Postcard from Portland, Version Brunch

I know my postcards are usually all in one, but we ate a particularly incredible amount of noteworthy food in the Rose City.  This was our first visit to the Pacific Northwest, and we thank our cousins A&S for being awesome, having a delish baby and cuddly dog, and moving to Portland, OR. 

Today I bring you Brunch.

First up: Simpatica.  The wise cousins wanted to go to Tasty n Sons, but the wait was forever.  Don't worry, we went later in the week.  Simpatica may have been a backup, but it was just what the doctor ordered after a long (but direct) flight.  Please see the exhibits:

The Logger: Chicken-fried bison with sausage gravy, eggs, and potatoes. J is so into the gravy lately.  See, e.g. Jake Moon Cafe and Rooster Cafe.

Short rib hash with ramps, radishes, beet greens, fingerling potatoes, spring onions, and eggies.  That's me, if you couldn't tell.

Smoked salmon strata with onions, kale, carrots, and the best Hollandaise any of us had ever tasted. 

Frittatta with asparagus, speck (smoked prosciutto), chiles, and pecorino romano.  We loved every bite of this brunch, and I would definitely recommend it.  Would I go back next time I'm in Portland? That's hard to say, because there's still so much we wanted to try but didn't get the chance.




We saw a clip on Unique Eats about the Waffle Window and knew it was a for sure stop for us.  They have endless combinations.  Dessert, breakfast, snack, whatever it is, you can find it at the Window.  We ordered, waited, and sat outside in a sort of parking lot picnic area.  The day was impossibly sunny, and we were psyched.

J went sweet---bananas, whipped cream, chocolate sauce.  I went savory--brie, bacon and basil.  WW is a great place for a snack - you could have a bowl of cereal at 9, go to WW at 10:30, and have lunch at 12 without a problem.  It's delicious, affordable, and the variety is super fun.

Pine State Biscuits was on DDD at some point, but we saw it on Unique Eats. Three southern dudes move to Portland and opened a place where you can get it all...on a biscuit.

Sweet tea in a mason jar.  Squeeze that lemon, J-love.

Fried chicken, cheese, egg, on a biscuit.

The Reggie: Fried chicken, cheese, bacon, gravy. (That's J.)

There is nothing not to like about Pine State Biscuits.  Go for a $4 egg and cheese up, or the $8 Wedgie: fried chicken, fried green tomato, iceberg lettuce, and blue cheese.  Get a southern side blackeyed peas, hushpuppies, or collard greens.  The service is friendly, the place is tiny (but adorable), and you should definitely stop there if you get the chance. 

Remember Tasty n Sons from our first day in Portland?  Really long wait (it was Sunday, after all), followed by Simpatica saving the day? Well we couldn't leave it at that.  We had to go.  The day was Thursday, the wait was none, but somehow there were still a lot of people in that restaurant for a weekday.

It's important to get to know your chocolate potato doughnut.  Cut it open.  Savor it.  Share it with your best friend, because there's a lot more to come.

For example, see the below:  Glazed yams, lil' chicken hash, biscuit and eggs...

 

We really liked everything we had at Tasty's.  We had a really hard time narrowing down the menu, so I suggest you go with a group of 3+ to try more stuff.  They have small plates and larger plates, and I pretty much wanted to try all of it.  We sat at a bar-like area and could see the kitchen prepping.  The ingredients were fresh and delicious, and that's what made the food so great.  Please don't leave here without eating the glazed yams.  They were the last thing we lobbed onto our order, and they were my faaaaavorite.

That's it for brunch in Portland.  I hope my memory doesn't dissolve before I get to the other meals...

Have a great week!

Last Midwestern Postcard (For Now)

I don't usually stretch our trips into a zillion posts, but we just ate too many damn photogenic dishes to squeeze them all in.  And I have to tell you about one of the best breakfasts I have had in a very long time.

When I eat somewhere that is seemingly in the middle of nowhere (sorry, places I'm talking about) and it is amazing and I want to hitch it to my rental car and bring it wherever I go next, I'm always surprised.  Whether it's a cafe outside Zion National Park, or, in this case, a place called Cafe Berlin in Columbia, Missouri.  Columbia, home of Mizzou, is basically smack in between St. Louis and Kansas City.  Also known as: the PERFECT place to have breakfast before getting back to STL for our flight.

It doesn't look like too much from the outside--little strip mall, parking lot, interesting color choice, and...er...the font.

Inside it's all earthy and crunchy, complete with all kinds of characters (including us). It has charm (local art, and it's a venue for local entertainment), wit (after the beer list is a listing for a "suicide," aka a lil' of each, which you can order), but most importantly, the food is delicious.  DELICIOUS.

Once again, for the third time in the state of Missouri, I read the words "Breakfast All Day."  Those sweet (yet savory) words. 

I managed to claw myself away from over easy eggs on this day.  I pretty much wanted everything on this menu, but I decided on the Carey Burrito--scrambled eggs, feta, roasted potatoes, cilantro, and apples served with tzatziki.  Sweet, salty, crunchy, hot, cold, omg I can't deal. 

Look at the browning on those potatoes! 

  J also went burrito--he had the straight up Breakfast Burrito with eggs, cheddar, sausage, potatoes, and guac for an extra buck because he's wild like that. 

I'm not sure when you'll be in the middle of Missouri next.  But if you're 17 and applying to schools, this may be a good enough reason to apply to Mizzou. (The admissions office hasn't paid me.)

Postcard from Kansas City

We live by certain rules.  One is this: if you are or will be in driving distance of a city with an MLB team, you should try to plan your trip such that the team will be playing at home during your visit. And that's how we ended up in Kansas City on a recent visit to St. Louis.  After being sure to stand in both Missouri and Illinois over on the east side of the state, we headed to Kansas City and promptly planted our feet in Kansas.

Our first stop in KC was Arthur Bryant's.

Arthur Bryant served up the best barbecue I've ever had.  The burnt ends brisket sandwich (open-faced) was more than enough for J and I to share on our particular outing.  We'd stopped at Panera off the highway (boring! But fun fact, closer to St. Louis it's called the St. Louis Bread Company) for breakfast, and we were having an early, pre-Royals game dinner, so that's why we had to share.  There is only room for so many many meals per day, unforch.



This place was hopping on a weekday lunch hour.  You wait in line, order, pay, then sit.  They've got sauces for sale, but don't worry, you can buy online if you're not checking your bag (or are afraid of sauced clothes).  We had yummy (read: worth it) fries with our deeelectable slightly sweet, slightly spicy, tangy sauced brisket. Everything I love in life: barbecue sauce, brisket (and burnt ends at that), and my main squeeze (bottle of sauce).

Look at it up there, all understated on its white bread.

Dinner was a different adventure.  I had thought about making a reservation at Bluestem, with its chef all fancy and nominated for a James Beard for Best Chef - Midwest.  But then I looked at Yelp and the menu.  We figured we'd do the $60 three course option, but then on Yelp the lounge happy hour offerings were all the rage. Sixty smackers for three courses just didn't seem like a good deal when we could pay less than that for a whole dinner for two.  And I didn't want to be too late to the game, but I wouldn't want to rush a drawn out expensive meal.

So we lounged it (again), and I'm glad we did.  First we enjoyed some honey roasted spiced nuts that J is still talking about.  It can be seen below with my wheat beer/ginger beer/limoncello situation.

Hangar steak was on the lounge menu for $14.  Cooked sous vide in an extremely generous portion and served with chimichurri sauce and amazing (once again: worth it) fries, this baby clocked in at $7  because it was half off for happy hour (which lasts until 7). OK, maybe the 3-course would have had an amouse bouche, and a little plate of treats at the end, and a sauteed this or pureed that alongside the steak instead of frites, but $7?!?!?  I'll write it out.  SEVEN DOLLARS?!?!?  Incredible food for that price.  At $14 it would have been a steal.  Look at the portion.

Then there was the pulled pork barbecue sandwich. The same ridonculous fries on the side, a ginger slaw that was refreshing and bright (I'd add more ginger...obviously).  The only disappointment on the plate was the pickle. It just wasn't my type.

I can, without reservations (literally), absolutely recommend the Bluestem lounge.  You don't need to spend a lot of money to have delicious, carefully prepared food in generous portions.  The service was really friendly, everyone around us seemed to be having a great time, and there's a hilarious truck/wagon that looks like a sandwich parked at the joint across the street. 

I highly recommend KC if you are nearby.  The lovely, shiny,spacious Nelson-Atkins museum is somehow free, and the nearby gardens are lovely.

Game time, and we out.

Fewer Words Friday

I want to wish you a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. In most parts of the east coast it looks like it'll be gooorgeous.  Beach! Beach! Beach!

Today I bring you photos of a brunch from the past that escaped publication.  In short: I liked it, I'd go back, I'd recommend it.  Look at that popover (with strawberry butter).

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Blurry CBH with scrambled eggs.  L was obviously my dining companion.  Not quite Good Enough to Eat, but a solid, adorable brunch. 

Postcard from St. Louis

I asked you all a while back about St. Louis, remember?  We visited my dear baby cousin (who beeteedubs is almost 20), watched some baseball, checked out some Arch, and ate a ton of delicious food.

First up: Breakfast.  Always. Boosters on the Delmar Loop (hehe, Delmar is near where we live now!) had the quick, inexpensive breakfast we needed before heading to campus. 

Egg sandwich with big fat juicy grape trio?  Pumpkin pancakes?  Check and check.  Delicious, simple, friendly, and inexpensive.  Serve your own coffee and make your own milk and sweetening experience.




So there's actually a block or two (or three?) that has Thai this and Thai that, all owned by the same people.  We stopped at Thai Pizza for a quick lunch, and I was pleasantly surprised.  It was kind of cool and misty out, and pizza fell out of favor with me while giant plate of pad see ew was definitely in. 

 Yum.  Easy, fast, convenient, and exactly what I needed on this day.  If I were a student I'd go back often, and on days where I wasn't totally famished (as I was on this day) I'd eat 1/3 of it cold late at night.



You MUST use Facebook for all it is worth.  And by that I mean staying in touch with old friends and knowing where they live.  That way you can visit with them (and eat with them).  We did just that at Pappy's Smokehouse.  If it's a weekend (or any day, really), remember that they close at 8pm or when they run out of food--whichever happens first.  Apparently on a Saturday this can be mid-afternoon.  You're warned!

Delicious corn, sweet potato fries with cinnamon and sugar, ribs, sweet n' saucy pulled pork, and bare as a baby's bottom sliced brisket.  They were out of chicken and turkey when we got there; you know we'd have preferred to try everything they have.  Peppery green beans and refreshing crunchy slaw round out our haul.  Pappy's is a blast.  It's the kind of place you want to go to with good friends, and you want to laugh, eat, wipe your hands (a lot), and leave in a drunken state of food coma happiness.  I'd say the ribs were the biggest hit at our table.  The corn and sweet potato fries were also somewhat ridiculous. 

 

We visited two frozen custard establishments, and one was the famous (maybe?) Ted Drewes, home of the concrete--it's like a Blizzard, a Blend-In, you know the drill.  But here they turn your cup upside down with the spoon in it to prove how stuck in there your custard is.  This made me nervous, obviously.  It's delicious, it's frozen, it's happy, and I'd have it again 7x per week, whether once per day or twice some days and others off.  J enjoyed the classic chocolate/vanilla twist, while I got crazy with the concrete with raspberries, hot fudge, and macadamia nuts.  Next time I'd get a concrete without hot fudge (which obviously changes the consistency), and I'd remember that macs are perhaps my least favorite nut.  Sidenote, a few of their locations are kosher. 



Last breakfast time....

We rose early to get to the Arch, walk around a downtown garden, and take some pictures.  What a gorgeous day. 

Rooster was plum adorable, from the freshly cut flowers in the mason jar vases to the clear hot bevvie mugs.

My plate isn't colorful (and the globs are unfortunate), but the taste was delicious.  Goat cheese, mushrooms, oven-dried tomatoes in a crepe.  Word.

J had the Rooster Slinger--andouille sausage, potatoes, eggs, and sausage gravy over maybe the thickest toast I've seen ever.  This thing is not joking.  This is not a test.

Beyond the friendly and helpful service, delicious food, and sweet overall vibe, one of my favorite things about Rooster is that it is open 7 (seven) days a week and serves breakfast all day (all day. ALL DAY).  Breakfast All Day.  Also seen in other places as Breakfast: Served All Day.  Music to my ears.



Fly, do not walk or drive (at least not from ALB or DC) to St. Louis.  You can get there on Southwest and get sassed on your way.  Catch a ballgame, take a tour of the Budweiser factory (it's a lot like Wonka), and walk around some of the beautiful tree-lined streets with unbelievable homes.  And eat breakfast (all day).