Review — Page 2

Trader Vic’s: A Preview

July 26, 2011 by Dave 1 Comment

Update: Trader Vic’s grand opening takes place Monday, August 1, 2011.

Spending much of the summer in Astoria has its drawbacks – like not being able to attend the Trader Vic’s media event! But friend-of-the-blog Rick (of Beerdrinker.org, and @m8ryx on Twitter fame) gamely stepped into the breach – and provided the review below – thanks Rick!

Trader Vic’s, as you no doubt know, is an upscale chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants – with tiki lounges! Portland’s Benson Hotel sported a Trader Vic’s for about 30 years, but the spot sadly closed in the mid-90s. They’re giving it a go once again, this time in the Pearl District, at 1203 NW Glisan St. (i.e. corner of NW 12th and Glisan).

Tiki is not just a bar. Tiki is a culture. It’s a history and a philosophy. Tiki brings together elements of alchemy and magic to create a feeling of escape. That is what I felt tonight. When I walked through the plywood doors of the almost-finished Trader Vic’s, I was drawn in. The wood finish, the thatch, the umbrella drinks with their wonderful sweet tang, they have a way to relax you, and melt you into the surroundings.

Chef Broderick gives a tour of the kitchen — Chef Broderick's favorite dish is the bone-in ribeye with wasabi-thyme

The centerpiece of Trader Vic’s kitchen is a large clay oven fueled by logs of white oak, alder, and cedar. Chef Michael Broderick was kind enough to give me an introduction to some of their dishes and techniques. The oven runs from about 800 degrees at the bottom to 500 at the top and turns out some delicious morsels of meat with a hint of smoke pretty quickly.

The bar is pretty well stocked with a selection of rums that I’ve never heard of. A few of us ganged up on the bar manager and talked him out of a few tastes of some top shelf stuff. The Zaya was great. It was a very sweet, almost tootsie roll caramelization up front, with an amazingly dry finish on the backside.

In addition to straight pours, the bar was kind enough to roll out three standard beverages for our event. The classic Mai Tai (by lore, created by Mr. Vic himself), Nelson’s blood, and a cucumber-infused martini by Heather, somehow related to the modern classic Thatch. Another bit of lore, Nelson’s Blood is named for sea captain Horatio Nelson, who was honored by being put to rest in a rum barrel, then to honor him, the sailors drank the rum that flowed from the cask, inventing the drink and naming it for the great captain.

Located in the heart of the Pearl District at 12th and Glisan, Trader Vic’s is well situated to draw in crowds to its moderately upscale slice of paradise. I’ll probably see you there after the crowds die down a bit, which will probably take awhile.

Trader Vic’s Portland’s grand opening is August 1. Find them on the web (they have a blog!), on Facebook, and follow @TraderVicsPDX on Twitter.

Review: North American Organic Brewers Festival 2011

June 26, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

This guest post is by Rick from Beerdrinker.org – follow him on Twitter too: @m8ryx. I had to miss my first NAOBF ever, but Rick graciously offered to share his reviews and recommendations with me, and Dave Knows readers!

A gorgeous Portland early summer day made Overlook Park the place to be in Portland Friday, with a great selection of organic beers at the 2011 North American Organic Brewers Festival. Unsurprisingly, the selection was mostly ales, with one or two lagers available and a cider. There seemed to be fewer brewers in attendance this year, with the international section notably absent, as well as a dedicated space for ciders. There seemed to be more fruit/adjunct beers, which is where I chose to focus my tasting. Arriving before 2, it felt a little early in the day to have my face melted off by a mega-hopped IPA, and I’d already had a number of what was available.

I holed up at my preferred spot, a table near the tree, fairly distant from the beer and stage, but a quick jaunt to the port-o-lets. The music was generally good, not too loud, leaning towards coffee house earlier in the day, and getting a bit more rock towards the evening. The crowds never became a factor in my beer selection, as lines had not formed by the time my tokens ran out sometime between five and six. In the past I would switch to the 2-token selections when lines grew, but fortunately they didn’t since I couldn’t find any 2-token beers.

Some of Rick’s reviews and recommendations:

Alone, the Alpenfire cider was a bit sweet, but it was fantastic as a chaser for the dry Elliot Bay Black Ops.
Ambacht Rye Farmhouse ale: Interesting.
Eel River acai wheat is delicious.
Fort George spruce ale is super drinkable. Less sprucey than some, a little sweet.
Lahr Neppur Brewing’s peach hefeweizen is more peach than hef. Nice on this warm day.
Uncommon Brewing Siamese Twin Dubbel with some smoked chicken. Pretty good pairing.
I love upright brewing Enjoying their funky reggae junkie gruit whatever that means.
Bison’s honey basil. Nice, light, and refreshing.

Review: Zoo Brew 2011

June 4, 2011 by Dave 5 Comments

Guest post by Kristie! I have recruited several Dave Knows Portland Correspondents to help me cover Portland-area events, as I’m spending much of the summer in Astoria. Kristie and her fiance Dave volunteered to cover Zoo Brew 2011. They graciously contributed the excellent photos and notes below. Enjoy!

Dave and I took our assignment to blog about the Zoo Brew very seriously…. well, not seriously enough to take notes or have a plan but we drank and talked about our drinks so I’m sure that counts for something. We got there early and had first run at all of the booths – that has never happened to me at a beer fest before – made me feel like I was in on a pretty cool secret but the truth is I’m engaged to a man who likes to get everywhere early. Everywhere.

As far as venues for a brew fest, this has to be one of the better ones. The majority of the vendors set up their booths along the perimeter of the amphitheater and others under a covered awning to the left of the elephant exhibit. This left plenty of space to throw a blanket or camp chairs on the lawn or snag one of the picnic or cocktail tables set out for Zoo Brew guests.

It was pretty cool to grab a beer and then take a walk to check out the animals – while a lot of the animals were sleeping, we did get to see the elephants, lions and some monkey/ape/chimpanzee-type animals. The orangutans sleeping in cardboard boxes were a highlight as well as a good reality check – something about seeing a human-like furry creature sleeping in a cardboard box that makes you think twice about how much beer you drank tonight… or ever really.

We ended up trying about 10 different beers – mostly summer ales given it was the first perfectly sunny day this year. We started with the Golden Valley Chehelam Mountain IPA which ended up being one of our favorites. We also really liked Widmer Brothers‘ Citra Blonde Summer Brew and the New Belgium Brewing Somersault. Some of the summer ales we tried were too light for our taste and we didn’t get a chance to taste some of the ciders (see the first paragraph about not planning) but we’ll definitely go back next year!

Other notes

The music: We liked DJ Angry Little Man (dj) and Keegan Smith & the Fam (band). We didn’t stay long enough to see The Rolling Tones but I based on it’s many concerts and the music we heard, there is no question the zoo knows how to do music.

The food: Food was available but options were limited; bento and the zoo cafe – in fairness, we didn’t discover the zoo cafe until after we finished the bento so it may have been enough.

Breakfast in Bridgetown – The iPhone App!

February 17, 2011 by Dave 1 Comment

Breakfast in Bridgetown, the book, is a fantastic resource, but it doesn’t fit in your pocket. But now you can easily carry Paul Gerald‘s expertise around with you everywhere you go – get the Breakfast in Bridgetown iPhone application!

The application works much like other applications of its ilk. You can browse a map to nearby breakfast places, look up specific restaurants, find restaurants by category (e.g. hip, veggie-friendly, kid-friendly, etc.), or just browse in alphabetical order.

Each restaurant entry includes not just hours, location, and phone, but also information about the wait, health option, where the coffee comes from, and more. I highly recommend this app!

Kona Brewing Unveils New Seasonal: Koko Brown

February 14, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Word has gotten out, somehow, that I like beer.

I also like Hawaii. So last Thursday, Heather and I were happy to accept an invitation to a secret pau hana tapping of Kona Brewing Company‘s latest seasonal Koko Brown.

Appropriately, it was at the tiki bar Thatch (2733 NE Broadway).

Koko Brown is made with toasted coconut, which was smooth and roasty. A little sweet, it finishes relatively dry, and the toasted coconut is pleasant, not overbearing. It goes down easy – Heather even liked it!

Koko Brown should be in stores soon.

For more on the beer and the event (with photos), visit The New School Beer Blog: Kona Brewing: From the Big Island to the Craft Brewers Alliance.

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