Neighborhood Notes

Platter: Food Finds, Restaurant Reviews and Dining Trends
Friday, October 28, 2005
By KAREN BROOKS
The Oregonian
WORD FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD -- "In Portland, beer and wine are king, but spirits are coming up," says Park Kitchen bartender Kevin Ludwig, who plans to stir up the scene with monthly high-end liquor tastings in mid-November.

He's got a point. Oregon's distillery scene is definitely on the move, and exciting new players like Medoyeff vodka from Corvallis are finding followings in the city's best bars. For the past year, forward cocktail creator Lucy Brennan has hosted food-and-spirit dinners at her increasingly ambitious Mint (816 N. Russell St.), including a recent small-batch bourbon collection accompanying the likes of seared rabbit liver and smoked lamb.

Meanwhile, young entrepreneurs are introducing specialty booze to the PBR crowd. Apotheke, a new electronic-indie-Euro lounge (1314 N.W. Glisan St.), serves no cocktails at all. The focus is an intriguing beverage list, complete with tasting notes and digestifs typically found in Eastern and northern Europe, including Hungary's utterly bitter-complex Zwack Unicum and Denmark's licorice-spicy Gammel Dansk (think: stomach bitters are cool!). And Pix Patisserie's new North Portland branch (3901 N. Williams Ave.) pairs chic sweets with serious sips like VEP chartreuse, an insiders' choice, produced in limited batches and considered closest to the original alchemical formula.

Over at Park Kitchen, one of the city's best restaurants, Ludwig noticed that passionate spirit drinkers -- the ones who like to talk and think about what they're drinking -- are scattered in little scenes around town. He hopes to pull them together on the third Wednesday of each month with the spirit equivalent of a wine-tasting: an unexpected mix of people who fill the air with animated conversation.

The first event beams around gin, with four themed flights to choose from, each with three-to-four options (a flight is a series of similar samples tasted for comparison). One flight, plus a couple of small plates from chef Scott Dolich's imaginative kitchen, plus bread: yours for $35 a person.

Part of the fun should be sampling bottles you don't find everywhere, from saffron-scented Cadenhead's Old Raj Gin, a hot, spicy, pale yellow number with a reputation for charging up the nostrils to the macho Mercury London Dry Gin, known for its Tony Soprano-style toughness. Hey, this is gin, folks, not vodka.

Park Kitchen's liquor flight night, Nov. 16, at 422 N.W. Eighth Ave., 503-223-7275; reservations required.

FOOD NOTES -- Now that Naomi Hebberoy has willed the Gotham Bldg Tavern kitchen to co-chef (and co-owner) Tommy Habetz, what does the new menu look like? Not that different, but with more of the intensity and adventure that make Habetz worth following, from lamb ribs with horseradish salad to porchetta with pickled peppers. Some experiments aren't hot tickets, including a recent headcheese special. "Didn't sell one," Habetz confides. "It was still one of the best I'd ever had!" Meanwhile, judging by a quietly elegant bittersweet chocolate ice cream with black currant cream, desserts -- under new pastry chef Jehnee Rains -- are on the rise (2240 N. Interstate Ave.; 503-235-2294) . . . Amy Jermaine has left the punky-cool Slow Bar (533 S.E. Grand Ave.; 503-230-7767), where she laid down some serious food creds. Like Jermaine, new cook Bob McGee worked the line at Higgins. "I have to thank Greg Higgins for training my staff," says owner Rob Hemmerling, who once pointed out: "Punks like good food, too." . . . Dazzle Dogs and Super Soups, run by dog master and B-movie maven Don Gronquist, has folded.

Karen Brooks: 503-221-8230; kbrooks@news.oregonian.com