We’re now firmly into the best part of the year in Portland when it comes to weather. We’re past the squelching heat waves of the Summer, but not quite yet into the rain, snow and ice of Winter. The days are into the upper 60s and low 70s and the nights and early mornings are perfect for a fire. The wardrobe changes from bowling shirts and shorts to wool and flannel with the sleeves rolled up and a light vest.
With fantastic weather as a backdrop, we made sure to get out a little on this beautiful weekend. On Saturday, Kay joined me for our first visit to the Multnomah Whiskey Library as its newest member.
We started out downstairs in their “waiting room” where they were serving up Happy Hour, so I tried out their Manhattan and Kay had a Jumbo shrimp cocktail. Once we were done there, they escorted us to the main room.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of the main room because I was engaging with the staff, asking all kinds of questions, with it being my first time there (as a member, I have been in one other time a couple months back when I attended the Women in Whiskey presentation through my membership with Westward Whiskey).
I ordered a drink of their Ohishi 10-year koji rice-fermented Whiskey finished in Brandy barrels, along with a plate of their Smoked Salmon pate with crème fraîche, dill vinaigrette, grapefruit and some crostinis. We weren’t there for dinner this night, but they do serve entrees as well. Everything paired nicely, the service was friendly, helpful and unpretentious. Some nice jazz was playing in the background and there was a low murmuring of conversation from the light amount of gathered members who were all hanging out equally enjoying themselves.
Having sufficiently checked out the place for the first time, with our gift whiskey Glencairn glasses in tow, we headed to dinner. Again, sorry I didn’t get any pictures, but if you are in Portland and you like Thai food, and you can’t manage to get reservations to James Beard Award-winning Langbaan, then ZabPinto is your place. I’ve never had a bad meal at this place, or a wait, and it just so happens that it is conveniently located right next door to our absolute favorite plant nursery in town, Talise Garden. If you are looking for the freshest, most interesting house plants you can find in Portland, stop in and tell the owner Tutu that Billy and Kay sent you…I told her yesterday when we were in there, “This place just makes me happy”. As usual we went in for a couple plants for my office and came out with half a dozen, but we’ll find places to put them all.
For about two months now I’ve had reservations for the Joto Sake tasting at the Portland Japanese Garden. A couple months back I did a wine tasting there with Torii Mor, the official wine of the garden, and today’s session was held in the same visitor center by Joto Sake, the official sake of the Garden.
I was the first guest to arrive and picked out a seat right up front so I could easily ask questions. This session was designed to be an educational experience with the master sake scholar and General Manager of Joto Sake, an importer representing ten Japanese Sake Brands.
Each seat was setup with a placemat with information about the six sakes we would be tasting today.
There was also an informational guide that discussed each of the sakes…
… and a nice little charcuterie plate to demonstrate that sake goes well with a lot of different snacks, not just Japanese food.
(This is a good time to point out that if you read this post in most email applications instead of opening it in the web or the Substack app the pictures are likely going to be cropped when you click on them. Always click through and read these articles on the web, or on your phone/computer in the Substack app if you can, to obtain the full experience).
Ryan, our sake guide, took us through the various types of rice, the terminology, the different levels of rice polishing and the benefits, the variations in sake derived from Japan’s terroir, and the overall sake making process. I have a couple pics from the guidebook and her slides below, but if you are at all interested in sake and how it is made, I encourage you to go to Joto Sake’s website where they have curated an excellent primer to educate readers.
As always, the Japanese Garden put on a very educational (and tasty) performance. After the 90-min program was complete I decided to head out and take a lap around the garden before dinner because I often don’t get to see it in the evening light.
I generally try to visit during the morning members-only hours because it is so much more peaceful (the garden is now seeing upwards of 1,000,000 visitors a year). If you don’t have a membership and want to visit, I strongly encourage getting there right at 10 am when it opens to the public. That’s also when Washington Park opens to the public and you will be much more likely to actually find a parking spot.
On this day as I walked around, I was a bit annoyed, because while you can’t tell it from the pics, the place was crawling with loud tourists and their even louder kids. It was neither relaxing nor enjoyable, and there was zero Zen. So, I snapped a few shots (I love looking at the Japanese Maples, have planted a half dozen in my yard and groom them in the same manner as they do here to evoke a very open, see-through design) and headed back towards the entrance. I’m here every couple of weeks, so I’ll make up for that portion of the experience very soon I’m certain.
There was a Kintsugi exhibition and educational presentation the day before that had sold out, but some of the kintsugi objects were on display. On the way out of the Garden I stopped in to take a look at them. I’ve always been fascinated with the art and beauty of Kintsugi, taking something and either repairing it, or breaking it on purpose and bringing it back together by “gluing” the pieces together with a lacquer then dusting the seams with gold so that the finished product is more interesting than the original.
I had planned ahead to stop and check out Kizuki Ramen and Izakaya just down the street from the Japanese Garden, as I had passed it every time I went to the Garden or was otherwise on that side of town.
Upon entry it was modern and clean and the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, quickly seating me at the counter (which I prefer if it’s a kitchen where guests can watch the chefs prepare the meal).
While the snacks I had eaten earlier weren’t that heavy, I wasn’t in the mood for a full entree, so I opted for several of their Izakaya side dishes. The term Izakaya refers to a bar that serves small street food or tapas-like side dishes.
The first dish I ordered was the Karaage salad, which included crispy on the outside (due to the double-fry method), juicy on the inside chicken, on a bed of chopped lettuce with cucumbers, tomatoes and an amazing Japanese sesame dressing. That will very likely be a baseline part of any order I have when I definitely return. Outstanding!
Next up was a potato croquette, which included essentially breaded and deep-fried mashed potatoes with an okonomi sauce drizzle (a soy-based sauce). Ok, now I have two things I have to order every time it seems.
Finally, a simple platter of pan-fried gyoza. Nothing more, nothing less. Freshly handmade, perfectly seared and served with a side of gyoza sauce. Loved ‘em.
Oh, almost forgot, having whetted my whistle and learned a thing or two about sake this evening, I paired my meal with a small split of Ozeki Junmai Daiginjo (Junmai Daiginjo is the very premium result of polishing the rice kernels at least 50% or more to work with only the very center of each grain of rice) made in of all places, Hollister CA. Gotta tell you though, it was delicious. It seems if a company is going to go through all the work of preparing the product to such a degree that the very process eliminates half the product to get only the very best outcome, there is a good chance they will succeed, and in this case they did.
While this place is serviced by Doordash, I have a pretty good feeling that when we’re in the mood we’ll take the time to drive the 3 miles to eat this food hot and fresh.
And that, readers, was a light weekend in Portland, Oregon. Until next time….