Quick Hits: Raven & Rose, Mirakutei, Clemente's

In recent years there's been a dearth of great places to have lunch downtown, with most of the hot lunch action taking place on the east side of the river. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, since that's my side of town, but when there are friends on the west side with prescribed lunch hours, it'd be nice to have someplace decent to drop into.

Perfect celery root soup with lardons, chive blossoms.

Fortunately for downtowners, there's more than just Clyde Common and Higgins for a nice-to-fancy spot for a business lunch, a meet-up with your auntie or just a soup-and-sando with a friend. And since it's located in one of downtown's oldest buildings, a former stable for city father William Ladd's horses, Raven and Rose provides plenty of fodder (ha!) for conversation.

Rabbit Caesar salad.

Open less than six months, R&R's menu offerings, under the direction of Exec Chef David Padberg, are coming along nicely, with the intimate dining room opening for lunch just a week ago. Lunch revolves around a selection of soups and salads, a few sandwiches and a sampling of larger plates with staples like fish and chips, shepherd's pie, a couple of seafood options and a pasta dish that are augmented with Padberg's stable of seasonal vegetables and greens along with herbs from his prodigious garden.

Rhubarb phosphate.

The rabbit Caesar I ordered was spot-on, the rabbit, sourced from a small local farm, braised to fall-apart perfection and shredded over a bed of tender local greens. My friend's black cod was similar to the version found on the dinner menu, roasted and placed on top of cannelini beans, chard stems, celery and wild mushrooms. I couldn't resist ordering a rhubarb phosphate, though I was tempted by the anise spritzer that was also on the non-alcoholic beverage list. There is, of course, a complete menu of fully-leaded cocktails, wine and beer available, but I like the seasonal sodas that Padberg and Dave Shenaut, R&R's bar director, are developing, a category that isn't often found on PDX bev menus.

Next time I'm going for the fish and chips, since I'm obsessed with finding a decent representative of that most quintessential pub grub, and the burgers and fries ordered by other patrons looked luscious. Comfortable and clubby inside, with outdoor tables ringing the building on sunny days, this is a nice place to spend even a short lunch hour.

Details: Raven & Rose, 1331 SW Broadway. 503-222-7673.

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It can be said, without equivocating in the least, that I adore sushi and its riceless cousin, sashimi. They would be my choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner if it was possible. Though I'm married to someone who, while he enjoys it on occasion, is just not as cuckoo as I am for these articles of Japanese cuisine, which means lunches are a good time to head out for a fix.

There are several good places to experience this food in Portland, though it's slow going getting around to them due to the (mostly justifiably) pricey tabs that can be run up sampling this and that. Mirakutei, just over the bridge from downtown on East Burnside, is a little hole-in-the-wall spot to do just that.

It's built its reputation on ramen, but I found both the sushi and sashimi to be moderately priced and cleanly made, with super-fresh fish that was beautifully and simply presented. Well worth checking out, especially on week days.

Details: Mirakutei, 536 E Burnside St. 503-467-7501.

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Tables of steam trays, racks of meat under heat lamps and baskets and bowls heaped with pastries and out-of-season fruit have always puzzled me as a solution to a holiday breakfast. Maybe it's that Grannie and Uncle Henry and the nieces and nephews can all find at least one thing in the pile they'll like, but, really?

Clemente's.

Call us fogies, but we rarely go out for a traditional brunch or even for breakfast, preferring to sit and sip our coffee, read the paper and maybe have toast or an omelet, all in the comfort of our jammies and slippers. So on Mother's Day, when the males in the household said we were going to go on a road trip dubbed the Magical Mother's Day Mystery Tour, especially when it was mentioned that the dogs would be coming with us, I was in.

A terrific Bloody Mary.

Without a blindfold, it was pretty obvious when we hit Highway 30 that we were heading for the beach, so when we pulled into Astoria around one-ish I was more than ready to fill the gaping hole that had opened up since toast and coffee earlier that morning. Fortunately, we pulled up in front of Clemente's, the refreshing addition to Astoria's previously moribund dining scene, a place where seasonal and local rule and ingredients are treated with knowledge and respect.

Supremely satisfying crab Caesar.

It was a casual, order-off-the-menu brunch-or-lunch scene with not a steam table in sight, and I exercised my mother's privilege of ordering a Bloody Mary made with house mix and home pickles, followed by a half dozen local oysters. They needed just a couple of drops of lemon before being consumed, and then my crab Caesar arrived with a pile of Dungeness smiling up at me from the plate. Though Dave hit the jackpot with his seafood-alicious cioppino (top photo), crammed with salmon, oysters, scallops and crab. Other than a puzzling spoonful of quinoa on one side of my salad, it was a particularly satisfying way to celebrate the holiday, especially since it was followed by a romp on the beach and a (for me) sleepy ride home.

Details: Clemente's, 1198 Commercial St., Astoria. 503-325-1067.

An Offer I Couldn't Refuse, Pt. 1

The chime of the incoming e-mail message sounded normal enough. But when I clicked to read it I nearly fell out of my chair. Someone from Tourism Vancouver was asking if I'd be interested in coming to that city for a three-day culinary tour of the latest hot spots, along with a cocktail showcase previewing the upcoming Tales of the Cocktail festival and a sampling of restaurants participating in Dine Out Vancouver.

Assuming they must surely have me confused with some other writer, I nonetheless hit the reply button as quickly as I could, hoping it would get there before they realized their error. Then, being the nice people that Canadians are reputed to be, they'd be too polite to rescind the invite. Right?

The itinerary arrived a few days later and I found out they'd not only be flying me up, but I'd be housed at one of the newest hotels in town, the Fairmont Pacific Rim, smack dab on the harbor overlooking Stanley Park and directly opposite the Coast mountain range that rings the city (top photo). They'd invited a dozen writers to come on the tour, including my neighbor, author Ivy Manning, a veteran of many tours who could dispense sage advice to a noob like myself.

First up after pitching my bag in the hotel room was a sushi making class and sake pairing with Chef Jason Harris (left) of the Fairmont's Oru restaurant. A very personable guy (nice people, the Canadians, remember?), he'd decided to have us make albacore nigiri, the fish and a smear of wasabi perched on a compressed scoop of rice, as well as a tamaki cone filled with either a salmon or spicy albacore mixture along with our choice of vegetables.

The key with nigiri, as any of you experienced sushi makers know, is to keep your hands moist so the rice sticks to itself rather than turning your hands into rice-covered mittens. Chef Harris prefers a special sushi rice called koshikari, since it keeps its shape while still sticking together. Then it's just forming the rice into a tight little log, swiping the slice of fish with a smear of wasabi and placing it on top of the rice. A little pressure on the sides of the fish to conform it to the rice and seal the deal and you're done. Wow!

The tamaki was fascinating, since there's a real trick to forming the cone. Moistening your hands, take a small amount of rice and, with your fingertips, form it into a triangle at the top of a sheet of nori (about 4" by 8"). Then place matchsticks of vegetables or other fillings at an angle across the rice (right). Take the upper left-hand corner of the nori and gently fold it down to the right, making a 45° angle. Continue rolling until it forms a cone (below left). Simple!

Chef Harris emphasized that it's important to eat the cone as soon as possible after making it, since the moisture in the rice will quickly soak into the nori and it won't have the crisp freshness that lends so much to the texture of the cone.

There was a little time left in the class before we sat down to lunch, so Chef Harris showed us how to make a simple sushi roll. With moistened fingertips, cover three quarters of the nori sheet (approx. 4" by 8") with a thin layer of rice, arranging the fillings at one end. Then, gently but firmly, roll it toward the open end.

Again there's a trick, and that's to wrap the bamboo sushi mat with plastic wrap so the roll won't stick to it. Then cover the roll with the mat and gently press it with your hands to seal the roll. All that's left is to slice the roll crosswise into rounds and eat.

Of the two sakes we paired with these, one was made by artisan sake producer Masa Shiroki of Osake on Granville Island. All of the sakes he makes are junmai sakes, that is, they're made from rice, water, yeast, and the micro-organism called koji. It's unfiltered, with a very light and slightly sweet taste and a body similar to sauvignon blanc. The other was, to my surprise, from Oregon-made Momokawa sake, with a slightly drier taste and smooth body. Both were terrific, and made me want to explore this wine a little more.

I'm thinking a small cocktail party with sushi fixings would be a fun twist on the usual snacks-and-drinks gathering, plus people would be astonished at not only how easy it was, but that I learned to do it on a trip to Canada. Who'd expect that?

For more of my culinary tour of this gorgeous city, see Part 2: Having a Gas and Part 3: A Grand Tour.

You Take a Stick of Bamboo

You take a stick of bamboo,
You take a stick of bamboo,You take a stick of bamboo,You throw it in the water...

Peter, Paul and Mary may or may not have meant this song as a political statement, but it nicely encapsulates the philosophy behind the opening of Bamboo Sushi on SE 28th. Formerly a sushi restaurant called Masu East, it was the eastside outpost of downtown's Masu owned by partners Jeff Berback and Kris Lofgren.

Lofgren became increasingly concerned about the environmental and sustainable aspects of owning a sushi restaurant, where it's hard to find out how or where the fish is caught, much less the ripples its distribution may have on other species and the environment. He decided to buy out Berback and reopen as the first seafood restaurant in the United States to be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Along with MSC, he is also partnering with other blue-chip organizations including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Blue Ocean Institute and the Green Restaurant Association. Using the guidelines established by Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium, Bamboo says it will only serve seafood listed as "best choices" or "good alternatives."

So fine, you say, but how is the food? Well, at an event to showcase the menu for the media, it was both good and a little uneven. Overall, the sushi was excellent with some unusual (and tasty) combinations that you won't find at other sushi spots in town. The usuzukuri, made with thinly sliced whitefish, jalapenos, ponzu, green onions, tobiko and sesame seeds (photo, top), was a fresh take on a traditional dish, with salty and sweet flavors combining with the popping of the flying fish roe for a fun sensory experience. The hoki poke box (above left), sushi rice pressed with red crab salad and layered with tuna, avocado, green onion, togarashi and poke sauce, also had the traditional-with-a-twist thing going on, and the grilled kobe flank with sweet potato, sauteed garlic greens with bacon, pickled mushrooms and momiji sauce was amazing.

The unevenness came when the kitchen strayed from the Japanese theme, throwing in au courant items like panko-crusted goat cheese (above right), smoked cipollini onions and candied walnuts that begged a "Huh?" response.

But the most surprising thing was the desserts, which were actually quite good and worth ordering on their own. The adzuki filo (left, above), basically a red bean paste-filled empanada, was a crunchy, oozing delight and had a sweet potato-lime sorbet with a fence of raspberry poached pears, ideal complements to the empanada's sweetness. The chocolate "egg rolls" were chocolate pudding-filled pastry rolls that had been rolled in ginger sugar and served with candied ginger ice cream and seasonal fruit. Sensational on all counts.

Though Lofgren says they're working hard to keep their prices comparable to other spots in town, it is pricey so choosing wisely (and conservatively) might be the best policy, at least at first.

Details: Bamboo Sushi, 310 SE 28th Ave. Phone 503-232-5255.