Thank You Portland! Food Lover's Guide to Portland Book Launch Party

So much has happened since I last posted. I really don't know where to begin so I think I'll start with what's consuming my thoughts just 100 percent today -- my book launch party last night for Food Lover's Guide to Portland at Fortune Tattoo. I know it's probably dorky to say but last night was one of the best nights of my life. I'm beyond happy that so many friends, fellow food folks and complete strangers came out last night to celebrate. It was magic. Loving life right now.

((ATTENTION: My ex-boyfriend, Tyler Adams, no longer co-owns Fortune Tattoo. Visit his North Portland shop -- Grizzly Tattoo -- which opened June, 2011.))

I'm overwhelmed by the thought of describing the evening so I'm just going to post a bunch of photos for those of you who were there and those who couldn't make it. It was a blast and couldn't have happened without the overly generous food and drink donations as well as awesome help of my friends, boyfriend, Fortune Tattoo and of my publishing house Sasquatch Books. Thank you Portland. I love you more than ever!

And then it was on...

And on...

My friend Rale Sidebottom rocking it in the loft for the party...

They got the Fortune Tattoo sign up just in time!

Tyler eating the Newman's Fish Co. smoked black cod...

The savory side...

Good mugs in food coma.

Before the perfect storm. Cheers to you! Thank you Portland!

A Week Away...

Food Lover's Guide to Portland Book Launch Party Invite - A week from today on Thursday, July 1st, from 6-9pm at Fortune Tattoo I hope that you'll join me in celebrating the launch of my book Food Lover's Guide to Portland! It's been a long time coming and I'm more than ready to celebrate with friends and fellow Portlanders. It's First Thursday after all so if you're hitting up the galleries head across the river for a bit and celebrate PDX food and drink.

((ATTENTION: My ex-boyfriend, Tyler Adams, no longer co-owns Fortune Tattoo. Visit his North Portland shop -- Grizzly Tattoo -- which opened June, 2011! For more info. visit www.grizzlytattoo.com, 503.265.8146.))

If you scroll down on the invite above you'll see some of the fine food and drink folks donating incredible stuff for the party. These are some of my favorite Portland people and I'm so happy that they're helping me out in this way.

I'm also grateful to my boyfriend Tyler Adams and his business partner Ms. Mikki for hosting the party at their open-since-April-1st tattoo shop -- Fortune Tattoo. THANK YOU guys! Toward the end of the night I'll be giving away a prize to one lucky book buyer that involves needles and ink. I wonder what it is...

Food Lover's Guide to Portland -- Book Launch Party Fortune Tattoo, 1716 East Burnside St., Portland, OR Thursday, July 1st -- 6-9pm Food. Drink. Music. Books.

The Cheese Bar Spectacular -- Monday, June 21st 6-9pm!

I don't think that the fact that I LOVE cheese is a secret to anyone who reads this blog. The thought of a cheese-less existence sends shivers down my back. It would be a bleak, cold, tasteless world were there no cheese in it.

Next Monday night Portland's cheese haven, Cheese Bar, is hosting a rare, wonderful cheese event. From 6-9pm at Steve Jones' Cheese Bar you can try 101 of Steve's favorite cheeses. I did not mistype. That is 101. No, not 10.

Steve has partnered up with Adam Berger of Ten 01 to host this awesome event. Along with 101 of Steve's favorite cheeses you can saddle up with wine selections from Ten 01's sommelier Jeff Groh, cocktails by Kelley Swenson, and local beers on tap. Tickets are $39 in advance or $49 at the door and include all the cheese you can taste, two drink tickets for draft beer or wine by the glass, and a $5 voucher for Cheese Bar. There be six wines at $5/glass and local draft beer at $3/glass.

Get your ticket while you still can because they're going fast at www.brownpapertickets.com. If you want a more exclusive experience, 50 VIP tickets at $59 a pop are available. That gets you a 5-6pm more intimate tasting with sparkling wine and champagne.

If you want to read more about Cheese Bar check this out.

Eat cheese!

Cheese Bar 6031 SE Belmont St. 503.222.6014 www.cheese-bar.com Tuesday-Sunday 11am-11pm

Taste of the Nation Portland -- Spring 2010

Last week I got to attend my first Taste of the Nation here in Portland and I've been daydreaming about it ever since. I wrote about it on the blog a few times leading up to it because I was given two free tickets to give away in order to promote the 100% charitable event. Every bit of the proceeds from Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation go to local hunger relief agencies. How amazing is that?

When you hand in your ticket at the door -- the event was at Luxe Autohaus on Northeast 17th -- you get a little clear plastic food tray and wine glass to eat and drink from for the duration of the evening. I saw more than one person grabbing napkins to clean up their saucy trays as the night went on. I did once too when I didn't have any bread to sop up one too many romescos.

I took a bunch of photos of food that I sampled during the three -- yes three -- hours of eating and drinking. (At least you walked a bit of it off while circling the tables.) There were 50 restaurants, 20 wineries and 5 breweries sampling food and drink. Mostly I drank pinot blanc, viognier and pinot noir from all sorts of local vineyards including Anne Amie Vineyards, Apolloni Vineyards, Lange Estate Winery and more. They poured tasters and sometimes when white followed red I'd have a blushed white.

In addition to incredible food and drink from Portland's finest -- and beyond PDX -- there was live music, a silent auction, and even a magician although I never saw him. Maybe he had on his invisible cloak.

Here are some of the really good things I tried...

Nuestra Cocina's housemade tortillas...

Their chicarrones with salsa verde...

Don't touch my Nuestra Cocina barbacoa taco...

Firehouse rocked it too with meatballs and lamb sausage...

As did Autentica with its bay scallops on tortillas with green chile sauce...

It wasn't just memorable because it was one of the last things I ate at Taste. Bluehour's smoked pork sausage with frissee was awesome.

Tyler's favorite at Taste of the Nation from Jory at the Allison -- crispy pork belly, pickled ramps and truffle apple salad.

Get a little closer...

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation www.shareourstrength.org/portland

Say Cheese: Last Day for Steve's Cheese Feb. 21st, Sneak Peak at Cheese Bar to Open Mid-March

Only the good die young...

but only the great rise again like the phoenix.

Sorry for the cliche overload but it's hard not to wax poetic when discussing Steve Jones' still-open-but-not-for-long Steve's Cheese on NW Thurman and his newest venture Cheese Bar due to open mid-March at 60th and SE Belmont.

I spoke with Steve late last week and here's the scoop...

How would you describe Cheese Bar?

Cheese Bar is a cross between an old world delicatessen and a tabac.

What's a tabac?

In France and Italy both there are these things called tabacs and they're on almost every corner. It's where old men come in in the morning and buy their tobacco -- although we obviously won't be selling tobacco -- and then they'll stand and have a glass of espresso and maybe a croissant. And then in the evening they'll come back and have a glass of grappa and piece of cheese or something.

I've always really liked the social aspect of them. People coming in and out -- and quite often they're in and out in twenty minutes. It's really the only fast option you have in Europe -- everything else takes forever. So it's kind of cool you can get a little bite or boost and keep on moving. That's kind of been my intention with this. If people want to linger they can but Cheese Bar is more for when you're on your way home and you stop and have a glass of beer and a piece of cheese, or a glass of wine and a small bite.

Other differences between Steve's Cheese and Cheese Bar?

I keep telling everyone [Cheese Bar is] everything you've got now [Steve's Cheese] and more. We'll still carry everything including all the meat and cheese but you'll also be able to have a beer while your shopping. That's, you know, my dream moment. To get a beer and then shop for cheese. I mean, hell yeah, that's perfect.

I think if we've got a really long line I'm just going to grab a pitcher of beer and just pour everyone a little glass and say, "Here, have a beer." I used to shop at an old meat shop in St. Louis and no matter what time of day you'd walk in they'd ask -- "Want a bavarian beer?" It's 9:30 in the morning and they'd be offering you a beer..."

Same killer cheese selection at Cheese Bar plus beer and then some

Other things I learned about Cheese Bar:

The small menu will be stocked with sandwiches, soups, salads (such as garbanzo, tuna, and red pepper) snacks (sardines on toast), and hot plates ranging from $2-$10.

Cheese Bar will have the same rocking cheese selection (available in-house or to-go) as Steve's Cheese as well as all the other retail food and drink products such as vinegars, pastas, pickles and more.

There will be in-house beer, wine, and beer and wine cocktails. Curious about the latter -- we shall see.

And the look and feel? Lots of reclaimed wood and reused materials, four tables, two small bars (one standing bar, the other with stools), and a warm color scheme with lots of reds and browns.

I know where I'll be come mid-March.

Cheese Baropens mid-March 503.222.6014 6031 SE Belmont St. 10am-11pm Tue.-Sun.

Travel Oregon's Cuisineternships -- applications due Friday

There's no time to lose if you feel like free schooling with some of Oregon's finest food folks including Full Sail Brewery's brewmaster Jamie Emerson, salmon and rockfish fisherman Lars Robinson, Bendistillery distiller/owner Jim Bendis and others. Travel Oregon's Oregon BountyCuisineternship applications are due this Friday. What do you get if you win? One of seven all-expense-paid trips (including airfare, lodging and a $1,000 meal stipend) in Oregon which includes a five-day, six-night apprenticeship as a chef, cheesemaker/chocolatier, craft brewer, distiller, rancher, fisherman or winemaker.

The biggest component of the application is putting together a two minute digital video of yourself. Check out already submitted videos here. Keep in mind that you can apply for as many of the seven cuisineternships as you want. Go here for answers to some contest FAQ.

Winners will be announced after September 28th on Travel Oregon's website.

David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery is waiting for you in his cave.

The chef -- Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon The cheesemaker and chocolatier -- David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery and Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms The craft brewer -- Jamie Emmerson of Full Sail Brewing Co. The distiller -- Jim Bendis of Bendistillery The ranchers -- the Pickard and Boyer families of Oregon's Country Natural Beef The fisherman -- Lars Robison of Dockside Charters The winemaker -- Lynn Penner-Ash of Penner-Ash Wine Cellars

Lars Robison looks fine but did Gabriel Rucker take his Dramamine?

Travel Oregon www.traveloregon.com Oregon Bounty www.bounty.traveloregon.com

City Wine, Country Wine: Boedecker Cellars

Since 2003 Athena Pappas and Stewart Boedecker have been making award winning, delicious wine at Boedecker Cellars. And even though their facility is smack dab in the middle of Oregon's many wine growing regions it also happens to be in a forklift and train-tracked industrial part of Northwest Portland.

I got to visit with Athena for a couple hours in mid-July. I met her at the Boedecker Cellars tasting room where we talked about the history of Boedecker and the wine while sipping on a beautiful, sold out bottle of 2008 Pappas Wine Co. Pinot Blanc.

Pappas was working in the field of psychology when her husband's winemaking interest was sparked in the mid-90s. After taking an Oregon Winemaking 101 class at PCC Boedecker worked for several years at various vineyards, often without pay, in between his regular full-time employment and during his vacations in order to learn the tools of the trade.

Boedecker loved making wine so much that one day he said to Pappas, "I'm going to drive a crappy car forever, save all my money and start a winery." While Pappas and Boedecker worked together as tenants at The Carlton Winemakers Studio from 2003 to 2007 that's just what they did.

I really like this cork chair in the Boedecker tasting room.

Boedecker Cellars specializes in pinot noir and chardonnay but also produces pinot blanc, pinot gris, rosé and grenache. Depending on the time of the year there are usually several different pinot noirs available ranging from the Athena Pinot Noir and Stewart Pinot Noir to various single vineyard pinot noirs. When Pappas and Boedecker first started blending pinot together they realized that they had two very different palates and styles so they decided to do two different blends.

Pappas says, "Stewart's pinot noir is a very classic pinot noir. It's a red fruit, pretty blend, with good acidity that's going to sit in the cellar a long time. And I don't know why I like this, maybe it's because I grew up eating lamb and other big foods, but I like the bigger pinot noir. I like it structured too and we certainly have our winemaking style but I like a lot of spice and a little more umpf to it."

The Athena is the red one in front and the Stewart is the green labeled bottle.

I'm not telling which I like better.

Boedecker Cellars 2621 NW 30th Ave. 503.288.7752 www.boedeckercellars.com Tasting room hours Fri. 2pm-7pm; Sat.-Sun. 1pm-5pm but tours and tastings can be scheduled throughout the week as well.