This past Tuesday, Dishcrawl celebrated our Portland launch with an inaugural Dishcrawl down NE Alberta Street!
Our first location was Dixon’s Rib Pit where owner James Dixon and his wife, Marie, served up delicious plates of BBQ pork ribs, candied yams, mustard greens and red beans and rice.
James smokes all of his meat on location so if you’re lucky enough to happen by Dixon’s during smoking time, be forewarned that you’re going to have some serious mouth-watering to contend with!
From Dixon’s, our dishcrawlers split into two teams: blue and red. The blue team headed down Alberta to Cafe Hibiscus.
If you just walked by Cafe Hibiscus without stopping to take a closer look at the menu, you might be surprised to find out that despite the name, Cafe Hibiscus actually serves Swiss food rather than the island fare the name might suggest.
Cafe Hibiscus’s owner, Jennie Wyss, explained that the name plays homage to Hawaii, where she grew up and also where her parents own their own Swiss restaurant. Jennie’s motto at Cafe Hibiscus is “Traditional Swiss Cuisine served with Aloha” and I think we all felt some special “aloha” on Tuesday!
Jennie served us tasty Pork or Chicken Emince (pork or chicken sauteed in a light white wine and mushroom cream sauce), along with Roesti Potatoes (Swiss-style hash browns), and Spatzli (German-style noodles sauteed with Cafe Hibiscus’ house garlic butter). Yum!
We were also treated to Jennie’s coleslaw which is made with Martin’s Famous Swiss Dressing. Jennie bottles the dressing to be shipped all over the world and, as we dishcrawlers found out, not only is it excellent on salads, it also makes a great dipping sauce for bread. You can order a bottle here!
Before we left, Jennie treated us to cookies to hold us over as we walked to our next location: Yogio!
Yogio is a Korean-influenced food cart run by co-owners Timber and Ali.
Ali was on hand on Tuesday to tell us the story of how Yogio got its start: A few years ago, Timber, a classically-trained chef, moved to Korea to teach English. While she was there, she developed an interest in Korean cooking and when she came back to The States, she and her good friend Ali decided to open a food cart influenced by what Timber learned abroad. A month after its inception, Yogio was up and running!
Ali and Timber serve a variety of Korean-fusion menu items, but Ali says that a customer favorite by far are her “rocks,” crispy rice balls filled with veggies or meat and wrapped in seaweed. We were lucky enough to try the “Classic Rock” which is filled with bibimbap veggies. So good!
Our final stop of the night was Cruzroom, home of the “Portland Taco.” Tavi and Guy, co-owners of Cruzroom, explained to us that at Cruzroom, they’re proud to serve some of Portland’s most unauthentic tacos. Their tacos are influenced by Asian and American flavors as well as Mexican cuisine.
On Tuesday, we noshed on three different tacos: “Earth Goodness,” “Buff,” and “Green Meanie.”
“Earthy Goodness” is a Crimini mushroom taco topped with balsamic vinaigrette slaw and asiago cheese. The “Buff” taco is Cruzroom’s take on spicy buffalo wings. And the “Green Meanie” taco, one of Cruzroom more traditional tacos, is a green tomatillo and pulled pork taco . My mouth is watering just remembering them!
While we were there, many of us also sampled selections off of Cruzroom’s excellent cocktail list. Cruzroom makes several infusions in house. Some favorites include “Black and Blue,” a black tea and blueberry-infused vodka and “Colonel Potter,” a double fig scotch.
While our night on Alberta eventually did have to come to an end, I think all of our dishcrawlers left with very full and happy bellies and at least a few new foodie friends!
Love the red team’s group photo! So cute!
Don’t forget to check out all the other photos and to add us on Facebook and Twitter!
Until we eat again!
Katie
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Upcoming Dishdates:
Sept 20- Dishcrawl PDX Returns to Alberta (Portland)- SOLD OUT
Oct 18- Savor Southeast Portland (Portland)
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More about Dixon’s
More about Cafe Hibiscus
More about Yogio
More about Cruzroom
