My wife stopped eating meat about 8 weeks ago. You can imagine my celebration. Since I am a carnivore, it has led to more interesting dinner choices. We now have to find places that fall into the category of meat friendly or vegetarian options available. In Portland, the land of soy milk and organic honey, it has been pretty easy. That is how we gluten-free roll here in the Pacific North Wet.

Realistically, she doesn’t eat meat because of the movie Food, Inc. She is voting three times a day,as they say. She has made a choice about how she will support the food industry. The way our food is processed and the way our food is made is becoming less about the food and more about the profit. In that scenario, we lose. The balance is lost.

The amount of time and energy needed to get the burger from the field is turning out to be a costly process that may or may not need to happen. This is one of the reasons I could talk her into trying out Foster Burger today. They use local, organic, ingredients.

La Sirenita

I had lunch with my wife the other day.  Not a big deal, but it is a task.  My suggestions or ideas are usually followed by a no.

"Hey, let's go have tacos!"
"No, we have lunch meat, just have a sandwich."

"I want to buy a camper trailer."
"No, you don't ."

It isn't that Krista is negative, she just has to be cajoled into things sometimes.  Yes, my goofiness has a tendency to convince her to think my way.  Much like lunch on Monday this week.  I had to get her out of bed, convinc her to eat lunch prior to doing anything else, and drive across town to do it.  It was hot that day.  I convinced her to go by taking her to get her AC fixed.  It happens to be next to a taqueria.  La Sirenita.

La Sirenita sits quitely at 8029 on SE 17th Ave, in Portland, OR
While some pour soul gave it a 3 on his scale of greatness, I can honestly say it is one of my faves.  The food is good, it is filling, and it is cheap.  I am not sure I would expect so much greatness for the price, yet I am pleasantly surprised every time I walk out of there.

Back to my wife.

We drove over to Bridgetown Automotive to drop off Krista's car.  The purpose was to get some damn carne asada tacos.  After much playful wrangling we sat down to a nice platter of carne asada tacos and some carnitas tacos.  They are cheap.  Two tacos are about 5 bucks.  Here is the kicker.  They serve them on two corn tortillas each.  That means you actually get 4 tacos for the price of two, if you do it right.
Krista claims it is some of the best carnitas she has had in Portland.  I am not much of a carnitas fan, but my steak was great.  We shared the platter portion for the guac, sour cream, etc..

From this:

To this:

In the end, I got my way, she was cajoled, I was fed, and the AC in her car now works for the 3 mile drive from our house to work or back.  In this 106 degree weather we are having, anything will do.
Try Bridgetown Automotive, Chris is the owner, he is a great guy.  He knows cars.  Ask him about his challenger. or is it charger..  uh oh.

Then walk over to La Sirenita, grab a burrito or a taco.  Enjoy.

Besaw’s In Northwest Portland
http://www.besaws.com/

One of my favorite places in Portland, I rarely get over there enough. They honestly have one the best bowls of oatmeal I have ever had. Not sure why, just is.

We met the family(Dad, Nancy, My girls, and Krista) there on Father’s Day. We waited. We waited. For future reference they do take reservations for 6 or more. We will know next time. While I am on that note, a friend I’ve never met commented on twitter that she was amazed at the complete lack of waiting lines in Portland’s DMV, and DEQ. Her husband quickly replied that the only thing anyone has to wait for in Portland is a good breakfast. This is so true. Almost any good breakfast joint in town will have you waiting. We have a TON of great breakfast joint in this town. Besaw’s being on that list, every weekend.

Once we did sit down, Krista ordered the Breakfast sandwich, we usually share, I got one bite. I had the Eggs Benedict, my usual breakfast (hello waistline!), she got one bite.

Dad had the egg scramble, he devoured it. I got no bites. Nothing. Then again, I didn’t ask. You have to ask clearly and distinctly for what you want in life. My loss.

Kelsey and Ashlin had the French Toast that was thick, juicy and delicious. I had one bite. What the heck, I am losing out here. I think my family may be on to me. I will have to rethink my strategies. Besaw’s is great, plain and simple. You can’t go wrong.

Staff was friendly, and patient. They didn’t rush us out, despite the line outside. This brings me to another point of dining, lines, and waiting for food in Portland….

10 Rules to live by when dining in this fair city:

1. Be Patient – Your service will be better and your food will taste better. Mainly because you have a better attitude, but because you didn’t piss off the staff by acting like a donkey.

2. Tip - Staff in Portland make minimum wage most of the time. They also have to tip out cooks, bussers, and drink makers. All the people who take care of them, so they can take care of you. This is their lifeblood. They survive on tips. Almost everyone in the service industry does. I should write an article just on tipping.

3. If there is a line outside, don’t take up valuable space by discussing the finer points of whatever you think is important for 30 minutes after you have finished your meal. Yes, it is your right, but it is wrong. Make room for the rest of the hungry bloggers, and food critics. We’re hungry.

4. if your food is cold, mention it. Nicely. Nobody likes an unhappy customer and almost any place will try to make it better. Unless you ate it all, then want a refund or a discount. Don’t be a donkey diner.

5. If your food is great, mention it. Enthusiastically. We all love feedback, chefs, waiters, waitresses, managers, bartenders, hosts, hostesses, bussers, and that guy at the drive-thru may appreciate a kind word.

6. Turn your phone on vibrate, I forget too. Try to go outside to talk. Nobody around cares about your rash, I promise.

7. Don’t make a mess. Accidents happen, but pouring ketchup on the table, even if it is paper covered, is not cool.

8. If you are not having fun, you are doing it wrong. Food should be fun. Simply fun.

9. Did I mention Tipping? Re-read it.

10. Treat your staff like you want to be treated. They are human. They should be treated as such.

As Always, I hope you enjoy wherever you eat, and I hope you are smiling.

One of my favorite things to do is eat.  One of my favorite things to do while eating is visit with friends.  Keep in mind that does not mean you should talk with your mouth full.  But having a mid-day dinner party in someone else’s kitchen is always a blast.

This is why Eva and I have lunch together.  It is our opportunity to catch up, talk about the changes in our lives and ponder the greater things in life.  Today was no different, and I got the opportunity to eat someplace I had never eaten.  The Cricket Café.

The Cricket Café is settled at 32^nd and Belmont.  Between Downtown and the Bicycle corner at 34^th, there was still plenty of parking for me and my fossil abusive 4x4.  Someday I will fix that.  I promise.  I am thinking Hydrogen, but ….  Oh wait, we are here for food, aren’t we.  Technology is another day.

Eva and I sat down in the mid afternoon, no waiting.  Generally speaking, a line is a good thing at a food joint, but this was 1:00 in the afternoon, a little late for lunch folk on a Friday.  Eva had the Vegetarian biscuits and gravy…  wait, what?  Yes, this is Portland, is nothing sacred?  It looks pretty good, I have to admit.  For me, the meat eater, it lacks something.  I can’t quite put my finger on it…  I kid.  I didn’t even try it.  I should have.  My bad, I admit.

I did have the Trucker Burrito which was rather topical since Eva and I talked about her vantasy trip and the possibility of being on the road again.  One of the many jobs I would like would involve long periods of random roaming and writing about food, people, experiences, and the ups and downs that follow.  I know, I know, everybody wants that job.  Unfortunately, I am not aware of anyone paying to do that particular job.  So I keep doing what I do.  The Trucker Burrito consists of mostly everything you would get in a normal two egg breakfast, except that is wrapped nicely in a flour tortilla.  Eggs, bacon, potatoes, served with sour cream and salsa.  Portable in design, but much larger than can be easily carried around say.. a campground or a fairground.  It was good, but next time I may try the breakfast sandwich.

I would easily go back, and I will surely go just about anywhere Eva suggests.  For a Vegetarian, I am often surprised by her ability to pick places we can both eat.  Give Cricket Café a visit.  Urge Eva to write more, she is good at it.  Find someone to have lunch with and let yourself go. You should probably try the drink special.  It was calling my name.  I love a fresh Moscow Mule, no really.