« a small victory | Main | this era of financial austerity »
February 2, 2006
beer, beer beer 
It's so exciting—the fermenting beer is in a bucket on the cold side of our kitchen, and if you were bored, you could watch the bubbling of the yeast as it's busy changing sugar to alcohol. This is dumb, I know, but I feel like we have this new living entity in the house, which is much less interesting than the cats or dog, but is still there, quietly at work.
...
Last night, we went to an invitation-only event at a local brewpub that has been closed for remodeling for over a year. We got the invitation from the finagling of a foodie friend who suggested that because I do this portland guide, I should be invited. And I was. It's flattering.
This place used to be one of my favorite places to go have a beer. The beer, of course, was good, and the pub was in an old industrial building, all high ceilings, brick and giant wooden posts, so this awesome physical space. Tables and chairs, and the rooms, seemed somewhat arbitrary—there was a solid but mismatched quality to the place that added to my pleasure.
Perhaps the coolest gimmick they had was being right on the streetcar line. They had a Streetcar will arrive in 11 minutes readerboard both facing the streetcar line, and facing into the brewpub. It was somehow reassuring that you could catch the streetcar that you needed.
Anyhow, last night was kinda a shock. The space has been entirely redone, still very industrial, but also very sleek and modern. They spent a lot of money. They have these taps they call iced cobras that really do ice up, and they do this glass rinsing thing that not only rinses the glass, but it also chills it, and keeps the CO2 bubbles from sticking to it (which can diminish the taste of the beer). They had piles and piles of finger food, which ranged from okay to really good. Foodwise, it was a huge improvement.
Downstairs, they'll be serving pub grub from a huge menu. Upstairs, a higher-end restaurant.
We hung with our foodie friend and felt like imposters. The servers and other staff folks were on hand schmoozing everyone, do you like the food, can I get you anything, we hope you'll come back on the 23rd when we open for good. I asked just about all of them how affordable the food was going to be (we received menus with no prices), and everyone assured me that they were going to be very affordable. I wish I believed that.
They are adding a bakery to the operation, and unlike everything else, it seemed a little not-quite-thought-out. But who knows?
Anyhow, it was a surreal evening. Really, the test will be when they open, when the menus have numbers on them, when they are serving real food, not finger food.
Posted at February 2, 2006
Comments
this must be Portland Brewing in NW? I went to a wedding reception there a few years ago that was quite nice but I've never actually been to the restaurant (reception was upstairs).
Posted by: becky at February 2, 2006 1:50 PM
another good one bites the dust. I knew they were
gonna screw it up when they announced "closed for
IMPROVEMENTS last year"--invariably a red flag
Posted by: Theo M at February 3, 2006 9:42 AM