[vrunka]

I'd read the mixed reviews and definitely had mixed feelings about the place -- I mean, can you think of a more pretentious name for a restaurant? -- but I was really excited to have the roasted bone marrow plate so I went to Terroir last night. I'd had the same dish when I was at St. John last year and I still find myself daydreaming about it. Since Terroir's menu gives a shout out to Fergus Henderson I figured that this would be my best chance to have the dish again without crossing the Atlantic.

I was on my own so I didn't get to try quite as much as I would have liked. I had the marinated leeks, seared razor clam and, of course, the bone marrow.

I asked the server for more information about the leeks and he told me that they were uncooked, just marinated and served with a poached egg and aged goat cheese. He said that it was a love-it-or-hate-it dish for most diners and I took that as a good sign, as I usually like divisive dishes. But when the dish arrived I was unsure how anyone could have a strong opinion about it. The leeks weren't onion-y or pickle-y or even leek-y. They were just bland, like they'd been boiled. The poached egg, however, was perfect and I *loved* the cheese. I meant to ask where it was from, but forgot. With some egg yolk, the cheese and a generous helping of salt and pepper, the leeks were more tasty, but still not stellar. Not a bad dish, just not too interesting.

The razor clam was up next and I really liked it. It was pretty aggressively spiced, but it didn't elbow out the clam flavor. It was cooked just right: very tender, but with plenty of plancha char. The fennel and onion slaw that came with it was only so-so, very bland. When I looked at the menu again, I was reminded that there was supposed to be bacon in the slaw. I looked and sure enough there were several bits of bacon, but they tasted like nothing, just chewy bits. And I skipped over the aioli (that is, tartar sauce) that came with it.

And then the marrow! The marrow itself was excellent. Wonderful flavor and cooked just right. The flavor of the marrow was at least as good as that at St. John. But I totally don't get why they serve it with brioche, a rich, fluffy bread, instead of something sturdier and more complementary. After a couple of bites of the marrow with the brioche, I set the brioche aside and ate the marrow with the table bread (which was very good bread, btw, though too airy to be conducive to holding my marrow -- still, flavor-wise it made more sense than the brioche). At St. John, the marrow is served with a hearty brown bread and that makes a lot more sense to me. I also prefer St. John's parsley salad: this one came with whole leaves of sage and I dislike sage.

It may be unfair to compare the dish too closely with the one at St. John, but they're openly copying the recipe, so I don't feel too bad about it.

One last complaint: the marrow wasn't served with a marrow scraping tool, but with a little teaspoon instead. If I had known that they didn't have the proper tools, I would have brought my own from home!

In short: I half-liked Terroir. Every dish I had last night was half-good and half-blah (but not bad). Nothing was a complete success, but nothing was a failure either. And my hold meal came to $18!

So I think I'll be back -- especially if they keep serving the marrow bones and they keep being $6 -- but I won't have very high expectations. If you're a wine drinker, their wine list was very impressive (or rather, it was really long: i don't know jack about wine).

[chris pez]

okay, with all the hub-bub about this place the lady and i decided to go to terroir to celebrate me being back in funds, however temporarily.

the space: i like the space, damnit! it's clean and pretty simple. bamboo tables (very sustainable!). not too big, not too noisy. they seemed to have a good crowd for a thursday too.

the service. fucking excellent. our waiter was tip top. his service is how all portland service should be: friendly, not overbearing, informative.

the booze: the lady had wine. i had a "berry sparkler" which was strawberry vodka, sparking wine, berry syrup, and fresh berries. what you might think is that this may be too sweet. not at all. pretty tart actually. i liked the presentation as well (berries speared with a bamboo sliver).


the food:
round one- wild sockeye salmon tartare with roasted peppers, capers, mustard and olives; rockfish crudo with tomato-watermelon salsa, rosemary and lemon oil; baby oak leaf lettuce with toasted hazelnuts, caramelized radicchio, and hazelnut vinaigrette.

the salmon tasted very spanish. it was tasty but with these flaws: it was a bit too oily and i couldn't taste salmon at all. i don't get too excited about salads but this salad was par for a good salad although i found the radicchio to be too bitter the lady thought it alright. the rockfish was very good and the salsa showed a nice balance of flavors with a little bit of a kick. the winner: rockfish. the loser: salmon.

round two- slow roasted pork belly with lettuce veloute and tomato gelee; sauteed green beans with shallots and shallot infused oil; duck fat french fries with zinfandel ketchup and anchovy dipping sauce.

the pork belly was very very good even though the char was difficult to cut through. the tomato gelee WITH the pork belly was fantastic. the lettuce veloute left me cold. the sauteed green beans were pretty standard but cooked well. i was expecting more, but for $4 it was a decent deal. the duck fat french fries were... okay. i got them because i had never had duck fat french fries, but i'm not too excited by french fries. they were shoestring cut and, as opposed to mcz's visit, not too salty. the ketchup was excellent but i could have done with out the anchovy dipping sauce. winner: pork belly. loser: french fries.

round three- marinated leeks with poached egg, aged goat's milk cheese, and mustard vinaigrette; seared razor clams with fennel onion salad and bacon vinaigrette (not pictured).

i can say this about the leeks... the poached egg was perfect. the leeks were... what... not alright. they're raw, they're cold (which clashed unpleasantly with the hot egg), they were very fibrous and difficult to eat. this dish was the clunker of the night. the sooner they correct the obvious problems with it or drop it altogether the better. the clam (no S) was tender and nicely done. the salad was so-so. i could feel the bacon grease in the vinaigrette but couldn't taste any bacon over the aggressive mustard. winner: clam. big time loser: leeks.

cheese- we had a fromage blanc from Oregon Gourmet Cheese, "up in smoke" from River's Edge, "st. pat" from Cowgirl Creamery, and "lamb chopper" from Cypress Grove. they were all good although the "up in smoke" may have been too smoky when put up against the other cheeses.

dessert- i had the raspberry napoleon. very good and quite light. although i could not taste any chocolate in the chocolate raspberry ice cream.

coffee- good coffee. i forget, maybe portland roasters?

the cost: not including tip $81.00.



you know, this place deserves a chance. for what you're getting at that price point i think it's a pretty good deal. is it the best small plate restaurant in portland? no. is it the worst? not by a long shot. bottom line: who gives a fuck about stu stien's past, the restaurant he's helming is pretty decent and if he keeps to his guns on the local, sustainable front (let's see what his winter menu looks like!) i'll continue to support his place a couple of times a year.

[ExtraMSG]

The reports have been surprisingly consistent, ie, that Terroir isn't...consistent that is. But that suggests that if they get rid of the chaff and keep the wheat, perhaps it will succeed.

[gustoeater]

Who is Chef Stu bitching about now?

http://www.rimag.com...tein/010208.asp

And the journey continues...

[Egads]

gustoeater, on Jan 10 2008, 04:25 PM, said:

Who is Chef Stu bitching about now?

http://www.rimag.com...tein/010208.asp

And the journey continues...

Who's he bitching about? Well, he says "To quote from a weekly Portland newspaper article reflecting on the company's relationship with the restaurants and gourmet food stores in the city, the owner says..." and then gives a quote from that publication. So, clever me, I googled the line he quoted, and arrived at WWeek article about the supplier.

Tsk, tsk, Stu. Also, seriously, quoting Wikipedia on customer service? Who are you, Michael Scott?

[jcoll4]

that plagarism stuff is rich. gold jerry pure gold, you cannot make this up!

inspired me to update my sig and my icon.

[Calabrese]

I split out the Provvista discussion to the Industry Discussion area.

[tammi]

jcoll4, on Jan 11 2008, 01:33 PM, said:

that plagarism stuff is rich. gold jerry pure gold, you cannot make this up!

inspired me to update my sig and my icon.

Wow.... F%^&*() great avatar!!!!

[Joisey]

To anyone who hasn't read FoodDude's article and the comments that follow, do yourself a favor and check it out. The plagiarism being uncovered is fucking STUNNING.

[vj]

I walked by Terroir this evening at 5pm and it was dark. There was nothing about that on his site. It's usually open on Wednesdays. Maybe actually having someone talk about his plagarism in print was too much?

[vj]

7:45pm - still dark

[StMaximo]

Some links from and to Portland Food and Drink

Willy Week Rogue of the Week - http://wweek.com/editorial/3411/10285/

Kevin Allman Blog entry - http://kevinallman.typepad.com/kevin_allma...-savage--1.html

SFgate entry from plagarized columnist - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate...;entry_id=23629

Food Dude's Column on it - be sure and read the feedback - http://www.portlandf...ink.com/?p=1139

FD's latest entry from this afternoon is here - http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/

No news on his site about it not being open today!

Edited to add this one - Heidi Yorkshire review of Terroir from a November Willy Week.

http://wweek.com/editorial/3403/10017/

[ExtraMSG]

Still available (even for tonight) via OpenTable.com. No one is answering the phone and there's nothing on the answering machine. I tried to call Cole Danehauer and just left a message.

[ExtraMSG]

Okay, so I just got a phone call from Danehauer. Terroir is indeed closed. He hadn't been really involved since October, but he got a very short email from Stein yesterday telling him that Terroir was closed. Stein was the sole owner, so it was his to close. Danehauer didn't have any other information or details on why exactly or why now.*













* Stay tuned for this, and other information, to show up unattributed on PortlandFoodandDrink.com later.

[sfspanky]

Wow, the last couple of weeks have not been so kind to Mr. Stein.

[vj]

Thanks for the update, Nick!

[vj]

ExtraMSG, on Jan 24 2008, 09:08 AM, said:

Okay, so I just got a phone call from Danehauer. Terroir is indeed closed. He hadn't been really involved since October, but he got a very short email from Stein yesterday telling him that Terroir was closed. Stein was the sole owner, so it was his to close. Danehauer didn't have any other information or details on why exactly or why now.*

* Stay tuned for this, and other information, to show up unattributed on PortlandFoodandDrink.com later.

I just posted this to altportland.com with attribution.

[Jocelyn:McAuliflower]

ExtraMSG, on Jan 24 2008, 09:08 AM, said:

Stein was the sole owner, so it was his to close. Danehauer didn't have any other information or details on why exactly or why now.

Ouch.
He's taking his ball home- game over.

Shame, we only went once but enjoyed ourselves. Terroir served me my first bone marrow.

[gustoeater]

wow- I wonder what the deal is with the building...were'nt there stories that they had received all sort of tax credits or something for going into the area where it is. You would think if there was some sort of signficant investment in the space they would put up more of a fight. I wonder if there are going to be horror stories down the line of servers not getting paid and distributors getting the shaft. Almost makes me want to look over at shameless (almost).