Valentines Weekend in Portland by Shelley Lance
We drove down to Portland for the weekend with concert tickets to the Portland Jazz Fest and checked into a small but comfy and stylish room at the Hotel deLuxe (a beautiful 8 million dollar renovation of the old Hotel Mallory). Like many who work in the restaurant industry, I rarely dine out for Valentines Day, so my husband, Frank, and I thoroughly enjoyed stepping out for a special menu at one of our favorite Portland restaurants, Bluehour. (We also got the chance to say hi to Tom Douglas Restaurants alumnus and ex-Palace dining room manager, Paul- aka Pablo- Costello, who moved to Portland and is now a waiter at Bluehour). Frank and I went all out and ordered the wine flights matched to the meal. Our favorite match was the Chateau Mongravey, Margaux, 2003, with the braised beef short ribs, and we also enjoyed tasting both a sherry (Pedro Ximenez, 1979, Spain) and a port (Ruby Port, Quinta do Infantado, Portugal) with the luscious bittersweet chocolate and amarena cherry torte. Bluehour, located in one of those warehouse buildings in the Pearl District, is a truly polished operation with professional service and delicious food. (If you’re dining at Bluehour, and it’s not a special day with a special menu, be sure to order the cheese service from the delightful and always enthusiastic Amanda!)
Sunday morning, we went for brunch at Autentica, in Northeast Portland. The chef, Oswaldo Bibiano, hails from the Guerrero region of Mexico which borders the Pacific, so the cuisine features fish and seafood,
but he cooks many of the traditional dishes of Oaxaca as well. When our server, the chef’s wife, set down a basket of warm, napkin-wrapped handmade tortillas, smelling sweetly of masa, with a dish of guacamole and a trio of salsas (a fiery green chile, a smoky-hot red chile and a smooth avocado puree), we knew we were in for an “autentica” experience. I ordered the chilaquiles with eggs, (photo,right) which were delicious, but Frank’s albondigas (meatballs) served in a cazuela (clay casserole dish) full of broth with crispy tortilla chips and a poached egg, might have been even better. We were plenty full, but allowed ourselves to be talked into ordering the pastilla de leche- a crumbly, moist cake soaked in coconut milk and topped with creamy white icing and more coconut. Afterwards, we strolled the nearby neighborhood of Northeast Alberta Street with many fun boutiques (so nice to shop somewhere besides the national retail chains!), art galleries and coffee houses.
On a non-food note, this year’s Jazz Fest was the best ever, and all 3 of our concerts were outstanding, but the most sensational was the Terence Blanchard Quintet, with full orchestra, performing “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina).” Blanchard is a renownwed jazz trumpeter. He’s also a New Orleans native, and he and his family survived the devastation of Katrina. He also wrote the score for the HBO documentary, “When the Levees Broke.” If you haven’t yet seen Spike Lee’s heartbreaking and powerful masterpiece, it’s time to get your hands on a copy of the dvd.
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