Portland is known for its restaurants

This post has nothing to do with the projects at the house, except it may result in my stretching my cooking skills this fall, which might count as a project (then).

Tonight Mel and I joined friend Ray at Simpatico, a charming little restaurant. Ray has been trying for some time to get reservations, and was able to get in tonight. He thanked us for being willing bodies to keep him company.

Simpatico is run by two chefs. They only serve on Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday brunch. It is prix fixe (not including wine); the menu (and price) varies with every meal and is published on Wednesday. (Apparently brunch is easier to get into, and has a fairly standard, set, menu.) You sit family style, about 40 guests at 4 tables.

Tonight's menu was a re-creation of a meal they cooked at a festival in France in June, centered on the season's harvest and aioli. We started with almonds blanched in olive oil and heavily salted, alongside fresh zucchini pickles (all made in-house). The first course was pork shoulder and couscous stuffed and rebaked in a purple pepper, and it was followed, in successive festive courses, by salted cod fritters; a warm salad of corn (on the cob, in little chunks), mixed tomatoes and green beans; a cold lettuce greens salad with vinaigrette; lamb stew with olives and potatoes; squash flowers stuffed with goat cheese and fried; skewered braised octopus, grilled with zucchini; and grilled rockfish stuffed with fennel. There may have been another course or two, I've forgotten. And for dessert, a crepe (fried crispy) with stewed plums and a dash of creme fraiche. Oh and all of this accompanied by two aiolis, one classic and one spicy with a dash of the octopus braising juice. The aioli frequently made the difference between a good flavor and a tremendous flavor.

It was really quite a divine meal, reminding me a lot of the dinner we ate at the farm in the Cevennes in 2005. Frankly, there was too much food, and they brought the courses too fast (dinner started late because the owner, with a party of 6, arrived 25 minutes late and they held the meal for them -- I think it caused a slight bottleneck in the kitchen. For instance, the octopus was lukewarm by the time it got to the table). Although I thought the final fish course was superb, I was only able to eat about a tablespoon of it; otherwise, the three of us agreed that we could have stopped with the lamb stew.

But I kept thinking how much Alec in particular would have loved this dinner. It was a little unusual for them -- they don't specialize in French food at all, but rather in fresh, local food. I hope I can share Simpatico with visitors again.