Even though it was an overcast low-70s day following a good rainstorm earlier this week, it’s still Summer in Portland and today was an awesome day to get out and see what it had to offer. I started by hitting up Honeycuspe in its new location inside the Wonderlove Bar and Food Cart Pod, a combination of ten food carts, each incredible in their own right.
Given that it was early afternoon I decided to go savory brunch vibe and ordered up the Ham and Cheese Waffle, which is filled with hardwood smoked ham and cheese, topped with a soft-fried egg, a smoked aioli and chives. I added an order of bacon to the mix and washed it down with a good ‘ole Stumptown Coffee. The waffle was crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. The baked-in ingredients made it a little denser than the rest of their waffles, but it was still spot on. Afterwards I had to go up and tell the owners that they should be really proud of the product they are putting out, because it was top notch.
After enjoying my brunch, I was off to the Portland Expo Center to see the traveling Cirque du Soleil show Kooza under the Big Top in the parking lot of the Expo.
I could regale you with all of the things that went on, but it turns out I had pretty much the same experience as a 4 1/2-year old, so we’ll go with her mother’s telling and show a few pics and vids from my seat front and center. I mean we were right in the action. It was thrilling and sometimes I actually forgot to breathe as the excitement happened all around and right over me.
Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4, Video 5, Video 6, Video 7, Video 8, Video 9, Video 10
Video 11, Video 12, Video 13, Video 14, Video 15, Video 16, Video 17
Even though I was in the very front row when the show ended the lights went down and I used the distraction to high tail it out of there and ended up getting to the tent exit quickly and out of the very full parking lot (the next showing started about an hour after the first show and all of the attendees were already lined up outside) within five minutes and onto Hwy 5 headed for the Southeast part of town to partake at Portland’s newest James Beard award winning restaurant Kann, also voted by the New York Times as the Best New Restaurant in America in 2023.
Because I didn’t have a reservation I got put on the waitlist, but I only had to wait about 45-minutes before they seated me at the bar counter. In addition to the counter next to the open-flame fire, there is a second three seat counter in front of the bar off to the side and I had the whole thing to myself.
I started with the Bel Plaj, a wonderful cocktail designed to invoke the feeling of relaxing on a Caribbean beach, as it’s made with white rum, coconut liquor, strawberry, pineapple and coconut milk.
The menu at Kann is designed for sharing as each app, side and entree is more like a tapas. I started with the warm plantain brioche buns with a topping of flaky salt and the most incredible epis butter. If you haven’t had Haitian epis think chimichurri, but very garlic forward. Mixed into butter it is mind blowing.
The food came out when each dish was ready, so as I was finishing up the buns the next dish arrived, something many may be familiar with if they’ve visited the Kann homepage above. The Griyo Twice Cooked Pork comes with some slices of avocado, cilantro, pickled onion and four bannann peze (think crispy fried plantain mini tostadas).
For the first two plantains I chopped up the pork a little and layered on the ingredients over the plantain and ate them like mini tostadas. For the third one I got stupid, piled it all up then took a fork and knife to it and tried to get all sophisticated. Let me tell you that this dish needs to be eaten with your hands. It’s just not the same with a fork and knife. For the fourth plantain I went back to doing just that.
Even worse though, I had leftovers of everything but the plantains at this point, so I had to eat the rest with a fork, and again while absolutely delicious one needs the plantain as the vessel and the eating by hand as the experience.
Having finished my cocktail, and with my main entree on its way, I ordered a local Hefeweizen from Occidental Brewing to go with my pork chop. It was light, refreshing and paired well with the entree.
About 45 minutes into my experience now, my pork chop arrived. I’m going to pause here for a second to just point out that while the timing of food delivery certainly played a role I found that this was probably the longest I had actually sat and enjoyed a meal (especially when eating by myself) in a long, long time. Normally, while I do enjoy food, I’m one to get in, eat, and get out. Tonight, though I was savoring every bite and by the time the night was over I think I was there at least 90 minutes which is probably a record for me.
So, when that double-bone local pasture raised pork chop arrived with the smoked peach, ginger and habanero salsa with a side of smoked frisee salad and a side of what are apparently very authentic Haitian peanut creamed collard greens with spiced tomatoes, peanuts and coconut cream, I was ready to dig in.
Upon ordering the pork chop the waitress said the chef recommended a medium rare cook on the chop. I was not used to this, but I went with the recommendation and let me say that while I normally buy Berkshire Kurobuta pork, this chop blew away anything I’d had before in the way of juiciness and tenderness. It was very special and I told the bartender it brought a tear to my eye. She asked if it was because it was spicy and I said, “No, because it’s so damn good”.
Having said that, the chop was not the item that surprised me the most though. That would have been the lightly smoked frisee salad. Who would think to smoke a frisee salad. I would have liked the chop to have had that same smokiness, but maybe that would have been too much. It was just such a spectacular accompaniment that I’m inspired to go buy a cold smoker and figure out how to do it myself.
I knew there was no way I was finishing the entree and side dish so I ate about 1/3 of each and asked to have them wrapped up to go so that I could move on to dessert. For the final portion of my meal I chose the Baked Haiti. Think Coconut Sponge Cake meets Pineapple Upside Down Cake meets a toasted marshmallow and you will be spot on.
Off-the-charts delicious, moist, sweet, but not cloyingly so, and just unlike anything I’ve ever had or will ever have anywhere else. I would go so far as to say that, with a cup of coffee or a desert cocktail this could even be a late-night destination dish all by itself.
So, that was my Saturday. But the weekend isn’t over and tomorrow I head back up to Ridgefield to watch the Counting Crows and Santana jam at the RV Inn Style Resort Ampitheater. Looking forward to that one. Until then….