Foie Gras and other adventures in food

One of the best parts of visiting the Northwest is visiting my dear friend, Ms. Julie Spanks.  Ms. Spanks is a veritable dark angel, one of the sweetest yet most sadist souls I know.  I have a great admiration for the elegance she lives her life with.  She lives on the cornerstone of sublime, so I know that each visit I will be treated to some new and worldly experience.

Monday's stop in Portland brought Julie and I to her neighborhood restaurant, Toro Bravo.  It was hip and yet quaint, with candlelight and good looking chefs, cooking in a vestibule, open to all the patrons.  We had left Nascar at home with our Surly Camp matriarch, PattyCakes, to watch the BSC bowl game. so the two of us were able to procure the corner seats around the open kitchen.  In front of me happened culinary magic (I am sure), although I was more interested in the fantastic dirty martini I was sipping and catching up with Julie Spanks.

Our culinary treats included:

The foie gras (or foy grass) as I adopted, was not to my liking.  The richness of the fat and the sickening stories of its inception did not do much for my palette.  (I know I am not a trendsetter..)  Surprisingly, what I liked best was the Hedgehog Mushrooms and Crostini.  I have never enjoyed mushrooms until now, I guess it is a testament to the maturation of my palette due to living with Gabby.

The unfortunate end to this story was my Norovirus that occurred the next day.  A 24 hour bug set Nascar and I back one full day on our trip.  Twas most unfortunate, except that Ms. Julie Spanks was there to care for me.