Beginning March 20, Olympic Provisions will offer Saturday lunch and dinner service, and will now be open Monday through Saturday from 11 am to 10 pm. The Saturday lunch menu will expand to include a selection of brunch dishes, breakfast sandwiches and sweet and savory pastries, and the bar will be mixing mimosas. Olympic Provisions’ popular Aperitivo Hour menu, offered daily from 3-6 pm, will also be available on Saturday, so stop in and while away the afternoon with a charcuterie plate and a refreshing glass of rosé or Prosecco.

Executive Chef Jason Barwikowski’s seasonally-influenced dinner menu is already anticipating spring with dishes like salt-seared scallops with a grapefruit-herb salad and ginger beurre blanc, and red wine-braised rabbit leg with crimini mushrooms and English peas. Sommelier Carly Laws is stocking up on new spring-friendly wines, and there are delicious additions to the dessert menu as well–try the light-as-a-spring-breeze Orange-Blossom Panna Cotta or Grapefruit-Campari sorbet.

Click here for a link to Olympic Provisions’ lunch, dinner, deli and wine menus. Reservations are accepted for parties of 6-10, just call 503.954.3663.

The girls just recently moved into a new apartment in Irvington, but you’d never know it. Half-unpacked moving boxes of kitchen implements in the bathroom? None. Piles of decade-old Gourmet magazines and M.F.K. Fisher books with an ironing board spanning them serving as impromptu coffee table? Nope. A lone bottle of Cremant and a half-gouged wedge of Pierre Robert gracing the otherwise barren refrigerator shelves? Au contraire, the icebox and cupboard shelves were bountiful. I was impressed, considering that I moved into my apartment a year ago and the above scenarios still exist there.

The girls combed local vintage stores to create their fashionably eclectic decor, which I, having no real knowledge of interior design styles, will dub Parisian-chic. After Lila graciously took my coat (the hostessing at this brunch was unparalleled), I was served chilled Prosecco in a slender stemless champagne tumbler from a darling 1950s-era mini-cocktail bar. I felt ever so elegant.

In the kitchen, Andrea plated juicy slices of blood orange and ruby grapefruit, the fragrance of fresh dill and sweet Spanish paprika floated through the air, and homemade granola cooled on the counter, studded with golden hazelnuts, plump dried Bing cherries and fat curls of toasted coconut. I thought the coconut was an excellent addition, giving the granola an ever so slightly tropical aroma and flavor–very fitting since during our lively brunch conversation we all admitted having a case of spring wanderlust that could probably only be squelched by a trip to Hawaii. Or Paris.

Like any good guest, I’d brought a few edible gifts, and since ’tis the season for brightly-dyed sugar-encrusted marshmallow treats, I’d packed in some Peeps, which got on very well with the salt and pepper shakers.

Brunch started with an organic yogurt parfait layered with Andrea’s homemade granola and sweet fig jam, and a refreshing citrus, fennel and herb salad that tasted like spring.

Next came a delectable dish of sliced sunchokes roasted with slices of lemon, whole cloves of garlic and fresh rosemary. It was as divine as it sounds, and a fitting companion to the savory bacon and leek bread pudding, the recipe for which Andrea has generously provided below.

After that, there was a lot of sighing and stomach-rubbing, a few more Hold-The-OJ Mimosas were poured, and an informal Nocino tasting was held, because…it was Sunday afternoon and why not?

Bacon and Leek Bread Pudding
Recipe by Andrea Slonecker

Makes 6 servings

1 tablespoon softened butter for greasing
6 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4” strips (lardons)
1 large leek, white and light green part only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cup milk (whatever % you have in the fridge)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated semi-hard cheese, such as Brindisi Fontina from Willamette Valley Cheese Co.
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
6 cups stale artisan white bread cut in 3/4-inch cubes, leave crust on (about 10 ounces)
Spanish sweet paprika to garnish (Pimentón de la Vera Dulce)

Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan (reserve excess bacon fat for frying potatoes and such). Add the leeks and sauté over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until softened but not brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer the leeks to a plate to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, cheese, thyme, and nutmeg. Stir in the bacon and leeks. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat evenly. Place the bread and egg mixture into the prepared baking dish, and let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes for the bread to soak up the egg mixture. Give it a stir once or twice.

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Cover the dish with foil and place it in the oven. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and continue baking the bread pudding until the top is browned and crusty, about 20 to 25 minutes more. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Enjoy!

These days, I stay home and watch my Far & Away DVD and make Irish soda bread, with only a smidgen of wistfulness.

Searching for recipes, I found that soda bread is something of a touchy subject, everyone seems to have their own variation, to which they’re very loyal. Going to the source is always a winning strategy when seeking an authentic formula, so I browsed flights to Dublin on Aer Lingus. Then I remembered I was out of vacation time, which squelched that dream, so I started poking around for a more local source. Did I know any Portland Irish?

I was standing in the refrigerator doorway, eating Jacobs Creamery chocolate pudding out of the container with a very large spoon and pondering my dilemma, when it dawned on me–Jacobs Creamery’s ebullient cheesemaker Lisa Jacobs not only makes amazing cheese, but she is also an honest-to-goodness Irish lass.

I petitioned her for her family recipe, and to my delight, she consented to share it. It’s been handed down from her Irish ancestors but now has a local twist–Lisa makes this hardy bread with her own handchurned butter and buttermilk.

Lisa Jacobs Irish Soda Bread–the Unedited Version

I have some very lovely memories of the childhood summers and holidays I spent in Dublin with my grandmother, Nana. She is full of spirit and like a true Irishwoman, doesn’t take guff from anyone. She was inclined to stop the car to answer her mobile (no matter where we were), and she’d whip out some deadly red lipstick and write vitriolic messages on any car that dared to take her spot outside her apartment in Ballsbridge. When I visited, we would go to the shops, where she would buy me little scones with plump raisins, and then we’d go to a film, or spend the afternoon in a castle sipping tea.

One morning I was perched on the edge of the hearth with a delicate cup of tea, watching her do the ironing (she loves to iron), and we started chatting about boys. It was one of those girly conversations-I was telling her about the boys I was dating at the time. She wasn’t so amused with the fact that there was more than one, but I was quick to point out the unique attributes of each. “My little Lisa Shmisa,” she said, “One day you’re going to meet a very special boy and you’re not going to want him to go away, and when that happens make him this.”

With that she handed me a small piece of well-worn brown paper with a very delicate cursive script written on it, folded three times. Inside I found a recipe for my Nana’s Nana’s Irish soda bread. It was and still is a favorite of mine, and is best eaten with a pat of butter and a slice of lox.

To really get the best out of the recipe, it’s suggested (by me) that you get some hip hoppin’ Irish tunes going while you’re whipping up this magic in the kitchen. Favorites of mine are Cockles and Mussels, Danny Boy and It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.

I am still holding on to Nana’s original recipe, waiting for that hunk of a man that I don’t want to let go, and I have improved upon it by the only means possible–I use my own Jacobs Creamery butter in the recipe, and my very delectable buttermilk. It’s perfect – enjoy it with someone whom you don’t want to go away.

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour (I use Odlums cream flour, from Dublin)
3 cups whole wheat flour (or Odlums wholemeal flour)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup Jacobs Creamery butter, cold and cubed in 1/4-1/2 cubes
2 cups Jacobs Creamery buttermilk

Coat baking sheet in butter. Crank the oven up to 425˚F and place the rack in the middle of the oven.

1. Mix the flours together in a bowl with the baking soda and sugar. Use a whisk to mix them, it creates a fluffiness.

2. Add the butter and mix (use your hands to work the butter through the dry mixture) ’til the butter is pea- sized, then add the buttermilk (shake the buttermilk up before using it, but don’t create too many bubbles).

3. Knead the dough until it comes together. You can do this on the counter, dust it with white flour first. The bread can then be shaped – traditionally it is in round loaves anywhere between 6-8 inches in size. You will get two rounds out of this recipe. You can then put the dough on the baking sheet and sc0re the top with a half inch deep “x” and pop it in the oven.

4. It should bake for about 38-40 minutes, or until you have a nice deep brown color. Don’t overcook it or it sucks. And you can’t cut into this bread while it’s warm or it sucks. If you put a tea towel over it while it cools it keeps some of the moisture in, but you can do one with and one without and see if you see a difference.

–Recipe and tale courtesy of Lisa Jacobs and her Nana

I ate this fantastically dense and slightly sweet bread with honey yogurt for breakfast, and with a salmon salad for lunch. Something about its rustic look and texture made me crave stew, so I told ‘guy I don’t want to go away’ I would make Irish stew for dinner. It was a long day though, and I didn’t so much feel like cooking come supper time, so I stopped at Meat Cheese and Bread on the way home and bought two bowls of their deep, rich spicy beef stew. He didn’t mind.

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As delicious as it is with a hearty smear of good butter and a bit of marmalade, traditional soda bread is not always the most exciting stuff. For my next batch, I wanted a version with some pizazz. I remembered having seen a tray of unorthodox looking soda bread at Grand Central Bakery, so I went searching and sure enough, found it on their website.

The Grand Central Bakery version uses no wheat flour, more butter, and baking powder along with baking soda, and accents the bread with caraway, currants, and orange zest. The result is more scone than bread-like, but very savory nonetheless, so you don’t feel like you’re eating dessert, just a very flavorful bread. It’s a lovely twist on the classic, and you can find the recipe in the The Grand Central Baking Book: Breakfast Pastries, Cookies, Pies, and Satisfying Savories from the Pacific Northwest’s Celebrated Bakery, which I bought at Powell’s Home and Garden store on SE Hawthorne.

It turned out beautifully. I ate it with loads of butter and a cup ‘o tea.

I can’t promise that having a stay-at-home St. Patrick’s Day with freshly made soda bread slathered in butter, some Irish stew, a bottle of Knappogue Castle 1951, and your Far & Away screening will be quite as, erm, celebratory as those St. Patty’s days of your youth when you and your green tube top boarded the Barfly Bus and spent the night on a blarney and Jameson-filled adventure, but as the Irish say, “An old broom knows the dirty corners best” and “What butter and whiskey won’t cure, there is no cure for” and “God is good, but never dance in a small boat.” Remember that.

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. She also tells me a little bit about how she came to possess this talent in the below interview.

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.

Carly, where and why did you learn how to open a bottle of bubbly with a cleaver? Is this part of your sommelier training?

I first witnessed the “saberage” of a bottle of bubbly in Vancouver, B.B. at some schmancy restaurant. Only instead of handing us a cleaver in the back of the kitchen, they said, “Mr. Day, would you like to saber your bottle in the cave?” (I was there with a boy named Mr. Day.) And of course he said yes, so we paraded down into the “cave” (which was more like an opulent basement than a real cave) and they handed him a sword (or a saber) (definitely not a meat cleaver) and gave him some pointers as to how to avoid cutting off his hand and then voila! we had pink bubbly in one fell swoop. It was thrilling and delicious all at the same time. And since then I’ve been hooked, although the occasion to saber something is rare (but definitely becoming more common due to my predilection for all things sparkly these days).

From what I’ve read, the practice dates back to the time of Napoleon and his silly soldiers trying to open bottles of champs on horseback (which is apparently hard to do while holding reigns, a glass and a bottle).

I would imagine a lot of people are surprised to witness your unusual talent. How do people usually react?

To be honest, the only other people I’ve sabered a bottle in front of besides you and Michelle is Jason (Barwikowski, Olympic Provisions’ Executive Chef and Laws’ husband), our two cats Meatwad and Chub, and the three tweakers walking down the street when I did it in our front yard a Sunday or two ago. The cats weren’t impressed. The tweakers definitely were. They actually gave us a shout out.

Do you ever worry about missing the bottle and cutting off your hand and having to wear a metal hook on your wrist for the rest of your life, or is sabrage pretty foolproof once you’ve got the hang of it?

Metal hooks are hot. But it’s easy, so no worries there.

With summer coming up, I’m sure people will want to know–does this trick work on whites and roses, or just sparklies?

As Tyler demonstrated (see clip below) while trying to make us a rosé slushy the other night, it really only works on champagne-style bottles. These bottles are made with two separate pieces – the bottle and the collar of the bottle – and as you hit the collar of the bottle with the blade, it causes stress and the top (collar) wants to snap off in one piece. The pressure inside the bottle generally guarantees that no glass will fall into the wine, which is great and you can (carefully) drink from the rim with relatively little to no worries about gashing your mouth.

Of course, if you see me with a f***ed up mouth one day, you’ll know I did this poorly.

***

See Olympic Provisions’ co-owner Tyler Gaston’s questionable usage of the sabrage technique to liberate a bottle of frozen rose:

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