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Phil Gissen

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Some foodie experiences in Portland for your perusal.

by Phil Gissen » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:54 pm

I know this is a Louisville restaurant forum. However, I thought some of you chefs and foodies would like to know about some of the interesting dishes we enjoyed in Portland.

Our first meal was at a restaurant named Wildwood which is known locally as a proponent of the Alice Waters school that champions using locally grown products exclusively. The restaurant goes as far as listing what farms the products come from on their menu. A little much, but I guess it is different. We enjoyed the Red Wine Braised Lamb Ravioli with a king oyster mushroom veloute, bacon and gremolata. The Pan Seared Petrale Sole did not excite as it was rather bland and the olives and frisee added nothing to the dish. The restaurant is famous for their crab cake which they list on their menu as Potato Crusted Dungeness Crab Cake with fennel, apples, toasted almonds and aioli. It was tasty and good as a signature dish.

Our best meal was at a Peruvian restaurant named Andina. They had a huge menu and we ordered an assortment of scrumptious and unique dishes.The Yuca Rellena was cheese stuffed with an aji Amarillo and ricotta sauce. Empenadas Caseras de Carne was filled with slow cooked beef, raisins, and Botija olives. The Conchas a la Parrilla were grilled diver scallops with a soy and brown sugar butter sauce and crispy onions. Those were just our appetizers. The pork tenderloin was quickly braised in what they called the Arequipa style with butternut squash and gorgonzola ravioli, green apple, and a tamarillo-rocoto "uchucuta." The Seco a la Nortena was a lamb shank slow cooked with cilantro, black beer, aji Amarillo, onions, and garlic. Everything tasted out of this world and the restaurant sizzled with energy.

Our worst meal was at Portland's most esteemed restaurant Paley's Place. The owners were out of town, and all I can say is the food was mediocre and the timing of the service horrible. It took more then one hour between the appetizers and the entree. By the time the food arrived, we had lost our appetite.

I am tired of writing, but will be happy to share some other "foodie" experiences in Portland.
"The Sea Was Angry That Day, My Friends, like an Old Man Trying to send Back Soup in a Deli."
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Ryane Norris

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Re: Some foodie experiences in Portland for your perusal.

by Ryane Norris » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:53 pm

Phil, Thanks for posting this! I've always wanted to visit Portland and all the great restaurants there but I've never been!!
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Jackie R.

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Re: Some foodie experiences in Portland for your perusal.

by Jackie R. » Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:40 am

Funny ~ for a milisecond, I thought you were talikng about Portland Louisville. It didn't take long, but for that milisecond, I was very excited at the notion of culinary growth in such a bleak neighborhood. I've often thought that if I had the money to lose, I'd open up a nice restaurant next to Unique thrift store on 23rd.
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AnnaC

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Re: Some foodie experiences in Portland for your perusal.

by AnnaC » Sun Mar 15, 2009 3:29 pm

Love the recommendations. We'll be in Portland at the end of July. If you have any more thoughts - please post. It's such a great city for an urban vacation. We used to love the Bridgeport Brewpub before it went all gastropub on us, and last visit (which was 2 years ago) the meal of the trip was at Oba! We'll have to find some new things to try for July..

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