Portland Pop-Up: Morgan St Theater

What: Morgan St Theater
When: Monthly
Honeys Heart: Watermelon sorbet, feta, basil oil & cherry tomato confit sundae

If you follow the Portland restaurant scene closely, you know that pop-ups are the next big thing. And if you follow this blog, you probably guessed that I would be all about that ish too (such a restaurant lemming... sorry not sorry).

I've been on Morgan St Theater's mailing list since I read about them in The Oregonian's pop-up roundup last June. Morgan St Theatre is a pop-up dessert club run by Jared Goodman that specializes in combining flights of nontraditional ice cream sundaes with storytelling and live music. Intriguing, right?

Each "performance" has a different theme and our night's was "It's My Party and I'll Make What I Want To"- essentially a compilation of Jared's favorite sundaes that he's made in the year since starting Morgan St Theater.

When we arrived at that night's venue, din din, we were greeted with a communal table set for 20, a live jazz duo, and a half dozen or so other guests who all already seemed to know each other. Let's just say it was not Doug's ideal scenario...

However, we were quickly made to feel more welcome by Jared who came over to introduce himself and explain a bit more about the night's proceedings. We would be served three different courses of ice cream sundaes with optional cocktail pairings. Jared would start each course with a short story that would provide some context for the dessert we would be trying. Mingling was encouraged as was taking the bartender up on his offer for a pre-dinner cocktail.

After choosing our seats and chatting with the other guests, it was finally time to get our ice cream sundae on. First up: Put a Bird on It made with wild huckleberry ice cream, buttermilk raspberry biscuit, lemon honey sauce, and huckleberry shrub. Everything on the plate was delicious but the lemon honey sauce was my favorite element. It was the perfect combination of tangy and sweet and if you force-fed me spoonfuls of it I wouldn't try to stop you.

That was paired with a Tennessee Orchard cocktail made with bourbon, campari, oregon cherry shrub, and soda. Yum.

Next up was Sofia made with watermelon sorbet, feta, basil oil, and cherry tomato confit. Doug and I agreed that this was hands down the most impressive dish of the night. It was very simple and refreshing,  and all the flavors paired perfectly together. Plus the cherry tomato confit was so rich and homey- you could just tell this sundae was made with lots of care and love.

Paired with Sofia was The Yakuza made with gin, garden herbs, ginger beer reduction, lemon, and honey.

Last up was Alma Mater, a peanut butter ice cream pie with chili chocolate brownie crust and cream. This was definitely the most traditional of the dishes we tried, but it still had that unique touch thanks to the chili in the brownie crust. Jared explained that it was inspired by Alma Chocolate's Thai peanut butter cups and I obviously need to try those immediately since Jared's take on them was so good.

That came with the Mucho Gusto made with rum, lemongrass-chili syrup, lime, "Don's mix", and Aztec chocolate bitters. The tiki feel of this cocktail paired well with the heat of the brownie crust.

We ended the night by paying by check and leaving a note in the comment box that was passed around.

Overall, we had an amazing time. The sundaes and cocktails were tasty and unique and the storytelling and live jazz added some extra pizzazz to the evening. And while chatting with strangers has never been Doug's or my strong suit and we definitely kept to ourselves more than some of the other guests, it was fun to be part of a communal experience.

Here's what Morgan St Theater has coming up in the next month:

Sunday, Oct 12- Sukkot: A Jewish Year in Ice Cream Sundaes

Thursday, Oct 23- A Night at the Opera

And if you want to join their mailing list, you can do that here.

Portland Restaurants: Valentine's Day Ideas!

Posted by Kelly

People say that Valentine's Day is a grossly over commercialized holiday so that the Hallmarks of the world can make tons of money, men can be burdened with romantic responsibilities, and single people can eat ice cream and watch sappy romantic comedies. Well that may be true, but I'm guessing Portland restaurants aren't complaining!  Most restaurants create preselected menus for five course meals...of course paired with wine if you'd like. So this Valentines, if we had money, these are the places I would have tried to choose between.

Din Din - Location Changes - Meets Once a Month
This is quite possibly one of my favorite ideas. It's similar to Simpatica in that the menu changes and it's on an email/reservation basis, but with Din Din you get to experience different venues that aren't your typical restaurant. Yes, I added myself to their email list so I definitely plan on attending one of these soon. For Valentines, Courtney has created a sexy menu ($75 + gratuity and wine pairings) for their dinner series on February 12, 13, and 14 at Art Department, a collaborative art+design space in the heart of the Central Eastside Industrial District's Distillery Row. This is an obvious first pick!

Le Pigeon - 738 E. Burnside St. - 5-10pm Mon-Sat - 5-9pm Sun

I have only heard great things about this charming french inspired restaurant on East Burnside. The restaurant is small so reservations are the only way to guarantee a seat, but the bar is reserved for walk ins (prob not on Valentines though...) where you can sit and watch the staff at work. This restaurant is absolutely on my list so look forward to a full review.

If they're full, I wold recommend checking out Little Bird Bistro at 219 SW 6th Ave. It was opened by the same team as Le Pigeon and I'm positive will be just as enjoyable!

BEAST - 5425 NE 30th - Seatings 6pm+8:45pm Wed-Sat, 10am+12pm Sun
This successful NE restaurant offers a six-course prix-fixe dinner four nights a week ($68 + $35 for wine pairings) and a four-course prix-fixe brunch every Sunday ($28 + $20 wine pairings). The menu changes weekly and is updated online for you check out before making reservations. This week there is a cream of celery soup, a charcuterie plate, duck breast, smashed potatoes, red kale, and demiglace, a butter lettuce salad and a selection of desserts. If this menu isn't your cup of tea, check back next week!

I'm sure there are more. There always seems to be numerous Portland restaurants I am itching to try, but these are the ones that stand out to me the most this morning. Though, no matter how tempting these choices may be, I won't be spending upwards of $150 this Valentine's day so a bottle of champagne, a home made din, and some chocolate dipped strawberries will do just fine!