Tasting & Complaining

Mame Shiba apparently translattes literally to Bean Puppies, and is a nickname for smaller japanese dog varieties. Apparently the term has been borrowed for some creeptastical anime:

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There are magical pixie beans inside your Natto! This must be the vegetarian version of suicide food. I’m going to ask the Biwa kids about this when I seem them next. Thanks to Katie for this one.

First reported on BrewPublic and currently coursing through the PDX Twitterverse, the Green Dragon, Portland’s new but favorite institution for great beer, is being sold to Rogue Brewery.

Rogue’s lawyer requested a retraction of the initial report at BrewPublic, but the information they refute is in conflict with information I heard directly from two current Green Dragon Employees.  I don’t need the Attorney General of Rogue Nation crawling up my ass about it, but suffice to say that if the Rogue organization is correct in their specific refutations of the initial report, they’re sure as hell not telling the employees what’s going on.

Nothing is completely final, as minority owner Lolo Bruns wasn’t in on the deal with Rogue and may have an opportunity to make a counter-offer.

sad news for all.

I’m an idiot.  I apologize.  the Open house is for New Deal distillery.

November 15th, 2008: Distillers’ Row Open House

Join New Deal Distillery and Oregon Bounty to discover the innerworkings of Portland’s first vodka distillery and learn more about craft-distilling in Oregon. We’ll have distillery tours, treats from Meat Cheese Bread and Saint Cupcake, and, of course, spirits sampling.

The Open House is this Saturday from 1 to 5 PM at their distillery. Catering is from their (and my) friend John from Meat Cheese Bread (covered previously here). I’m planning on attending, and will follow up with pictures taken by someone else, as is my way. It should be a good time.

Portland likes its lefty politics, beer, and parties. Therefore, this Election Night will cause some heavy drinking, though I think I speak for most every sane person on the planet when I say it better be in celebration, not bitter disappointment and sadness.

All of the events I could find, in no particular order, after the jump:

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In line with continuing occasional series here at T&C, like Booze Crews and the now retired Sunday Supper Club, I’m introducing a new series, Cocktail Coquetry, in which I share new cocktail recipes developed by me or in my presence. Cocktails are relatively new to me, but local mixology-obsessed places like Teardrop Lounge, Clyde Common and the pending Beaker and Flask, all these new artisan distilleries and friends now sharing their sizable bitters collections have found me in the presence of good cocktail makings, beyond my usual liquor + ice.

The first cocktail to be posted here is so named for the attractive backdrop in the photos. Invented at a weekend brunch, the Vintage Slip is a delicious addition to the battery of brunch drinks, and, dare I say, slightly less ghetto than a Brass Monkey.

The Vintage Slip undresses for you after he jump.

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Blitz Ladd is the new Eastside outpost of everyone’s favorite sub-species of Pearl Rat, the aging fratboy. I’ve never been to the Pearl location (at 110 NW 10th Avenue, (503) 222-2229 but I’m sure that it’s not quite the place that I’d spend much time.

Blitz Ladd’s sign first went up nearly a year ago (originally Biltz East) with paper on the windows about 5 months after that. I’m not quite sure when they opened, but I spotted it, lights on and TVs a flickering on Columbus Day. I stopped in on Thursday to watch an MLS game and keep my eyes on what I thought would be the Red Sox demise in the ALCS. The Space is huge, easily 5,000+ square feet, with numerous pool tables, shuffle board and more TVs than necessary, including a very large projection set up in the back. The booths and tables are made from oriented strand-board protected with heavy layers of sealant, which gives the place a quasi-unfinished look from afar, but the effect up close is unique and saves the otherwise bland space from utter visual mediocrity.

They have a bunch of beers on tap, with the standard sports bar fare, but a wide range of microbrews from around the PNW and california. Nothing groundbreaking, but respectable. They also have those ridiculous aluminum ‘bottles’ of Budweiser.  They have a full bar, but no menu of ridiculous drinks that I saw.  The happy hour (4-6:30) deals are acceptable: $3 well drinks, draft beer and wine. I’m not sure what ‘wine’ means there, but I don’t plan on figuring it out.

The menu is straight up standard Sports Bar fare, with several burger options, plentiful fried food, a few salads and ‘flat bread’ pizzas.  The place was relatively empty during my time there, so I didn’t witness any pizzas coming out of the kitchen to give any enlightenment to what ‘flat bread’ means in this case.

I’m not sure how Blitz Ladd will fare.  It is rather average, but nearly all sports bars are.  Blitz has more class and 10000% more windows than the nearby Jolly Roger, and is non-smoking, which gets it out in front of Claudia’s further east.  For me, however, I doubt I’ll be back until I have competing sporting events to watch.

Photo courtesy of Mile73.com

I met the Artisan Spirits Public Relations team at the Great American Distillers Festival in august, when Liz and Dan were in town doing their best to train for their Snake Whiskey future in the Far East. They stuck out for me for two reasons: first, their PR people were both quite cute and very well prepared, in contrast with the kilted volunteers around the room and the bearded distillers who were not quite easy on the eyes, and secondly, the Artisan Spirits vodkas were by far the most esoteric offerings at the festival. Vodka made from wine?  Vodka made from mead made from raspberry honey? Ridiculous!

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Ken Forkish likes dough, and Ken’s Artisan Pizza makes a lot of dough in every sense of the phrase. I checked it out on a Thursday night in January, again weeks later for my last two handed meal before the unpleasantness. I returned after a long absence on a recent Saturday for a nice late night meal.

Ken’s is in a newish building on 28th and SE Pine that they share with Masu East (soon to be re-invented as Bamboo Sushi). The space is pleasant: white walls, blonde wood counters and tables constructed from timber salvaged from a Jantzen Beach roller coaster, and a wood fired oven that truly dominates the room. The wait can be intense at peak hours, but the bar turns over relatively quickly for a tandem eating crew.

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I have this shiny new site here, and the Blogtown @ the Mercury has decided I’m on their blogroll, so excuse me a moment if I attempt to figure out who keeps coming to this site.

I know a bit about people (from statcounter), for instance:

• Most of my hits come from Oregon and SW Washington, but I have a small following in areas of Europe.
• The two most common search terms that bring random people here are varieties of “how to cut cocaine” (from my review of Kinta) and “Dick Cakes” (from this random craigslist re-post). This makes me strangely proud.

Anyway, here’s the deal.  If you’re a regular reader, leave a comment, and answer me these questions three

1. Where you’re from & the name of your blog/website (feel free to link to it)
2. The best dish you’ve ever ordered, and where it came from
3. Your favorite 80s rock-star hairdo (with evidence!)

Feel free to tell me how much I suck, or share any other thoughts you might have.

there you have it.  DE-LURK!

I’m borrowing a picture montage from the Mail News on Sunday (UK) and bringing it here, because my mother always loved Herons, and after many canoe trips and lake trips and trips involving herons that I did or (often) didn’t want to attend, I’ve learned why. My mom is secretly the world’s best interrogator, and that she was teaching us a lesson. Herons are Nature’s CIA interrogators. Witness a Grey Heron catching a rabbit by the ear, drowning it and swallowing it whole.