Food & Ink

Little Big Buger

2010-12-19T12:19:00.000-08:00

Little Big Burger... I heard a lot about LBB so I had to give it a try. The burger was good, cooked to Medium and well seasoned, the bun was great, toasty and tasty, the condiments on the burger were there, but they didn't shine. Now the fries said that they were tossed with truffle oil, I didn't taste any truffle oil, I assumed they would be hand cut fries, pretty sure they weren't, if they were, they resembled frozen fries, which is a drag. I'll go back to LBB for the burger, I'll get two next time and I'll give the fries a second chance, maybe I was there on a bad day. I like what LBB is doing and look forward to getting back to give them another go...

2010-11-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

Foodandink.com is mentioned on Todayshow.com this morning!

2010-11-29T23:49:00.000-08:00

Foodandink.com is back!!!!!!!!!

New Website...

2010-11-23T10:03:00.001-08:00

Okay, the time is finally here, FOODANDINK.COM will be back up and running on Monday, November 29th! Click over there, check it out, find us on Facebook and Twitter and stay tuned...

Food & Ink T-Shirts

2010-05-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

Food & Ink T-Shirts have arrived! The store at foodandink.com will be up and running soon, if you want one now, just e-mail me...

Check out the Facebook page to see the shirts.

F&I May will be available on May 5th.

2010-04-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

New features this month will include Wine, Coffee, Music and Culture, as well as Chefs, Tattoos, Recipes and other tasty info. Stay tuned!

WWW.FOODANDINK.COM is live!

2010-04-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

The New Food & Ink website is finally done. Go to www.foodandink.com and check it out.

NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON

2010-04-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, this time I'm serious, the website should be live in the next day or two. For now, check us out on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/foodandink

Keep checking back, I'll post when the site is up!

WWW.FOODANDINK.COM will be live April 1st...

2010-03-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Go to Foodandink.com to check us out on April 1st.

Contact us at: info@foodandink.com

Also on:

Twitter and Facebook

Ghost Note Publishing

Food & Ink Online Magazine

2010-02-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

The Food & Ink Online Magazine is almost done! It's in the works and looking good, a few more tweeks and it will go live, it will include Monthly Features, Newsletter, Recipes, Chefs, Tattoo Artists, Reader Tattoo Gallery, and plenty of other awesome content. Stay tuned, its all happening.....

NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON

2009-11-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

I am working on a new website and different format for Food and Ink, it will soon be a full blown On Line Magazine. I'm hoping, with the help of amazing friends, that it will be up and running by the beginning of you new year, actually looking at February 1 for issue #1.

Thanks to the idiots that have decided to use my comment section in the hopes that they will boost their Viagra sales and to the nice Japanese folks that have been trying to post something a few times every day, I have CLOSED the comment section, if you would like to comment on something, please email me and I will gladly post it, Thanks!!!!

Thank you so very much for your support, we will be back soon.

Fletch Halyburton, Park City, Utah

2009-10-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

Fletch Halyburton is the Executive Chef and Partner for Savoury Kitchen in Park City, Utah. They're a catering company that is doing it right, brining their own pickles, breaking down whole hogs, canning, composting and buying locally. Those sweet tongs were laid on at 11th Street Electric Tattoo in Salt Lake City.

It's great to see people banging out good food in different parts of the country, the "farm to table" movement is huge in the Northwest and its nice to see it popping up elsewhere. There is something about Chefs breaking down whole hogs that makes me happy, using those bits that are so often frowned upon, braising the cheeks and eating them on the line, not even sharing with the customer, making head cheese and using the trotters, damn, I'm getting hungry! I truly miss working in kitchens. Hats off to the guys at Savoury Kitchen, if you are in need of some catering in Park City, Utah, give them a call.

Savoury Kitchen

Park City, Utah

www.savouryparkcity.com

Mary Angela's Pizzeria- Richmond, VA

2009-10-03T17:55:00.001-07:00

I roll in to town after driving about 3000 miles in 2.5 days and all that I can think about is making my down to Carytown for a Cheesesteak from Mary A's! It wasn't until the next day that I finally made it downtown for that delicious sandwich. I also had to get a pie for my son, who has turned into quite the pizza connoisseur over the past few years.

When I lived in the "Fan" 15 years ago, I made it to Mary A's at least once a week, probably twice, it was cheap and awesome, huge slices, good folks and in my opinion, still the best Cheesesteak in Richmond. Didn't see any tattoos behind the counter, kind of a bummer, but that's becoming a trend, not a lot of ink in this town!

Everyone in town knows that Mary Angela's kicks ass, so this isn't news to any Richmonders, but for those of you who have never been to RVA, if you find yourself here, looking for some tasty food, Mary A's is a must!!!!!!

Mary Angela's Pizzeria

3345 W Cary Street

Richmond, VA 23221

www.maryangelaspizzeria.com

Apizza Scholls - Portland, Oregon

2009-09-26T19:20:00.001-07:00

Apizza Scholls has had so much press and such a buzz around it that I avoided it until now, actually, my son and I tried going about a year ago and the staff was so rude, that we decided not to wait the hour and went to Kens instead. Apizza Scholls didn't do take out for a long time and as a single Dad, it's much easier to grab a pie and take it home, so that's another reason I avoided this place for so long. So, with all of that said, it was my last night in Portland, my son was already on the East Coast, I was sleeping on a air mattress and I was hungry!

I rolled in to Apizza Scholls and the place was packed, since they now do "to go" pies a few night a week, I decided to order it to go, grab a drink and take it to my empty house. I went with a Sausage and Onion pie, it was not only what I expected, but it was a bit more. I was really impressed with Apizza Scholls, still kind of pissed about the first time I tried to go, but will certainly go back next time I'm in Portland. My favorite pie in town is still Ken's, but Apizza Scholls is a solid second and with a few more visits, I might just have a new favorite!!!

Apizza Scholls

4741 SE Hawthorne

Portland, OR

503.233.1386

www.apizzascholls.com

Adam Greenberg, West Hartford, CT

2009-09-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Adam Greenberg is the Executive Chef at Barcelona Wine Bar in West Hartford, CT. This tattoo is a Japanese Masonobu Knife and the artist is Jay Hanoush of Green Man Tattoo Studio in West Hartford. That's a nice tattoo, and a sweet knife! It's nice to see others that are passionate enough to get the tool of their trade tattooed on their body, my 10 inch Sabatier is and always will be one of my favorite tattoos.

Green Man Tattoo Studio

207 Park Road

West Hartford, CT 06119

860.232.TAT2

Matt Spinner, San Francisco, CA

2009-08-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of wrist tattoos from Matt Spinner of San Francisco California, Matt is the Sous Chef at the Thirsty Bear Brewing Company. These were drilled on by John Forgus at Voodoo Monkey Tattoo in Cleveland Ohio.

Voodoo Monkey Tattoo

2047 W. 25th Street

Cleveland, Ohio

216.664.5658

www.voodoomonkey.org

Pacific Pie Co.

2009-08-10T16:15:00.001-07:00

If you find yourself at the Beaverton Farmers Market on Saturday, or the Lake Oswego or Milwaukie Farmers Market on Sunday, you have to stop by and see the folks at Pacific Pie Co. They are dishing up handmade Australian savory pies and damn they are good. I have made my way through the majority of their menu have to say that the Moroccan Chickpea and the Beef and Stout are my favorites! They use local fresh ingredients and in the Beef and Stout pie, they use one of my favorite beers from Laurelwood. You should be at the Farmers Market anyway so drop by and pick something up for dinner and if you need a bite while at the market, try the Sausage Rolls, oh yea!!!!!!

Pacific Pie Co.

www.pacificpieco.com

Food & Ink Update!

2009-07-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

After a taking a few months off from Food & Ink, I have decided to return. The format will be changing a bit and I will be taking Food & Ink on the road. I will be moving from Portland back to my home town of Richmond, Virginia and changing Portland Food & Ink to plain and simple Food & Ink. I had started reviewing things outside of Portland some time ago and now that I have decided to move my home base, it only makes sense to mix things up with Food & Ink! I am also hoping to get more interaction from Chefs, Tattoo Artists, Fans and anyone else with not just food tattoos, but any work that you would like people to see. Please stay tuned for these changes, I will be posting some Portland stuff for the next month, but then I am hitting the road and going back to the Southeast! Thanks for tuning and and being patient.

Barista

2009-04-23T19:42:00.001-07:00

After Billy Wilson left The Albina Press, we all wondered where he would end up, luckily it didn't take long for him to find a new home. At last years Coffeefest in Seattle, he told me that he was planning to open his own place and fortunately the old Acorn spot on NW 13th became available! For the past few weeks Barista has been serving Stumptown, Echo and Intelligentsia as well as a few random single origins from different roasters. I am yet to have a bad shot at Barista and I know that if I do, they will pull me new one, a lot of Cafe's in town could learn a thing or two from Barista!

There are always restaurants where all of the Chefs go to eat, and now there is a Cafe where all of the Portlanders in the Coffee business go to drink espresso, it's pretty sweet!

Barista

539 NW 13th Ave.

Portland, OR 97209

www.baristapdx.com

Cochon 555

2009-03-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago some folks from Cochon 555 emailed me about this event that was being labeled as 5 Pigs, 5 Chefs and 5 Winemakers, and needless to say, I was in! The Chefs for this event were Vitaly Paley, Gabriel Rucker, Tommy Habetz, John Gorham and Alex Bourgidu.

So 5 local Chefs were each given a pig and asked to bang out some sweet food, and bang out some sweet food they did!

I was blown away by some of the food that I sampled that night, it started out with a little taster of the gelatin from the Head Cheese at Bunk Sandwiches table, I could have walked away then and been happy, I am a fan of deliciously salty and rich gelatin that tasted like Pork!

Another of my favorites that night came off of the Le Pigeon table where Gabriel had some White Beans and Pork with a Fennel "Jam" that was crazy good!

From the Toro Bravo table came some Pork and Sausages with Sauerkraut that was killer and a sweet new Bob's Big Boy Tattoo!

From the Bunk Sandwiches table came one of my favorites of the night and it was Head and Trotter Bahn Mi, one of my favorite sandwiches and it was made with Head Cheese, I was in Heaven!

I was amazed at the turn out, the place was packed and there was barely enough room to eat, but it was worth the occasional elbow to the ribs to see and taste what these Chefs are doing in Portland.

Adam Sappington from The Country Cat broke down a pig and gave a nice presentation on butchering Pork, it was very obvious that he does this every week.

So the winner of the evening was Vitaly Paley, and although I had quite a few tasty plates this evening, I must say that I agreed with the Judges and was stoked to have eaten Paleys food that night. It was coursed out and the menu was: Truffled Consomme Royalle with a little bacon custard at the bottom and a Oregon Truffle on top, the second "course" was Crispy Black Pudding with Bacon Hollandaise and that was my favorite bite of the evening, and the last plate was Pig in a Sausage Blanket and well, that should speak for itself. I hope that Cochon 555 comes back through Portland next year, if so, they should have this event at a much bigger space, with the success of this one, Im sure more people will come out for next years event.

Fatburger

2009-03-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

So I have been hearing rumors that Fatburger is moving to Vancouver for the past couple of years and until last week I was really excited about it. The word on the street is that Fatburger has a killer burger and being the burger fan that I am, I have been waiting and have heard nothing! I almost went to a Fatburger in Vegas last year, but it was next to a In-N-Out and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So, I was heading home from Sea-Tac a couple of weeks ago and decided to stop by Fatburger and give it a try. Well, it was one of the worst burgers that I have ever had, and the Onion Rings were awful too! So, with that said, the only reason that I am writing this is to say that we don't need a Fatburger, that's it!

Lucky Strike

2009-02-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

When I see Cold Spicy Pork Stomach, Jelly Fish Salad, Cold Pork Ears and Crispy Pig Intestine on the menu, I know that I have gone to the right place. I heard about this Lucky Strike a few days ago and couldn't wait to go, so when a friend of mine and I were in the outskirts of South East Portland a couple of days ago, we went for it. Until a few days ago, I hadn't had excellent Sichuan Food in Portland, but after taking a trip out to Lucky Strike, I now have a new "go to" Chinese Restaurant!

Since this was my first time to eat at Lucky Strike, I didn't really know what to get and although the server was very nice, she wasn't much help when deciding on food. There is a "On The Safer Side" section of the menu that consists of three items, Teriyaki Chicken, Beef and Broccoli and Orange Chicken. The rest of the menu is pretty damn traditional and we were having a hard time deciding on what to order, so we went with one safe entree and one that just sounded killer. Orange chicken was the "safe" entree and I can honestly say that it was the best Orange Chicken that I have ever had, but after tasting the other entree, I will say that I wont be ordering anything safe at Lucky Strike again. The other entree was Pork Belly with Chinese Chives and Fermented Black Beans, and damn man, it was amazing!

You know it's a great meal when everyone just shuts up and eats, when you don't even realize how in to the food you are until you finally take a break from the food and look up to see others eating and smiling and not talking. The only sound that my ears could here were Tom & Jerry which was playing on the TV in the dining room, I liked it!

I wish that there were more Chinese restaurants like this in Portland.

Lucky Strike

12306 SE Powell Blvd.

Portland, OR 97236

503.206.8292

Nepo 42

2009-02-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

My buddy Matthew recently opened up a new place in North Portland called Nepo 42 and the food is pretty damn good. It's not surprising that the food is tasty considering Matthews experience, he has been around for quite a while, from dishwasher to Executive Chef and everything in between. The catering company was rocking so he decided to open up shop at Killingsworth and 42nd.

Lunch, Dinner and Weekend Brunch is being served with a focus on making almost everything in house. The Brunch menu has plenty of classics like Biscuits & Gravy, Omelets, Eggs Benedict and French Toast, but also has some more interesting plates like Chicken & Waffles and Ribs with Eggs. The Lunch & Dinner menu is equally bad ass, a killer Burger with House Cut Fries, Chicken & Waffles with Bacon & Maple Sage Syrup and a House Salad with Fennel, Carrots, Orange & Fried Capers is what I tried and everything was excellent! Next time I'm going for the Ribs!

Nepo 42 is a great place, good food, good beers and a cool kitchen that is busting out some great food. The parking lot is small, but there is plenty of on street parking and a church right across the street with a ton of parking! Oh yea, did I mention the Mac & Cheese, go check it out!

Nepo 42

5403 NE 42nd Ave.

Portland, OR 97218

503.288.8080

Tuck Shop - Phoenix

2009-02-02T19:43:00.001-08:00

I usually do my home work when I am heading out of town, I like to eat where the locals eat and find bitchin hole in the wall restaurants that serve great food. When I found out that I was going to Phoenix, I checked out two things, Frank Lloyd Wrights Taliesin West and the top restaurants in Phoenix. It was easy to find Taliesin in Scottsdale, but finding a tasty bit wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

The first night in Phoenix was a bit disappointing, the restaurant that I was stoked about had a hour wait for a seat at the bar, of course I found this out after driving across the city and fighting for a parking spot. I should have just driven to In-N-Out, but I went back to my hotel and had a disgusting meal.

So luckily, a local turned me on to a great little place called Tuck Shop and I was able to turn my frown upside down! I was on my way to the airport and in a bit of a hurry, but I found the time to drink a Hendricks with homemade Tonic and eat a "Nosh" plate with Cantaloupe, Salami, Herbed Pistachios and Manchego as well as another tapas plate with Chorizo stuffed Dates topped with melted Gruyere. These were two of the best plates that I have had in a long time, I was very impressed with this little restaurant and will certainly have a seat at their bar next time I find myself in Phoenix looking for a good meal!

Tuck Shop

2245 North 12th Street

Phoenix, AZ 85006

602.354.2980

www.tuckinphx.com

Fratello Coffee Roasters - Calgary

2009-01-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, we live in Portland and have great coffee all over town, but when I'm in the mood for some out of town coffee, I turn to my buddies at Fratello in Calgary. In my opinion, Fratello is roasting up some of the best coffees around and I always enjoy their coffee. During the holidays and snow storm, I was craving some of Fratellos Cosa Rican "Honey Prep" and called my buddy Russ to order some coffee, to my surprise, Russ hooked me up with all of these coffees and damn they were good.

Fratello does a great job sourcing their coffee, I know this because I met Russ in Honduras when we were both on the Cup of Excellence jury and was able to learn a lot about his companies focus over beers and big plates of mystery meat. So, they source their coffee really well, roast their coffee really well and have cool bags, so you should probably order some coffee soon eh?

If you are going to try Fratello for the first time, I will suggest you try the "honey prep" Costa Rican!

Fratello Coffee Roasters

4021 9 Street SE

Calgary, AB Canada

T2G-37C

www.fratellocoffee.com

Bunk Sandwiches

2009-01-18T13:35:00.001-08:00

Bunk Sandwiches opened a couple of months ago in the old Nu Cafe spot on East Morrison, and with a complete remodel, they opened up in a neighborhood in need of a good restaurant. In my "best of 2008", I named Bunk Sandwiches as the Best New Restaurant and although there were some notable restaurant openings in 2008, I think this is a important one. Anything that reminds me of the East Coast is welcomed in my book and the breakfast sandwiches on hard rolls are a reminder of the few things that I miss about "home." With ingredients like Bone Marrow, Pork Belly, Mortadella, Tripe, Salt Cod, Pork Confit and Oxtail on the menu, you can see that this isn't your normal Sandwich Shop!

It must the the Chef in me, but I am convinced that Line Cooks and Chefs eat more sandwiches than anything else and thats why I get excited about great sandwiches. For all of the years that I spent in kitchens, I can only remember a few times eating a normal meal, one of which was due to a server giving us the wrong numbers for a banquet and having about a dozen steaks dying in the window! That's the only time at that restaurant that I remember eating with entire kitchen, it's funny, we were all happy to be sitting down and eating dinner, the shitty part was that we were sitting in the alley by the dumpsters on milk crates in the rain, no lie, in the rain, eating Filets with Demi, Potatoes Lyonnaise and Broccolini, good times!

So if you are looking for a great sandwich cooked and served by a bunch on nice folks, Bunk Sandwiches should be on the top of your list!

Bunk Sandwiches

621 SE Morrison St.

Portland, OR 97214

503.477.9515

www.bunksandwiches.com

My Best Of 2008

2009-01-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

This is my second "Best Of" list that I have made here at Food & Ink and although quite a few of these are the same as last year, there are a lot of newcomers to this list. I try to check out as many places as I can but there are always places that I am unable to visit, so please let me know what I have missed and where I should make sure to check out in 2009. Happy New Year!

Best Restaurant - Pok Pok

Best New Restaurant - Bunk Sandwiches

Best Chef - Andy Ricker

Best Lunch - Higgin's

Best Burger - Helvetia Tavern

Best Fast Food Burger - Five Guys

Best Taco - Por Que No

Best Pork Belly - Toast

Best Barbecue - Russell Street Bar-B-Cue

Best Pizza - Ken's Artisan Pizza

Best Slice - Bella Faccia

Best Bagel - Kenny & Zukes

Best Fish & Chips - Halibut's

Best Sandwich - Tribute's

Best Gyro - Aybla

Best Cuban Sandwich - Pambiche

Best Food Cart - Garden State

Best Pub - The Horse Brass

Best Coffee - Portland Roasting

Best Coffee Shop - Albina Press on Hawthorne

Best Dessert - Jaciva's

Best Local Beer - Laurelwood Moose & Squirrel Russian Imperial Stout

Best Breakfast - Pinestate Biscuits

Best Breakfast Potatoes - Toast

Best Eggs Benedict - Milo's City Cafe

Best Bakery - Little T American Bakery

Best Chinese Restaurant - Ling Garden

Best Dim Sum - Wong's King Seafood Restaurant

Best Thai - Thai Mango

Best Indian - Indish

Best Italian - Portofino

Best French - Carafe

Best Brunch - Papa Haydn

Best Cheese - Steve's Cheese

Best French Fries - Russell Street Bar-B-Que & Bluehour

Best Vegetarian - Laughing Planet

Best Vegan - There is no such thing!

And again like last year, just a few random "best of" things that don't belong on this blog.

Best Album - Mending by The New Frontiers

Best "New" Band - The Paper Rival

Best Concert - Minus The Bear

Best Movie - Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Best TV Show - The Office

Best Reality TV - Top Chef

Best Resurrected Vinyl - Star Wars Soundtrack with original Poster in mint condition!

Carrot Tattoo

2008-12-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine took this picture and I don't know who it is or who the artist is, if you are one of them, please introduce yourself. It's a killer tattoo, I love food tattoos and this one is done really well. Sweet Carrot!!!!!

Honduras Las Amazonas Cup of Excellence

2008-12-18T00:13:00.000-08:00

This is some tasty Honduran Cup of Excellence Coffee that I was lucky enough to help judge in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in May of 2008. I was one of 20 judges that spent a week cupping and scoring these coffees. Portland Roasting and my friends at Fratello Coffee in Calgary went in together on this auction and ended up with a very special coffee. The farm is in Chinacla in the La Paz region which is about 15 miles for the El Salvador border, I wasn't able to get that far south but my next trip to Honduras will certainly take me to farms outside of the Santa Barbara area! If you are able to get your hands on some of the Cup Of Excellence coffees, you should really buy some, you will pay a bit more for your beans, but its worth it. If you are able to travel to Honduras, it's a beautiful country full of awesome people and killer coffee!

Roake's

2008-12-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

Last time I ate at Roake's, it wasn't a great experience, it certainly wasn't awful, but it left a bit to be desired. After my first post, quite a few people e-mailed me and weren't happy, people said that I needed to try the Coney Dog, after all, that's what they are known for. I had kind of forgotten about Roake's, but then a few weeks ago I got a very nice e-mail for the owner of Roake's offering me a gift certificate and wanted to know more about my experience, I explained that my trip to his restaurant was just kind of average, not bad, but not great either and I definitely didn't want a gift certificate! So I went back and got the Coney Dog and also got the Jr. Roaker, which is what Jim Roake recommended and I was pretty damn pleased with my order. If you are a fan of real Coney sauce, then you need to swing by Roake's and get exactly what I ordered and throw in some Coney Fries since you are there. I am now a big fan of Roake's, and look forward to trying some different menu items, I think the first time I ate there was just a off day and we all have those.

Roake's

18019 SE Mcloughlin Blvd.

Milwaukie, OR 97267

503.654.7075

Ling Garden

2008-12-12T18:26:00.000-08:00

Ling Garden has been one of my "go to" places for quite some time, especially for lunch. I love this place, it has great food for a great price and everyone that works there is super nice. For under $7.00 you get your choice of entree, soup, rice and egg roll, although the lunch menu isn't quite as large as the dinner menu, there are still plenty of things to choose from. I find myself at Ling Garden quite a bit for lunch and have never been disappointed.

I tend to order one of three things, the General Tso's Chicken, Da Tsin Chicken or Beef with Broccoli and they are all killer! I don't know what it is about General Tso's Chicken, I know it's not Chinese at all and usually it doesn't taste that great, but I always have to try it and in my opinion, Ling Garden has some of the best in Portland. They are open for Lunch and Dinner every day and parking at that end of 21st us usually pretty mellow.

Ling Garden

915 NW 21st Ave.

Portland, OR 97209

503.227.6052

www.linggarden.com

Burger Tattoo

2008-12-02T22:47:00.000-08:00

Hell Yea! I didn't think that anyone loved Burgers more than me, well, apparently I was wrong!

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

2008-11-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

While in Virginia a few weeks ago, I fell in love with Five Guys, I went their twice and couldn't wait to get back to Portland and tell everyone I knew about the place. Luckily while I was on vacation, the Beaverton location opened and had my plane not been delayed causing me to land at PDX after midnight, I would have driven straight to Five Guys. So a few days later I drove over to Beaverton and picked up a bag of burgers and fries, the place was full, so we had to take it home and by the time we got home, well, it kind of sucked. I found myself over near Five Guys a couple of weeks ago and I realized that it was almost 11:00 so I decided to swing in for a burger, luckily I was the second person in line and was glad that I was going to be able to grab a table, so I ordered, got my Coke and sat down to wait for my delicious burger. Here is where shit started to go south for me, they messed up my order twice and by the end of it, the old shit head that I assume was the Manager tried telling me that I was wrong the second time, as soon as I opened the foil, a pickle rolled out and my ticket clearly didn't have pickles on it! You would think that with 20 people working back there making burgers, they wouldn't have fucked it up twice. I didn't give a shit because I knew the burger was going to be good and I know that it's a new place, the big big problem is this crotchity old ass hole that's mad at the world! He honestly made me want to never step foot back into another Five Guys, but with a attitude like his, I hope that he won't be there long, because although they messed up my order, the line is always long, and there's never any place to sit, the majority of the staff is friendly and the main thing is that the burger is BAD ASS tasty and the fries are fresh and delicious. Good news, Coke and not Pepsi, and free Peanuts! So after that long rant, I will say that Five Guys has one of the best Fast Food burgers around, and it's worth a try, give the Beaverton location a few months to settle down and I'm sure once they get a new Manager, it will be much better.

Five Guys Burgers & Fries

2606 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.

Beaverton, OR 97005

503.430.8748

www.fiveguys.com

Ketchup Potato Chips

2008-11-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned one of my favorite snacks and leave it up to some Canadians to hook me up with some Ketchup Chips. Some friends of mine came to Portland recently and came bearing gifts, not only did they bring these delicious Old Dutch Ketchup Potato Chips, but they also brought a crazy ass assortment of Candy Bars, most of which I had never heard of, some that tasted like heaven and some that tasted like shit. The best of the Candy Bars was one of my all time favorites that I have just recently started to see around Portland, its the Coffee Crisp and oh it is tasty. At one time, Tim's Cascade was producing a Ketchup Chip that was bitchin, but I think that I was the only one buying them! So for now, I am going to rely on my Canadian friends to supply me with these delicious treats.

Thai Thai II

2008-11-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

With so many Thai restaurants in this town, it's impossible to try them all, luckily, I have found a few good ones. Thai Thai is really good, it has a pretty standard menu with all of usual delicious Thai entrees, soups, appetizers and curries.

Chicken Pad Thai, Tofu Pad See Ew and Chicken Tom Yum are what we ordered and they were all quite tasty. All of the lunches were $6.50 and came out of the kitchen super fast, this place is perfect for lunch, it's fast and really good.

Next time I will go for dinner and look forward to trying the Thai BBQ, Squid Salad, Fried Rice, Catfish Red Curry and the Kung Pao, I'm sure it's all good!

Thai Thai II

1400 SE Stark

Portland, OR 97214

503.232.3957

Oddball Studios

2008-11-12T23:07:00.000-08:00

For the past year or so I have been going to Oddball Studios for my tattoos and have trusted Jason Leisge to design my last two pieces. After being extremely stoked about the huge Asian design that we spent about 6 months on, I knew that I wanted him to do another piece on me, so he is now working on a bit of cover up and a new design on one of my arms. I have seen a lot of good work come out of this shop and they were recently recognized for being bad ass in the October 2008 issue of Tattoo Magazine!

Oddball Studios

2716 SE 21st

Portland, OR 97202

503.231.1344

Mi Famiglia Wood Oven Pizzeria

2008-11-10T18:11:00.000-08:00

I am always in search of good Pie, and when I heard there was a restaurant in Oregon City of all places that was busting out Wood Fired Pizza, I immediately drove down to try it. I need to get down there and try it again because my first experience was only so so. The main appeal of a Wood Fired Pizza Oven is the amazing crust that it produces, but, there is a fine line between perfect and burnt and on this particular night, my crust was burnt. I know that this isn't always the case because I have had a lot of people tell me that Mi Famiglia is great. The place is gorgeous, huge dining room, nice open kitchen and a very nice staff. My wife had the Meat Lasagna and it was bitchin, some of the best that I have had in a long time. So, I'm not going to say that this is some of the best Pie around, I do think it's the best in Oregon City and on a good night, well, we will have wait until next time!

Krystal

2008-11-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

Sliders have become very mainstream recently, but until a few years ago one of the only places to find a tasty small burger was at Krystals. They have been around for 75 years and although White Castle was doing it first, Krystal has been at it for quite some time now but unfortunately, you cant find them outside of the Southern United States.

For all of you Southerners in Portland that are reading this and thinking how much it sucks that we don't have Krystal's in the Northwest, I'm sorry, but there are some good sliders in this town. I hadn't been to a Krystal in 10 years, but last week I was in Atlanta and was pretty stoked to grab a bag of burgers.

I must say that they weren't as good as I remembered, but few things are, especially something that is delivered within a minute or so. If you find yourself around a Krystal, make sure you give it a try, but if you are looking for a good slider in Portland, Blueplate is the place to go!

www.krystal.com

www.eatatblueplate.com

Hopworks Urban Brewery

2008-11-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hopworks is not only brewing up tasty Organic Beers, but they have a nice menu as well. The menu has plenty of traditional appetizers, salads, sandwiches and pizzas. Hopworks is getting some great press, not only about the beer and food, but they are the only Oregon Brewery powered by 100% renewable energy!

The food is good, I had a burger and fries, the burger was cooked to order made from Cascade Natural Beef and came to the table Medium, the fries were fresh cut, thick and Organic. A Pear and Nut Salad was also ordered and although I didn't try it, it was apparently really good. As a whole, I really like Hopworks and look forward to going back, I hear that their Pizza is good and I'm always looking for a good slice, so next time I go, I will certainly go for a Slice and a Pint!

Hopworks Urban Brewery

2944 SE Powell Blvd.

Portland, OR 97202

503.232.HOPS

www.hopworksbeer.com

Fubonn

2008-10-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

I love going to grocery stores in different countries and although I haven't yet been to a Chinese grocery store in China, I have been to many Asian grocery stores in the US. I wish that I could shop exclusively at Chinese and Japanese grocery stores, the Meat and Fish is always fresh and there is always a ton of unique and fresh produce, but I just cant bring myself to that type of commitment, hopefully soon! I cant resist the crazy snacks, coffee drinks and cookies that seem odd to someone who shops at Safeway. This Chicken snack is just one of the "delicious" treats that Fubonn or Uwajimaya has to offer, oh yea and they are shaped like little drumsticks. If you cross in to Canada, you can find one of my favorite things in the world, Ketchup flavored Potato Chips!

Fubonn

2850 SE 82nd Ave.

Portland, OR 97266

Yakisoba

2008-10-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

A big fan of Pasta I'm not, but for some reason I love Yakisoba Noodles, and the more ingredients that are thrown in to the Wok, the better it's going to be! After a recent trip to FuBon, I was inspired to bust out some Vegetable Yakisoba and that's exactly what I did. The ingredients included Sesame Oil, Black Vinegar, Light Soy, Fermented Black Beans, Garlic, Shallots, Baby Bok Choy, Snap Peas, Red Pepper, Sriracha, Hoisen, Carrots, Celery, Fried Onions and Yakisoba Noodles. This is one Vegetarian Pasta that kicks some ass and other than a decent amount of knife work, its really quick in the Pan!

The Egg

2008-10-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Scrambled, Fried, Poached, Sunny Side Up, Over Easy, Coddled, Omelet, Frittaata, Baked, Shirred, Hard Boiled, Soft Boiled, Stuffed, Creamed, Deviled, Scotch, Basted, Souffle, Quiche, Tortilla, Custard, Timbale, Strata, Hollandaise, Remoulade, Mayonnaise, Meringue, Flan and Creme Brulee are just a few things you can do with Eggs. Some of my favorite Egg dishes are Eggs Benedict, Scotch Eggs, Huevos Rancheros, Pot De Creme, Carbonara, French Toast and my favorite, Soft Scrambled Eggs with Caviar!

Bella Faccia

2008-10-09T21:18:00.001-07:00

There is a fair amount of decent Pie in Portland, but decent just doesn't cut it for me when I am after a tasty slice! Years ago if I was after a slice, I would hit either Pizza Luna or Bridgeport, Pizza Luna shut down long ago and Bridgeport now Sucks! So, my new "go to" restaurant for a slice is now Bella Faccia! If you live in North East Portland I'm sure you know about Bella Faccia, it has been around since 2001, I normally don't find myself in NE that often, but now that I am grooving on Bella Faccia, I will be heading up that way at least once a week. The menu is pretty standard with 12 and 18 inch Pies, Calzones, a few Salads and Beers, I am yet to have anything that doesn't Rock! Give it a try, nice folks, great Slice!

Bella Faccia

2934 NE Alberta Street

Portland, OR 97211

503.282.0600

www.bellafacciapizzeria.com

Pike Place - Seattle

2008-10-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

Coffeefest Seattle was a few weeks ago and one morning before the show, I decided to walk down Pike Place and take some shots of some of the unique and killer restaurants downtown. A few of these places I always visit while in Seattle and a few of them I have always wanted to check out but just haven't yet.

Pike Place Market is a great place if you get there early before the tourists, the fresh fish selection here is awesome.

Etta's is a Tom Douglas restaurant and although I haven't had dinner there yet, the brunch is the best that I have had in Seattle.

Cafe Campagne serves traditional French grub!

This place is kind of strange and I haven't eaten anything from here yet.

I am always down on Pike in the morning and have yet to try a Taxi Dog, I love the sign and have heard that they have a killer dog!

Le Panier French Bakery is one of my favorite places in Seattle and always stop in for a tasty French Pastry and a Caffe Umbria Cappuccino! If you show up late, there is a line out the door and a 30 Minute wait.

This place is a pretty good Chinese Bakery, the only think that I have had is a Barbecue Pork Bun that was damn good, I will certainly try Mee Sum next time Im there.

The Menu at Turkish Delight looks good, Pita Sandwiches, Kebobs, Etc.. and its right next to Taxi Dogs!

I tried going to Sisters European Snacks on this trip but they weren't open when I was there, I have heard this place is really good and the menu looked nice, they do breakfast and lunch and specialize in Focaccia Sandwiches, the word on the street is the Breakfast Sandwichs are bitchin!

Pike Place Chowder has won the "Nations Best Clam Chowder" Award and their Chowder does kick Ass, I am a sucker for Chowder and it's hard to find, so needless to say, when I go to Seattle, I try to grab some Chowder at Pike Place Chowder, they also have a take on one of my favorite sandwiches, the Lobster Roll, theirs is the Dungeness Crab Roll and how can you go wrong with that?

Piroshky Piroshky - Seattle

2008-09-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Piroshky Piroshky is my favorite Russian Bakery and it's the only place in Seattle that I will always make it a point to eat at when I make the drive North. The Beef and Cheese Piroshky has cured many a hangover and has always been what I crave, but there are so many to choose from, it's hard to just pick one.

My last trip to Seattle was a long weekend and I found myself at Piroshky Piroshky a few times, so I decided to branch out a bit and try something new. Although the Beef and Cheese is still my favorite, I haven't had anything that wasn't awesome. I tried the Spinach, Egg and Cheese, the Potato, Onion and Cheese and what is now my second favorite, the Smoked Mozzarella, Broccoli and Mushroom, damn good!

Piroshky Piroshky is right in the middle of the tourist infested Pike Place Market, but if you go early, it's mellow and totally worth it. Have breakfast at Etta's, grab some coffee at Le Panier and get a bag full of Piroshkys for the drive back to Portland.

Piroshky Piroshky

1908 Pike Place

Seattle, WA 98101

Pimento Cheese

2008-09-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

Pimento Cheese is a southern classic that I grew up with and although it was always around as a kid, I just recently learned to appreciate it. If you aren't familiar with the Pimento, it looks like a small Red Pepper but more heart shaped, when you buy them in a jar at the Grocery Store they kind of resembles a Roasted Red Pepper in taste. The only place in Portland that I have had Pimento Cheese is at Pinestate Biscuits and it is pretty damn tasty. You might be able to find it at Bernie's or The Screen Door or at least get them to whip some up for you, and it is worth a try. My Dad always made his with Cheddar, Pimentos and Mayo, that's it! So I used that as a base for mine, but I ended up adding some Roasted Red Peppers, a bit of dry mustard, some Roasted Garlic, Cream Cheese, and some Chipotles. The Chipotles really made it good, I mean really good, my Dad would be proud that I finally embraced the Pimento Cheese that I avoided as a kid. So, if you haven't tried it, reach way back in to your cabinet and grab that jar of Pimentos that you don't know why you have it or where it came from and whip up some tasty Pimento Cheese, it's easy, Grated Cheddar, Pimentos, Mayo and whtever else you are in the mood for, make a sandwich, spread it on some Crackers or my favorite, top a Burger with it.

The McNasty

2008-09-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

I normally write about delicious food that I have recently been so lucky to have tasted, but I must share a dining experience that I recently had. As I was talking to a friend of mine who lives in Kansas City, a commercial came on about the McRib sandwich and it mentioned how it is available for a limited time only, I laughed and joked about getting one since it only comes around one a year. He was amazed that I had never had one and some how convinced me to make the trip over to the Big Yellow Monster and spend my cash on this thing. Well, I can now say that I have tried it, the only thing that makes me happy about this experience is knowing that I will never have another one. As you can see, this thing looks disgusting and has been molded to look like it has bones in it, I don't know why, because I really don't think this thing is actually made of Pork, it tasted more like Chicken, but who the hell really knows. This thing has huge pieces of Onion on it, some Pickles and is finished with a nasty Barbecue Sauce that tastes like Shit! Don't let anyone talk you in to trying the "specials" at a fast food restaurant, it can't possibly be good. Yet another reason to eat local!

¿Por Qué No? on Hawthorne

2008-09-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

So here it is, the new Por Que No Taqueria on Hawthorne is finally open! I'm not sure what the address is, but its just down the street from Jaciva Bakery, maybe 46th or so?

I hit Por Que No for lunch last week and couldn't have been happier walking through the door, I immediately felt at home, the space is great, a big open dining room that is open to Hawthorne and extends back to a patio behind the restaurant.

The menu is the same as the Mississippi location so I went with my regular order, The Bryans Bowl with Carnitas and a Margarita. I wasn't surprised when the food came out and it was tasty, I also wasn't surprised that I wanted another Margarita, that's how I always feel at the other location. The Carnitas were perfect and the Marg was really tasty!

The Margaritas at Por Que No are, in my opinion, the best in town, I could drink quite a few of them and have been known to do just that. The food is always solid, and the kitchen at Hawthorne gives the cooks a bit more room to move.

Compared to the Mississippi location, the new space is huge, probably five times as big and I dig it. The new location is certainly where I will go now, it's more convenient for me and although I have only been there once, thanks to my friend Hanna, I already feel like a regular.

One of the things I like about Por Que No is how everyone seems happy, it must be a pretty cool place to work and judging from the owners everyday attitude, I can see why they have a good group of people working there. Portland isn't known for it's good customer service, I'm still not sure why it's OK for people to be rude while they pull shots of espresso for your drink you just gave them money for! But at Por Que No, you won't have this problem, most of the time Bryan, the owner, says hello and makes sure that everything is cool, it's OK to ask questions about the menu and everyone seems stoked to be serving great food.

I know that there are a ton of Taco shops, carts and trucks kicking around Portland, I have tried most of them, but very few have everything that I am looking for in a restaurant, at Por Que No the food is always solid, the drinks are always tasty and the service is always excellent. I have said it more that once, Por Que No has bitchin Tacos!

Bonus Tattoo, thanks Hanna!

Bluehour

2008-08-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

If you were lucky enough to be one of their customers last Saturday night you would have seen that Bluehour is the latest restaurant to have a bunch of Jackasses protesting about Foie Gras being on their menu. I'm not going to spend any time talking about the dorks that spent their Saturday night protesting this fine restaurant, I don't want to waste my breath, and its my understanding that they don't have anything to do next Saturday as well so they will once again be at Bluehour disturbing folks while they are trying to eat. I can only hope that the Chef decides to host a Foie Gras dinner that night! Go picket KFC you bunch of Hippies!

I ended up at Bluehour for lunch last week and had a wonderful meal. Before our Sandwiches arrived, we were served a Amuse Bouche which consisted of a BLT Oyster on the half shell and demitasse cup filled with Roasted Corn Chowder and topped with a big fat slice of Black Truffle.

I went for the Reuben and it was excellent, awesome bread, house cured Pastrami, killer Kraut, Gruyere, Russian and some of the best fries in town, it was the best Reuben I have had in a long time! My buddy went for the burger and I will probably go for that next time, it looked tasty with smoked bacon and pickled vegetables. The food was superb, the service was excellent and the dining room is beautiful, I will certainly go back soon.

250 NW 13th

Portland, OR 97209

503.226.3394

www.bluehouronline.com

Taqueria Colima in The Couve

2008-08-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

I rarely make it over to Vancouver and when I do, it's normally a quick trip, in and out as quickly as I can. It's not because I dislike The Couve, its quite simply because I am yet to have a good experience in Vancouver, I haven't spent enough time there to really give it a chance. I am waiting for a reason to make the trip through what can be some pretty nasty traffic, back to Vancouver to a great meal and I just haven't found that reason yet. When I read about Taqueria Colima, I was stoked, I love tacos and am always looking for some good Mexican Food, I don't remember where I read about it, either in Mix or Portland Monthly, I need to find out which one it was and make it a point to not trust whoever it was that recommended this place, it's not that it was bad, it just wasn't anything special.

There were far too many red flags at this place, I should have turned around and written this place off, but for all of the red flags, there were a few things that it had going for it too. This place is in a awful location, I passed it by a couple of times before I finally found it, parking sucks, it's kind of sketchy inside, but I don't consider any of those things necessarily "bad," the big problem I had was the lack of Carnitas. I ended up getting a trio of Tacos, 1 Carne Asada, 1 Pollo, and 1 Pastor, they were OK, but nothing special, there are a dozen Taco carts in Portland that have way better tacos and they are right around the corner. This is a good neighborhood Taco spot, I'm sure the other stuff on the menu is solid, but not having Carnitas kind of threw me for a loop, all I can say is that it's no TACO TOWN!

Taqueira Colima

Somewhere in Vancouver?

Anasazi Bean Burger

2008-08-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

I am the opposite of a Vegetarian and rarely eat anything that is considered to be"vegetarian", I eat a ton of salads and drink a V-8 every morning, but when it comes to Tofu, TVP, Soy Milk, Brown Rice or Quinoa, I can do without it! But I do like Legumes, and Anasazi Beans are one of my favorites. Anasazi Beans are one of the more well known heirloom beans out there, and have even been spotted on the menu of a local fast food restaurant recently. One of my favorite bean burgers is at The Moontime in Coeur d'Alene Idaho, they have perfected the art of making the perfect Anasazi Bean Burger, I have worked a long time I my recipe and I like to think mine is pretty damn good too!

Aebelskivers

2008-08-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

If you aren't familiar with Aebelskivers, they are similar to American pancakes but you cook them in a funky little pan and the end result is a round, bite size "pancake." I have only had them at Dutch restaurants and they are always served for breakfast in place of pancakes. My understanding is that in Denmark they aren't served for breakfast but are often paired with Mulled Wine. I cook them for breakfast and my son loves them, I make him some plain ones and then get funky with the others, my favorites are stuffed with Sausage and Havarti, Ham and Goat Cheese, and Raspberry Jam.

The ingredients are about the same as Pancakes, flour, sugar, baking powder, etc., I have read recipes that call for Yeast, but the recipe that I have been using for many years doesn't use Yeast, and I am happy with my Aebelskivers so I don't try recipes. The pan you cook these in is the important part, mine is cast iron and holds heat very well, I think I bought mine at Otto's in Woodstock. If you decide to go out and buy the pan and become a Aebelskiver Freak like me, make sure you buy a solid Cast Iron Pan, no plastic handles, and season it every day for a week, every different way that you have ever heard of seasoning Cast Iron, with Salt, Butter, Crisco, Pan Spray, Grape Seed Oil, whatever, and when you do get around to cooking these things, make sure you use a ton of Pan Spray because these want to stick and once they do, you are kind of screwed until you can season that pan again.

Bouchon - Las Vegas

2008-08-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

There are only a handful of American Chefs that have the respect of every Chef, Line Cook, Restaurant Manager, Server and Restauranteur in the business and Thomas Keller is one of those Chefs. He has remained true to what he is all about and hasn't sold out to the Food Network, yet. I have heard rumors of a frozen food line, dishes and knives all with the Keller stamp of approval on them, I guess that I will just wait and see what happens, as long as he doesn't turn in to Rachael Ray, I will still dig him.

So when I made my business plans to travel to Las Vegas, my first thought was, what night will I eat at Bouchon? I flew in on Sunday, and Monday night I headed over to Bouchon for what was to be one of the best meals I have ever had.

While I sat at the bar and waited for my table, I sipped on the best Gin and Tonic that I have ever had, it was made from Old Raj Gin and House Made Tonic Water, it was delicious and at $15 each, I had to stop after my second, but luckily, my table was ready. It must have been luck, but they gave me the best server in the place, he was awesome, made suggestions and was exactly the right amount of chatty and professional.

I kept things pretty simple with my meal, it was my first time to Bouchon so I had to try the Steak Frites, but to start things off I had a nice salad of Mixed Greens, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Warm Goat Cheese and Herbes De Provence, it was damn good. I then went for the Steak Frites which was a bitchin Flat Iron Steak with Maitre d'hotel Butter and some of the best Fries I have ever had. Top notch meal, drinks and service, it was excellent.

Bouchon

in The Venetian

3355 Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702.414.6200

In-N-Out - Las Vegas

2008-08-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

I rarely write about the food scene outside of Portland and I know that those of you who dig In-N-Out don't need to be reminded of how much it sucks that we don't have one here, and those of you who don't dig In-N-Out aren't really interested in hearing anything else about this over hyped fast food burger joint. But while in Vegas I only had two meals that were worth me being in that awful town and one of them was at In-N-Out, I will talk about the other one later.

In-N-Out is simple and tasty, burgers, fries, Coke and Shakes, that's it! As always, I went for a Double Double and Well Done Animal Style Fries and it was as good as I remembered, it had been a little over a year since my last Double Double and I wasn't dissapointed. There is a funny little "not so secret menu" at In-N-Out that isn't posted anywhere, but if you know it, you can get some extra tasty eats.

www.In-N-Out.com

Q Tonic Water

2008-08-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

About 8 or 9 years ago I discovered good Gin and went on a bit of a Gin kick, for a couple of years I decided that I needed to taste all of the best Gins and other than sipping on a nice glass of Miller's, I usually found myself ordering a Gin & Tonic. Tonic Water in general is pretty damn sweet and I am certain that the stuff that comes out of the gun contains a ton of corn syrup and as we all know, lots of alcohol + lots of sugar = bad hangover! So when I realized how much I missed Tanqueray 10, Miller's and Bombay, I immediately went on a quest to find good tonic water. So although I got wind of a few different Tonics out there, what I decided to do is to make my own, there are a few bars in Portland that are doing it and I had the best G & T that I have ever had last week at Bouchon in Vegas and yes, they make their own Tonic. But until I perfect my own Tonic, I will be driving to Foster & Dobbs to buy these little bottles of Q Tonic. This stuff is tasty, for me it goes well with Tanqueray 10, a bit of Ice and a lime. In my opinion, Q Tonic is the best on the market, it's sweetened with Agave and is made with all natural ingredients. Go check it out!

Q Tonic

www.qtonic.com

available at Foster & Dobbs on NE 15th

Tasty Summer Salad

2008-08-07T20:07:00.001-07:00

Although raw vegetables are tasty in their own way, in my opinion vegetables always taste better when they are cooked, the sugars come out and the flavors develop. So even when a salad is on the menu for dinner, depending on the product I have to work with, I will usually roast or saute some of the vegetables. This was kind of a "black box" type of salad, I had to go with what I had on hand and fortunately I keep some decent food in the fridge. So without describing everything exactly how it was done, here is the salad that I had for dinner.

Organic mixed greens tossed with fresh herbs and a leek vinaigrette, topped with roasted artichoke hearts, bacon and palm sugar caramelized carrots, finished with herb and Hawaiian sea salt crusted goat cheese.

Tasty tasty salad and it has two of my favorite ingredients, bacon and palm sugar!

Roake's

2008-08-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

I drive by Roake's at least a dozen times a week and recently saw a line of people outside waiting for their burgers, I decided to stop because if all of those folks are standing in the sun for a burger, there must be something to it, right?

This is a strange place, I didn't really know where to order and the ladies working the window didn't seem too keen on helping the Roake's Virgin understand how shit works. After finally ordering and waiting about 15 minutes for my food, I went on my way and headed home to enjoy my tasty burger. Well, the burger wasn't nearly as tasty as I had hoped, maybe I just didn't order the right thing, it was bland, nothing to it. Luckily, I ordered some Coney Fries, and they delivered, the fries were great, the chili was good, the tomatoes seemed fresh, the cheese could have been melted a bit more, but it was fine.

So I don't really know what to say about Roake's other than my first experience wasn't awesome, but I will go back and try it again because this is the kind of place I usually dig, actually I have heard that the other location is better, so maybe I will have to travel North for my next visit!

Roake's

18019 SE Mcloughlin Blvd.

Milwaukie, OR 97267

503.654.7075

My Top 10 Cookbooks

2008-08-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

After spending way too much time trying to figure out what my top 10 cookbooks are, I decided to list the top 10 cookbooks that I always find myself reaching for. These are books that most Chef's probably have on their shelves and I believe that the majority of these books should be read by anyone that is interested in food. These are all great books that I reach for when I need ideas, need some reference, can't remember some random recipe, just want some good reading and most importantly, need some inspiration. So, my top 10 Cookbooks are:

The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller

Bouchon by Thomas Keller

The Joy of Cooking by Rombauer, Becker and Becker

The New Professional Chef by Culinary Institute of America

Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

Sauces by James Peterson

James Beard's American Cookery by James Beard

Culinaria: The United States by Danforth, Feierabend and Chassman

Crust and Crumb by Peter Reinhart

The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg

There are plenty of Cookbooks in my collection that didn't make this list but certainly deserve a spot on any top 10 list. Books like On Food and Cooking, Craft, Larousse Gastronomique, anything by Alton Brown or Escoffier, any of the Saveur or Food and Wine Cookbooks and of course Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I have a ton of amazing cookbooks, but as I said before, this particular list is all about Cookbooks that I love and always find myself looking at.

All of these books can be found at Powell's!

Muu-Muu's

2008-07-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

I had heard from the folks over at Portland Hamburgers that Muu-Muu's had a pretty good and unique burger and seeing as how they have never let me down, I couldn't resist. So this place kicks ass for lunch and I can only imagine that it rocks for dinner and after hour cocktails as well. So as far as the burger goes, its on a baguette with all of your normal burger condiments and it also has a boat load of fries stuffed into it, sounds good, hell yea its good. I hear that everything on the menu is tasty and the Cheesesteak that my buddy had looked damn good, so I can only believe that the menu delivers. I know there are lots of good eats on NW 21st, but if you haven't tried Muu-muu's, give it a try!

612 NW 21st Ave.

Portland, OR 97209

503.223.8169

Tattoo Update - Session 5

2008-07-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

I started this tattoo in March and I'm just a touch up session away from being done! I have spent about 12 hours with Jason at Oddball now and like I said 4 months ago, I'm stoked that he is doing this tattoo for me. I have started thinking about what is next and with my recent travels to Honduras, I think that I am going to get Jason to design a Mayan piece for my next tattoo, I would like to take a break for a while, but that's what I always say and it never actually happens.

The reason that I originally went to Oddball is because Hanna over at Por Que No mentioned that Cheyenne had done her 1/2 sleeve. I had swung into a couple of tattoo shop in town and the only shops that I got a good vibe from were Atlas and Oddball. I am going to start checking out some portfolios here in the next month to see what other people are doing in Portland, feel free to share some photos with me or tell me about an artist that needs to be seen and I will stop by. Portland has tons of Tattoo Shops and it's a requirement that you have some ink if you want to live in this fine town, so we need to show the rest of the world some of the cool and unique tattoos we have here and yes, that includes the "Made In Oregon" sign, so hit me with a e-mail and let's take some pictures.

foodandink@gmail.com

Slow Bar

2008-07-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

Slow Bar has been getting a lot of good press recently in regards to the Slow Burger, and although it's not my favorite burger in town, it is a damn good one. There are arguably two schools when it comes to burgers, the first I like to refer to as a "classic" burger, Portland restaurants that serve a killer "classic" burger are, Skyline, Stanich's, Red Coach and Yorgo's. These burgers are usually cooked on a flat top, preferably one that has been passed down many generations and has never been cleaned, they usually have Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, Pickles, a spread of some sort and American or Cheddar Cheese. The other type of burger is the "fine dining" burger, this is the burger that appears on the Lunch or Happy Hour menu at a nice restaurant, this burger is despised by line cooks who inevitably have to cook one for some regular customer that just wants a damn burger for dinner and yes, I have cooked my share of these burgers. There have been Chef's over the years that have tried to bring the burger in to the fine dining world and to me, it's just a gimmick, take the Fleur de Lys in Vegas, their burger is made with Kobe Beef, Foie Gras, Black Truffles and more Truffles on Brioche! Now Burger King holds the record for the Most Expensive Burger, so if you are in London and want to drop $200 on a burger, go see The King! So anyway, the Slow Burger falls in to the fine dining burger category and although it's a bar, don't be fooled, there is some good food coming out of that kitchen, the menu reads well and there is obviously a Chef hiding back there somewhere. The Burger is on a Brioche Bun, it's a 1/2 lb. of Strawberry Mountain Natural Beef and is topped with Gruyere, Relish, Butter Lettuce and a couple of huge Onion Rings, oh yea, and the fries are good too! So if you are in the mood for a tasty "fine dining" burger, but you don't want to hit NW 23rd or the Pearl for it, go to South East and try the Slow Burger.

Slow Bar

533 SE Grand Ave.

Portland, Oregon

503.230.7767

www.slowbar.net

Podnah's Pit Barbecue

2008-07-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

As far as Portland Barbecue goes, Podnah's is OK, it didn't make me mad like a couple of other so called "BBQ" places do, but it certainly didn't "take me home" either. I have been there a couple of times and it's consistently decent, this last time I had the Brisket Sandwich with Potato Salad, the Beef was tasty with a nice smoke ring, made with quality meet and the Potato Salad was a good side dish. There were 2 sauces on the table, one of which seemed to be kind of a Virginia, North Carolina style sauce, also known as garbage, I didn't try it, but I'm not a fan of those types of Sauce. The other sauce was a tomato based "Texas Style" sauce that was pretty damn good.

The menu reads "Texas Style" and although I didn't see Frito Pie or Blue Bell Ice Cream on the menu, I do think it resembles more of a Texas style than other BBQ spots in town. Next time I will try the Chili and the Pecan Pie, then we will see if it is truly Texas Style.

Podnah's Pit Barbecue

1469 NE Prescott

Portland, OR

503.281.3700

www.podnahspit.com

Haagen Dazs Fleur De Sel Caramel Ice Cream

2008-07-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

THE BEST ICE CREAM EVER! Nothing else to say.

Best Baguette

2008-07-13T21:31:00.001-07:00

After driving by Best Baguette a few dozen times, I finally decided to stop and I'm glad that I did! It isn't what I expected at all, it's mostly Asian Sandwiches that are served on a Baguette. The menu is huge, there are probably 30 sandwiches on the menu, most of which are served on a Baguette, there is everything from Ham and Swiss to Pate and Head Cheese. I went for the BBQ Pork Baguette, it was really simple and delicious, Chinese BBQ Pork, Mayo, Marinated Carrots and Daikon Radish, Cilantro and Jalapeno. Everything is really fresh, the bread is baked daily and everything is super cheap, my sandwich was $2.65.

Asian sandwiches are my new favorite thing and the word on the street is there are quite a few of these sandwich shops in town, I think it is required that you be in a sketchy location to serve these sandwiches, we will see!

Best Baguette

8308 SE Powell

Portland, OR 97266

503.788.3098

www.bestbaguettesandwiches.com

2008 Honduras Cup Of Excellence

2008-07-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

This week was the on-line auction for the Honduran Cup Of Excellence coffee that I helped judge a few months ago. This was the 5th COE event in Honduras and year to year, the coffee prices are going up, the #1 Honduran coffee this year sold for $16.65 per pound (green).

Needless to say, this is a huge event for a country that is struggling and for the farmers that might normally only see a dollar per pound if it weren't for COE! It was a privilege to be a part of the International Jury of Judges that helped rank these coffees for auction.

While drinking beers in Honduras, my buddy Russ and I chatted about bidding together on a Lot of this killer coffee that we were judging and thats exactly what we did. Portland Roasting and Fratello Coffee bought the Cup Of Excellence coffee from the Las Amazonas farm in Chinacla, which is in the La Paz region of Honduras.

If you have never tried Honduran Coffee, you need to drop what you're doing and head to your local Specialty Coffee Roaster and pick some up.

Honduras

15 00 N, 86 30 W

Bacon + Chocolate?

2008-07-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Alder Wood Smoked Sea Salt and Milk Chocolate! This is Mo's Bacon Bar by Vosges Haut Chocolat and if your aren't familiar with Vosges, you need to check them out, they make some crazy chocolates, such as the Kalamata Olive and Venezuelan White Chocolate, Coconut Curry, and Ginger Wasabi with Black Sesame Seeds. I've always said "if you add bacon to anything, it will make it better" and damn, it looks like I was right on! Bacon + Chocolate is awesome!

www.vosgeschocolate.com

I think summer Is finally here!

2008-06-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

So with this weekends heat wave I think that summer has finally hit Portland. I'm not a fan of the hot weather, but I am a fan of busting out the Grill. It is now a Sunday ritual, we usually swing by Otto's and grab an assortment of Ground Meats, Sausages or Steaks and hit New Seasons for a sack of Vegetables. I'm done messing around with Store bought burger buns, they all suck! Even if you go to one of the awesome bakeries in town, its hard to get a good fresh bun. It took me a few dozen failed attempts, but now I have the perfect burger bun recipe and I wont ever go back to store bought buns.

Halibuts

2008-06-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

The only bad thing I ever hear about Halibuts is that it's expensive, well, it is kind of expensive. When I go for lunch, I get a half order of Halibut and Chips and a bowl of Clam Chowder and it's about $15, but it's totally worth it. The menu has a ton of different types of Fish and Chips, everything from Copper River Salmon to Jumbo Prawns and everything that I have tried is worth the price. The Fish and Chips is certainly on my top 5 list and as of now, I can honestly say that the Clam Chowder has taken over the #1 spot for Portland Clam Chowder. They have opened Halibuts II next door that has live music 6 nights a week and a full bar, and if you go to Halibuts you will most likely meet the owner, I have never eaten at Halibuts and not had a conversation with him, he's a super nice guy and they are doing an excellent job. So, if you dig Fish and Chips or Clam Chowder, head on over to North East Alberta and give Halibuts a try

Halibuts

2525 NE Alberta Street

Portland, OR 97211

503.808.9600

Tattoo Update - Session 4

2008-06-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

So this was my 4th session with Jason at Oddball and the Japanese piece he is doing on my right leg is really coming together. Jason kicks ass and I'm really stoked that I asked him to do this tattoo, it has turned out better than I expected, he designed a great piece and in about a month, it will finally be done.

He worked on the Koi this week and we decided to go with a Black and White spotted Orange Koi and he did an amazing job, I know he's good, but this fish is really amazing. Next time he is going to do the color on the Snake and touch everything up, I am looking forward to finally being done with it, I guess what I'm really excited about it starting to think about my next one.

I have already started talking about my next tattoo with Jason and am starting to picture it a bit so I am curious what his take on my idea will be, if it's anything like this Japanese piece, I know that I will be stoked. I am going to do a photo story about Portland Tattoo Shops this summer so if you have any Artists or Shops that you dig, let me know.

Oddball Tattoo

2716 SE 21st

Portland, OR 97202

503.231.1344

www.oddballstudios.com

The Last of the Honduran Food

2008-06-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

Honduras was great, the food was OK at times, but now I'm back in the swing of every day Portland life and looking forward to taking the Nikon out and snapping some Food and Tattoo shots. So this meal was at a hotel on a lake in Santa Barbara, everyone recommended the fish, so that's what I ordered. I think it was Talapia, I was told there were Talapia in the lake so I can only assume thats what ended up on my plate that day. It was fried with a thick crust and served with, you guessed it, Plantains and Beans, it also had some pickled Onions on the plate, a pretty typical meal for Honduras.

Blue Pig Cafe

2008-06-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

The Blue Pig Cafe is near the corner of 50th and Division in the old Gramma Lucy's spot. They are doing Breakfast and Lunch 7 days a week and by the looks of the menu, I'm sure they will be packed. A buddy of mine and I went for breakfast last week and I had to go for the Biscuits and Gravy, I have been known to judge a restaurant on the B&G and never return because they sucked, but that wasn't the case at the Blue Pig. By buddy went for Pancakes, Sausage and Poached Eggs, also tasty and huge. I haven't been back for lunch, but I expect Lunch will be just as good as Breakfast.

Blue Pig Cafe

5026 SE Division St.

Portland, OR 97206

503.231.2775

www.bluepigcafe.typepad.com

Honduras

2008-05-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

So this is the typical food that I was eating while in Honduras. This particular dinner included grilled Beef, Chicken and Chorizo, some sort of fried Fish, Shrimp, Beans and Rice, Plantains, Salsa and Cheese. At this restaurant, the Chorizo was incredible, the best that I had all week, I wish that we had gone back to this place rather than going for "Italian" one night.

The two beers that I drank while in Honduras were Salva Vida and Port Royal, I preferred the Port Royal and luckily for me, one night at the hotel, they were free until midnight. My buddy Russ and I decided to drink as many as we could that night and over the course of the evening I think we each had at least fifteen of these golden jewels and ended up at a Karaoke Bar drinking with a bunch of Coffee Farmers. I almost missed the bus to Copan the next morning. Needless to say, I don't recommend drinking fifteen beers if you have to ride for three hours on a bus the next day.

Hotel Copantl in San Pedro Sula, Honduras

2008-05-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

I know that Honduras is kind of far from Portland and there certainly aren't any tattoos, I have only seen a couple of tattoos and haven't seen any on the locals. But for the next few posts, I will be sharing my food experiences that I am having in Honduras. I am currently in the city of San Pedro Sula and the photo above is from the open air restaurant on the seventh floor of the Hotel Copantl where I am spending my nights. They brought a grill to the table that was piled high with Chicken, Beef, Pork and Chorizo, it came with a Baked Potato, some nice soup and some interesting salads. They brought a fondue to the table that consisted of Refried Beans and a Sour Cream type of Crema. They also brought some Salsas to the table that were a great addition to the meal, one of them resembled Chimichuri Sauce. A meal in Honduras wouldn't be complete without Port Royal Beer and I had many that night, if you ever make it to Honduras, I recommend the Hotel Copantl for some outdoor 7th floor dining .

Hotel Copantl

Residential Los Arcos

Blvd. Del Sur Fte. a Mall Multi Plaza

San Pedro Sula, Cortes Honduras, C.A.

Pambiche

2008-05-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Pambiche is a killer Cuban restaurant on Glisan near 28th and it's one of my favorite places to go for lunch. I am a sucker for Cuban food and Pambiche does a great job. A few must haves are the Empanadas, the Jamon Croquetas, Rabo Encendido, and my favorite sandwich, the Croqueta Preparada. and if you dig dessert, you must try the Tres Leches, but if you aren't in to that, there are about 15 other desserts to choose from. This place fills up so get there early or plan on sitting outside, they are open late so you can hit Pambiche after cocktails.

Pambiche

2811 NE Glisan

Portland, OR

503.233.0495

www.pambiche.com

Salvador Molly's

2008-05-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

Salvador Molly's is a funky little cafe in a strip mall over in Hillsdale, their menu is huge and all over the place. There are dishes from Africa, Hawaii, Mexico and New Orleans on the menu, from Chimichurri to Catfish, the menu is kind of weird! The strangest thing about the menu is that its pretty good, everything that I have had has been pretty tasty, not everything is authentic, but the flavors are nice.

Last time that I was at Salvador Molly's they had a spread of new menu items out and I tried the Cactus Salad, some sort of Sweet Potato Dahl, Short Ribs, Grilled Shrimp, Cuban Sandwich and some tasty Pork, I wasn't disappointed. By far the best thing I tried and the main reason that I will go back is for the Jalapeno Margarita, oh my, what an unexpected find. It's worth the drive over just to check the place out, have a nice bite and a delicious drink.

Salvador Molly's

1523 SW Sunset Blvd.

Portland, Oregon

503.293.1790

www.salvadormollys.com

Tattoo Update - Session 3

2008-05-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

So my last trip to Oddball was to start working on the color. We had decided to do the color in 3 sessions, one for the Snake, one for the Koi and the first one for the Mask. Jason worked on the back of my leg for about 3 hours this day. The further we get on this tattoo, the more I like it and look forward to talking to Jason about designing my next one. So here it is!

Oddball Tattoo Studios

2716 SE 21st

Portland, OR 97202

503.231.1344

The Giant

2008-05-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

So I had heard a lot of hype about this place, and with their super groovy sign, I assumed the rumors would be true. Well, as much as I would like to say that I had a great experience here, that's just not the case. The employees that I chatted with while I waited for my burger were awesome, really nice folks that made me even more excited about my burger. But when I finally got my burger and fries, they were boring, not awful, certainly not memorable, just boring. I won't tell everyone I know that it was the worst burger I have ever had, but I also wont be going back to The Giant anytime soon for a Cheeseburger.

The Giant

15840 Boones Ferry Road

Lake Oswego, OR 97035

503.636.0255

Cinco de Mayo in Portland

2008-05-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for something to do next Monday, skip the crazy carnival downtown and head over to Trebol for some good eats.

Cinco de Mayo Mexican BBQ at Trebol from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. supports the Hispanic Chamber. This will be the 1st annual Mexican Barbecue in honor of Cinco de Mayo, they will be busting out Beef Short Ribs, Mexican Beans, Jalapeno Slaw and Sopapillas for $15 per person. Margarits will be $5 and they are bitchin.

The patio is now open and Trebol is the top notch Mexican Restaurant in town, if you haven't been there yet, Cinco de Mayo is the perfect time to check it out.

Trebol

4835 N Albina

Portland, OR 97217

503.517.9347

www.trebolpdx.com

Tattoo - Kenny @ Trebol

2008-04-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few Tattoos that Kenny Hill, the Chef/Owner of Trebol has on him. The first and last pics are on his arm and the middle two are on his leg. I guess the guy that did them isn't at a shop right now, but I will get more info on the Artist soon.

Tattoo Update - Session 2

2008-04-26T14:07:00.001-07:00

So I go into Oddball for the second session of my newest tattoo a few weeks ago and Jason busts out this honker of a Tattoo Gun for the shading. I seem to remember a shader having only 6 needles in it, I assume they come in many different sizes and I'm sure you can make any size of Tattoo Machine you want, but this was some sort of crazy urban legend machine. This thing had, get this, 25 needles in it, he burned through the shading on my leg in less than 3 hours, I had never seen anything like it, it was crazy.

Oddball Tattoo Studios

2716 SE 21st

Portland, OR 97202

503.231.1344

Nostrana

2008-04-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Nostrana is one of those restaurants that I have driven by about 100 times and for some reason just never had the occasion to stop. Well, last week I finally made my way into Nostrana for lunch and was very impressed. The space is huge, high ceilings with open beams is the look of the dining room but the expo kitchen is the focus of the restaurant. The menu reads well and the wine list is nice, the only thing that I found odd was the seating, the chairs weren't uncomfortable, but they were kind of flimsy, made out of plastic and looked out of place to me.

I went for a Pizza, and although they all sounded tasty, I went for one that had Ricotta, Onion, Pancetta and Nettles, it was good, it could have done without the Nettles, but if the Chef digs Spring Nettles, then who the hell am I to argue! They have a sweet wood oven and it produces some bitchin Pie, OK, I'll say it, this is one of my new favorite Pizza spots. My Newcastle was cold and the Bread was damn good, the bread was actually some of the best that I have had in Portland. I dig Italian food but rarely go out for it, now that I have found a decent Italian Restaurant, I will certainly go back for more.

Nostrana

1401 SE Morrison St.

Portland, OR 97214

503.234.2427

www.Nostrana.com

Cha Taqueria

2008-04-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

So here is the deal with Mexican Food, for me it either has to be High End, bad ass, quality Mexican Cuisine prepared by a talented Chef or I need to buy it out of the back of a Mini Van that has expired plates on it. I'm not sure which I prefer, I am a big fan of both, lately I have been leaning towards the High End side of things so that's why I ended up on NW 21st in search of a Taco.

So Cha is the better looking sibling of the Cha Cha Cha family and although the food wasn't awesome, it was certainly better than the meal that I had at the Sellwood Triple Cha. I will go back to The Cha's to give them another chance, but the Best Of Citysearch "Cheap Eats" Award doesn't make me want to run out for some marginal Carnitas.

I went for a Carnitas Taco and a Carne Asada Taco and they were fine, nothing crazy, but pretty good. I could tell that everything was fresh and that was a bonus, good quality beef and pork helped things, but I guess the whole experience was just kind of boring. Maybe if I was drinking, I wouldn't have been so bored, I think that they just need to spice up their food a bit.

If you love Cha Cha Cha and you want a fancy night out or just a solid lunch on NW 21st, go give Cha a try, you might dig it, but if you are looking for a unique dining experience, Cha isn't the answer.

Cha Taqueria

305 NW 21st Ave.

Portland, OR 97209

503.295.4077

Milo's City Cafe

2008-04-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Milo's City Cafe is my new favorite breakfast spot, it has almost everything I need in a breakfast restaurant. The food is excellent and the service is always solid. At first glance I didn't think the Potatoes were going to be what I wanted, they are kind of a Home Fry type of Potato, which I normally don't care for but damn if they aren't excellent! The Eggs Benedict are amazing, yep, I said it and I will say it again, they are amazing! On my first visit to Milo's, my Eggs were a bit Hard Poached, but on my second trip, they were cooked perfectly. I am yet to try Lunch or Dinner at Milo's but I'm sure they are equally as good. If you enjoy waiting in line for breakfast, you won't mind the weekends, but if you hate waiting in line for food like I do, go during the week.

Milo's City Cafe

1325 NE Broadway

Portland, OR 97232

503.288.MILO

www.miloscitycafe.com

Izogie's Fine Dining

2008-04-03T18:44:00.001-07:00

So I had heard about this place a few times and read about it a few times, but I hadn't actually met anyone that had eaten here, so I had to try it and when I heard that they have Fried Okra on the menu, I was there. I had heard that there is a line out the door on the weekends, but that wasn't the case when I stopped by for lunch, I was the only one in there. So, needless to say, the service was excellent, my Sweet Tea was getting topped off every 5 minutes.

Since it was my first meal at Izogie's, I had to go for the Fried Chicken and Fried Okra, shit, if they had Fried Pickles and Fried Frog's Leg's, I would have gotten those too. The Fried Okra was good, not great, but probably the best that I have had in the Northwest. The Fried Chicken was really good, don't get me wrong, it wasn't my Grandmas, but it was damn tasty. I will go back to Izogie's very soon, I hope that there are a few more customers next time so I don't feel so lonely. It's kind of off the main drag, but it's well worth seeking out.

Izogie's Fine Dining

1301 NE Dekum

Portland, OR

503.289.8195

Nu Cafe

2008-03-27T19:41:00.001-07:00

Lunch has been the gig for Nu Cafe for about a year now and since it has proven that it can survive at it's inner southeast location, it's time to go big with dinner. Over the past year, I have spent a fair amount of time at Nu Cafe and consider the Chef/Owner Rob, to be a friend of mine, he and I share a lot of the same ideas about cooking and I dig talking shop with him. We are the same age and have kicking around the restaurant business for about the same amount of time so needless to say, when he said that he was going to be opening for dinner and would have Newcastle in the fridge, I was stoked.

Some of my favorite lunch items include the Pork Rillette, Bibb Salad, Cuban Sandwich and Caponata. The dinner plates that I have my eye on are the Salumi, Braised Beef and oh yea, some tasty Porcetta! In my "Best Of 2007" I named Nu Cafe as my favorite lunch spot and I look forward to seeing them become one of the great dinner spots in Southeast. Nu Cafe is a must if you groove on trying the food of different Chef's in town, go have a couple of small plates and a couple of glasses of wine, mix it up, you wont be pissed that you did!

Lunch - Monday through Friday

Dinner - Tuesday through Saturday

Nu Cafe

621 SE Morrison St.

Portland, OR 97214

503.235.5317

Yorgo's Bar & Grill

2008-03-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

Once again the guys over at Portland Hamburgers steered me in the right direction. My search for the perfect burger led me to Yorgo's up in North Portland, dive bar, yes, smokey, yes, bitchin burger, hell yes! Yorgo's is certainly on my top 10 Portland Burger list and I will go back there soon. I went with a straight forward bacon cheeseburger, some killer fresh cut fries and oddly enough, I had a Hefeweizen that really hit the spot.

My buddy Shea went with some sort of Barbecue Burger that sounded damn good to me, he too really like this place and as they say over at the Portland Burger Blog, Bonus Pickle! I heard Yorgo's is the place to go for bitchin drink specials.

Yorgo's Bar & Grill

5421 North Greeley Ave.

Portland, OR 97217

503.283.0676

Reese's - Elvis Style

2008-03-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

All that I am going to say is "what the hell is this shit?" I heard about this on a Portland Podcast called The Mediocre Show, check it out! I had forgotten about it until one day last week when I was walking down the isle at a 7-11 in Lake Oswego with my Big Gulp and spotted Elvis on the package of Reese's. I had to buy it and of course I had to try it. I wanted to hate it and spit it out, then tell everyone I know how awful it was, well I cant do that. It tasted like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and a Banana Moon Pie in one bite, you might be thinking how nasty that sounds, but I said that to a buddy of mine from the South and he was pretty stoked about that combination. This is a Limited Edition Candy Bar so you might want to go out and try one so you can tell your kids one day about this crazy candy bar you had back in 08. I think that it's going to turn in to a legend, just like Billy Beer, The Reggie Jackson Candy Bar, Miller Clear Beer and Butterscotch Magic Shell!

New Tattoo - Outline

2008-03-16T22:31:00.001-07:00

So after taking almost a year to find a tattoo artist in Portland, I finally made my way in to Oddball Studios and was lucky enough to meet Jason, after a quick conversation about what I was thinking about, he agreed to rock out my newest Tattoo. I took one look at his portfolio and knew that I wanted him to design something for me, I told him what I was thinking about and he came back with a killer design. A few weeks later, we spent about 4 hours together, and after getting the design on to my leg, much of which he just freehanded, I walked away from my first session at Oddball with a smile on my face.

I knew that I wanted a Asian sleeve from my ankle to knee, I wanted it to be fairly traditional and left it up to Jason to use his expertise in Asian Tattoos to come up with a design for me. In a couple of weeks when I get the shading done you will be able to see some details a bit better, but you should get the idea of the Koi, Snake and Hanya Mask surrounded by Water and Waves. Jason is a talented Artist and is great with the Tattoo Gun, his line work is killer and I cant wait to see the shading and colors that will happen in the weeks to come.

Oddball Studios

2716 SE 21st Ave.

Portland, OR 97202

503.231.1344

www.oddballstudios.com

Higgins

2008-03-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I met a buddy of mine for lunch at Higgins, he and I worked together 7 years ago at a little bistro in Manhattan, Montana. I couldn't have picked a better person to join me for lunch, it had been about 10 years since I had last eaten at Higgins and I wanted to try a couple of things on the menu. We started with a Charcuterie Plate that had about 8 different meats that are all cured in house as well as some pickled vegetables. All of the meats were perfect, I can honestly say that it was the best Charcuterie Plate that I have ever had.

I went with a open faced Pastrami Sandwich as my Entree and it too was perfect. The Pastrami was house cured, the bread was perfect and the side salad was excellent. Higgins is now on my list of top restaurants, it was when I lived here 10 years ago and I don't know why it took me a year after moving back to finally make my way back through the restaurant doors. Greg Higgins has done great things for the food scene in Portland and his restaurant continues to pump out amazing food. I look forward to my next meal at Higgins.

Higgins

1239 SW Broadway

Portland, OR 97205

503.222.9070

www.higgins.ypguides.net

New Delhi

2008-03-08T20:51:00.000-08:00

I have tried every Indian Restaurant in Portland, most of them more than once and for the most part, they all suck. Plainfields was always my favorite Indian Restaurant and then they sold it and it really went to shit, the family has recently bought it back and I need to go back to see if they were able to fix what got broken when they sold it. I recently heard about New Delhi Indian Restaurant and was excited because I hadn't eaten there yet. That was a few weeks ago and I have eaten there at least once a week since that first night, it is my new favorite Indian Restaurant in Portland. When you go, try the Chicken Tikka Masala, Vegetable Pakoras, Vindaloo and Naan, they are all top notch, even the Raita is good! They have a buffet that rocks, I normally steer clear of sneeze guard lunch, but they do a great job. I realize that a weird little strip mall on Barbur Blvd. isn't the place that you would expect to find tasty Indian food, but trust me, this place is killer.

New Delhi Indian Restaurant

9111 SW Barbur Blvd.

Portland, OR

503.892.5811

Pine State Biscuits

2008-03-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

If you are ever in Chapel Hill North Carolina, make sure you go through the drive thru at Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen and get a Pork Tenderloin Biscuit or a Smithfield Ham Biscuit and you will understand what Biscuits are all about. In the South you can even get a good Biscuit at Hardee's or Chick-Fil-A, but for some reason in the Northwest very few know how to make a decent biscuit. With that said, I was really happy to find some guys from North Carolina making biscuits and frying up Chicken at the Farmers Market.

Pine State Biscuits took down the tent at the farmers market and traded it for a real kitchen next to the Triple Nickel on Belmont. I have tried the Fried Chicken, Bacon Egg and Cheese and the Sausage Biscuits and they all kick ass, you can even get the Chicken biscuit with Pickles and Mustard, I can't wait to try the Biscuits and Gravy, I hear they are quite tasty. For those of you from the South, it's the closest thing to your Granny's Biscuits around here, and for those of you who think Biscuit + Chicken + Pickles + Mustard is not delicious, well, go give it a try and see what you have been missing out on all of these years.

Pine State Biscuits

3640 SE Belmont St.

Portland, OR 97214

503.236.3346

www.pinestatebiscuits.com

Rogue Brewery

2008-02-25T18:08:00.000-08:00

Rogue brewery in Newport has been making some of the best beers around for 20 years. Some of my favorites are the Hazelnut Brown, Dead Guy and Mocha Porter, but I must say the best thing that they have if you have the huevos for it is the Old Crustacean Barley Wine, it is amazing! I haven't had too many beers from Rogue that I didn't like, and I've had most of them.

Now for the bad news. I was passing through Newport a few weeks ago and decided to stop for lunch at the Newport Brewery, well, that was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. They had a Kobe Burger on the menu and although I'm not sold on American Kobe, I decided to go with it. I not only had a hard time eating this garbage, I didn't even finish it, and after that plate of vomit, a beer and a very small tip, I spent $22.00. The Rogue brewery has never been known for it's service and this visit certainly was no different, but I couldn't believe how awful the food was, and to be honest, I was really pissed.

Good Beer + Bad Food = Rogue Brewery

Rogue Brewery

2320 OSU Drive

Newport, OR 97365

541.867.3660

www.rogue.com

Food & Ink

2008-02-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

A buddy of mine recently asked me why I only give good reviews when I am talking about restaurants, when the reality is that most of the meals I have at restaurants pretty much Suck! I guess the reason is that although I always have my Nikon with me, I rarely want to take a picture of a shitty restaurant after I have just had a bad meal there. I don't want to bad mouth anyones food just because I don't like it, well, the fact of the matter is that I do bad mouth a place when it sucks but it's only to my friends and of course to my wife, and then I don't go back. I do hold grudges when it comes to bad food, I haven't been to a Outback Steakhouse in 10 years because they pissed me off and to this day if someone mentions Outback, I bad mouth them and will until the day I die. So I guess the way that I am looking at it now is, if I write about a crappy restaurant, then you wont have to waste your time and blindly try it out. So restaurants be warned, if your food sucks and I eat there, I will write about it, if the service sucks, I will write about it, if you don't want to hear about how much your restaurant Sucks, then don't read this blog.

Michael's Italian Beef

2008-02-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

Michael's Italian Beef is at that crazy intersection where Burnside, Sandy and 12 all collide, the first time I tried going there, I got frustrated because I didn't know how to get to the parking lot, but once you can master that intersection, you are good to go. Michael's is one of my favorite places for lunch, it's in Inner Southeast and they have parking, so that's not an issue like downtown, the staff is really nice and the food is killer.

So the first thing I ever had from here was the Italian Beef Sandwich and if you have ever had one, you know what it is, and if you haven't, well you need to go to Michael's and have the real deal. A Italian Beef sandwich is some tasty wet Top Round Steak, Peppers, and Onions on Italian Bread, some places will dip the whole thing back into the Jus, but luckily Michael's doesn't do that, it's a bit too wet! The Sausage sandwich here is my favorite thing on the menu, they make their own sausage, throw some Peppers and Onions on Italian Bread and that's it. The Meatballs are great and they use them to make their version of a Burger and it too is delicious. I am fairly certain that everything on the menu at Michael's is great, I just haven't had time to try everything yet.

Michael's Italian Beef & Sausage Co.

1111 SE Sandy at Burnside,

Portland, OR 97214

503.230.1899

www.michaelsitalianbeef.com

Tillamook Cheese Factory

2008-02-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

I love Cheese! There are hundreds of different cheeses that I love, but the cheese that I buy the most comes from Tillamook, the Cheddar is sharp, the Swiss is tangy and the Jack is smooth. Don't get me wrong, Point Reyes, Rogue Creamery, Humboldt Fog and Firefly Farms are always found in my refrigerator, but Tillamook Cheeses have their place. If Tillamook made Manchego, Sage Derby, Cotswold, Gruyere, Taleggio or Stilton, I would buy it.

The Factory where they make Tillamook Cheese is a must when you pass through this sleepy little town, the folks are nice, the cheese is good and they have a ton of local crap to spend your money on. They have been Farmer owned for almost 100 years, and I am yet to have a Cheese from this place that didn't Rock. I am all about buying local and Tillamook is certainly local, if you haven't had Tillamook Cheese, well, you have been living under a rock and you may as well go back under your rock.

Tillamook Cheese

4175 Highway 101 North

Tillamook, Oregon 97141

503.815.1300

Bread & Ink Cafe

2008-02-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago Bread and Ink was my favorite breakfast spot, I used to go at least once a week and told everyone I knew to do the same. Well, I don't find myself at Bread and Ink very often these days. The food is still good, the service is good, but the main reason I don't make it over to Hawthorne for breakfast anymore is one reason, the Coffee! They have been using the same coffee for probably 20 years and it Sucks, I thought that maybe it was just me and the people in my circle, but when I checked out City Search, the first two reviews I saw were not positive and they both mentioned the Crappy Coffee.

When I do hit up Bread and Ink it's always for breakfast and I always get the Biscuits and Gravy, they aren't your every day B & G, they are packed with Herbs and Black Pepper and have Italian Sausage instead of your normal Breakfast Sausage. My Wife and Son both love the Pancakes with the Blueberry Compote, and the Huevos Rancheros are pretty OK too.

I'm certainly not saying to pass by Bread and Ink next time you are looking for a decent breakfast, all I'm saying is walk down to Cup & Saucer and get a cup of coffee before you head into Bread and Ink.

Bread & Ink Cafe

3610 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Portland, OR 97214

503.239.4756

My Carnitas

2008-02-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

A Carnitas Taco is a simple and beautiful thing, Pork, Queso Fresco, Cilantro, Lime and Tortillas, thats it. The way I do my Carnitas is easy, braise a Pork Shoulder in Beer, Cilantro Stems, Garlic and a couple of Peppers for about 4 hours or until the Pork is fork tender. I then Caramelize a Yellow Onion and Saute a Pasilla Pepper, add the Pork to the pan and then season with Salt, Pepper and Cumin to taste. I assume this isn't the way Carnitas is made, but it works for me!

As if the bitchin Carnitas Tacos weren't enough, the morning after I cooked the Pork, I made a Breakfast out of the leftover Pork and it was (from bottom to top) Corn Tortillas, Refried Beans, Carnitas, Soft Scrambled Eggs, Queso Fresco, Cholula and Cilantro. Oh my, I have found a new way to get Pork in front of me for breakfast.

Helvetia Tavern

2008-02-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

So when I walk into Helvetia Tavern I know that my experience is going to be a solid one, this place is kind of sketchy, it's way the hell out on the west side of Hillsboro and that "drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry" song is playing. As I was walking in, I was hoping this wasn't one of those Cash Only places, cause to be honest, I'm not real hip with that program. Well it is a Cash Only place and like all Cash Only places there is a ATM in the corner. So I have heard enough about this place and after reading about it on Portland Hamburgers site, I decided that it was time to make the trip, so needless to say, I was going for the Double Jumbo Burger, and that is exactly what it was!

Helvetia (pronounced Hell-Vee-Sha) Tavern is now on my Top 5 Portland Burger List, this place Rocks! Next time I will know a bit better what to expect and I will take cash, it is a destination restaurant and I didn't even notice if they have anything other than Burgers and Fries and to be honest, I don't care. If you are a Burger Freak like I am, Helvetia Tavern is a must, oh yea, and the fries kick ass too, hand cut and almost perfect.

Helvetia Tavern

10275 NW Helvetia Road

Hillsboro, OR 97124

503.647.5286

Roots

2008-01-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

In my search for the perfect burger, I went to "The Couve" to a place that I had heard a lot about. Chef Brad Root has been rockin it out here for quite some time and it must be doing alright because they just opened a new Pizza spot across the parking lot from Roots. I went for lunch and the burger was pretty decent, the fries were excellent and the TG IPA was great.

The main buzz around Roots right now is coming from the pastry kitchen, Caralee Blazina Whitmore is busting out some killer pastries, I didn't try anything, but I will certainly go for dessert next time. How about Scharffen Berger Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake with Sour Cherry Compote and Whipped Cream, DAMN!

Roots

Riverstone Marketplace

19215 SE 34th Street

Camas Washington

360.260.3001

www.rootsrestaurantandbar.com

Tributes

2008-01-29T20:07:00.000-08:00

There are very few things that I miss about the East Coast, but one of things that I do miss is the unique style of sandwich that people call a "East Coast Sandwich" out here. There are a few places around town that unsuccessfully try to recreate these sandwiches but remain busy, I don't understand it. What I do understand, is that every time I go to Tributes, I end up waiting, I can't find a place to park and usually have to take my food with me because its so damn busy. There aren't many places that I think are worth waiting in line for, and certainly not many that I will drive around trying to find a parking spot for, but if I am in the mood for a decent Philly or Reuben, I will gladly circle the block and stand in line at Tributes. The sandwiches are great, the Pizza is good and the service is always awesome. By far, the best sandwich in Portland!

Tributes

2272 NW Kearney Street

Portland, OR 97201

503.229.1200