The Purple Pig

I can't express how much I love this place.  My first visit with Ho Bag left an indelible impression on me.  It simply is everything I love in food, flavor that packs a punch, no frills, great ingredients, and a strong focus on charcuterie.  I normally don't go to a restaurant twice, but I wanted Dumpling Man to try this place because if you visit Chicago, and you don't go to the Purple Pig, well, you really haven't visited to Chicago, at least your stomach hasn't.

While this is a bit heavy for lunch, it was the only time we could squeeze in a visit.  See Fat Gwai spent the night at our hotel after we karaoked late into the wee hours of the night.  We woke up and rolled on over to the Purple Pig, which fortunately was a short walk away from our hotel.

Broccolli roasted garlic, anchovy vinaigrette
To my dismay, this was a warm salad.  I wish they had mentioned that in the description.  Still though, it was pretty good, maybe a bit heavy on the dressing.  Really not fishy at all, but left my mouth with a pucker from the acidity.

Roasted Corn mushrooms, walnuts, fried rosemary
Dumpling Man loves anything with corn, while See Fat Gwai loves anything with mushrooms.  This was the perfect dish to please everyone!  It had a similar flavor profile to the previous salad, so again a bit heavy on the dressing and pretty tart.  I was still a fan.  These are salads you definitely need to eat with something on the side or its just too overwhelming.  I didn't like the fried rosemary at all though.

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Girl & The Goat

I don't think any other restaurant has as much hype as this place.  I don't think any other restaurant has as crazy a waitlist as this place either!  Yelpers say you need to snag a reservation at least 2-3 months in advance, which is what I managed to.  Buff Bear, now a Chicago resident, said my 8:45 Monday night reservation was a great achievement.  I think he's only been able to eat there even later.  I guess being the restaurant of Top Chef season 4 winner, Stephanie Izard, has a lot to do with all the hype.  I personally was pretty bummed that she beat out Richard Blais to win, but good thing he ended up winning the All Stars season.  

Anyways, the space is pretty large with darks and neutrals coloring the interior.  This large painting really stands out, obviously, and brightens up the joint.  The large googly eyes kinda creeps me out but I love the vibrant colors.  See Fat Gwai, a poor student, took an hour train to meet us here, in the rain no less, so Dumpling Man and I treated him to a dinner here.  After all those years of being poor and having others pay my way, it's nice to do the same for someone else now.

Kohlrabi Salad fennel, evalon, pears, roasted shiitakes, toasted almonds, ginger dressing 
I love eating salads when I go out because someone it's always so much more interesting than the sh*t you get at the local salad bar.  Kohlrabi and pears were definite flavor and textural highlights here.  The almonds added nice crunch too.

Mushroom Ragout sweet potato agnolotti, shroom creme fraiche, capers
Triple F thought the food here was a bit heavy handed with the salt.  The 3 of us argued about the salt level of this dish.  I thought it was on the saltier side, but Dumpling Man thought the salt level was off the chart.  Aside from that, I was intrigued by the flavor profile, which I can't really pin down.  It had a creaminess and tomatoey-ness that reminded me of chicken tikka masala.  The capers didn't help with the salt level.  The dish packed a punch of flavor, but maybe too much so?

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Next: Kyoto

Our last trip to Chicago was really highlighted by some of the most delicious food I've eaten in a long time.  This trip back was no exception.  Alinea was probably the stand out restaurant last time for its sheer creativity.  It's sister restaurant, Next, managed to wow us again.  Now if you haven't heard, both restaurants now work on a ticketing system, sort of like buying tickets to a musical or a concert.  You buy them, and then you're stuck with them.  NO REFUNDS.  I guess restaurants lose money on last minute cancelled reservations, no shows, and having to staff someone to and take phone calls and manage the reservations.  I'll admit, I am guilty of making last minute cancellations but I'm a customer and I can do as I please, right?  Grant Achatz (chef/owner) says, "screw you."  I didn't actually think I was going to get a spot at Next, but tickets for Kyoto opened up just a day or two before my trip and BOOM, I was so there!  It helps to be friends with Next on Facebook!

I think I'm too dumb to really appreciate the cerebral experience Grant Achatz is trying to create in all his restaurants.  There was this teeny scroll explaining the theme of the dinner.  All I got from it was fall, Kyoto, tradition, experience.  The rest of it was just too many words.  These days, I can only communicate in abbreviations (CAD, HTN, SDH, ARF, etc).

Kaiseki traditional multicourse Japanese dinner (12 to be exact!)

Corn Husk 

We started off very gently with some simple corn stock.  It was very sweet, very clean tasting corn.  Imagine the juice that comes with canned corn.  It tasted just like that!

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Portillo's

So on my last trip to Chicago, the city's famous hot dogs and pizza didn't make it to eating itinerary.  I'm proud to say that despite having every meal planned, I still managed to fit in a tasting of Portillo's and Lou Malnati's.  

I really wanted to try Hot Doug's or Franks 'n Dawgs but they were just too far and Portillo's happened to be a few blocks away while I was out with Dumpling Man and his old high school buddy, See Fut Gwai.  Even though it was just 2 hours before our dinner reservations at Next, Dumpling Man and I wanted to see what all the rage was with Chicago and it's hot dogs.

Hot Dog relish, mustard, onions, tomatoes, pickle, sport peppers

I'm not so sure I understand what the big deal is about the hot dogs here.  It was good, but not great.  The noticeable absence of ketchup bothered me.  I just LOVE piling on the red stuff, but I guess that's considered criminal in Chicago.  Dumpling Man was giving me the evil eye as I chowed down on the hot dog since dinner was so soon.  He can be such a dictator sometimes.

Anyways, I'm glad I finally tried a true Chicago hot dog.  I can honestly say I'm quite content with just a good ole Costco hot dog.  I don't need pickles, peppers, and tomatoes on my dogs, just everything else AND lots of ketchup!

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Pine State Biscuits

So this post marks a FIRST.  I used my iPhone to take these pictures!  You may have noticed, but I ain't eating out as much these days.  So I don't just leave my camera in my purse anymore because it's just too heavy even though it's just a point and shoot.  People rave about this place, but I've shied away from Pine State Biscuits because I heard the weekend brunch wait and be pretty horrendous and I'm not a fan of heavy greasy breakfast foods like biscuits slathered in gravy, cheese, etc.  But when Quack Man T came to visit with his friends, he said this place was a must.  Lucky for me, Pine State Biscuits is a regular at the weekend PSU Farmer's Market AND the line wasn't so long.

I'm not sure if the menu is quite the same at their brick and mortar location.  I had only one thing in mind, The Reggie, so it didn't make a difference to me.  Quack Man T couldn't stop raving about it.

The Reggie fried chicken, bacon, cheese, topped with gravy
OK, it is pretty darn delicious.  The biscuit is just the right amount of flakiness and butteriness.  The chicken was crispy and moist.  The bacon was smoky.  I could have done without the cheese.  The gravy was definitely made with a lot of love, not like that cafeteria gravy or the stuff that comes from powder.  I wish there was more gravy because it got kinda dry in my mouth.

I can see why people LOVE Pine State Biscuits so much.  It's everything Americans love in their food, rich, comforting, and simple.  The heaviness of something like this was not lost on me though.  I shared this with Dumpling Man, and toward the end he had to finish up on his own.  I actually went to another food stand to get get a plate of vegetables to wash down all the grease or lard.  If you LOVE food like this, you'll love Pine State Biscuits, but for me it was a bit on the gut busting side so it's not gonna be a regular stop for me.  Still though, it is a must visit for visitors to Portland.  And BTW, these photos are pretty good for iPhone, eh??

Pine State Biscuits

PSU Farmers Market 

or 

2204 NE Alberta 

Portland, OR 97211

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Riffle NW

I cook a lot.  I only say that because I don't know anybody else who cooks as much as I do.  As a result, I get really tired of my own food.  I try to cook as many new things as possible but I run out of ideas and I certainly get tired of chicken, beef, and pork.  I was excited to FINALLY get a date night for the first time in a while and definitely wanted seafood.  Somehow, trying all that is new and delicious in Portland is not so much a priority for Dumpling Man anymore.  Yeah, sadface.

Tuna Pallard green goddess dressing
Our decision to come to Riffle was somewhat of a last minute decision so we didn't have reservations and had to be seated at the counter.  It actually turned out nice because we were up close and personal with the kitchen.  Maybe the chefs felt sorry for us being the lonesome couple at the counter while everyone else got a table so they gave us free food!  It wasn't even like we were waiting for a long time.    Anyways, the tuna was just seared on one side and served very simply with a lightly dressed salad.  It was a nice starter and two thumbs up for being free!

Grilled Pacific Shrimp braised pork belly
This was probably the best dish of the night, a little surf and turf.

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Spaghetti with Pinot Grigio and Seafood

I don't know what the seafood consumption of most average American homes is, but in my house growing up, we didn't eat a lot of fresh seafood.  I think my mom would buy a fried fish from the Asian supermarket and then she would cook frozen shrimps, stir fried or tempura style.  My mom never bought truly fresh seafood.  As a result, I don't really buy it either nor do I feel comfortable preparing it.  I'm just afraid it will spoil the minute I take it home.  So when I watch cooking shows, which I believe targets the average American household, I am surprised at how often it showcases recipes using fresh seafood.  I just cannot fathom that most households can really afford fresh high quality seafood.

Anyways, I finally had the courage to try out this recipe which calls for clams and shrimp.  I learned from my mom that you can get away with frozen shrimp, but with clams there's only ONE option, fresh and still kicking.  I just bought them at the local Asian market so the freshness was questionable to begin with.  It was at this same market that I got violent food poisoning from the seafood soon do bu.

Saute up your shallots, garlic, and sundried tomatoes and deglaze with the wine.

Then you add your clams.  I was very paranoid about killing my clams since I wouldn't be cooking them the same day I bought them.  I fervently Googled how to store clams, and the worst thing you can do for them is soak them in water overnight.  Apparently that will kill them!  They'll run out of oxygen. So I just covered them in a lot of moist paper towels and hoped for the best.

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Smitten

My ice cream journey continues with a more interesting way to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen.  Smitten is a cool little shop in a cool neighborhood of SF, Hayes Valley.   I'll let the pictures do the talking.

They use only fresh, all natural ingredients.


Making ice cream this way apparently results in a creamier, smoother ice cream because they are able to minimize the all time evil enemy of ice cream, ice crystals.  Trust me, I know this formidable foe well as I have not been able to defeat him during my own ice cream making endeavours.

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Brenda's French Soul Food

I like brunch, but I don't love it.  As a result, I am never too keen on waiting the 1-2 hours that some really popular brunch places command on the weekends, the only time most people, including myself, can enjoy brunch.  Fortunately, if I go in with the right mindset and pre-eat, waiting isn't such a fatal experience.  So lucky for Weeners, I waited a whole 45 minutes by myself at one of San Francisco's most popular brunch spots.  By it's name, I was expecting a restaurant without a lot of "character" if ya know what I mean, but I was pleasantly surprised by the very well lit, spacious, and new looking joint.

There is a large chalk board taking up a large portion of the wall.  Notice the FIFTEEN names ahead of mine.  Surprisingly it moved pretty fast and we got seated in about 45 minutes to an hour.

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Humphry Slocombe

The ice cream binge continues in San Francisco.  While everyone goes gaga for Bi-Rite, I was sort of underwhelmed.  There's still one other ice creamy heavy hitter in the area, Humphry Slocombe.  Random-ass name huh?  But it sure does stick in your mind.

Secret Breakfast (left), Butterbeer (right)
The Pouter got her favorite, Secret Breakfast, which is bourbon ice cream with cornflakes. I got the butterbeer.  Neither ice creams were too sweet which I certainly appreciated, but the texture fell short of my favorite ice cream place here in Portland, Salt and Straw.  It wasn't heavy or creamy enough.

It's so hard to describe my particular preference in ice cream texture, but Humprhy Slocombe just didn't do it for me.  In addition, I was a little put off by the ghettoness of the ice cream shop.  I think I expect clean, cute, nostalgic, inspired.  Humphry Slocombe looks like a whitewash walled extra large closet.


Humphry Slocombe
2790 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

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Commonwealth

Ok, moving on to some SF eatings.  I met up with some good friends to get my SF grubbin' on, now that Triple F and Running Man are out of the eating game with twins girls.  The Pouter was kind enough to make reservations and pick me up for our dinner at Commonwealth.  Now, I did not know this, but living in the Bay Area, is not the same as living in SF.  Non-SFer's hate to come into the city.  It's a hassle, you have to pay tolls to cross the bridge, parking is difficult, road conditions suck, etc etc.  So by the time we got to dinner, The Pouter was in quite the mood.  She has some MASSIVE road rage, so I'll be sure not to make her come into the city again!

Housemade Potato Chips dusted with seaweed
I was so hungry that I really gobbled these up.  They weren't particularly special, but tasted like really good kettle chips but oilier. I can't say I tasted much seaweed.

Malt Vinegar Foam
Dipping the chips in this gave the instant flavor of salt and vinegar chips.  It was clever and tasty.

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Ox

I get a lot of foodie updates about what is new in Portland.  So even though I have a laundry list of established places I've been wanting to try, I find myself tempted by all the new stuff.  I'm a neophyte, what can I say?  Ox, an Argentinian inspired joint, peaked my interest.  The menu sounded delicious so I dragged Big Spoon, The Gunner, and Dumpling Man (of course) here to see what all the hype was about.  Unfortunately, we were a bit underwhelmed by the food and completely overwhelmed by all the heavy smoky odor from the open bbq.

Amuse Bouche
I think this was a chilled asparagus soup.  It was cool, just a bit creamy, and a nice way to start the meal.

Bruschetta kampachi sashimi, avocado mousse, radish, cucumber, shiso 
Very beautiful to look at, but the bread was way too hard and crispy.  The kampachi was nice as was all the other accoutrements, but the dish failed to wow us.

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Pok Pok

Who would have ever known that the best Asian food in Portland would be the Thai food.  I don't think there a lot of Thai people here according to my Thai friend Verde, but he's not always the most accurate source of information.  Anyways, the Thai food is very solid and easily accessible, unlike in LA where the good Thai food is only in Thai Town.

Khao Soi northern thai curry noodle soup, chicken
They do this pretty good here.  Coconutty, spicy, salty, sweet curry with egg noodles.  We always share this dish among a couple of people, but there not a whole lot of noodles to go around.  Next time I want my own!

pickled mustard greens, shallots, chili paste
Next time I'm always gonna throw all this stuff in there too.  I think it'll really kick up the flavor.

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Linguine with Shimeji Mushrooms

This had got to be my most FAVORITE recipe discovery of the year, mostly because it's so easy and doesn't require a lot of extra ingredients that I wouldn't normally already have laying around.  Surprisingly, the dish is completely VEGETARIAN and still excites me.  Just the other day it was "meatless Mondays" in the cafeteria and I was completely disappointed and struggled to find something good to eat.  I ended up fishing out as much chicken in the chicken noodle soup, but I was thoroughly disgruntled with my polenta terrine and steamed zucchinis.

The key ingredient to this dish are shimeji mushrooms which are also known hon-shimeji, white beech, or brown beech mushrooms.  At my supermarket they are sold prepackaged in 3-4oz portions.  I don't do much to them but cut off the roots so they can separate.  I don't even wash them because they're mushrooms and I think they'll just soak up all that excess water, which you don't want.

You sautee them up in a decent amount of olive oil and garlic.  I cut back the amount of oil from what the original recipe calls for, but you do want a good amount because the oil helps create a sauce.

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Tasty n Sons

I have been wanting to try Tasty n Sons very a long time now.  It's an extremely popular brunch place, but the wait can be ridiculous.  There dinner service is supposed to be pretty good too, so I made this my final birthday dinner destination.

Nueve Cocktail octopus, prawns, flatbread
I guess I was imagining a ceviche, but instead found myself with shrimp and octopus doused in cocktail sauce.  I'm not sure what was "neuve" about this.  The flatbread? The saltine crackers?  Major disappointment here.

Toro Spinach
Another underwhelming plate of food.  Despite all the pretty contrasting colors, this was bland and unexciting.

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Le Pigeon

So Dumpling Man and I have tried almost all the big name fancy restaurants in Portland, but there was just one left, Le Pigeon.  I can't say I had high expectations because it's more casual sister restaurant, Little Bird, was just ok and Dumpling Man had already tried Le Pigeon and was not impressed.  However, the executive chef/owner, Gabriel Rucker was awarded the 2011 James Beard Rising Star Chef award for his work at Le Pigeon so that's saying something.

Despite being on their "I'm a Skinny Bitch" diet, Zhu Zhu Hamster and Little Pet happily joined us here for another birthday celebration dinner in my honor.  They stayed true to their diet and only ordered 1 appetizer and 1 entree TO SHARE.  I felt like a fat ass for just 2 seconds when I ordered my appetizer and entree and eagerly approved of Dumpling Man's 2 choices too.

Pigeon fava beans, spicy garlic, pecorino broth
Our dining companions seemed to enjoy this.

Beets mache, feta, peppers
Dumpling Man cannot help himself when it comes to beets.  He just has to have them, no questions asked.

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Rigatoni with Ragu Bolognese

I love food that is hearty and comforting, stews, slow braises, and meat sauce anything just to name a few.  When I go out to Italian restaurants, I have to force myself from ordering the ragu or bolognese.  I can't help but gravitate to it because I know it's probably gonna be solid with no surprises.  I figure if I'm going out to try a new restaurant, then I should order something different.  Anyways, I came across this recipe from Darin Dines and I wanted to see if I could recreate this yumminess.  If I could get my ragu fix at home, maybe I wouldn't gravitate toward it so much when I'm out.

So the recipe is very interesting because you use a food processor to munch up a ton of garlic and pancetta.

You then fry this up and try to resist the intoxicating aroma of fat, pork, and garlic making love in your pan.

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Top Pot Doughnuts

I have heard one too many things about this place.  It's always on the list for best donuts in the country.  Dumpling Man doesn't understand why a donut could be all that special.  To him, a donut is just a donut.  I would probably agree, seeing as that Yum Yum donuts back in LA pretty much does it for me.  On the other hand, if I lived in NYC near Doughnut Plant, I'd be singing a different tune.  I go cray cray for Doughnut Plant, but not so much Top Pot.

Old Fashioned Glazed
This is one of their signature donuts and one of their most popular.  Seriously, it just tasted like a donut!

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Crush

Dumpling Man can be the nicest sweetest dumpling man.  Instead of a present for my birthday this year, he treated me to multiple delicious meals.  I celebrated the beginning of a new decade by stuffing my face one morsel at a time.  Our Seattle trip goals were 2 fold, celebrate my birthday and eat delicious foods.  Paseo and Molly Moon's was a great start.  Now comes dinner at Crush.  After some random researching I made reservations here, but I had some doubts deep down inside because there were some legitimate sounding negative reviews.


It's always hard to go with just a la carte or the tasting menu, but we figure that we will get the best sampling of a restaurant's offerings with the latter.  It's unlikely we'll ever go back since we're not often repeat visitors of many high end establishments.  So for $93 we went for the 6 course (7 if you include the bread) tasting menu.

Gruyere Gougere, Rosemary Bread
I've had better gougere.  I was disappointed they weren't warm and cheese, but rather room temperature and only a little bit cheesy.  The rosemary bread was surprisingly fragrant despite looking plain like white bread.

Asparagus green garlic, truffle oil
A tasty vegetal offering that was pretty light.  The green garlic and truffle oil were hardly noticeable.

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Molly Moon's Ice Cream

I'm on a total "artisinal" ice cream binge.  Haagen Daaz? Baskin Robbins? Ben & Jerry's?  No gracias.  Hand scooped, hand made, local ingredients, small batches?  I'll have a double scoop please!

I've been quite pleased with the selection of artisinal ice cream in Portland, so I was on a mission to see what Seattle had to offer.  Their go-to spot seems to be Molly Moon's.  The line was seriously out the door and took probably 15 minutes.

Waffle Cones
Wonderful isn't it?  Well if you knew that the line was moving so damn slow because only ONE person was scooping ice cream, while the other person was making a basket of these, then maybe you wouldn't think this was so wonderful.  I'm not quite sure why the waffle person was moving so frantically since there was a whole other full basket being used to scoop ice cream.

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Paseo

Drop everything that you're doing RIGHT NOW and book a trip to Seattle.  You'll totally thank me when you get there, there being Paseo, a Cuban sandwich joint with 2 locations in Seattle.  Now, Paseo happens to be pretty famous.  I've seen it featured on multiple food and travel shows.  As well all know, these shows aren't always the most reliable.  Sometimes they draw attention to mediocre food that's just popular for historical reasons.  Going in, I had my doubts, but every crazy amazing delicious bite of the sandwiches here made me a true fan. 

The place is really small, only a handful of tables inside and small counter for ordering.  The place is cash only, so don't be like the foolish couple in front of me that was scrambling to find an ATM when they got to the top of the line!  We got there at 2pm and there was a pretty decent line outside, but it was moving and we had our hands on our sandwiches after 20-25min.

Midnight Cuban Press roasted pork, sweet banana peppers, smoked ham, swiss cheese, caramelized onions
It really doesn't look like a big deal, but no joke, this sh*t is the REAL deal.  The pork is moist, succulent, and slow roasted.  The ham, cheese, and caramelized onions, in Emeril's words really kick it up a notch.  The banana peppers add a spicy sweet sourness.  Drool.

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Navarre

It pains me to write this post for two reasons.  The food was not good and the pictures are pretty crappy.  Somehow, I wasn't as motivated to take good pictures because the food was so uninspiring.  I like the idea of tapas (good for sharing, more variety), but I've not been impressed with real Spanish tapas.  Spanish food in general is not high up there for me, maybe because of my dislike for olives.  Toro Bravo is probably an exception. 

Ordering at Navarre is very complicated.  They have their standard menu and another list of specials, which turns out to be a whole lot longer than the standard menu.  You can order things in small or large portions.  You can organize your orders to be served as courses or rounds.  You can also do a chef's tasting and save yourself a whole lot of trouble.  I guess I wanted trouble and Zhu Zhu Hamster, Little Pet, and Dumpling Man were just little lemmings.


Ken's Artisan Bread grassy olive oil
People make a big deal bout the bread from Ken's Artisan Bakery.  I will have to admit the bread was pretty good.  It was so soft, but dense and hearty.  The crust was a little too hard for my liking but overall pretty good.  We were stupid and ordered a large portion of this which was just WAY TOO MUCH bread.

Spicy Italian Sausage pickled beets
I'm big on the texture of sausage.  I like it to be springy and fatty, but this was really crumbly and dry.  The pickled beets were not anything to write home about.  Zhu Zhu Hamster really didn't seem to mind the offensive texture.

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Bruxie

People are getting pretty creative with waffles these days.  Gone are the days of waffles with a drizzle of Aunt Jemima.   Bruxie in OC is one of these places reimagining this classic breakfast food into something the savory or sweet to be had at any time of the day.  The Germaphobe suggested Bruxie for lunch during our weekend-long celebration of April birthdays for The Mom and me.  It would be hard to follow up the previous night's dinner at Gjelina (no post because the lighting was terrible but the food was amazing!).   We were worried the line would be around the block for this not-quite-a-restaurant-or-food-truck/cart outpost.  It's an order-and-call-your-name place with a smattering of outdoor seating.  It was perfect for a casual lunch on a hot and sunny Sunday.

Roasted Mushroom & Goat Cheese fresh basil, arugula, balsamic reduction
HemaSh, being a vegetarian, is quite limited when she dines out.  Fortunately, Bruxie had some meat- free offerings.  The Germaphobe went 50/50 with her, as she commonly does.  They seemed to like their 2 waffle sandwiches.


Club avocado, tomato, gruyere, pesto aioli
I actually think this was supposed to be a "turkey club" that had bacon, but HemaSh and The Germaphobe must have gotten it sans.

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Cocotte

Portland is replete with food just like what I'm about to show you: farm to table, seasonal, made to order, small batches, comforting, simple.  Cocotte takes that and just puts a French spin on it all.  Zhu Zhu Hamster and Little Pet, who are becoming quite our favorite duo to hang out with, joined us to try out some delicious French delights.

Roasted Beets pistou, blue cheese, pea shoots, honey mustard vinaigrette

More beets!  This was better than the version at Drago Centro.  Maybe the French do it better than the Italians??  It just tasted fresher, crisper, sweeter?

Chicken Liver Mouse house pickles, whole grain mustard, port plumped cherries, baguette
I love me a big hunk of animal liver.  Classical accoutrements with the mustard, baguette, pickled veggies, and some fruity bits with the cherries.  I could have used some more baguette slices.

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