Tarting It Up

Pearl Bakery

Ah, back from the moss-covered, drizzly, and tremendously fun city of Portland, Oregon.  We stayed downtown at the 5th Avenue Suites, which seems to be right in the heart of a variety of excellent bakeries, coffee shops, and sandwich joints.  We were just a couple of blocks away from the city-block-huge Powell's Books.  And if you're shopping at Powell's, you need to scoot a few blocks south and visit Pearl Bakery. 

But before we get into the fabulous baked goods that Pearl Bakery offers up, look in my hand.  In my hand there is a bag.  And in that bag there is a Pearl Bakery t-shirt (by the way, you're meant to believe in terms of storytelling that I'm looking into the bakery before going in...the bag ruins the illusion a little.  Suspend disbelief!)

Where was I?  Ah yes, the t-shirt reads "Still Baking" across the chest.  Here is a recreation of the dialogue that I've had with several strangers when I've since worn this t-shirt.

DIALOGUE ONE: LOCATION - ACELA EXPRESS

Woman Stranger: Hey, (eyes read across the breasties) still baking?
Me: Ha ha ha...no...it's for a bakery and...
Woman Stranger: (interest in conversing visibly floats away from her body)

DIALOGUE TWO: LOCATION - STARBUCKS

Another Woman Stranger: Hey, (eyes read across the breasties) still baking?
Me: Ha, no it's...a bakery t-shirt
Another Woman Stranger: Ha ha.  Funny.
Me: Yeah definitely
(conversation quietly curls up on the floor at our feet and passes away)

What I'm saying is that this t-shirt conjures uncomfortable small talk into being.  From Woman Strangers.

I want a place just like this near us.  A bakery with a droolworthy selection of brioche, croissants, and pastry, and a clever selection of artisan sandwiches.  If anyone knows of a place like this in or around D.C., please do tell.  I suppose Breadline comes close, but its baked goods don't compare to those that Pearl Bakery offers.  Just look.

We showed a moderate degree of restraint and each selected one pastry and one half sandwich.

Ahem.  Disregard the above picture where my bag is clearly holding more than just one t-shirt.

Here's what we chose:

Clockwise from the 6 o'clock position, ham sandwich with fontina on wheat, asiago and apple croissant, chocolate croissant nestled up against an almond croissant, salami sandwich with provolone, and smoked turkey with muenster.

What can I say; these are great sandwiches.  I loved the contrast of the creamy tangy sweetness of the red pepper aioli with the bitterness of the arugula on my turkey sandwich.  The turkey was freshly carved as well.  Fabulous.  J. loved her ham sandwich as well - the yellow dots that you see on the wheat bread is their home-made mayonnaise peeking through.  Delicious.  A. loved the tapenade on her salami sandwich.

And on to our desserts...

 

The almond and chocolate croissants were excellent: buttery flaky croissant dough, generously filled.  Well worth having, but let's face it: you know what they look like.  But look above at the asiago-apple croissant.  Interesting, no?  I was expecting an "apple pie with cheddar cheese crust" vibe off of this croissant, but it was much subtler than that, almost more savory than sweet.  Flaky as all hell and delicious.

This place had such a laid back vibe; we talked and laughed and had a chill early lunch here.  Now that I'm sitting back in my living room stressing about work that I needed to get done today, I look at this picture that we took, looking out of Pearl Bakery's window, and I yearn...

 

Pearl Bakery

102 NW 9th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 827-0910

Still baking?

Everest 53

My sister lives in a hinterland of foodie experiences: her flat vaguely occupies the outskirts of the area where Bend it Like Beckham took place. It was always an enigma: with so many dry cleaners specifically touting the price of Sari-cleaning, how are there so few good curry places in her neighborhood?

But I hadn't been back in three and a half years, so I held out hope that things had changed. And lo and behold, just a couple of minutes' walk from her flat: a new Nepalese restaurant came into being! Nepalese food: can you even conceive of what it could be? Me neither.

So I'm obnoxious: even when a restaurant is full of happy looking diners, as this one was, I'm ready for this neighborhood to disappoint me. I've been hurt too many times here! I also sat down feeling defensive after looking over the zillion-item menu...how could a restaurant with so many choices possibly execute any of them well?

"Shh," Everest 53 says, "calm yourself, my child: don't worry, simply eat of me." After ordering, my worries cleared away. The food at this new restaurant (open for only 3 months) is nice.

We started with a side order of garlic naan, warm and fresh. The bread was soft and garlicky without the garlic beating your tastebuds into submission.

My sister ordered a dish called Everest Koseli, king prawn wrapped with chicken breast (two of God's creatures that we were curious to see united). It worked! It tasted of fenugreek and nutmeg, and neither prawn nor chicken were cooked to death. 10.95 pounds for the dish...we'll call it about $17.

I had the monkfish, after doing a brief geographical survey to determine where in Nepal monkfish would live. I'm ignorant: are there rivers in Nepal? Or lakes? I know there's some sort of tallish mountain there, but where do their fishies live?

Anyway, the monkfish is called Hariyo Machha, and it's cooked in the tandoor and accompanied with a green curry sauce. I hadn't tasted monkfish before. Go do a google image search for "monkfish" and you'll see why.

No really, go ahead, I'll wait. Look at the second picture that comes up, it's a treat.

All done? Isn't that an ugly little bastard? He's also a delicious little bastard. The fish was meaty texturally: like beef tenderloin-meaty, and only subtly fishy. The sauce tasted of curry, coconut, mint, and apricot. Really good.

And somewhat expensive: it was 12.95 pounds, so what's that...like $20?

Our total bill with tax and tip was $69.89. Not exactly cheap eating, but it was a fun restaurant with good food and attentive service. AND it's in Isleworth!

Everest '53
546 London Road
Isleworth, TW7 4EP
0208 568 5556

Eating in London: Micky's Fish and Chips

Day 1 in England! I got my visa stuff all sorted out today (woo hoo!), and when my business concluded at the American Embassy, I went on a walkabout around town. It's hard to believe that it's been three and a half years since I've visited here, and over six since I've lived here. But somehow the weather never changes.

Can you feel what the weather is like? Ah, it's moist, infiltratingly cold and windy England.

I grew up in Birmingham, went to university in London, and lived there for the next, oh, 5 years. My walkabout led me from the American Embassy to Marble Arch, and thence...to the most wonderful food in the United Kingdom.

Fish and Chips, of course.

There are plenty of chip shops around emitting that gorgeous aroma of expertly fried food. There is no better food in the world for a hungry, cold and tired traveller: crisp, hot, filling, and flavorful.

During my student days in London, I was very fortunate to live in a University of London dorm a short walk from Marble Arch tube station. It was an awesome place; I lived in a huge corner room on an upper floor. Weirdly nice housing for students, no?

Off to England

As J. frets about the commencement of her final semester of law school, I'm off to England for two weeks. Starting Saturday, it'll be all about taking care of administrative matters, seeing family and friends for the first time in several years, and eating good food!

I'll be in London for about a week, then off to my hometown of Birmingham.

I've arranged several meals in London. I'll be eating lunch at the bastion of "nose to tail eating," St. John Restaurant. I'm looking forward to the "venison offal and beetroot." Mmmm...offal...

I'll also visit Pied a Terre in London, and about as many other meals and snacks as I can manage in a week. Birmingham is more of a question mark...still planning...

Rick's Philly Steaks: Philadelphia

I'm J's younger sister, A. You may know me as "the only person willing to have her picture shown on this blog."

J. and E. have asked me to document my dining experience in Philadelphia. I traveled to the City of Brotherly Love for a conference and wanted to experience true Philly food. With this in mind, it made perfect sense when my group migrated to The Olive Garden! True local gourmet! By golly they have good breadsticks. Pleasing to the palate. So I left Philadelphia satisfied and full, knowing I experienced the real thing.

NO! If you travel to this city, you have to have a PHILLY CHEESESTEAK, not the Tour of Italy! J. knows how much I love Philly cheesesteaks, so it's absolutely appropriate that I attack this assignment. I love cheesesteaks, and it is almost offensive that I never had a real one before this weekend. Our convention center was right across from the Reading Terminal Market, a 78,000-square foot foodtastic expanse with every kind of treat one could imagine. The first day I was in the city I went to Delilah's for their famous mac n' cheese. Oprah said it was good, and I follow anything Oprah says. Admire my catotonic gaze...

There are many places known for their cheesesteaks, and I decided to try Rick's Philly Steaks in the Reading Terminal Market. Rick is Pat's grandson, and prides himself as part of the third generation of steak masters. Opened in 1982, Rick's is now a staple in the Reading Terminal Market and is extremely busy.

Brusters

So this is a blast from the past.  An ice cream place which I used to frequent when I lived in Georgia!  I didn't get that it was a chain.  I thought it was a Kennesaw, Georgia staple.  So imagine my surprise when we passed a sign for it on the way to Williamsport, PA this weekend.  I decided we had to stop on the way back; Lori and I had ice cream for lunch yesterday.

It's nothing fancy, just great tasting ice cream with a good flavor selection.  Of course, for some reason I didn't take a picture of what we had to eat, but Lori had the mint chocolate ice cream and I had butter pecan and double chocolate chunk in a waffle cone.

The mint chocolate ice cream was smooth and appealingly-not-too-sweet with the chocolate 'sheets' melting nicely to cut the mint and combine both flavors.  I was slightly disappointed to find that my butter pecan was butter walnut instead, but it was pleasantly buttery nonetheless.  The double chocolate chunk was my favorite though with a surprisingly full chocolate taste - this would be a must for lovers of dark chocolate.

Apple Season

Fall has crept up on me. Virginia has a way of jumping from 80 degree days to 60 degree days in a week, and poof...the summer is gone. We're teetering on that precipice now; Friday was cool. Fall is looking around the corner, waiting to jump out and surprise us. Enough metaphor. There is lots of fabulous produce out there if you only know where to look.  On the way back from Pennsylvania this weekend, we stopped at the Catoctin Mountain Orchard in Thurmont, Maryland.  They generally don't let you pick your own fruit here (they allow rasperries, blueberries, and blackberries in the early summer), but if you're in the area, this place is well worth a visit. 

I was debating as to whether or not to get some pumpkins but I thought I would wait it out a couple more weeks.  I did, however, buy, wildflower honey, apricot preserves and blackberry jam (all made on site) and empire, cortland and golden delicious apples.  I tried the empire last night and it tasted wonderful; J. tried the cortland too and was very impressed. Tart and crisp - and what's worse than an apple that torments you with a mealy mouthfeel?

So now I'm looking for apple recipes.... if anyone has any suggestions, they are very welcome.  I'm turning to Rose Berenbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible for a variety of apple pie and tatin iterations. Stay tuned for more posts about how I put my apples to use.