Walter's

Waaalllt! That’s my baaaarrrr! Sorry, you know I can’t resist a LOST reference. When I walked up to Walter’s, and hopefully to the amusement of my companions, I couldn’t help but echo Michael’s overused yelling for his son. Located at 2 Portland Square, Walter’s is a classy joint with its sleek interior, seasonal menu, and excellent bar.

For my cocktail I ordered a Wild French Ginger—Citadelle French gin, domaine de canton French ginger liquer, and candied ginger. I always applaud bars when they are able to make delicious cocktails without overloaded them with cloying syrup. The Wild French Ginger was thankfully not overly sweet and it had a nice kick from the ginger.

Jonah Crab Claws were the first appetizer we sampled. The claws were ice chilled, which contributed to their distinctive texture—the flesh was smooth and cold and had a sweet, oceany flavor. They were served with a South Beach dipping sauce.

Next up was Greek lamb sliders. These little beauties were crafted with Greek sausage, Camembert, and a spicy Cara Cara orange gelee on flaky rosemary biscuits. These were the sliders that inspired us to have our own slider throwdown. Cara Cara apparently is a type of red Navel orange—it made a delicious sweet and spicy gelee topping for the slider that combined smoothly with the rich and buttery Camembert. The sausage was moist and flavorful and paired nicely with the biscuits.

 

Last on our order was oxtail spring rolls, which were prepared with roasted corn, poblano peppers, and smoked mozzarella, with a spicy avocado crema and tamarind yuzu ponzu dipping sauces. The combination of these ingredients gave the spring rolls a smoky and spicy flavor, but I didn’t get any distinctive taste from the oxtail. I’d never had it before, so maybe I just couldn’t gather the flavor of it in the midst of the other intoxicating scents and tastes within the spring rolls. Having two options of dipping sauces was a nice touch, and I favored the smooth and creamy avocado crema. 

I would definitely revisit Walter’s to sample some of their other cocktails and extensive bar menu. Their entrees sound delicious as well, but if you can’t go wrong with a couple of small plates and drinks at their classy yet comfortable bar.

August

I recently met up with some friends to dine at August in the West Village. August is a nice little bistro-y restaurant located at 359 Bleecker Street that serves European fare. We started off with good conversation and delicious cups of coffee. I was impressed by the elective selection of music playing over the speakers at August—the music ranged from “The Sun King” by The Beatles, to Lou Reed, to that song that goes “I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a girl that looked good I would call her.” And to top it all off, the food that followed was incredible.

As soon as I saw “Grilled Lamb Belly with Tzatziki and Black Sesame” on the menu I knew exactly what I was ordering. Lamb belly? I never even knew that lamb belly was a thing, but I was pretty sure that I would love it. Apparently it’s the midsection of the lamb that is located just below the loin. It arrived in a cast-iron pan –a nice hunk of lamb belly encrusted in black sesame seeds and sitting pretty on a bed of tzatziki. The meat was incredibly flavorful and tender. It fell lovingly off the bone, and the warm meat juxtaposed nicely with the cool Greek yogurt tossed with cucumber and dill. The dish was also served with fresh dill and mint leaves. Absolutely heavenly. As my friend Phil described it, it was “dill-licious.” 

Annie ordered the tarte flambé—an alsatian onion and bacon tart with crème fraiche. It was another beautiful creation. The bacon was cut into thick pieces and it seemed like the onions had been caramelized. The tart was baked in a wood-fired oven, giving it a rustic and smoky quality, and the crème fraiche added a nice creaminess to the savory flavors.

Phil opted for the August burger, which had also tempted me when I perused the menu. The burger was topped with bacon, cheddar, and a fried egg, and it was served with smoky mayo and fries. There’s just something so sexy about a bright yellow, luscious egg yolk oozing sensually into the crevices of meat and bread. The meat was cooked to a nice medium-rare and the thick-cut bacon was perfectly crisp. It was definitely one of the best burgers I’ve ever tasted.

The smoky mayo was a high point of the meal. The mayo was smooth and creamy and each bite revealed subtle layers of smoky flavor. But where did the smoke come from? We asked our server and he told us that they smoke the oil first before adding it to the mayonnaise. However, he didn’t know what smoking the oil actually entailed. My guess was that they simply brought the oil to its smoking point, but when I did a quick search online about smoking points many websites claimed that bringing an oil to its smoking point makes the oil taste bad, and the mayo tasted amazing not bad. [Note: doing a Google search on “how to smoke oil” will return many results for how to smoke hash oil but very few relating to food] Despite not being able to figure out how the concoction was created, it was still the perfect condiment for dipping the crispy, salty fries in.

Lunch at August was a nice treat—what’s better than eating good food and catching up with friends? I would definitely head back to August again, and I know there dinner menu is even more extensive than their lunch options. I highly recommend August to anyone looking for a fine meal in the West Village.

White Inn

In celebration of my sister Tara’s 21st birthday I recently made the long drive out to Fredonia in western New York to visit her and drink copious amounts of alcohol. Ah, the joys of reaching legal drinking age! She had been saying for a while that she wanted to have a martini at the White Inn, a nice hotel and restaurant in town, so one night we headed there for delicious food and a perfectly crafted martini.

We decided to sit at the bar, which had a nice rustic feel to it. A fire roared nearby, diners sat and ate at their tables, and the soft sounds of a young man and woman singing and playing guitar filled the room. We started off with martinis—Bombay Sapphire gin, on the dry side, straight up, with olives. To me this is the perfect martini and apparently I’ve schooled my sister well because she ordered the same thing. The bartender made our martinis perfectly. It was just the right combination of gin and vermouth—crisp, clean, cool, and refreshing.

For food we started off with two appetizers, opting for a shrimp and goat cheese crostini and bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin. The crostini was nice and lightly toasted with a smooth, delicate spread of goat cheese, herbs, and minced shrimp layered on top. The cool creaminess of the cheese and crispiness of the crostini balanced well with the other appetizer. The bacon-wrapped tenderloin came with a sweet and spicy hoisin sauce. The bacon was fantastic, of course, and while the tenderloin could have been, well, a little more tender, overall it was a very satisfying and tasty start to the meal.

 

Next we moved on to entrees. I ordered the rack of lamb. The lamb was lightly breaded and cooked medium rare. It was accompanied with wild rice pilaf, carrots, and broccoli. Lamb is one of my favorite meats but I rarely have a chance to eat it, so although other items on the menu, such as duck and scallops, tempted me, I was happy I went for the nice, tender lamb. Tara ordered grilled salmon with a honey Dijon sauce, rice, and vegetables. She adored it. 

 

After we finished our entrees we switched from martinis to White Russians, which are made of vodka, kahula, and cream. Again the bartender crafted the drinks perfectly—they were lusciously creamy and a perfect way to anticipate dessert. 

Even though we were incredibly full from dinner we felt it was appropriate to order dessert since we were celebrating Tara’s birthday. We ordered a decadent cake with layers of coffee and chocolate deliciousness. Mmm, chocolate. How can you go wrong? We sat at the bar, taking bites of cake, sipping on our White Russians, and enjoying each others company.

A nice dinner with superb drinks was the perfect way to elegantly celebrate Tara’s birthday. We were very impressed with the White Inn, and even though it was on the fancy side the prices were very reasonable. If you ever find yourself in the quaint college town of Fredonia and want to indulge a little you should definitely stop by the lovely White Inn.

MetroVino

This is my last Portland post, which makes me a bit sad, but so it goes. Well, it’s my last Portland, Oregon, post…from this trip anyways. And since I’m writing this while sitting in a lovely house in Portland, Maine (another foodie city), there will many more tasty posts to follow...

But back to Oregon. Before taking a red eye home to New York State, I spent my last evening in Portland at the fantastic MetroVino in the Pearl District.

MetroVino was suggested to me back in July when I mentioned to a couple in Albany that I was going to Portland and that I wanted to go out for at least one fancy and decadent dinner during my trip. They immediately began gushing about MetroVino, and it turned out that the executive chef happened to be one of their cousins. Score. I scoped out the menu online and knew that I had to make it happen. Everything sounded so delicious, and the extensive wine list tempted me all the way from across the country.

On a Saturday night we stepped into MetroVino in style. The restaurant was sleek, elegant, and inviting. We were seated at a spacious table and within a few minutes our server brought us a special little amuse-bouche sent out by Chef Gregory Denton. There was apricot, avocado, and even a little piece of popcorn. I loved the mix of salty, savory, and sweet, and the playfulness of the presentation was delightful. Shortly after that Chef Greg came by to say hello. There’s nothing like meeting a chef to make a foodie happy.


As I looked over the wine and bar menu I wanted to try everything. Wouldn’t you want to taste a Pink Lady (Plymouth Gin, applejack, lemon, egg white, and grenadine, served straight up), a Dark and Stormy (Gosling Dark Rum, Cock & Bull ginger beer, served on the rocks), or a Cucumber Caipirosca (Stoli Citron, lemon, and cucumber, served on the rocks)? All the cocktails sounded fantastic, but we went for the wine.

MetroVino has an exceptional wine selection, which was actually quite daunting. How does one choose when everything sounds so amazing? Thank goodness for text messaging—we soon had Cam’s suggestion for an exquisite Bordeaux.

And by exquisite I mean expensive.

The wine was a 1988 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou, St. Julien Second Growth Bordeaux from France. It was $14 for a tasting glass. Yes, that’s right—$14 for 1.75 ounces of wine. It was totally worth it. A whole bottle was $210. Maybe someday I’ll be baller enough to afford a $210 bottle of wine, but I’m not there yet.


It tasted amazing when it arrived at the table, but our server encouraged us to let it open up. So we sipped on the tasting glass throughout the meal. Every sip yielded a different taste. The flavors really did evolve and deepen over the meal. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe such a lovely wine, but some that kind to mind are “deep-colored, powerful, ripe, exquisitely well-balanced and perfectly harmonious.” Okay, I just lifted that off the winery's Web site, but the description really is spot on.

But 1.75 ounces of wine is not enough for two people, and even though that Dark and Stormy was tempting me on the cocktail menu, wine just seemed more appropriate. We selected a bottle of 2007 Charles Joguet Chinon Cuvee Terroir from Loire Valley, France. Although it was perhaps not on the same level as the Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou, it was still a superb Bordeaux. This delightful red wine paired perfectly with our delicious dinner.


Even though we’d gotten oysters the day before I couldn’t resist getting more succulent, buttery West Coast oysters. We hadn’t discussed getting an appetizer but when the server asked if we wanted one, I just said yeah, let’s do this. Oysters for both of us. They came out in little serving spoons, already removed from the shell. Each oyster was prepared with a different sauce. One had cucumber mignonette, another came with ponzu wasabi, and last was with horseradish cocktail sauce. Each had that lovely ocean taste, and the different preparations brought out different layers of flavor of the oyster. They were all excellent.


I ordered a special, and I’m not quite sure if this covers all the components, but there was lamb, sage gnocci, zucchini, and pine nuts. The lamb just melted in my mouth. I simply love the taste of baby animals. Can you say decadent? Yes, please.


At one point I took a bite of crispy sage and literally stopped paying attention to the world around me as I sat back and appreciated the culinary experience going on in my mouth.

Adam ordered the grilled maple-brined pork chop with crispy roasted chile polenta, hazelnut chimichurri, tomatoes, and padron peppers. Again, the dish was amazing. I’m not usually a big fan of polenta, but this preparation was perfect. I mean, just look at that picture. How could there be anything wrong with this dish? All the flavors complemented each other like magic. Wonderful.


MetroVino has the kind of food where every little taste makes you smile…and stop mid-sentence just to appreciate the delicate layering of flavors in each mouthful. Each bite of dinner was exceptional. The wine was exquisite. It was the perfect way to end my trip to Portland.

And so, with a satiated stomach, a refreshed soul, and a half a bottle of red wine flowing through me, I boarded my plane, looked out at the night sky, and bid the West Coast adieu…but it won't be long before I return.