Portland's favorite brunch experience comes to its budding "West End" district as Tasty N Alder opens. Portland Food Adventures filled the 60-seat restaurant for a blowout debut dinner. This new gem from John Gorham is a take on a steakhouse for dinner, while serving delicious and innovative breakfast and brunch fare earlier in the day.
Tasty N Alder is still in its soft-opening phase. It's open daily for breakfast from 9 am. Dinner service has also started. The grand opening will be March 1, 2013.
The good news is that reservations will be possible for some tables at Tasty N Alder, while much of the restaurant will still serve drop-ins.
Chef Morgan Brownlow is in charge of the dinner service. The steakhouse will feature cuts of meat as they are seasonally available, both sourced locally and from further afield. We enjoyed four kinds of steak. First, a steak tartare that came "mix it yourself" and was bursting with flavor. A teres major steak from St. Helens, Oregon was my first experience with that cut. It's from the shoulder and is a less expensive substitute for tenderloin. We enjoyed a Washimi Wagyu flat iron steak, and an Iberico pork skirt steak from Spain.
Sous chef Blaze earned his spot with his smoked bbq wings, which were indeed smokey all the way through. He also put together a "Sexy Filipino Fish Stew" of Top Chef quality with the fish seared and glazed and swimming in a delightful scallion broth.
The bar will be specializing in alcoholic milkshakes, so we drank our dessert with a Brandy Alexander, Grasshopper, and Creamsicle.
Our merry band of food adventures say Bravo to Gorham for this newest restaurant.
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