Brian Elliott

Wildwood restaurant in Portland is a great exposition of local, seasonal fare. When I asked the waiter about where the meat came from, he gave me a surprisingly detailed answer. “Our beef is from Strawberry Moutain in Oregon, is grass fed, and is finished for a week on grain.” Wow. That’s what you call a knowledgeable waiter. He also said that the restaurant is now close to 100% local ingredients on the menu, which was also really impressive.

Appetizer:

stuffed squash blossoms - Squash, lightly pan fried. It came with heirloom tomato slices, sweet peppers, and spicy peppers.

Entree:

Strawberry Mountain New York strip - A wonderful 12 oz cut of grass-fed beef served over organic fingerling potatoes. Wow.

Dessert:

Sauternes Poached Harmony Peach - peach sherbet, sauternes sabayon and almond wafers. Definitely a tasty treat highlighting the peach flavor in both the peach slices and the sherbet without being overwhelmingly sweet. Sabayon, as it turns out, is a custard of sorts made from egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine. Yum.

Dessert Wine:

1985 vintage port.

I’m digging The Albina Press, a coffeehouse here in Portland, OR.  I came here specifically to try shots pulled by Billy Wilson, this year’s USBC runner up, but quickly came to love the general feel of the place.

The cafe is in the Albina neighborhood, which feels like an ex-industrial neighborhood turning over into a hip, bohemian place to “just chill.”  The people here are relaxed, frequently tattooed, and roll through the shop looking for individually tailored espresso fixes.

My first impression entering the place was one of space.  It’s very open and spacious inside, with plenty of space around the bar.  The decor is a balance of the rugged and a more modern chic, just like the neighborhood outside.  I love the cool juxtaposition of the distressed hardwood floors and newer cafe furniture.

The bar occupies the center space like a monument to the bean.  Barista awards are draped around it and  a focused barista is stationed the Marzocco behind it.  The man with the tattoos on both arms is apparently the dude himself.  He mans the equipment with the concentration of an artist oblivious to the surrounding world.  It’s cool to see that level of detailed focused on providing me with the perfect cup.

My shot came up and he yelled out, “ristretto!”  That shot was quite short, chocolate-flavored, and very airy.  It was good enough to order a second, but Billy waved my money away when I admitted that the first was a bit shorter than I was accustomed to.  I would have been happy to pay for both, but I just love that level of attention to detail and dedication to perfection!

In my previous post I made the case for opting out of the industrial food chain in favor of going local. I’d like to call out the exception case to that rule where a particular good can’t be obtained locally due to geography. For example, I’m not likely to obtain any locally grown coffee in Illinois, so I consider it fair for a society to trade for that product. The western world has been trading with the east for spices for close to two thousand years and the practice seems to promote much more healthy inter-cultural reactions than some we can observe between modern governments today!

With that caveat out of the way, I’d like to list the suppliers in my new, alternative food chain:

Green Earth Institute - An organic CSA in Naperville, IL. Steve, the head farmer, was kind enough to let me join the program mid season and I’ve been picking up amazing, high quality vegetables there every Tuesday since! Starting next week, he’s partnering up with a pastured chicken farmer from Springfield, which will provide a convenient way to pick up some real meat.

Broad Branch Farm - An organic farm with excellent salad greens and tomatoes. They come to the Naperville Farmer’s Market on Saturdays. Their salad greens and sun gold cherry tomatoes have spoiled us greatly.

Wallace Farms - Our new supplier for pastured meats. We bought a 16 lb box of ground beef from Nick at their buying club stop in Aurora. The beef tastes wonderful and I plan to try more of their other offerings in the future.

Nichols Farm - A great IL farm that grows a lot of heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables. Their Cox Orange Pippen apples are now my favorites. Unfortunately, the Nichols boys do NOT come to the Naperville Farmer’s Market and I must haul their stuff back from work in Chicago. Nichols, if you hear this, you guys have to come to Naperville!

Bauer Custom Meats - I ordered 5 chickens from these guys, which are supposed to be ready in the November timeframe. We’ll see how ordering chickens directly from the farm goes.

I still need to find a supplier for a pastured, heritage turkey before Thanksgiving. Anyone out there care to make a recommendation?