Since You Asked
Gorgonzola Stuffed Pork Chops
We find and test the recipe for Gorgonzola Stuffed Pork Chops, as requested by Kathy Spring of Denham Springs, LA. Have you tasted something at a Pacific Northwest restaurant, bakery, or bar that you'd love to prepare at home? Email us at editorial@nwpalate.com or call us at 503-224-6039.

Out In Front
Wine Iconoclast: Charles Smith of K Vintners
By Angie Jabine
At 46, Smith may technically be a baby boomer, but his rock-and-roll sensibilities and youth-oriented marketing instincts suggest someone at least a decade younger. The originator of the hugely successful House Wines label, this is the guy that wine writer Paul Gregutt has called “probably the smartest marketer of wine this state has ever seen.”

In Our Kitchen
Chef Christy Fox
By Kathleen Bauer
Christy cooks Grandma’s Chicken, Herb Dumplings, & Pumpkin Noodles. Chopping the vegetables, including heirloom purple carrots from her favorite farmer in Ketchum, Fox said, “This is one of those recipes that people forget about. It’s kind of like rhubarb. People forget what’s indigenous to us and what we all recognize.

Wine
The Pinot Noirs of David Lett: 1970–2006
By Cole Danehower
I was honored recently to be invited to a truly once-in-a-lifetime Northwest wine event: a 36-year vertical tasting of every Pinot Noir vintage made by The Eyrie Vineyards, Oregon’s seminal Pinot Noir winery. The occasion was bittersweet, marking David Lett’s retirement and the passing of his torch to his son, Jason Lett. But it was also a celebration of what the Lett family has contributed to Northwest wine history.

Flavors
The Incredible, Versatile Asian Pear
By Kris Wetherbee
Asian pears are distinctly delicious. With the first bite your mouth is filled with thirst-quenching juice and amazing flavors. Their crunchy texture is suggestive of an apple and its sweetness of a European pear, yet this transplant from the Far East is the best of both fruits.

Inside Northwest Wine
The Art of Blending. Part Two: Varietal
By Cole Danehower
Blending different grape varieties into a single wine is considered by some to be the height of the winemaker’s art. Washington’s Bob Betz is a case in point.

Tanuki
413 NW 21st Ave., Portland, OR503-241-7667, tanukipdx.com

Wildly popular in Vancouver, B.C., “izakayas”—Japanese bars that serve small plates of food to accompany sake and beer—remain few and far between on Portland’s dining scene. There’s Syun in Hillsboro, Biwa in Southeast Portland, and now Tanuki in the Northwest quadrant. For the time being, the Japanese practice of hashigo sake, literally “lad-der drinking” (“barhopping” to English-speakers), before catching a ride home is out of the question.

That’s all right, really. Because once you enter Tanuki and order your first round of kushiyaki—skewers of miso-glazed scallops, shoyu-cured pork belly, sesame tofu, or hot-and-sour wild boar—chances are, you aren’t going anywhere else anyway.

A hole in the wall with seating for 15, maybe 20 diners, Tanuki isn’t the most spacious or comfortable environs by any measure. Japanese all-girl punk-rock bands rule the sound system, samurai movies play on a television over the sake-and-beer-stocked refrigerator behind the bar, and the air ema-nating from the kitchen can get smoky when the orders start piling in.

But the deliriously delicious food makes any shortcomings in ambiance worth the while: once the plates start arriving, all other senses take a back seat to taste.

The raucous surroundings receded when I took my first bite of chilled silken tofu with cucumber salad, fresh (real) wasabi, and ginger in citrusy ponzu sauce—so heavenly light and bright were the flavors. Pork riblets braised in beer and glazed with sweet miso sauce instigated such intense finger-licking, I didn’t care who looked on. Time and space suspended as I pondered and savored the mind-blowingly complex and bold flavors contained in a bowl of slow-cooked pork belly and sake-steamed clams in kimchi broth with bean curd noodles.

Owner/chef Janis Martin began her fine dining career in Chicago at Tru and Charlie Trotter’s, then materialized in New Zealand, where she lived on a cattle and sheep farm while cooking and consulting for three- and four-star hotels. She was drawn to Portland’s culinary bounty (and, one might surmise, the city’s dearth of izakayas) last year. She honed her Japanese chops at Biwa (see our write up in the July/August 2007 issue) before opening up her own place.

Martin creates each day’s menu based on the ingredients she finds freshest and most inspiring. The morphing menu is uncannily appropriate for a restaurant named after a Shinto spirit creature, Tanuki, who possesses the power to shift shapes at will in the pursuit of women, sake, food, and mischief. A few dishes make regu-lar appearances—one day the okonomiyaki, a crêpe-like griddle cake, is stuffed with bay shrimp and vegetables and topped with bonito flakes, scallions, and spicy mayo, another day succulent shreds of pork belly fill the interior.

Considering the quality of ingredients and preparation, Tanuki is a stellar value. Dishes top out at $12–$15, with most under $10, including $5 skew-ers, $3 miso or edamame, and the must-have $4 oshinko, an assortment of house-made pickles. Order as you go, or decide what you’d like to spend and say the magic word, “Omakase,” and let the chef choose your plates. Either way, $20 should satisfy most appetites.

If you come home missing a few extra bills, libations may very well be the cause of the empty space in your wallet. Creative cocktails include the refreshing Tanuki KintamaWa—a Japanese mojito, as it were—sake shaken with fresh citrus juice and poured over ice with shiso leaf. An exceptional selection of premium sakes is available by the bottle or eight-ounce tok-kuri, with prices ranging from the economical to the indulgent. Beer-lovers can choose from Kirin on draught, extra-large cans of Sapporo, or one of the craft beers made by Oregon’s Rogue Brewery.

Something to keep in mind: An izakaya is essentially a bar, so Tanuki is not a place to bring children. Wait until you can shapeshift out of that parental guise, then enjoy an adults’ night out.

Open 2–10pm, Tuesday–Saturday.

—Peter Szymczak


Plus:

The Saint Social Club — Seattle, WA

Aura— Victoria, BC

Café Mela — Victoria, BC

Ocho — Seattle, WA

Bar Mingo — Portland, OR

Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House — Vancouver, B.C.

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