Forktown Food Tour

Matt's mother visited and we made time for Forktown Food Tour of N. Mississippi Ave. This is a tour that combines walking and eating, which all of us enjoy.  Here's our menu for the places we will be visiting on Mississippi.

At the Mee Sun Thai Eatery we had an appetizer of sausage, with exquisite Thai flavors.

Also a delicious glass noodle dish.  This is apparently a dish that has many variations throughout the country.

Our guide Kesley not only made sure we had great food, she also told us the history of the neighborhood.  Here, she stands outside the Rebuilding Center, which was a catalyst in bringing the neighborhood together. It's also a great place to buy everything you need for projects at home.

I'd not noticed before, but the cob tree sculpture encompasses all four seasons. Here we see autumn and winter.

And here spring and summer.

Check out these great details in the sculpture, like these birds.

This owl is made of some old concrete, maybe from a post hole.

Inside the Rebuilding Center.  Perhaps you need a new surround for your fireplace?

The spray paint on the wall helps the workers sort the donations.

Our next stop was Gabagool, where we got ready for some Italian sandwiches.

Aside from telling us that "gabagol" is an east coast pronunciation of "capicola" Kesley also came prepared to clean off our tables.

We had the signature sandwich, the gabagool, served on fresh-made Italian flat bread.  I am a fan of the sandwich in all its forms, and I can say that this was the best sandwich I have eaten in months. Everything tasted so fresh!

Other things available.

Our next stop was Little Big Burger, for a burger and fries.

Also some Hopworks beer.  It was such a nice day we opted to sit outside.

The remains of my burger, which I forgot to take a picture of.  It had goat cheese and was a fine specimen of a burger. The fries were perfect also.  

Next was Sidecar 11, which I had walked by many times without noticing, which is not surprising, given that it's such a slim restaurant.  This cocktail lounge is known for finding vintage liquor and hosting special parties made with said vintage liquor, such as the martinis they made with 1914 vermouth, found in the floorboards of a house.

We were first served a cucumber mule.  Given that I don't really like cucumber, I was quite pleased to enjoy how delicious this was.  I drank Matt's too!

Really great photo of all things Portland.  They also had personalized matches!  It's been years since I've seen matches at a restaurant/bar.  Remember how people used to collect them?

We also had cocktail bites of goat cheese bruschetta and spicy hazelnuts.

Our second cocktail (they were half cocktails) was a Whisky sour with Peychauds Bitters.  Also good.  You can see also the visual aids Kesley brought along.  This one shows the path of the Missoula Flood, lo those many years ago.  Because you can't talk about Portland geology without mentioning that flood.

Here's their next vintage tasting.

Our next stop was the Meadow for a salt and chocolate tasting.

Here are some Himalayan salt slabs for cooking on.

Here are shelves and shelves of bitters.  Below them are a few shelves of vermouth.

We tasted three different kinds of salt and two kinds of chocolate.  It was interesting to note the notes of fragrance that came through in the chocolate.  One of our chocolates had notes of pineapple.

Our last stop was Ruby Jewel, which was wide open on such a nice day. 

We got to sample two different kinds of ice cream sandwich.

And thus our tour ended.  It was delicious, educational and I highly recommend Forktown Food Tours.