Portland, BBQ & French Wine?

One of the benefits of traveling some for work is that I get to try new places to eat.  Being a fan of the Food Network, I’m watching Triple D on a regular basis. If you knew immediately that Triple D is Diners, Drive-In’s & Dives, you’re spending too much time on the Food Network, too.

I get caught up in the unusual places that Guy Fieri visits so when I’m in a town and have a chance to visit one I try to do just that. Which I had the opportunity to do when I visited Oregon recently. While I haven’t hit a lot of the Triple D locations, I have tried a few.  To be honest I haven’t found all of them to be hits.

My traveling partner for the trip, a wizened young gentleman a decade or so older than me was up for an adventure.

Since our return trip to Chicago was bright and early the next morning (6 am flights should be outlawed but I had a concert at Symphony Center that night) I didn’t want to stay out too late but was interested in trying one of his finds in Portland.

After checking out the six or so restaurants that had been on the show, I settled in for a BBQ joint called Pahdnah’s. Now to get there, I plugged the directions into the Hertz NeverLost system. Now those who have used NeverLost before, you know that it should be entitled Almost Never Lost because it doesn’t always know the correct route as I’ve circled the location a couple of times before ignoring the “recalculating” notice and trying myself.

I was a little concerned – no, Brad was a little concerned – as we noticed the gang graffiti as we passed through several neighborhoods until reaching our destination safely and without any exciting moments. As we pulled past the restaurant I noticed that we were in kind of a trendy neighborhood. After parking, I could smell the smoke – always a good sign around a BBQ place!

We had arrived in the midst of the dinner rush as we got the last empty table and then there was a line. A long line. I took that as a good sign.

I was intrigued a little as I read the menu describing the restaurant – a bit of Texas in the Pacific Northwest.  But what I noticed most of all was that all the wines by the glass were French.

What?

Oregon has a thriving wine industry and I’ve really enjoyed a number of Oregon Pinot Noirs over the years.  While I hadn’t intended on getting a bottle of wine, I asked to see the wine list to see if there were any Oregon wines by the bottle.

Nope. Not one single one.

Every bottle was French.  I have to say, I don’t typically think French wine when I think of BBQ, smoked or otherwise.

When I suggested to the wait staff that I was surprised to find no Oregon wines on the wine list, she responded by saying the owner was a big fan of French wines. The special of the night was smoked lamb shoulder and ribs.  I was also tempted by the smoked trout.  Since I was told I could order the trout anytime, I ordered the lamb (even though I live in Chicago not Portland and anytime constitutes likely never).

Now I love lamb.  I don’t know if it’s because lamb was a rare treat associated with my grandfather or if it’s just the flavor. But I often find myself ordering lamb whenever I can. (Now I’m going to have to try smoking some this summer!) So after ordering the Thursday night special,  I ordered a bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape.  I’d mention the vintner but my un-reasonably priced “semi-smart” phone has a very bad camera and the restaurant was a little dark.

Frankly taking me out of my old stand-bys is asking for disaster – and this had all the earmarks of said disaster. Since we had had a pretty good – and sizeable – lunch of Mexican food I wasn’t overly hungry and Brad, being a little guy, doesn’t eat that much we didn’t have any appetizers.

When the wine arrived, I was pleasantly surprised – as was Brad – with the quality of the wine. You see, I wasn’t sure what to expect because it’s not too often that I find a good bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape for under $40 at Binny’s let alone in a restaurant. But this was only $36 which means I’m going to be looking for it at my local wine supplier when I get back (that is if I can read the label from my crappy phone camera!)

So before our meals arrived we enjoyed a little co-worker banter over a really fine bottle of wine. I’ve always enjoyed traveling with Brad over the years but if I didn’t make his life a little difficult, it wouldn’t be the same. To say this trip was no different would be an understatement.

When the food arrived, the friendly banter subsided to a lot of chewing and swallowing. In this particular case, Pahdnah’s was a hit.  The lamb couldn’t have been any better. And paired with the Chateau Neuf du Pape was a delightful change of pace.

The French may have a lot to learn when it comes to the deliciously delicate flavor of smoked meats known as American BBQ, they certainly know their way around the grape.