Drunken Bloggging

Projects Schmoject. T'night HomoDomi 'n I went out to a trendy bar that a friend has been trying to get us to for months. He is a fellow traveler, born and raised in Minnesota like us, who has lived all over the world and ended up in Portland with a son in Boy-Child's grade. I have done home computer maintenance work for him over several months, and this was his way of repaying me (with HomoDomi along, we joked, as a chaperone -- although they are close friends, so really I was just along for the ride).

We went to Mint, a trendy restaurant and attached bar, which has been around for a couple of years, at 5:00 p.m. Unfashionably early (although traditionally "cocktail hour"), we had the pick of the tables and devoted wait-staff. We chose to sit in the sunken living room in the back, with a large wall behind HomoDomi so he could hear what we were saying. If we have a complaint, it was that it was too dark -- we had to hold the votive candle in our hands, over the menu, to read the descriptions of the drinks. But we arrived at the right time -- when we left, about 2 hours later, every table was full. There were three people in the restaurant not in black, and they were me (in red and a denim skirt) and a trés passé couple in cream sweaters with jeans. HomoDomi and our friend were in Portland middle-aged chic: black fleece and black khakis.

And the drinks! The bartender/owner is Lucy Brennan, a nationally known mixologist, and I must say, her cocktails were marvelous. Her book is Hip Sips, and it's already on my list for giving for Christmas this year. Our friend plied us with the alcohol -- I honestly believe that I drank more tonight in a two-hour period than I have since college, and a lot more trendy it was, too. And whilst I am without doubt, happy, I am not particularly stewed, thanks to great fried calamari, sweet potato fries and copious amounts of water served with each drink.

Our goal was to taste as many of the cocktails as we could, so each of us ordered, and then we shared, as one does with Indian or Chinese food. We started with an Ivo, a O, and a Velvet. Next course we had a Charlie, a Fresh, and an "Ad Lib" (curiously named with the quotes, which no other drink title had). Last, because we figured out that the Happy Hour menu was still based on summer drinks, we ordered from the full bar menu, and we had an Oatmeal Stout Sangria, a Sweet Love and a Hazel. Some we liked more than others, but they all were excellent. My favorites were the ones I ordered, the thematically grouped, O, Fresh, and Sweet Love.

IVO: Vanilla vodka and other stuff, in a martini glass rimmed an inch deep with sugar. This tasted like a liquid hard ribbon candy with a latent alcoholic kick.
O: A "house mojito" made with orange rum. Mint figures in mojito's, and this was wonderfully minty.
Velvet: Vodka, blackberry puree and a splash of cranberry juice.

Charlie: Essentially a margarita made with raspberry puree.
Fresh: Sour Apple Vodka with lemon-lime syrup and mint. Hard to describe the flavor of this -- it was not particularly sweet, but, more than anything else, tasted fresh. Aptly named.
"Ad Lib": Tequila muddled with cilantro and lemon-lime syrup. This was surprisingly not cilantro-flavored, instead merely tasting of summer.

Oatmeal Stout Sangria: a nice oatmeal stout with a nice ruby port stirred in. Andrew had something like this in Seattle last winter, which I believe was tastier, but he said this was very good. (I don't like the texture of port, so I didn't like this one particularly.)
Sweet Love: a hot drink, made of the delectable combination of Kahlua, banana rum, vanilla whipped cream and coffee, with shavings of Mexican chocolate.
Hazel: Vanilla vodka stirred with our own Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka.

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.