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BEST RESTAURANT IMPROVEMENT
Portlanders cherish days when the sky is blue and devoid of dark clouds threatening to water down their drinks with raindrops. Many restaurants offer outdoor seating, but until now, diners at the classy COMPASS CAFE (4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd.) were confined to the intimate atmosphere indoors. Although perfectly cozy when a steady drizzle pervades, the small eatery seems unnaturally dark when the sun shines brightly. But now you can venture out to the newly opened patio and watch garden herbs grow. People-watching isn't on the menu--this recently acquired space is behind the cafe, away from the dusty street. Instead, relish serene privacy as the soothing trickle of a fountain sounds in the background. BEST DRINKING CLUB
We all know what TGIF stands for, but what about POETS? Try: PISS ON EVERYTHING,TOMORROW'S SATURDAY. The every-Friday original floating cigar-and-beer crew called Poets is a tough-to-please band of libants: Try to imagine a sterner table of beer drinkers than brewers themselves. Brewers from Full Sail, Hair of the Dog, Fish, McMenamins and the occasional out-of-town guest join sales reps, distributors, restaurateurs and a certain member of the local beer press to drink beer and stink up select local taverns with a dizzying haze of cigar smoke. Extra cred: the Poets started as a cigar-smoking club before cigars' newfound popularity. BEST-KEPT CULINARY SECRET
If you've noticed that a lot of the muffins, cinnamon rolls and focaccia offered by Portland's homey little cafes, coffee bars and caterers look awfully familiar, you're right. Even some of Portland's best cooks and respected restaurateurs cut into pies and carve off sticky buns baked at the COSTCO BAKERIES, the same stores that offer 50-pound bags of carrots and a textbook lesson in economies of scale. BEST SELF-ANOINTED ROYALTY
The girls at PARTY PRINCESS CATERING (240-6057) don't squabble when it comes to just who's the princess. "I'm the princess," chef Wendy Daniels says assuredly. After thinking for a moment, she concedes that "given a room full of strangers, [partner Pam Pedjoe] is a princess in her own right." Operating out of a "fabulous purple palace" in North Portland, Party Princess is brimming with exotic props and costumes, which her royal highnesses believe do not see nearly enough use in conservative, provincial Portland. Naked boys party? Scheherezade beach wedding? Boring bank retirement luncheon? Just be sure you curtsy when they answer the phone. BEST BEAN CURD BUYS
Ah tofu, the vegetarian's staple, the jiggly white substance that is so versatile and cheap. Compared to fish, poultry, pork and beef, tofu is a steal--but even better, speciality markets beat the pants off megagroceries when it comes to pricing the soybean jell. The SPRING MARKET (3032 SE Hawthorne Blvd.) impresses us for a number of reasons: helpful staff; fantastic prices; a wide variety of unusual, exotically wrapped products. But it's the tofu that really excels. A mere 89 cents buys a 19-ounce pack of Vitasoy or a 10.5-ounce carton of Mori-Nu silken tofu ($1.29 at Fred Meyer). The popular 16-ounce Dae Han organic firm Chinese-style soy wonder goes for 99 cents at the Spring--50 cents less than Nature's and even 30 cents cheaper than the Daily Grind. BEST PLACE TO BREAST-FEED
There was a small ruckus earlier this year when Jeannette Hamby tried to make discrete public breast-feeding legal. Hamby was inspired by an Albany constituent who called to complain that she had been forced to leave a Fred Meyer because she was breast-feeding. Hamby's office was inundated with calls ranging from "Nursing mothers should stay at home" to "If I want to nurse I'll take off my shirt in Washington Square." The bill died before it reached the floor, although there is a national effort to frame some kind of protective policy around nursing mothers. The controversy brings to light how difficult life can be for breast-feeding moms and their babes. Perhaps that's why you can nearly always find a new mom tucked away and chilling out in the downtown NORDSTROM WOMEN'S LOUNGE (701 SW Broadway). The comfortable spot still has all the amenities--couches, lamps, a changing table, even a sink. But we wish, as Hamby's bill tried to suggest, that anywhere could be named as the best place to breast-feed. BEST TIP JAR
Offering "the biggest slices at the best prices," ROCCO'S PIZZA (949 SW Oak St.) doesn't exactly attract the type of crowd that has a lot of extra cash to throw in the coffer. Yet the employees somehow generate enough lint-caked booty to necessitate the use a beer pitcher for a tip jar. Why is it that these food handlers are so damn good at extracting money from us? "Fear," says one ex-employee. "We instill it in our customers. They don't just feel guilty if they don't tip, they actually fear what might happen to them." Fear, and a little humor. To keep regulars on their toes, Rocco's changes the label on its tip jar as often as the daily slice lineup. Forget "Support counter culture"; here are some of the greatest hits of the past year: "Tipping will impress your friends and make you seem sexier."
"Tips help us fight David Hasselhoff."
"Tips will bring you closer to the Lord of Sanity."
"Tip or you'll be punished severely."
"Tips. It's what's for dinner." BEST COFFEE-BAR IDEA NO ONE USES
All right, maybe we should have called this one "Best Naked Attempt at Social Engineering." But honestly, is there any reason coffee places that sell their wares iced as well as hot couldn't KEEP A BOTTLE OF SIMPLE SYRUP next to the sugar so customers don't have to stir their coffee for half an hour to get the sugar to dissolve in the icy liquid? One part sugar, one part water, put it in an empty Torani bottle with a pourer on top. How hard could it be? Jeez. BEST PLACE TO GET BEN & JERRY'S
If you get excited when pints of this fine creamy confection (regularly priced around $2.59) go on sale for $1.99, you won't mind the drive to CANNED FOOD GROCERY OUTLET (2925 NW Division St. in Gresham and 3855 SW Murray Blvd. in Beaverton). Pints go for 69 cents (!) at this bargain emporium. Shipments come in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but call ahead to see whether Ben & Jerry's ice cream is included. BEST PITA BREAD PRICES
Many customers assume there has been a mistake when they see the 55-cent tag on packs of pita bread at the INTERNATIONAL FOOD BAZAAR (915 SW 9th Ave.). Many go so far as to get out their dollar and 55 cents, assuming a digit got rubbed off the price sticker. Nope. A 10-ounce pack of pita here is really only $.55, compared to $1.50 to $2.50 at Safeway or Zupan's. The owners of the small gourmet market that specializes in Middle Eastern foods aren't in some kind of Back to the Future time warp; they simply decided that because pita bread is such a staple food for their Middle Eastern customers, they would sell it at cost, earning no profit from it. Try some of the Bazaar's creamy homemade hummus with the bargain pita bread. BEST PRESENTATION OF A 40-OUNCER
Feel like impressing a date with your continental savoir-faire, but don't have the cash for a frosty bottle of Dom Perignon? The DELTA CAFE (4607 SE Woodstock Blvd.) can help. For three bucks--less than you'll spend on condoms--they'll bring you lovebirds a 40-ounce magnum of Château Pàbst Bleu Ribón champagne-style in a snazzy silver (colored) ice bucket, just like they do at Maxim's in Paris, France, where the ladies wear no pants. Getting your server to talk in a snooty French accent will cost you extra. BEST PLACE TO EAT JERKY
Old tools, fishing equipment and mounted game heads create the proper jerky-eating ambience at the urban/rustic WOPATOOS (4144 SE 60th Ave.). Wopatoos is also the lair of of Portland's one and only Jerky Queen, long-haired Lisa. Twice a week, Lisa pounds whole bottom rounds of super-lean beef into thick strips, which she cures and seasons. Then she throws the strips into the smoker invented by her dad; it's formed out of a keg of Widmer beer. Only a buck each, these meaty hunks of kick-ass cajun, regular cajun, pepper and teriyaki/mesquite jerky are moist and rich, hardly resembling the Plaid Pantry-counter variety. If you're trying to stay away from red meat, Lisa will serve you a smoked turkey drumstick. BEST FREE SUNDAY BRUNCH
Brunch is a weird meal that takes a sampling from every food genre, then serves it with eggs, toast and a cup of coffee. The new ZUPAN'S (3301 SE Belmont St.) understands the diversity of brunch and embraces it with zeal. Every Sunday morning around 10 am, busy employees get out their trays and start piling on the free goods: Hawaiian chicken salad in the deli area, cheeseburgers (!) by the butcher, waffles near the bread baskets, cantaloupe and strawberries over in produce. You may think this sounds like any other day in the world of upscale grocery shopping, but there's one special Sunday difference: Instead of just chopped up pastries in the bakery, whole muffins and Danish are offered. BEST HAPPY HOUR FOOD MENU
Soggy fried vittles in a room where the only light comes from the buffet table's heatlamp--if that's your idea of happy hour, Portland bars are out to change it. Leading the pack is McCormick and Schmick's PILSNER ROOM(0309 SW Montgomery St., 220-1865). Although several places in town have great twilight-time deals, the smoker-friendly, brightly lit annex of the Harborside Restaurant offers variety as well as thrift. Its happy-hour menu lists almost 30 items--from seafood gumbo to pepperoni pizza, from Szechuan noodle salad to chocolate truffle cake with raspberry sauce--each only $1.95 with any beverage costing $2 or more. The Pilsner Room's bounty is available to night owls, too; the happy-hour special runs from 4 to 6 pm and again from 10:30 pm 'til closing. BEST RESTAURANT WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR
THE MORNING STAR ESPRESSO (510 SW 3rd Ave.) has tasty sandwiches and among the best chips in town, but its primary virtue may be its smart-aleckness. Consider the menu and this listed entree: "The sandwich formerly known as Roast Beef." Or the note on the wall that says, "We proudly serve our good coffee in Starbucks cups." Our favorite is a sign that says "We hope to make it into the next Willamette Week Restaurant Guide, so please make out your checks to "Morning Star Trattoria." BEST NEW ESSENCE OF OREGON
For 13 years, Clear Creek Distillery's proprietor, Stephen R. McCarthy, has been producing some of the best essences of Oregon available anywhere: pear brandy, apple brandy, kirschwasser, framboise, blue plum brandy, marc and grappa. This time McCarthy has outdone himself with what is basically an essence of an essence of Oregon--a pot-stilled OREGON WINE BRANDY ($19.95). Buying from a number of local vintners, Veritas and Eyrie among them, McCarthy turns less than one gallon of mostly pinot noir into 375 milliliters of barrel-aged brandy. The barrels are from Cognac, France, and the resultant brandy is intense and strongly reminiscent of Armagnac. Only 50 cases will be available this year. They can be found at McCarthy's distillery (1430 NW 23rd Ave.) or at better OLCC stores in the area, including Downtown (550 SW Washington St.), Uptown (1 NW 23rd Place) and Salmon Street (934 SW Salmon St). Coming this fall may be McCarthy's masterstroke--an Oregon single-malt Scotch. BEST CHALLENGE FOR FROZEN-DESSERT LOVERS
For God's sake, don't call it ice cream. One step inside Sdk's Frozen Custard (378 SW 2nd Ave.) and you will realize that this place is serious about custard. No colorful decorations, no music, no birthday-party room. Just extremely large, complex machines extruding long tubes of what is probably the best frozen custard in the world, let alone Portland. Real fans know the secret: Instead of adding new flavors every month, Sdk puts emphasis on perfecting two flavors, Cascade Cream and Cocoa Cream. Those customers insightful enough to name all six ingredients in the vanillalike Cascade flavor are honored with their name on an "OUR PATRONS HAVE GREAT TASTE AWARD" wall plaque. Imagine: not your name added to a plaque, but your own individual plaque. Didn't we tell you they were serious? Only 14 people or groups (one is the 24-hour Church of Elvis) have earned the honor in the few years the contest has been running. But this is one situation in which the struggle to get it may be more rewarding than the prize itself. BEST BEER LABEL
Stern of visage and stalwart of character, Roswell Barker adorns every bottle produced by the Hair of the Dog Brewing Co., surrounded by his endearing traits: "Loyal, Faithful, Pure, Wet Nose." As with the ultra-premium ales that dwell behind Roswell's jowly frown, noticing Roswell's subtleties can take a few visits. The derby he sported on Adam (the original Hair of the Dog) sprouted a broad brim and became a fedora in the Belgian Tripel-style Golden Rose. The newest Hair of the Dog beer, a barleywine called "FRED" (after renowned Portland beer writer Fred Eckhardt), features Roswell on a field of blue, topped with a German spike helmet. The resemblance to the smooth-crowned beer scribe is
uncanny. BEST NEW BREAD
It's a tough call between the new Pearl Bakery's (102 NW 9th Ave.) fig anise panini (50 cents) and its decadent chocolate panini (75 cents). Both follow the New York bagel formula: Crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside. The secret? Poolish yeast--a wet yeast that results in breads with a delicate crust and open grain. Subtle flavoring and breakfast-lunch-or-dinner diversity puts the FIG ANISE over the top. The fist-sized roll is just sweet enough to feel like a treat, while remaining healthy enough to start the day with. The unusual addition of anise gives it even more of a Euro-bang. BEST PLACE TO GET A DR. SEUSS BREAKFAST
Green eggs and ham didn't sound too appealing to Sam-I-am; he wouldn't eat them in a boat and he wouldn't eat them with a goat, but he did eventually eat them. Maybe he would have tried them a lot sooner if he had been offered them at the recently expanded BEATERVILLE CAFE (2150 N Killingsworth St.). Beaterville's green eggs and ham are scrambled eggs with pesto, green onions, feta cheese and Canadian Black Forest ham. And like Sam, you can eat them anywhere--Beaterville makes them to go. BEST LOGO ON A TO-GO COFFEE CUP
When Curt Gottfried opened the cafe GIANT STEPS (1208 NW Glisan St.) in the Pearl District nearly eight years ago, little did he know that the neighborhood would become the city's epicenter of artistic activity. Luckily, he had the foresight to ask Aaron Smith, a local graphic designer, to come up with an eye-catching logo to promote the stark, angular coffee shop. Using fine lines and tangential boxes, Smith designed an insignia inspired by the album art of the era in which John Coltrane recorded his masterpiece Giant Steps, but which also has a post-modern, minimalist touch. Gottfried says the logo has served him well, as he's employed variations on it for business cards and the artful menu than hangs on a wall behind the counter. Now, as Wieden & Kennedy prepares to join the myriad art galleries, ad agencies and graphic design firms in the vibrant Pearl District, Giant Steps' baristas can proudly pour their tasty brews into a cup that's as impressive in its aesthetics as the work being produced in the surrounding lofts. BEST PLACE TO BUY IN BULK
Imagine a Costco with class (quite a stretch, we realize) and you might have something resembling the beauteous bounty at SHERIDAN FRUIT CO. (408 SE 3rd Ave., 236-2113). Sheridan devotes an entire room to self-serve bulk food; old-time barrels nearly overflow with staple and gourmet dry goods including tapioca (large and small), winter wheat, lupini beans, Ghirardelli cocoa powder and wild birdseed. Bins of dried fruit--spears of papaya, jewel-like cherries, sunset-colored nectarines--shimmer like exotic wares in a Persian marketplace. There are 229 bulk bins in all, and that doesn't include the 73 trays of candy, 20 jars of exotic teas and 12-variety olive bar. Tasting is tolerated--the olive bar even provides a pit jar--but when you see this spread, you may be tempted to go a little crazy. "I just want to bathe in this barrel of lentils," one shopper recently remarked. |
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