the goodist

Tanuki Porn 2: The Food is Watching

Tanuki again gets me boozed, brings the love, and cuddles up after. This week's liaison spans the spectrum - from tender lamb to cold soups and a pork belly limit experience that would make Foucault blush.

Impressions: Laurelhurst Market Restaurant

Laurelhurst Market opened the restaurant side of their meat counter/sandwich/semi-steakhouse operation last Friday, and with the perfectly warm evening last night I couldn't resist stopping in to take a seat on the front patio on my way to a show down the street. Sazerac in hand, I perused their menu packed with a blend of steakhouse fare, french brasserie classics, and a few creative one-off's (scotch eggs!). The place was lively for a Wednesday night - the bar was full, most tables filled, and plenty of servers taking time to chat casually with diners. In fact, it felt like half the staff and patrons knew each other, as many of the diners seemed to be in the industry themselves. This could be a good evening.

Review: Boccalone's Nduja

That first bite of nduja - just a small dollop atop a pizza in Calabria - brought me to a level of pork enlightenment that I'd given up on ever experiencing again. Then I hear Boccalone in Oakland is making the stuff themselves - the only US maker of nduja to my understanding, and trust me I've looked. Two days after placing an order the two lovelies shown above came knocking at my door for about $30 shipped, and damn do they stink exactly as I remember. They say smell triggers memory more effectively than any other sense and suddenly I began recalling the overwhelming scent of sweet onion fields, citrus trees, and salty blue sea. If this stuff tastes anything like it smells Boccalone will have accomplished an incredible feat.

Impressions: Laurelhurst Market Sandwiches

By now it's obvious that I have a thing for sandwiches - in fact, if you were to judge me based on my posts you'd assume all I do is drink, eat sandwiches, and drown my evenings at izakayas. Of course, my reality is a far more mundane cycle of working and cooking typical fare at home, but come my days off I live the fancy sandwich dream. So when I heard that the legendary Viende folks were opening up a shop slinging their famous animal parts, unique sandwiches, and beginning Friday a full on restaurant, I had to make it a destination.

Review: Biwa

Wet and windblown, I walked into Biwa last night feeling like I'd been up drinking scotch in a tribal casino till 5am (because I had), and I knew that a big hot bowl of real-deal ramen would cure me in a hurry. Just two days earlier I'd gone in with a couple friends, one of which had lived in Tokyo for a time and knew the secret glories of ramen - Japan's pizza/hamburger in one. Ramen has infinite variations, but like pizza's crust and sauce, two ingredients are key - noodles and broth. The noodles must have the perfect chew and the broth has to be deep and rich while often staying mysteriously light, all the other ingredients (think toppings) don't matter if the foundation sucks (eg Pizza Hut).

Tasty Bits 5/11/09

Again I curse a restaurant with my presence - Hama Sushi will be changing soon. I don't have all the details, but something involving a Chinese group taking over in some way. I'll try to determine if this means closing or change of ownership, but the server hitting you up for work is always a bad sign.

The OLCC has a great new tool - find that rare bottle by zip code! Thanks to Angelhair at portlandfood.org for the tip on this.

Comments on the goodist are now listed from oldest to newest - the other was around was confusing to many (including myself), my deepest apologies kind readers.

Any cocktails that you feel could use some bubbly CO2 texture? Leave a suggestion in the comments and I'll head to the liquor store and fire up the carbonator...

Thank you to everyone for the flattering words lately, readership has climbed 5 fold in the last week, which seems due to the universal interest in Tanuki's badass delights. Speaking of - I had the hamachi (loin, cheek, and belly) and the uni the other day - I left high on more than sake.

Recipe: The Carbonated Negroni

Bitter is beautiful, the Italians know this far better than we sugar-addled Americans, and hence Campari - the deeply bitter/citrusy booze with a long secret history (it's said only one person knows the entire recipe). 

Campari's most famous drink is the Negroni - deceptively simple and bitter as hell - it rewards only those that earn it. Like a big hoppy IPA you'll likely hate it at first, but then slowly find yourself craving that sharp citrus bite. I dare say it might be my favorite cocktail (at least this week) but something about it being served 'up' didn't do it for me texturally. Bitter sour drinks really click for me when there's some CO2 involved...so out comes the carbonator...

Tanuki Porn

As promised, racy photos from Tanuki. These peppers above are sweet spicy crack. I'll avoid long winded descriptions, just let the desire wash over you.

Review: Tanuki

Pardon the poor photo, the best I could get in dim lighting, prettier photos coming soon...

It's cold...annoying bus ride...too hungry to wait...won't be fun alone... on and on I went in my head Wednesday until I finally had a couple drinks (heading to an izakaya it seemed appropriate) and mustered up the nerve to get my ass to Tanuki. Awkwardly pushing apart the door sheets and litteraly stumbling down the step into the tiny dark dining room, I pulled up a stool at the bar, eyed the menu and sake list, wondered at the japanese woman being killed on the faux cooking show playing on the TV, and fell in love.