Before I even walked in the doors, I knew that I was fated to like Park Kitchen. I mean with a menu item that reads “Ken's bread and house made crackers with good olive oil” how could you not love it? Especially when the good olive oil, is good olive oil that comes from Oregon, and more specifically the place that keeps me gainfully employed.
From the moment I walked into the quaint little space, I knew that I was going to like so much more than the olive oil. The walls are painted a gorgeous pistachio color, and the bar is made of copper. Is there anything more sophisticated than a copper bar? Probably, but it’s a design aesthetic that really suits my fancy. So in I came, cozied up to the bar and browsed through the list of house cocktails. Though I eventually settled on wine ( 2006 Alaia Castilla y Leon Temranillo) I am in full support of any bar that serves an Old Tom Collins made with Ransom gin (gotta love the local thing).
I was a little sad to leave behind the copper bar and follow a waitress to my table, but the moment was short lived. A) I was thrilled to be in the intimate dining room with the open kitchen, and B) the table tops were also made of copper. My kinda place. So with my wine in hand, and only slightly distracted by she shiny table, I began to browse the menu.
Can I just say that I love, love, love menus that feature both large and small plates. It’s the perfect thing to suit the whims of my stomach, sometimes I’m rather hungry, sometimes I just want a nibble, sometimes I want to try more than one thing on the menu, and the Park Kitchen menu does this perfectly. Not only did I snack on the Ken's bread and house made crackers with good olive oil, but I also indulged in the Chickpea fries with squash ketchup, before moving onto the Sweet potato and pecan chou farci, saffron rice, pomegranate chutney. I’m not going to lie, I had no idea what chou farci was. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure what chou farci is, but all I know is that the saffron rice was calling to me, and when a food calls to you, you don’t hit the ignore button.
But let me back up a minute to the chickpea fries, which were, in my opinion, fried perfection. Though I don’t actually know if they are vegan, they seemed to be the vegan alternative to mozzarella sticks. They had a similar shape and look to them, only inside rather than cheese was a wonderful chickpea purée. And say what you will about squash ketchup, but it was damn tasty.
Back to the chou farci…. What is it? Apparently it is a traditional French dish involving stuffed cabbage? This particular chou farci was stuffed in what I believe to be some sort of chard, the perfect blend sweet potato (though I think they were actually yams) rolled up into cigars of chard, sitting delicately on the saffron rice. Is it wrong to sing to your food? Ok, I didn’t exactly sing, but I definitely hummed a few bars of “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan as I enjoyed my meal, because I really am mad about saffron.
So there I am, two glasses of wine down, two courses in, and I figure at this point it is go big or go home. So I order coffee ( you can tell a lot about a restaurant from their coffee, and theirs was naturally, fantastic) and ask to see the dessert menu. Let me just stop you at the Rosemary panna cotta, pine nuts and huckleberries. If there is one thing that I truly enjoy, it is herb infused desserts, and I don’t mean that in the special brownie kind of way. I love cooking with lavender, lemon thyme, marjoram, and I find that the herby quality gives desserts just the right amount of savory. Maybe this is just a personal preference, but I haven’t been into overly sweet things lately (with my mother’s bread pudding aside). So this savory sounding dessert really caught my eye. It didn’t disappoint. The presentation was beautiful, and the mix of sweet huckleberry with the salty pine nuts paired unmistakably well with the rosemary panna cotta. If I hadn’t have been sold on this place the moment I walked in the door, I would have been after eating this dessert. Dear Scott Dolich, I might be your new biggest fan.
And then, as if I hadn’t already decided to be a loyal patron for life, I went to use the restroom, and there, painted on the door, was the mural that will keep me coming back to Park Kitchen. A Bulldog, peeing on a lamp post ( the lamp post being sort of the logo for Park Kitchen) Um hello, was this restaurant created from the inner workings of my mind? Literally, from the color of the walls, to the copper bars, to the drinks, wine list, menu set up, and mural, it’s like the owners had me in mind when they opened up Park Kitchen. I want to be life-long friends with these people, not to mention eat there every day.
Executive Chef Scott Dolich (who I have met once by the way. Little did I know that we were actually kindred spirits… though, he may not realize it) says on his Bio on the Park Kitchen Website "I am speaking to my customers - my neighbors - through Park Kitchen. The food, the décor, the size and scale of the space, and the people I work with are all helping to create an ideal of neighborhood dining. Every dish that goes on the table is important to me because there are no strangers in a small restaurant." And this is exactly how I felt walking into Park Kitchen on Saturday night. Everything was speaking to me, which is an experience one doesn’t always feel when going out to eat.
I look forward to my next culinary encounter at Park Kitchen. Though I don’t live close enough to frequent it often, and Portland is full of exciting culinary experiences that are waiting to be discovered, I like to think that if I DID live in Portland, I would spend my lunch hours at the copper bar, an open notebook, a glass of wine, enjoying the Sunchoke soup with sorrel cream. And one day, hopefully soon, I will go there for lunch to experience the House-made hot dog with ketchup and chips. (Seriously, why not rename it “Tayler’s Happy Place” Because that is essentially what it is)I would highly reccomend trying it out, and seeing if Park Kitchen isn't your happy place as well.
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