After only a short time in Portland, I feel like I’ve eaten at most of the big name restaurants, Beast, Andina, Paley’s Place, etc. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I was worried there wasn’t going to be a restaurant special or fancy enough to truly celebrate the occasion. Dumpling Man and I don’t like to repeat…
Tag: fine dining
Bluehour
I will rarely eat somewhere if the Yelp rating isn’t above 3 stars, but for Blue Hour I made an exception. I think I read somewhere that they got a new executive chef, and the menu looked really tasty. It didn’t hurt that it’s walking distance from my apartment too. It made for a nice…
Castagna
As I’ve said before, Portland’s dining scene can be summarized as seasonal local ingredients prepared deliciously without the frills, gimmicks, and pretention as you might experience in LA. It’s just good food that makes you feel really warm and comforted inside. Castagna doesn’t really fit the mold of your typical Portland restaurant. It’s modernist…
Bottega
Michael Chiarello has made quite a name for himself by being one of the 3 finalists in the first season of Top Chef Masters. Let’s be honest, the first season was the only season worth mentioning. Subsequent seasons have been pretty lackluster. Anyways, I was pretty impressed with Chef Chiarello’s mastery of Italian cuisine, so…
Gary Danko
My apologies for my absence from the blogosphere. After a long day of work, I usually come home and cook dinner. Portland just doesn’t have the same dining options that LA did, so its forced my hand to cook more regularly. If anyone knows me, I don’t like to cook instant or even semi-instant sh*t….
WP24
You know that saying, “It’s all about who you know”? It’s not just a statement for the job seekers, business whores, and budding actors/musicians/artists of this world. For the last few years, I have been to some nice restaurants for FREE because I roll with King Arthur and his entourage. It’s a difficult status to…
Osteria Mozza
Behold! One of the BEST restaurants in LA! My first trip to Osteria Mozza was a mindblowing experience, but my camera and my inexperienced skills resulted in some pretty mediocre pictures. This time around, I came prepared with the H.o.P. and an SLR camera in tow, courtesy of Running Man, of course. Osteria Mozza is…
Paley’s Place
My tour of Portland’s fine dining establishments continues with Paley’s Place. It is owned by executive chef Vitaly Paley, who was awarded the 2005 James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest. It’s located in a Victorian style house in the Northwest area of Portland. Reviews on Yelp complained about the place being small and cramped. …
Beast
Beast is a unique dining experience. It is a restaurant composed of a staff of 5 (2 chefs, 2 servers, 1 busboy) and 2 communal tables (20-30 seats) with a large open air kitchen. Dinner service is only offered Wednesday through Sunday with two seatings at 6:00pm and 8:45pm. Brunch is offered only on Sundays…
Restaurant Zoe
So for our first dinner in Seattle, we decided to go with Restaurant Zoë. This was Dumpling Man’s choice, and what a nice choice it was. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it beats a place like Providence or comes anywhere near it, but it definitely holds its own. Fresh ingredients, simple but…
The Bazaar
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like food is like the new “it” thing. By that, I mean food seems to be on everyone’s minds. Whether it’s talking about favorite foods, eating at the best new restaurants, or checking out foodie events. Food is everywhere! Dumpling Man voiced a similar sentiment. Maybe food…
Melisse
I have a special treat for all my dedicated readers! Today’s entry has been written by my foodie friend, WonTuan. Unlike my guest writer, I’ll keep it BRIEF, and let him explain the why’s, who’s, and what’s. **************************************************************************** So I guess I should start off by declaring that I’m the first guest writer for this blog—the rightful…
Overworked. Underfed. 