Five Most Memorable Meals

June 17, 2011 by Kevin Murphy

Last night was my wife’s birthday. We went to Castagna, a regular on the Portland restaurant scene for a number of years, but a new fresh menu and new approach in the last year focusing on unique ingredients combine in ways you’d least expect. It ‘s probably the closest I’ve gotten to real molecular gastronomy. The food was intricately prepared and the service flawless. It’s a meal I will remember for a long time.

It also got me thinking about other memorable meals, and the fact that perfectly prepared food, or flawless service isn’t always the key to a great experience. Here are some meals that really stand out in my memory.

5) Asia de Cuba, New York, 1998. I was traveling with four Microsoft employees and we were staying in the Morgans, aPhilippe Starck Phillippe Stark designed hotel with an Asia de Cuba in it. I’m not sure if the Asia de Cuba restaurants are still as cool as they once were — it seemed like a very 1990’s thing, but apparently they are still around. It was probably my first experience in a restaurant that was all about the design. White everything. Even the tables glowed white. It didn’t hurt that George Clooney was at a booth, and rumor was that Michal Jordan was in a private room. The signature dessert was called the Bay of Pigs. It was a giant sunday with sparklers. The five of us couldn’t finish it.
4) Morimoto, Philadelphia, 2003. The original Iron Chef had just hit the US and Masaharu Morimoto opened his first restaurant two years earlier in Philadelphia after working at Nobu. Jennifer and I were out there for a wedding and made it a point to give it a try. It was our first chef’s tasting menu. The food was great. The recommended beer was from Oregon. The best part was not knowing what was going to come from the kitchen next.

3) Apartment floor, Valentine’s Day 1995. It was Valentine’s day, and Jennifer and I had been dating for just a few months. I decided to cook a casual meal. Something I could easily cook at my place and bring over to her apartment. I made Stromboli with a marinated artichoke salad. I served a semi-dry reisling. Jennifer didn’t have a table, so we ate on the apartment floor, picnic style. The stromboli was heart-shaped.

2) El Mercado Centro, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2009. The meal cost lest than $2 USD and it fed both of us. Roast Pig, potato cakes called llapingachos, veggies and soda. We pointed to the part of the pig we wanted and the woman behind the counter reached in and grabbed a huge handful of tender roast port.

 

1) Mama Leone’s, New York City, 1981. It was probably a tourist trap, and might not have even been very good, but as a 9-year-old boy it was a completely new experience. Seven courses, strolling violins. and sherbet to cleanse the palate. What awesomeness it is that you don’t have to wait until the end of the meal for dessert.

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JELD-WEN Field Food Guide #RCTID

April 14, 2011 by Kevin Murphy

Last night I got a sneak peek at JELD-WEN field. There were a few hundred guests invited to watch a highschool exhibition game and “dress rehearse” the stadium before tonight’s MLS home opener.


The stadium looks great the original main concourse hasn’t changed significantly but the new East and South ends are well designed, close to the field and add some modern aesthetic that blends well with the 100-year-old original architecture.
JELD-WEN Field

The East stands at JELD-WEN field the night before the first game.

First the Beer:
Winder is a sponsor of the Timbers, so most beer stalls focus on Widmer beers and Coors products. The standards (Hefeweizen, Droptop, W, etc) are present at the main kiosks as well as a handful of carts spread around the stadium.  Brewed specifically for the home opener is a 414 IPA — April 14.  Its a pretty mild IPA and won’t quite be bitter enough for hopheads, but it will work wonders as a session beer, that has a lot more character than your average session beer.

The standard stadium food:
Throughout the main concourse are the usual kiosks. Two new kiosks adorn the East walkway, past the Timber’s merchandise store. These restaurants serve the usual grill fair, burgers, hotdogs, chicken fingers, etc. I also saw curly fries available at a few. The burgers are your standard, patty, thicker than some, but fairly dry. The chicken fingers are well seasoned white meat, not too dry, but come with pretty good think-cut fries. The bratwursts are from Zenner’s and are true brats, pale in color and well spiced with ginger, cardamom and some cinnamon.

Specialty Carts
Scattered throughout the stadium are BBQ, bento, taco and grill carts. Last night they were located beneath the luxury boxes and on the deck on the East side. The BBQ was a little sweet, but better than the options at the Rose Garden. My favorite was the chile verde tacos. I tried the chicken, served with rice and beans. The soft corn tortillas were a little dry. They were  made with yellow corn and warmed to order. The chicken was moist and tender , while the verde sauce had a nice citrus  and vegetable flavor and much spicier than I expected.  The grill cart had the usual sausages and burgers. There was also a carved meat cart. I don’t know if this will be a regular feature, but they were carving us  fresh looking looking whole roast turkey.

I didn’t get to try the sit-down restaurant in the Key Bank area in the East stands.

Expect to see a number of mobile food trucks in the JELD_WEN Field neighborhood tonight. I know Koi Fusion will be setting up shop across the street from the main plaza, as will 2-3 other trucks.

GO TIMBERS!
note: I work for CMD which is owned by JELD-WEN.

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Gastro Weekend

February 28, 2011 by Kevin Murphy

It started with a dinner with Microsoft clients at the Book Bindery.  What I thought was a simple get to know you and celebrate the start of a new project kind of dinner, quickly moved into one of those dinners where I was goaded to order the sweetbreads.

Despite a nagging fear of contracting zobieism from eating brains, I ordered, and they were fabulous. The sweetbreads were quickly followed by a foi gras terrine with citrus aspic, an apple salad and hamachi crudo. Of and then an entrée of rack-of-lamb.

Getting back in Portland the next day, lunch started with a brewery hop, starting with Coalition Brewing.  Then a late lunch at Burnside Brewing. After starting in on a bourbon porter and an apricot Scotch bonnet pepper ale we ordered  duck comfit cigars. Duck comfit, wrapped tightly in a crunchy crepe shell then wrapped again in collared greens. Rich duck, crunchy, and tangy greens made to look like a cigar and served with ash of salt, pepper and ground hazelnuts.

Image courtesy of Yelp.

We followed the duck cigars with the best pastrami sandwich I’ve ever eaten — yes, better than Kenny and Zukes — and a burger cooked in duck fat. The thick cut pastrami was accompanies by thinly sliced pickled apples. Same principle as sauerkraut on a reuben, but much better with out all the goop.

Sunday brunch was had at Russel Street Barbecue with good friends. Barbecue for brunch. This was then washed down with beer at Bar Bar and a steady stream of musicians going in and out of Mississippi Studios.

Dinner that night was leg of lamb with cauliflower puree at home.

And to counteract all this eating, I took the stairs at work this morning.

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