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Normally There Would Be A Full Post Here

Due to circumstances outside of my control yesterday and today I have not had the time that this next post deserves for putting it together. So for now please enjoy this great photograph taken by the lovely Lynn Nguyen of Moods of Florence of the great chefs of the Under the Antlers dinner last week. On the left in the hat is the enthusiastic Lyf Gildersleeve, seafood purveyor extraordinaire and owner of Flying Fish Company of Portland, Oregon. In the middle is innovative Chef de Cuisine Chris Starkus of Urban Farmer where the dinner was held. On the right is the energetic Executive Chef of Departure and much more Gregory Gourdet. More to come about this hopefully tomorrow.

The Sights and Sounds of Multnomah Falls

Just a couple videos I took of Multnomah Falls in November 2013. This is the lower falls from the observation deck.

This is the upper falls filmed from the bridge. It is a bit windy up there so that is the other noise in the video.

My prior posts about Multnomah Falls are here and here and a look at a few dishes they serve at Multnomah Lodge is here.

Tachibana Dance Group from 2014

Since it's Obon time with Japanese festivals happening in various places and because I have made a few posts about Uwajimaya's Summer Festivals, here are a couple videos of the Tachibana Dance Group's performances in 2014.

I hope you enjoy them.

Ultimate Omakase Sushi at Nodoguro

I've written about the wonderful creative Japanese cuisine that happens at Nodoguro. But it wasn't till recently that I was able to try the other remarkable dining that sometimes happens there. Since my birthday was coming up I wanted to continue my small tradition of a nice sushi dinner.

It's a limited seating that only happens a couple times a month and sells out within hours. It's almost as elusive as trying to see a mermaid. But thankfully not. Given the amount of work and preparation that must go into a service like this it's not surprising that this is a special night for diners.

Diners sat at the counter that surrounds the working kitchen. Team Nodoguro, Mark, Elena and Chef Ryan are all present preparing and serving the starting dishes or kobachi.

First up was a pair of local Bay Oysters with yuzu and scallions on ice. Nice way to start the meal.

Second was the return of soy cured Ocean Trout with a bit of fresh real wasabi. I believe this was the same or similar to the one served for the Fast Food meal in November. I don't have a problem with that because it was delicious and I would order this again if it was on a menu.

The Crab topped with ikura and Japanese parsley in a egg was probably my favorite of the small dishes. I didn't catch how the foamy the egg was while eating this, but my photo did.

Probably the most unusual dish of the evening was this. Scallops with bonito shuto. If you are brave you can look up bonito shuto. I don't think I would eat bonito shuto by itself but the way Chef Roadhouse served it with the scallops was very tasty.

Next was the Akimo dish. Plated over barley miso with persimmon and scallions it was a really nice combination. I liked the taste of the persimmons in this dish.

The Black Cod with chestnut miso made a return from the December Gitter dinner. This time paired with thinly sliced pickled lotus root. I could tell by the comments that diners loved this dish.

Another first for me was Giant Clam with a bit of mitsuba on top.

We were moving into the omakase sushi portion of the meal. First up was this lovely bit of New Zealand Sea Bream or Tai. Very popular fish to eat at New Years in Japan where it's considered to be the king of fish.

Second was probably my favorite of the sushi, Ocean Trout. Tender and delicate.

Following this was Scallop or hotate. By this time I was enjoying the food so much I almost forgot to take a photo.

Nodoguro's sitting is at the counter. Which gives diners a great view of sushi master Ryan Roadhouse at work as Elena waited to serve us. This was when Nodoguro was next to Pastaworks in Portland.

Next was a bit of gunkan sushi topped with Maine Sea Urchin or uni.

Also fun to see how a sushi chef cuts the fish. This takes lots of practice which was very much evident for sushi night at Nodoguro.

Lovely Aji or mackerel. My take on mackerel is it better be fresh or forget it. This was very fresh and delicious. Following this was a marinated piece of Tako or octopus which I did not get a decent photo of. Another nigiri that many places don't seem to be able to make well. Tonight's serving was tender and appreciated by diners.

Kohada nigiri or gizzard shad made an elegant presentation in the line-up.

Really nice to see a bit of pressed sushi. By this point my notes are a little difficult to read. I blame the beer. But I did note that this was Saba mackerel with shiso and covered with a type of konbu. I also remember it was delicious.

Grilled Unagi or fresh water eel is one of my favorite dishes. But because they are endangered I am trying to find places that know how to serve Anago or salt water eel. Nodoguro is one of those places that does know how to make it as tasty as Unagi.

Happy to see this Temaki or hand roll. Filled with rice, ikura and yummy local Dungeness crab. Which reminds me I should get some more of Dungeness crab since they are in season and rather inexpensive right now.

That was the end of omakase service. But not the end of sushi. Because Chef Roadhouse opened it up to whatever we wanted of the fish that was left.

So of course I had a few more pieces as did other diners. Good thing I didn't eat much during the day. But then well prepared sushi is one of the few things I can eat a lot of.  No question as to if the Ultimate Sushi at Nodoguro was that.

Other diners indulged in little bowls of ikura. It seems I wasn't the only one there that was a sushi aficionado. We joked about going for a walk and then coming back for more.

However next time at the end I am asking for a Captain's Bowl. It was too late for me to find out about getting a bowl of sashimi. Just one of the secrets at the amazing Omakase Sushi service at Nodoguro.

So far Ultimate Sushi has only happened a couple times a month on Sunday nights. Reservations fill up quickly. I'm hoping that more nights will happen so fans of great sushi will be able to experience this amazing meal. Just be sure to eat light beforehand.

Nodoguro's website is here.

 「のどぐろ」レストランは伝統的な日本料理をベースとしたクリエィティブでユニークなスタイルの創作料理で皆様をおもてなしいたします。
日本のファントムラビット牧場から直輸入した和の食材や、地元の旬の肉や魚を使ったお料理を季節やテーマに合わせてご提供いたします。
夕食には数量限定のおまかせ寿司もご用意しております。

シェフのライアン・ロードハウスは福岡で修業後、地元ポートランドの日本食レストラン「やざくさ」、「ます」で修業を重ね、「のどぐろ」を開店いたしました。
「のどぐろ」は3735　SE　Hawthorne ブルバードにあり、皆様のお越しをお待ちしております。座席数が限られております。ご予約はhttp://nodoguropdx.com/からどうぞ。皆様のお越しをお待ち申し上げます。

Compass at Departure or Yes Chef Gourdet Can Do Fish with Fruit

 The other day I had a chance to finally visit Departure Restaurant in Portland. Known for it's roof top view which lived up to their reputation. Sadly the outside was not open but still pretty darn amazing even from inside.

The reason for visiting was the chance for more fine Japanese style dining. At a one time only seating for the first of a series of dinners called Compass which feature food from different locations in the world.

This was the first dinner which featured Japan. Eight courses put together by a chef in Portland who is rather well known.

The dinner was created by Chef Gregory Gourdet, a top Top Chef participant who likes to bring the heat.

There was a sake pairing with the meal but I just went with a glass of Sakemoto Jumai.

The first dish was a soft egg topped with sake cream and caviar and sprinkled with katsuobushi which is dried bonito. This dish was inspired by Chef Gourdet's cooking days in New York. It was really delicious and a great way to start this meal.

Next up was Oysters Three Ways. Buckley Bay oysters were paired three ways. I believe left to right is pickled cactus and jalapeno juice, trout roe with lemon and dried chili, last iswasabi granita, kyuri and shiso. The salty roe with the fresh oyster made the middle oyster really stand out in flavor.

Nigiri followed the oysters nicely. The toppings were anago, sawara, tako, hiramasa. The anago was simmered in tamari, sake and mirin and was amazing. Softest tako I have eaten and the little bit of chili paste on top actually worked well with it. Excellent nigiri.

This was the either the hiramasa (yellowtail) or sawara (Spanish mackeral). Usually I can tell but both lighter fish were tender and delicious plus I was a bit overwhelmed by how amazing everything. By looking I think it was sawara.

Chef Gourdet came in with each dish to explain what was in each one. There were way more ingredients than what I am listing. This was a great dish of Chicken Yakitori. It included chicken skin, spicy chicken liver, Kushiyaki wing, and gizzard with tare. Togarashi which I think was in the liver, yuzu salt, and black rice which was used for the forbidden rice crisp.

Boneless wing or kushiyaki which I really liked. I noticed the guys at the table loved the forbidden rich crisp. If they weren't so fragile I bet they would sell well as a snack at stores. This dish along with the others showed how a chef can add heat to a dish without overwhelming everything. That is something a lot of chefs do not know how to do which is a shame. It really is about balance. Chef Gourdet focus on the components of a dish really stood out here.

Chef Gourdet brought the heat with his Spicy clam broth. Created with smoked pork, scallion, nori and chili paste this was the hottest dish of the night. I really enjoyed the clams which had been seasoned separately from the soup before going in. The pork was well done also. I know several people enjoyed this. The broth was so flavorful it reminded me of ramen.

Saikyo Miso Black Cod with braised walnut in ginger and cider and grilled orange. Chef Gourdet definitely can do fish with fruit. This was the dish of the night. I noticed how quiet it became at our table. Everyone was too busy eating and enjoying. Black cod is one of my favorite fish and next time I cook it I will be using orange or tangerine with it. I'm converted. I can't say enough how wonderful this was. The cod was not overwhelmed by miso yet the skin had a nice saltiness. Everything paired wonderfully.

Following the black cod was Wagyu Beef Sirloin with leek, sunchoke, bourbon barrel aged soy from Bluegrass Soy and I believe a bit of beet. I really do not eat beef but I did just for this. This was quite good but I think the black cod was a tough act to follow plus we were getting a bit full at this point.

Chocolate and miso starred in the Hazelnut Mille Feuille, along with ginger, and summer plum. Oh my. This was a excellent way to end Chef Gourdet's first pop-up meat at Departure. Light pieces of pastry with the hazelnut cream and the chocolate and plum sauces was amazing. I think if we could we would have licked the plates clean.

Overall it was an excellent meal with lovely people and I am definitely impressed by Gregory Gourdet's cooking plus he is a genuinely nice guy. This was a great start to the Compass dining series and I totally recommend it. There are at least two more dinners planned in the coming months. Next is China and then Haiti which is the food Chef Gourdet grew up with so that will be amazing too. I think if they throw in Egypt at some point I would be very much tempted. The Autumn Harvest Vegan dinner also sounds great.

If you want to dine at Departure their website is here.

They are located at 525 SW Morrison St in Portland, OR

If you can't get to Portland you can still see Gregory Gourdet shine on Top Chef. Include me in Team GG. Hoping to see him make it to the end because he definitely knows food and how to make it taste great.