El Gaucho

This is not your average high-class steakhouse…this is THE steakhouse to benchmark all others against. The dark, wooden trimmed, heavy décor provides the perfect setting for a long evening of drinking, eating and talking the night away. I requested a booth, and it was comfortable and ideally situated by the open kitchen, so we were able to enjoy our meal while watching the kitchen action.

We arrived at a busy time (9:15) and while we were waiting for our waiter, the Manager stopped by to warmly greet us and discuss the wine menu. We asked for a suggestion on a Cabernet, and he immediately named the Frank Family Cab out of Napa Valley. This was, no exaggeration, the best bottle of wine I have ever had (and I am almost solely a Pinot girl). It was so good in fact, we ordered two bottles! The menu has your standard offerings, and as with most upscale steak houses, everything is served ala carte.

Our evening consisted of the following:

Starters:
We had to start with the Tableside Caesar Salad. You never see restaurants offer services like this anymore, so I appreciated this. It was quite a process…they roll out a silver cart covered with all of the ingredients, individually placed in containers. The waiter worked furiously making the dressing, then perfectly tossing it, and separating it into three equal portions. This was so fresh and perfectly blended, one of the best Caesar’s I have tasted.

Entrees:
Chef’s Rib Eye for Armando – Served with bordelaise sauce, sautéed seasonal mushrooms and roasted garlic. A very popular menu item, there was only three of these left when we ordered (our waiter put one on reserve as soon as we sat down). The sauce was thick and almost creamy, this is one heavy meal.

16oz. New York Steak for Uncle Jim – Served topped with a large Portobello mushroom, and he ordered a side of the bordelaise sauce.

8oz. Filet Mignon for Me – Served topped with a large Portobello mushroom, no sauce necessary for me. This was a HUGE portion of meat, and was still considered the “small” size. I ordered it Medium, and it was cooked to perfection, with just enough pink remaining.

For the side dishes we ordered the baked potato (which is customized at the table by your waiter with a huge assortment of toppings – anything you can think of!), asparagus (perfectly tender and covered with a hollandaise sauce), and the chipotle corn by suggestion of our waiter (which was a combination of sweet and spicy – amazing flavor).

Service was friendly and attentive throughout the meal, with my water/wine glass was never empty!

Desert:
We were surprised to receive an entire basket of assorted fruit/cheese/crackers in appreciation for our patronage after we were finished with our dinners. It was a very classy touch, and the dates they served on the platter were particularly delicious (I also took the pear home with me – it was HUGE and too beautiful to give back, LOL).

Mississippi Mud Cake - Warm chocolate cake, espresso and Kentucky bourbon, served with vanilla bean ice cream. This was essentially a chocolate lava cake, without the ooeey and gooeey center. It was an explosion of flavor, and I enjoyed Every. Single. Bite.

I think this is the most expensive place I have dined, all things considered. Even at these prices though (our bill was $430 for three people) El Gaucho was packed all night with loyal patrons, both at tables and at the bar. Economy, schmaconomy I suppose? If you can swing it, this is the ideal place to celebrate that next truly special event. It is old-school charm at its finest.

*Jayne

Higgins

Higgins is the epitome of a fine dining experience in Portland. It has the traditional white table cloth setting, but without any particular style overpowering the restaurant. It is classic and comfortable. You realize quickly that Higgins is a staple for a reason – they are strictly focused on cuisine, and could care less about being hip or exclusive. The open space of the dining room is lovely, and walking towards the back of the restaurant provides a view of the hard-working chefs/wait staff.

Let’s get to the cuisine –

Drinks:
To be expected, Higgins has an extensive wine list highlighting NW selections (deep selection of Pinot offerings). Our waiter knew about every wine on the menu, and was not afraid to give suggestions when we asked, which we appreciated. We ended up with two amazing bottles based on his selections, the Carter Pinot Noir and the Soter Pinot Noir. In the end we enjoyed the Carter more, as this was a bit better in combination with our meals.

Starters:
1) Charcuterie Plate with house-made pickles. What a value…this was a huge plate of various meats (salumi’s/pâtés/etc), and the pickles were delicious.

2) Salad of gathered spring greens, toasted hazelnuts and herb vinaigrette. This was also a large portion, and had beautifully fresh ingredients tossed in a light dressing.

Entrees:
The tables are served fresh artisan bread upon arrival, including both white and hearty wheat (bread locally sourced by Grand Central Bakery, Ken’s and Pearl).

1) Halibut Dinner – Horseradish-crusted Alaskan halibut with cheddar polenta, braised greens, asparagus, and an orange beurre blanc. The light breading on this mild fish was beautiful, and did not overpower. The asparagus was tender, and the cheddar polenta tasted like cheesy mashed potatoes.
2) True Cod Special – There were so many ingredients in this dish that I can’t recall them all. What I remember is huge pieces of baked cod served on top of a stew-like bed of deliciousness, including asparagus, mushrooms, with a side of purple mashed potatoes. Hearty yet not too heavy, all of the components of this dish combined to create a taste that I have never experienced before, but will always remember. It was luscious.
3) Salmon Special – This originally came served with French lentils and cauliflower, but the server willingly made the requested substitutions to the sides with no issues. He also included some of the special sides he thought my Uncle must try, which I thought was a nice gesture.

The plating was beautiful on every dish. There was an inherent attention to detail and care put into everything throughout our meal.

Desert:
1) Brownie Special – A massive double dark chocolate brownie with homemade chocolate AND buttermilk ice cream. Could I possibly have loved this more? I think not.
2) Maple Cake – A piece of maple coffee cake covered in icing, served with a side of homemade ice cream (the flavor is escaping me, but is unimportant, this was amazing!).

To make our finale even better, Higgins serves Stumptown coffee, as well as a lavish list of teas (served with an iron cast tea pot to keep your water hot).

Service was superb, one of the best waiters we have experienced in Portland. He was knowledgeable and helpful on everything from starters to wine, and he added an element of luxury to the evening. In addition, making my reservation and changing it on the day of was no problem, the staff was very friendly throughout the restaurant. They even emailed me some details I needed for this review – thanks Higgins!

We chose Higgins as a special place to take my Uncle who was visiting from out of town. We wanted a Portland dining experience that would exude the unparalleled cuisine that Portland has to offer, but would also provide a wonderful atmosphere and great service. Higgins nailed it on all points, and allowed us to have a truly amazing dining experience.

*Jayne

Olypmic Provisions

This place has been getting an incredible amount of press lately, locally and nationally (Forbes magazine recently did a spread featuring “America’s Best New Restaurants” and Olympic made the list). Recently opened in the historic Olympic Mills building in SE, Olympic Provisions is “home to both a European-style restaurant and deli serving lunch and dinner, as well as Oregon’s first USDA certified meat-curing facility.” They are now open M-Sat 11am-10pm.

The Olympic Mills building has been meticulously renovated and has maintained a beautiful open/warehouse design. The restaurant space is beautiful, with exposed concrete walls and wooden furniture. They maximize space by placing small tables in a long row, as well as tables in the entrance, and seats at the counter for people to grab a quicker bite. We must have arrived just in time (1pm) because we only waited 10 minutes, and a line of at least 20 people steadily built up within 15 minutes.

The lunch menu is simple but wonderful, featuring all of their homemade meats (as well as some veggie-friendly options). They also offer some amazing side dishes of vegetables/eggs, which all sounded intriguing.

We chose:
1) Tri-tip steak, bell pepper, gruyère, crimini mushroom, carmelized onion, mayonnaise on baguette. The consensus was that although this was tasty, it was actually a bit bland and could have used an additional kick of flavor.
2) Saucisson sec, mahon cheese, mortadella, iceberg, red onion, pickled peppers, mayonnaise on ciabatta. This was a perfect sandwich…the saucisson sec was sliced thin and was perfectly textured, the mortadella sliced a bit thicker and full of flavor, mahon was folded in between both, and all served on a fresh ciabatta roll – well done.
3) Duvel Beer – A Belguim pale ale that is strong, yet smooth and light enough for lunchtime. Served in a Duvel glass, I highly recommend giving this a try.

Service was knowledgeable but not speedy…our sandwiches took at least 25 minutes to arrive. Also, when we did receive the food, my Uncle’s was served with only lettuce and bread (he ordered the sandwich with just lettuce and tomato, obviously assuming everything else would still be there!). We laughed hard at this one. After receiving a bit of attitude for pointing this out to the person who delivered the food, the error was quickly fixed by our waitress. She felt embarrassed for such a ridiculous mistake, and offered to buy him a drink. He refused, but she did send the cookie plate listed under their pastry section of the lunch menu (a chocolate cookie, a ginger cookie, and a biscotti). None were half bad, and they added a nice finishing touch to the meal.

For lunch Olympic is getting three stars, but I enjoyed it enough to put it on my list for dinner (which is saying a lot). More to come…

*Jayne

Dove Vivi

Finally made it back to Dove Vivi...took my mom and Armando there to show-off the amazing cornmeal crust. This place serves an unfrogettable pizza pie.

Yelp review from 8/15/09:
Unbelievable experience with Dove Vivi last night. After spending more time reading Portland pizza establishment reviews than I would like to admit, I choose Dove Vivi as my next pizza adventure, and I am still smiling about my experience as I write this review. Here's how it breaks down:

Atmosphere:
From the modest exterior to the quaint and comfortable interior, Dove Vivi provides a casual and relaxing environment to enjoy a great meal with friends. Three outdoor tables welcome you, and inside provides a sprawling bar with seats looking outside the restaurant (great for someone dining alone) as well as small and large tables to accommodate any number of guests. Interior décor is very clean and welcoming.

Service:
We were warmly greeted by a very sweet hostess as soon as we walked into the restaurant (don't be fooled by the deli-style counter, you need to have them seat you and order at your table) and were lucky to snag a table outside (score on a Friday night at 7:30). The waitress was great, and recommended a good bottle of Sangiovese Italian red wine for starters (and totally inexpensive at $14 - try finding other places in Portland with such an affordable bottle on their standard menu). Water came immediately served in an old Mason jar for full vintage/Portland effect. Attentive throughout, she went through the specials with us and let us know how to order (pizzas come in 1/2's). We were advised to order 1 full pizza, and that was the perfect amount for 2 hungry people (but don't expect leftovers, you will eat it all!). Overall great service!

Food:
Ah, the pizza. A great specials menu was provided, so we chose to order 1/2 of the special Spanish Chorizo pizza and 1/2 of the Veggie pizza from the standard menu (both were perfect combinations with our bottle of red wine). The pizza arrived straight from the oven in a heavy cast-iron looking round pan, with toppings piled high. The chorizo was sliced nice and thin, and onions layered on top balanced perfectly. The Veggie came with mounds of chunky eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms and green peppers, with the perfect blend of spices for a slight kick. Then there was the infamous corn meal crust - best idea ever! It literally makes the pizza over the top delicious, and worthy of all 5 stars in this review. The pizza is deep dish style, but without the heaviness of the traditional doughy deep dish because of the corn meal base. It complimented the salty flavors of the pizzas we choose remarkably well, and was never dry or soggy at any point throughout the meal. With every bite I was more impressed.

Ok, and if all that wasn't enough, they have great deserts as well! A glutton for chocolate, we ordered the homemade Zuccotto. Unbelievable! I will just call it out from the menu "chilled chocolate whipped cream cakes with a crushed biscotti layer and a ladyfinger crust." Need I say more? The perfect way to end your meal at Dove Vivi.

Cost:
At $40 for the entire meal, this was a total steal! I left completely stuffed and overwhelmingly happy with my entire Dove Vive experience.

Dare I say it...yep, here I go...Dove Vivi has the best pizza in Portland! Thank You Dove Vivi, and I will see you (VERY) soon :)

*Jayne