIMAY CHEESE

Chimay Burger: House ground fillet, roasted onions, chimay cheese on a brioche bun.

Jo's Bar and Rotisserie
701 NW 23rd Ave
Portland, OR 97201

Chimay cheese comes from the Chimay brewery, a brewery in Belgium that has been around since 1863. Though they obviously specialize in beer, they began to also produce cheese in 1876. Currently, the brewery makes four different kinds of cheeses - Chimay with beer (whose rind is soaked in Chimay beer), Chimay Grand Classic (semi-hard pressed), Chimay Grand Cru (made from pasteurised milk and matured for six weeks) and Old Chimay (hard cheese matured for six months).

I'm not sure which of the four cheeses was used in the burger, but I don't remember tasting any hint of beer in it. Either way, it was pretty good. I always love brioche buns. It was served with a side of sweet potato chips, which I didn't even get around to since the burger filled me up.

I'd order it again. But it couldn't touch my favorite burger in Portland, Doug Fir's Fir Burger.

RAMEN NAKAMURA

Sorry for the lack of posts. I moved to Los Angeles which so far has had significantly less interesting food. I know this is supposed to just be documentation, but still... the presence of quality eating I suppose inspired me to make this blog in the first place.

Anyhow, a few months ago we went to Hawaii. Here's a guest review from my brother, of a ramen restaurant we went to.


Kim Chee Miso Ramen

Ramen Nakamura
2141 Kalakaua Ave # 1
Honolulu, HI 96815
808-922-7960

A good bowl of ramen is hard to find in America. This dish, although a favorite in Japan, has become synonymous with the Maruchan top ramen here in the U.S. Not Hawaii. With a large Japanese population, decent ramen became a necessity. I visited a small ramen shop in Waikiki named Ramen Nakamura. A large collection of obscure Japanese celebrity’s autographs adorned the walls and we were greeted by a frail but tough looking obaachan helping me forget I was in the U.S. I ended up ordering the Kim Chee Miso Ramen and after a short wait the obaachan came out with our food. The yellow slippery noodles were the perfect consistency and the thin pork slices were filled with flavor from marinating in the broth. As usual I avoided the bean sprouts; those noodle imposters are perfect for ruining a good slurp. There weren’t as many noodles as I would have liked, a slight disappointment; but in all the Kim Chee Miso Ramen helped me escape to Japan for a dinner and had me thinking, “That ramen was raw man…”
-Keenan Jay