Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Feast Recap: Night Market, Bloody Marys, and Mermaid Dancing

Having not attended Feast last year, I can safely say that this year's Feast was definitely the best ever. Here's a quick recap:

Night Market:


I thought I was doing a really good job of documenting what Doug and I ate at Night Market, but it turns out I am actually really terrible at taking photos. (Yeah, that photo I posted on HHH Instagram, totally stole that from Doug.)

So instead of posting all my crappy pics, I'm going to direct you to Hummingbird High's post. This is what real food blogging looks like people. Enjoy!

Top 5 Dishes from Night Market:
(According to me and Doug)

1) Franklin Barbeque- Brisket
We beelined for Aaron Franklin's booth the moment we got in and good thing we did because the line was crazy long for the last two hours of the event. Obviously the brisket was amazing.

2) Incanto- Beef Tongue Tartare
Maybe we're suckers for offal, but Doug and I loved this dish. Great combo of textures and the flavors were spot on.

3) Momofuku Milk Bar- Cake Truffles
Christina Tori's Pretzel Cake, Birthday Cake, and Chocolate Chip Cake with Passionfruit truffles were some of the best (and most indulgent) sweets I've had in a while and I'm now obsessed with either a) figuring out a way to get to New York so I can eat more or b) trying my hand at one of her famously complex cake recipes (note: this will never happen).

4) North End Grill- Crab Salad
With all the rich, meat-heavy dishes being served, Doug and I loved Floyd Cardoz's light and refreshing Crab Salad with avocados and grapes.

5) Departure- Sausage Sandwich 
This Chinese sausage sandwich with charred onions and fermented cabbage was my favorite dish of the the night.

Also, here are some more pretty photos of Night Market from Serious Eats.


Bloody Mary Bar at Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face-Off:

Sometimes this little ol' blog does manage to get us some pretty cool perks and one of those perks was the blogger pass we were given for the Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face-Off.

I'm sure the butcher and fishmonger contests were great (we couldn't see the competition area from our table), but Kel and I were slightly more interested in the Bloody Mary Bar waiting for us in the VIP lounge.


We're talking steak, ribs, meatballs, olives, pickled veggies, and more. Such a fun idea and such a generous spread!


Mermaid Dancing:

You guys, I'm not sure what to say about this one other than that if you invite Kel and me to an afterparty with an open bar, we will most likely make the most of it. We will also probably embarrass ourselves when the hosting chef stops by to say hello and we might even do some mermaid dancing, especially if encouraged by some friendly oyster farmers. Hey, we have to work off those extra Feast calories somehow, right?


See you next year, Feast!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Feast Portland! (The Cheap Stuff)

If you live in Portland and you love food, you probably already know about Feast.


If you don't live in Portland, Feast is like, the best thing ever. Basically it's an extended weekend of events featuring locally and nationally renowned chefs and artisans... and it starts tomorrow!
 
Kel and I didn't attend any events last year because we're poor and the price tag on a lot of these events is pretty hefty.

This year, however, I'm super excited because Doug surprised me with tickets to Night Market for my birthday! Woot! Our game plan is to spend the first two hours eating our weight in Franklin Barbecue (and some other stuff I guess) and then turn our attention to all the breweries, wineries, and distilleries. I'll let you know how it goes.


There are also quite a few free events and some more reasonably-priced unofficial events happening too. Check out our recommendations below (most of which we blatantly poached from Eater and Eat Beat). 

Feast Kickoff Happy Hour
When: Thursday, 5-7pm
Where: SE Wine Collective
What: Complimentary wine flights
Price: Free

Cookbook Social 
When: Friday, 2-4pm
Where: Heathman Hotel
What: Meet & greet with 18 national and local cookbook authors
Price: Suggested $5 donation

Shake Shack Custard
When: Fri-Sun, noon-2:30pm  
Where: Roman Candle
What: Shake Shack pop-up featuring free frozen custards made with Stumptown coffee.
Price: Free

Springwater Farm Farmers’ Market Tasting Menu
When: Saturday, 9am-2pm
Where:
 Portland Farmers’ Market, 1717 SW Park Ave.
What: Breakfast, brunch, and lunch sample plates
Price: $4 per plate, $10 for all three 

Whole Foods Market Best Butcher Contest & Fishmonger Face-off
When: Saturday, 11am-2pm
Where: Director Park
What: Butchers and fishmongers compete, free samples from Whole Foods, live music
Price: Free
Bonus: Kel and I will be there :) 

Bushwhacker 3rd Anniversary Party 
When: Saturday, 3-6pm 
What: The party lasts all day, but 2 Towns, Outcider, and Bull Run will be pouring free samples from 3-6pm.
Price: Free 

Cure for the Common Feast Hangover 
When: Sunday, 9am-noon
Where: Pacific Pie Co..
What: Unlimited coffee, a Bloody Mary, a "Pie Floater" (savory pie in split pea soup- what?), and dessert. Proceeds benefit Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon 
Price: $25


Happy Feasting!


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Portland Restaurant: Teote

What: Teote Areperia
Where: 1615 SE 12th
Honeys Heart: Pabellon Arepa

A few weekends ago I was challenged with a rare task: plan an evening out for Doug and me. Because Doug usually does the planning I was definitely feeling the pressure, but I was also excited to plan an evening in which breweries or beer play no part. (I love beer, I do- but a girl needs a little variety now and again.)

Teote caught my eye a few months ago when Portland Monthly posted a slideshow featuring the restaurant and I've seen it pop up several other places too, including on Eater's recently-updated HeatMap. Seemed like a safe enough choice.


Teote serves Latin America street food with an emphasis on gluten-free arepas (corn cakes) with various fillings. They offer counter service only, and we were greeted with a pretty decent line when we arrived on a Friday around 7pm. The line definitely didn't move as fast as, say, Por Que No's or Bollywood Theater's but I appreciated that servers walked down the line taking drink orders so our cocktails were waiting for us when we got up to the register to place our food order.

We both decided on spiked Agua Frescas: Watermelon Lime with Rum for Doug and Blackberry Sage with Vodka for me. Refreshing!


Teote's food menu offers a number of appetizer plates like Fried Plantains ($6) and Masa Fritas ($6), but Doug and I decided to stick with their specialty: arepas.

There were 9 different arepas to choose from, so we had a hard time narrowing down our choices. Doug eventually went for the Pabellon ($6), made with shredded flank steak sautéed with peppers and topped with black beans, verde sauce, plantain red chili sauce and queso. That's it below on the right.


I choose the Pernil ($6), made with braised pork roast in a Morita chili sauce, cabbage salad, verde sauce and queso.

Doug definitely won this round. The arepas are served in bowls because there's a lot of sauce going on and for Doug's dish, that felt right. It was basically Teote's take on chili and the crunchy corn arepa was the perfect substitute for what I consider a necessary chili accompaniment: cornbread. This would be the perfect dish for a cold, rainy night.

My dish was much less satisfying. Compared to the bold comforting flavors of Doug's dish, my pork arepa felt bland and a bit uninspired. The sauce was also much thinner than Doug's which meant that the bottom half of my arepa got soggy real quick, and not in a good way

We might be back... but with Lardo and PBJ's so close, it might be hard to drag Doug to Teote when two of our favorites are right there, and that's probably okay with me.