BY P E T E R S Z Y M C Z A K
38
SIP NORTHWEST PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN VALLS
BY PETER SZYMCZAK
VI DI VENI VI TO
IMPERIAL Imperial and Portland Penny Diner, which bookend the Hotel Lucia in downtown Portland. Imperial pays homage to Oregon’s celebrated gourmand, James Beard, as well as the historic building where it’s located. Meanwhile, Portland Penny Diner harkens back to the fateful coin flipped back in 1845 that gave Portland its name (tails was Boston) and, on a personal level, evokes the diners of Paley’s New York days. With the sounds of Imperial’s wood-fire rotisserie crackling in the background, Paley explains why it took him so long to open up restaurants two and three. “We built a place to last,” he says. “I’m looking for that slow and steady smolder, rather than quick burn.”
I did some research at the Oregon Historical Society and dug through some menus dating back to the turn of the century, the 1920s, ‘30s, World War II… We used some of the ideas for food, but updated them. For breakfast, for instance, we make our own house ricotta, put it in a little cast iron skillet, warm it up, drizzle some local honey from this guy who goes around collecting honey from different neighborhoods. We compress fruit — right now we’re doing pears — and then we grill them, put them on top, serve it with Indian fry bread on the side for dipping. That dates back to the 1920s from a book I read with several recipes for fruit and cream for breakfast.
The wood-fired rotisserie and grill is pretty old school as well. We looked at the way we were going to cook, and wood-fired made a lot more sense because that’s what people used back then. When you look through James Beard’s writings, you always see grilling over a wood fire as the most basic, primitive, satisfying way of cooking. It gives you the best result, not only from the cooking process but the end result — it’s so much more intense and interesting!
What was the inspiration behind Imperial? I’ve always wanted to do a historic, James Beard-ian sort of idea. The hotel was built in 1909. It was called Imperial back then and took up the whole block. On the basement level is where the Oregon Beef Council had their headquarters. The floor of the hotel used to be an auction floor for cattle!
40
SIP NORTHWEST
The menu mixes and matches classic and contemporary, indigenous and Continental cuisine. American food has a very different meaning to me than it does to a lot of people who are from here. I’m looking at it from an immigrant’s point of view. What do I see as American food? How do I bring my childhood into it, the things I discovered when I first came to this country? How do we take Pacific Northwest cuisine to the next level?
THE WISEMAN POURETH BA R PRO B R A N D O N W I S E COAC H E S CO C K TA I L S FO R PA L E Y R E S TAU R A N T S
Where is Pacific Northwest cuisine now? Now is not unlike how things used to be. If you look at the high societies dating back to the turn of the century, that’s how they entertained themselves — by going out to places and being seen, dressing up and using that as an occasion. If you were hungry, you ate at home. That’s why I’ve done all this research on the past, in the hopes of bringing it forward into the future. Also, in times of uncertainty — the times we’re going through — we need something familiar, and what we’re familiar with are things that are comforting. It’s not a performance here that we’re after, but to comfort. It’s the highest level thereof, but it’s still comfort food. The story of the Pacific Northwest has always been about the ingredients. We’re a very young culture. If you go to other regions of this country — New England, for example, or the Deep South — you can always talk about the barbecues, gumbos, all
To create the signature drinks at Imperial and Portland Penny Diner, Vitaly Paley turned to Brandon Wise, formerly of Irving Street Kitchen and Beaker & Flask. “When I first heard the name ‘Portland Penny Diner,’ the first thing that came into my mind was soda fountain, things like carbonation and mineral waters,” says Wise, a Michigan native who grew up sipping Boston Coolers, Brown Cows, egg creams and chocolate sodas at his neighborhood soda fountain. Wise also tapped into Portland’s long history as a great drinking town. “At the onset of Prohibition, Portland was one of the bigger markets of bootlegging and the speakeasy,” he explains. “When it stopped being legal to sell spirits, some pharmacies started selling bitters and tinctures.” While Portland Penny Diner is all about timeless fizzy beverages for kids of all ages, Imperial offers a more sophisticated yet equally well-studied approach that not only looks to the past, but also has an eye on the future. “In Portland, we’re at the forefront of these trends like wine or liquor on tap,” says Wise. “It’s a much greener way to do things: less of a carbon footprint, less glass, less waste, sourcing directly.” Wise offers two cocktails on tap at Imperial: a Vieux Carré and the “Ada Coleman,” named after the early 20th century female bartender who created the Hanky Panky, the first cocktail to incorporate Fernet Branca (which, it’s worth noting, is also available on tap over at Portland Penny Diner). Taking things to the next level, Wise says he wants to “break down that wall between the kitchen and the bar to truly make drinks that are culinary and incorporate culinary technique.” For example, he cites his “New Money,” a Manhattan variation made with hickory vermouth. “Chef Vitaly and I cold-smoke the vermouth,” he says. “We also add some Pinot Noir barrel wood chips. I think this goes great with the food coming off our wood-burning rotisserie grill.” SIP NORTHWEST
41
Portland Penny Diner is quite a departure for you. One of my cooks from Paley’s Place said to me, “It’s every chef’s dream to have a fast food joint. Congratulations!” Now, I don’t know if it’s every chef’s dream to have a fast food joint, but I think it’s all those things that you love (to eat) yourself but can never have any place in a restaurant like Imperial or Paley’s Place. Penny takes me back to my youth, being a student going to Juilliard. There was a coffee shop across the street called John’s Coffee Shop. I’d go to that place and have two eggs, toast and home fries any time of day, and it cost maybe $2.50. For lunch or dinner they had that really pretty decent tasting meatloaf and mashed potatoes and
42
SIP NORTHWEST
PORTLAND PENNY DINER
those dishes that are synonymous with that area. But we don’t really have that here. When people talk about the Pacific Northwest, it’s salmon, Dungeness crab, mushrooms, hazelnuts, pears. But name me a dish that is quintessential Northwest, and I bet you’d be stumped. I would be too.
overcooked string beans and gravy, and that set you back four or five bucks back then. Those are the days I remember and want to bring back for me personally, and I think there are plenty of others who also remember those days fondly — except here the meatloaf is made in-house, the mashed potatoes are not from a box, and the string beans are not overcooked, you know what I mean?
Portland Penny Diner also evokes Portland’s pioneer days, right? Today, Portland is famous for its food carts, but going back, there were the lunch wagons of the 1920s and ‘30s. It was basically a horse pulling a diner car, going from place to place to place — that was the original diner. Those two things were the impetus behind Portland Penny Diner. I feel food has a meaning that is very emotional. If something that you just ate or drank evokes a mood, or you remember an emotion from some place else, or a memory of your growing up, then I’ve done my job. For me, that’s what I try to hit when people eat my food. ●
SIP NORTHWEST PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN VALLS
BY PETER SZYMCZAK
VI DI VENI VI TO
IMPERIAL Imperial and Portland Penny Diner, which bookend the Hotel Lucia in downtown Portland. Imperial pays homage to Oregon’s celebrated gourmand, James Beard, as well as the historic building where it’s located. Meanwhile, Portland Penny Diner harkens back to the fateful coin flipped back in 1845 that gave Portland its name (tails was Boston) and, on a personal level, evokes the diners of Paley’s New York days. With the sounds of Imperial’s wood-fire rotisserie crackling in the background, Paley explains why it took him so long to open up restaurants two and three. “We built a place to last,” he says. “I’m looking for that slow and steady smolder, rather than quick burn.”
I did some research at the Oregon Historical Society and dug through some menus dating back to the turn of the century, the 1920s, ‘30s, World War II… We used some of the ideas for food, but updated them. For breakfast, for instance, we make our own house ricotta, put it in a little cast iron skillet, warm it up, drizzle some local honey from this guy who goes around collecting honey from different neighborhoods. We compress fruit — right now we’re doing pears — and then we grill them, put them on top, serve it with Indian fry bread on the side for dipping. That dates back to the 1920s from a book I read with several recipes for fruit and cream for breakfast.
The wood-fired rotisserie and grill is pretty old school as well. We looked at the way we were going to cook, and wood-fired made a lot more sense because that’s what people used back then. When you look through James Beard’s writings, you always see grilling over a wood fire as the most basic, primitive, satisfying way of cooking. It gives you the best result, not only from the cooking process but the end result — it’s so much more intense and interesting!
What was the inspiration behind Imperial? I’ve always wanted to do a historic, James Beard-ian sort of idea. The hotel was built in 1909. It was called Imperial back then and took up the whole block. On the basement level is where the Oregon Beef Council had their headquarters. The floor of the hotel used to be an auction floor for cattle!
40
SIP NORTHWEST
The menu mixes and matches classic and contemporary, indigenous and Continental cuisine. American food has a very different meaning to me than it does to a lot of people who are from here. I’m looking at it from an immigrant’s point of view. What do I see as American food? How do I bring my childhood into it, the things I discovered when I first came to this country? How do we take Pacific Northwest cuisine to the next level?
THE WISEMAN POURETH BA R PRO B R A N D O N W I S E COAC H E S CO C K TA I L S FO R PA L E Y R E S TAU R A N T S
Where is Pacific Northwest cuisine now? Now is not unlike how things used to be. If you look at the high societies dating back to the turn of the century, that’s how they entertained themselves — by going out to places and being seen, dressing up and using that as an occasion. If you were hungry, you ate at home. That’s why I’ve done all this research on the past, in the hopes of bringing it forward into the future. Also, in times of uncertainty — the times we’re going through — we need something familiar, and what we’re familiar with are things that are comforting. It’s not a performance here that we’re after, but to comfort. It’s the highest level thereof, but it’s still comfort food. The story of the Pacific Northwest has always been about the ingredients. We’re a very young culture. If you go to other regions of this country — New England, for example, or the Deep South — you can always talk about the barbecues, gumbos, all
To create the signature drinks at Imperial and Portland Penny Diner, Vitaly Paley turned to Brandon Wise, formerly of Irving Street Kitchen and Beaker & Flask. “When I first heard the name ‘Portland Penny Diner,’ the first thing that came into my mind was soda fountain, things like carbonation and mineral waters,” says Wise, a Michigan native who grew up sipping Boston Coolers, Brown Cows, egg creams and chocolate sodas at his neighborhood soda fountain. Wise also tapped into Portland’s long history as a great drinking town. “At the onset of Prohibition, Portland was one of the bigger markets of bootlegging and the speakeasy,” he explains. “When it stopped being legal to sell spirits, some pharmacies started selling bitters and tinctures.” While Portland Penny Diner is all about timeless fizzy beverages for kids of all ages, Imperial offers a more sophisticated yet equally well-studied approach that not only looks to the past, but also has an eye on the future. “In Portland, we’re at the forefront of these trends like wine or liquor on tap,” says Wise. “It’s a much greener way to do things: less of a carbon footprint, less glass, less waste, sourcing directly.” Wise offers two cocktails on tap at Imperial: a Vieux Carré and the “Ada Coleman,” named after the early 20th century female bartender who created the Hanky Panky, the first cocktail to incorporate Fernet Branca (which, it’s worth noting, is also available on tap over at Portland Penny Diner). Taking things to the next level, Wise says he wants to “break down that wall between the kitchen and the bar to truly make drinks that are culinary and incorporate culinary technique.” For example, he cites his “New Money,” a Manhattan variation made with hickory vermouth. “Chef Vitaly and I cold-smoke the vermouth,” he says. “We also add some Pinot Noir barrel wood chips. I think this goes great with the food coming off our wood-burning rotisserie grill.” SIP NORTHWEST
41
Portland Penny Diner is quite a departure for you. One of my cooks from Paley’s Place said to me, “It’s every chef’s dream to have a fast food joint. Congratulations!” Now, I don’t know if it’s every chef’s dream to have a fast food joint, but I think it’s all those things that you love (to eat) yourself but can never have any place in a restaurant like Imperial or Paley’s Place. Penny takes me back to my youth, being a student going to Juilliard. There was a coffee shop across the street called John’s Coffee Shop. I’d go to that place and have two eggs, toast and home fries any time of day, and it cost maybe $2.50. For lunch or dinner they had that really pretty decent tasting meatloaf and mashed potatoes and
42
SIP NORTHWEST
PORTLAND PENNY DINER
those dishes that are synonymous with that area. But we don’t really have that here. When people talk about the Pacific Northwest, it’s salmon, Dungeness crab, mushrooms, hazelnuts, pears. But name me a dish that is quintessential Northwest, and I bet you’d be stumped. I would be too.
overcooked string beans and gravy, and that set you back four or five bucks back then. Those are the days I remember and want to bring back for me personally, and I think there are plenty of others who also remember those days fondly — except here the meatloaf is made in-house, the mashed potatoes are not from a box, and the string beans are not overcooked, you know what I mean?
Portland Penny Diner also evokes Portland’s pioneer days, right? Today, Portland is famous for its food carts, but going back, there were the lunch wagons of the 1920s and ‘30s. It was basically a horse pulling a diner car, going from place to place to place — that was the original diner. Those two things were the impetus behind Portland Penny Diner. I feel food has a meaning that is very emotional. If something that you just ate or drank evokes a mood, or you remember an emotion from some place else, or a memory of your growing up, then I’ve done my job. For me, that’s what I try to hit when people eat my food. ●
