In the video clip below, Olympic Provisions sommelier Carly Laws demonstrates one of her favorite party tricks, a technique known as sabrage, which was apparently very popular with Napoleon Bonaparte’s crowd. Not one to need a fancy saber when a vintage cleaver will do, Carly deftly beheads a bottle of Prosecco with one swift slice, earning our eternal admiration.

It goes without saying–don’t try this at home. And please excuse my less-than-skillful videography. It’s on my list of things to master.

Put on by the Portland Chefs Collaborative and Friends of Family Farmers and sponsored by New Seasons Market, FoodHub, and Cascade Pacific, the event was both informative and inspirational. We were a bit late, rather ironically due to a distracting stop at New Seasons en route, so we missed the opening remarks by HOTLIPS Pizza co-owner David Yudkin and had to slink into seats at separate tables in the standing room-only auditorium.

We arrived in time to hear Keynote Speaker Nicolette Hahn Niman’s fascinating discourse about her work as an environmental attorney, activist and rancher, her experiences with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Waterkeeper Alliance, and her sweetly unexpected marriage to famous rancher Bill Niman of Niman Ranch. Nicolette’s passion is industrialized livestock production, and she just recently published her first book, Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms, which is part expose of the “factory farm” industry, part call to action, and part love story. If the book is anything like her talk, it will be a fascinating read. Apparently Michael Pollan thought so.

After Nicolette’s talk, we helped ourselves to fresh chewy wood-fired Tastebud bagels (Tastebud chef/owner Mark Doxtader brought two huge sacks and tubs of fresh cream cheese) and cups of Tao of Tea Jasmine Pearls green tea, and enjoyed the mid-morning mix ‘n mingle hour.

Next, everyone broke out into choose-your-own workshops, which were held directly before and after lunch. We attended Farmer-Chef Connection 101, a panel discussion with a half dozen farmers and chefs that included Carafe Bistro Executive Chef Pascal Sauton, Shari Sirkin of Dancing Roots Farm, David Knaus of Fresh Earth Gardens, and Anne Berblinger of Gales Meadow Farm. Through their freely given insights, we learned how farmers price their food and market their product to chefs, and how the two parties collaborate to cultivate strong, mutually-beneficial relationships.

And then there was lunch, which was the part I was the most excited about, I must confess. Nearly 50 local farmers, ranchers, growers, dairypersons, restaurants, markets, coffee and tea companies, and other purveyors volunteered their product and time to create fantastically fresh and delicious food. It felt like the sort meal you might get after a good old-fashioned barn-raising on a huge organic farm staffed by Le Cordon Bleu graduates. Everyone served themselves family-style in two long rows, and much exclaiming could be heard.

SuDan Lamb, Square Peg Farms, Lucy’s Table, Sauvie Island Organics, Oregon Culinary Institute, HOTLIPS, Random Order, Organic Valley, Delphina’s Bakery, Nostrana, New Seasons, The Brownie Farm, Daily Cafe, Genoa, Accanto and so many more donated to the lunch.

We left full, inspired, and looking forward to the next year’s event.

Last week Steve opened his straightforwardly-dubbed Cheese Bar at the corner of SE Belmont & 61st Avenue, where the wedge and wheel crowd can now flock for everything from creamy Bries and blues to odoriferous Langres, a full selection of charcuterie, specialty groceries, sandwiches, salads, soups, small plates, and happily, chocolate. If you’re thinking something’s missing, and that something is alcohol, fear not–on Tuesday, Cheese Bar begins serving beer and wine.

I took a long walk up Belmont yesterday to poke around.

Part cheesemonger, part cheese curator, soft-spoken Steve presides over a compact but impeccably stocked case, filled with everything from your wildest cheese dreams.

A Steve and his cheese

The narrow, neat-as-a-pin shop has cheese and charcuterie cases, a short bar, and a few tables that will likely be hard to come by when word gets out.

Ayers Creek preserves, Ames Farm single source honeys, and other specialty items grace the shelves separating the cheese and meat counters.

If you haven’t yet tasted super cute Olympic Provisions Meatman Elias Cairo’s charcuterie, well, I just feel awful for you. You should definitely buy a chub or two.

In the back of the store, you’ll find an array of picnic and pantry fodder, like fancy crackers, organic dried persimmons, various nuts, olives in their pressed and unpressed states, vinegars, dried pasta, sardines, and chocolate. As you can see, there is but one Xocolatl de Davíd Raleigh bar. I left it for you. You’re welcome. You can also stock up on fondue pots and cheese boards.

Below is a shot of the menu board, which clings to the wall behind the counter. Sandwiches, salads, and small plates are listed Noah’s Ark/Cat in the Hat-style–Sandwich One and Sandwich Two, Salad One and Salad Two, Cazuela One and Cazuela Two. We ordered Sandwich Number Two because it had pickles, and because we like the word stinky. In case you’re wondering what exactly a cazuela is–I was–it’s a burnt orange-colored clay dish popular in Spain, which is what the menu’s two warm dishes are served in.

We left Cheese Bar weighed down with honey, cheese and crackers, a stinky-good sandwich and a muscovado caramel-layered Zzang bar, which upon further examination was revealed to possess nearly 50 grams of sugar beneath its dark-chocolate crust. This explains why I spent most of the afternoon passed out on the couch dreaming about drowning in seas of stinky cheese. What the fudge, indeed.

Hello from Toro Bravo!

We would like to share with you some exciting news…

We are working on our next project: Tasty n Sons – a Portland brunch restaurant that will be located on 3808 N Williams, at the southern end of the building (in the old Nutshell / Anju space).

Those of you familiar with John’s brunch cooking from his Simpatica days should have some idea of what to expect… plus many more eclectic offerings that he has up his sleeve.

We expect the space to be ready around mid March for the Soft Opening run: Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

After ironing out the opening kinks we will have a Grand Opening Party and thereafter will be open 7 days a week:
– Mon … Fri: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
– Sat & Sun: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Expect a follow-up mailer soon with dates for the soft opening and the grand opening party.

Kyle Prewitt, who has been with us at Toro Bravo for a long time, will be manning the stoves at Tasty n Sons, and will run the kitchen under John’s guidance, while John will continue as Executive Chef at Toro Bravo. Rebecca Finley, a 7-year veteran floor manager at Paley’s restaurant will manage the front of the house. Dori Prange, formerly of Toro Bravo and the Secret Society Lounge, will oversee the bar, with plenty of Bloody Mary selections to accompany the brunch.

We hope that this new project will contribute to the on-going evolution of Portland’s northeast neighborhood, which is home to John and many of our team members.

Until we set up our Tasty n Sons website, you can follow related announcements in the opening message of the Toro Bravo site at www.torobravopdx.com

See you at Toro Bravo and soon at Tasty n Sons…

John, Courtney, Ron, and the rest of the crew

120 NE Russell Street
Portland, OR 97212
503.281.4464
www.torobravopdx.com
inquiries@torobravopdx.com

Fortunately, you don’t have to do either. If you desperately need a date and some nookie, please see this new match.com ad that I am very fond of. If you desperately need an exquisitely fresh, pre-prepared Italian dinner that tastes and smells deliciously homemade (if you were channeling your Umbrian grandmother that is) please exit the Max train immediately and get to Taste Unique as quickly as possible.

Sandwiched in between Bar Avignon and Twill in the 2100 block of SE Division, Taste Unique is your new go-to destination in times of “It’s 6:30pm and I have no idea what to make for dinner nor the desire to so much as touch a cooking utensil” need.

Describing their venture as “somewhere between a bistro and a deli,” owners and husband & wife team Stefania Toscano and Lawrence McCormick offer strikingly authentic lasagnas, risottos, raviolis, pastas, sauces, canneloni, potato pie, polenta, soup and tiramisu. Stefania, who will charm you instantly with her delightful Italian accent and gracious manner, helms the kitchen, cooking the food she learned to make growing up in her native Perugia. Lawrence, who does not have an Italian accent but is very charming nonetheless, is the general manager.

Taste Unique allows you to procure beautiful Italian take-out that goes straight from your car/bike/knapsack into the oven. Items to be baked are packaged in disposable oven-safe cookware, with directions on the lid. Save the lid–IF you have leftovers, you can snap it back on and pop the container in the fridge for later. You can buy fresh pasta by the pound, and then purchase pancetta and hot pepper-laced Amatriciana sauce or creamy, sausage-laden Norcina sauce or summery Pesto Trapanese to swirl it with. You can buy a tray of dreamy tiramisu or a nutty Torta Mantovana cake, then plate it on fine china or eat it straight from the container.

The restaurant also serves lunch in its tiny 10-seat dining room, and you can find the daily specials on their Facebook page. Try not to drool on your keyboard reading them. Stefania and Lawrence will accommodate private dinner parties most nights with advance arrangements, and if you want to learn how to make your own Spaghetti alla Carbonara or Rigatoni Cacio & Pepe, take one of their weekly classes–attendance is capped at five, making for an intimate hands-on experience.

Allow me to give you an example of how Taste Unique works. Driving home from work Monday night, I suddenly remembered that I’d promised to make dinner for friends. I love to cook, but this particular night, in the wake of a grueling workday, what I really wanted to do was to go home, eat a box of Sahagun truffles and read my new In Style magazine while I waited for The Bachelor to start.

What to do?! I made a quick decision. Bypassing New Seasons, I zipped up to 22nd & SE Division to Taste Unique’s cozy, warm, lovely-smelling shop, where I selected a ready-to-bake Vegetarian Lasagna (they also have frozen for those of you whom can foresee these sorts of quandaries), a tray of homemade tiramisu, and a piece of soft, chewy Roman flatbread slathered with Nutella and neatly folded.

Back in the car, I ate the flatbread for strength, headed home, popped the lasagna in the oven, poured a glass of Barbera, cleverly transformed the entire contents of my refrigerator into a quick salad of butter lettuce, slightly withered fresh herbs, pomegranate seeds, and gruyere in a quite literal champagne vinaigrette, and let the house fill with the smells of Italy while I nibbled chocolate and read In Style.

Thirty-five minutes later, I pulled a hot, bubbling lasagna from the oven. Thin, tender sheets of fresh pasta layered with creamy béchamel sauce, fresh mozzarella,  mushrooms, zucchini, herbs, and smoked provolone. It sounds sinful, but the preparation is so light, you don’t feel guilty. If only this sensation of guilt-free decadence could be bottled and sold on the shelf alongside Taste Unique’s selection of Italian wines.

The doorbell rang and the next hour was a flurry of bechamel, wine, compliments to the “chef” (yes, I ‘fessed up, and my bait ‘n switch was widely praised) and stories about that one time at Ristorante Zeppelin in Orvieto when one of us fell in love with a boisterous Italian waiter named Stefan for like, 24 whole hours.

Our bellies were full, the few dishes produced were done in mere minutes, well before The Bachelor commenced, tiramisu firsts and seconds were served, and everyone’s clothing smelled faintly of bliss and Italy. That’s the magic of Taste Unique.

2134 SE Division St. * 503-206-7059 * www.tasteunique.com * Mon-Sat 10am-7pm, Lunch served Mon-Sat 12-2pm

**No disrespect to the mentally ill or smelly intended.

Phaidon produces lavish, beautiful, exceptional works, and their books related to cooking are tremendous additions to any collection. A few months ago I was starry-eyed over the receipt of I Know How to Cook.

Now I am agog over their recently published Coco: 10 World-Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs. I’ve had my eye on it for a couple of months, but at $49.95, I was saving up my chocolate money to buy it. Today was the day.

Essentially, the book has 10 of the world’s most renowned culinary figures–Ferran Adriá, Alain Ducasse, Alice Waters, René Redzepi, Jacky Yu, Yoshihiro Murata, Fergus Henderson, Shannon Bennett, Mario Batali, and Gordon Ramsay–each choose 10 “contemporary” chefs they feel exemplify the best of the modern culinary world. Each master chef also provides a classic recipe with an introduction towards the back of the book.

The 100 contemporary chef selections range from Alvin Leung, whom Ferran Adriá calls “a symbol of a culinary revolution,” and who is dazzling Hong Kong diners with dishes like toro with foie gras powder, freeze-dried raspberry and mustard herb at his restaurant Bo Innovation, to Inaki Aizpitarte, whose intuitive interpretations of bistro classics–served at his understated Le Chateaubriand bistro in Paris–caught the attention of master chef René Redzepi, who praised Aizpitarte’s ability to present “ingredients as closely as possible to their natural state, providing an honest encounter between produce, chef, and guest.”

And although I think I know a thing or two about coffee living here in Portland, I was captivated by the astonishingly inventive coffee creations flowing forth from Tung-Yuan Lin’s stylish Taipei coffee house, GaBee, in both liquid (Taiwanese iced white gourd coffee) and solid (spaghetti with mushrooms and coffee cream) form.

Each chef’s work is displayed and explained over the course of four pages, by means of an introduction by the master chef that chose them, a brief bio, a sample menu with recipes, and vibrant photographs of the chef in action, his ingredients, and his environment. The recipes, while often incredibly sophisticated, are presented in a simple and straightforward manner that allows you to believe, however errantly, that you will be able to deftly reproduce them. I will let you know how this goes this weekend when I attempt a rendition of Alain Ducasse-nominated Armand Arnal’s bitter herb velouté and gray mullet escabéche.

With the 100 chefs hailing from all corners of the earth, it was heart-warming to turn to page 147 and see Portland’s very own Tommy Habetz, nominated by jolly Mario Batali, who affectionately refers to Tommy as “Puff Daddy Habetz.” The two met in New York in 1994 and opened Batali’s Lupa together, “before the West Coast stole him away forever,” as Batali puts it.

Batali praised Tommy for granting “the wishes of those who love simple gustatory pleasures like a sandwich”, and “always pushing the envelope and giving people a more unusual or creative version of the classic they crave.” The spread includes recipes for his oxtail confit, celery and hot pepper relish sandwich, goat cheese, peperonata and olive salad, and biscuits with rabbit gravy. Hmm. I think I may need a second lunch. Bunk, here I come.

If you haven’t used Groupon yet, it’s a pretty sweet deal. Every day they post an offer for a local product or service–everything from tattoos to spa days to dry cleaning to meals at oyster bars–for which you pay a deeply discounted price. For example, today you will pay only $12 for the EaT Groupon, but you’ll get a voucher worth $25 dollars, which you can spend on whatever catches your fancy on the menu at North Portland’s EaT: An Oyster Bar.

The only catch is that a certain pre-determined number of people have to buy the Groupon (this is referred to as the “tipping point”), or you aren’t charged and you don’t get the deal. Hence the Groupiness of it all. Once the deal has tipped and closed (they usually run for a few days), your credit card is charged and you can print your Groupon and run straight to the oyster bar/tattoo parlor/spa/dry cleaners.

I just bought two EaT Groupons, which means that I’ll be feasting on Kumamotos and jambalaya next week. Or, if you haven’t yet tried the delicious EaT debris po’ boy featured in yesterday’s A&E’s Best Sandwiches article, now you won’t feel guilty ordering two.

I just bought my

Inside there were four mini bags of Popchips, a personalized note, and an explanation of the “Pop It Forward” project. I think this is a pretty cute idea. The popchips are nice and crunchy too. You can request your own here if there’s a Popchip lover in your life. Or just someone who likes to get interesting boxes with food in them.