paella feast 2011 @ local 188 + birthday dinner round II

As you all know, I currently have an ongoing romance with Local 188.  Never have I had a bad experience there- in fact, I would go to the extent of saying that Local earns the spot of my absolute favorite restaurant in Portland.  Plus Jay Villani is a mastermind in the local culinary scene.  It’s only natural that Local 188 would be the venue for my semi-surprise birthday party.  But before we discuss birthday dinner part II, I must relay my experience at Local during Paella Feast 2011, hosted on January 1st, in order to clean house before the Local staff went on vacation for the first week of the new year.

A & I heard about Paella Feast through a little birdie- ie one of our favorite waitresses in all of town- Sarah who works close to nightly at Local.  For those who didn’t hear about Paella Feast, I’ll give you a quick run down.  All you can eat Paella, meat, veggie, or seafood, for $10 a head.  You could purchase salads and desserts on the side for extra cost.  And in all honesty, A & I lucked out.  We didn’t make a reservation, but we squeezed our way into seats in the lounge and indulged, to say the least.

We began our meal with a garden salad, filled to the brim with baby arugula, spinach, kale, rainbow swiss chard, red peppers, carrots, goat cheese, and a simple lemon olive oil dressing.  The salad ($9) was big enough to feed both A & myself twice- yes we had two servings.  Along with the salad, the Local staff sent over their home baked bread- both baguettes and an olive loaf with the most fantastic butter.  I can’t be entirely sure what Jay did with the butter- I think he must have added a lot of garlic and some other spice that I can’t quite identify, and whip it until it was light and fluffy and absolutely perfect and tangy for the bread.

For round one of Paella, I ordered the meat special, and A chose to do the seafood paella, as we both intended to sample off the others plate.  Needless to say, when mine came, my eyes were wide and I had no intention of sharing, simply because of the ample amounts of steak, chicken, and chorizo.  The chicken was incredibly tender, succulent, flavorful, clear traces of saffron and other indulgent seasonings.  The steak, cooked medium, juicy, red, six pieces per plate- and of course the chorizo, that garlicky goodness that comes in form of a spanish sausage.  Cut into bite size chunks, hiding beneath the layers of yellow rice with fennel and cumin seeds.  Extraordinary.  Out of this world.  Better than I can even tell you.

Plate two yielded the veggie- green beans, rabe, red peppers, olives, and capers galore.  While I love veggies, and I love paella, the meat stole my heart, and as if to be conservative at this all you can eat fest, my mom and I split our last plate of meat paella, bringing us both to the 2.5 plate mark that we promised ourselves we wouldn’t surpass.  The veggie paella had a stronger taste of fennel, and while I like fennel, it was borderline overbearing, yet I enjoyed it nonetheless.

To finish off Paella Feast 2011, we decided to behave ourselves and split a dessert.  Trent, aka homeboy, makes all the desserts at Local, and ever since I started eating there at age 9, I’ve always thought he was the coolest guy working at any restaurant in Portland.  To be honest, he’s straight up gangster- even though people have told me otherwise, and the desserts that he makes are out of this world breath-taking and mind captivating.  We settled on a lemon curd tart- without debate, and enjoyed every last morsel of that flaky crust, that tart filling, and those juicy blackberries used to garnish.

Now fast forward six days, and enter Local 188 at 7pm.  A party of 22 are seated- all for my semi-surprise birthday party.  22 high school students, from Portland, Casco Bay, and Waynflete, piled in, making their rounds after the art walk, all to help me celebrate my 17th birthday.  I had requested Sarah to be my waitress, and we were sat in the main dining room, a long table commanding attention from our fellow diners.  I sat at the head of the table, next to my beau and one of my oldest friends, looking down at all my guests, enjoying every moment of their company- not to mention the absolute hospitality of the restaurant with what, doing 22 separate checks for all of us.  The kitchen sent the entire table tastes of manchengo cheese and a radish chutney.  We were all served our appetizers in a timely fashion- things ranging from green salads, to quail eggs, to scallops, to the soup de la noche.

I must tell you how lucky I am to have such cultured friends.  The overall diversity in the food that was ordered, I found to be unreal.  Especially from a group of high school students, but regardless, it was to my liking.  Entrees ranged from paella, steak tartare, and quail, to gnocchi, tortilla de la noche, and the nightly prepared hanger steak.  I suppose I had been craving more, because I ordered the house paella, full of seafood, chicken, and chorizo, which although went under-eaten, due to my incessant mingling, was rather delicious and satisfying.

As if out of a fairytale, my mother, the infamous A, crashed my party (though I must say it was rather staged) and brought in homemade chocolate chocolate cupcakes, that fed the entire table.  After being serenaded with song, I contemplated whether or not I should blow out my candles.  Impulsively I did, meaning no wish, but hey, what more could I wish for? I’ve got great friends, I eat great food, and I’m happier than I’ve been in a very long time.  2011 has been shaping up to be a great year, and it’s only been fifteen days!

As I’ve digressed I should return to the topic at hand- and just say that Local was so accommodating, letting us stay as late as we wanted, catering to our whims (though we didn’t have any unreasonable ones), and being incredibly welcoming and personal.  This visit to Local defines my love of the place because everything turned out perfectly, the evening was better than I could have imagined, and I shared a spectacular memory with my favorite people in my favorite restaurant.  So even though I’ve recommended Local countless times before now, I’ll be completely blunt and tell you that if you don’t go, you’re surely missing out on one of the best restaurants that Portland has to offer.

[PS] I’m going to Local tonight, right after I get out of work, to celebrate a dear yogis trip to Asia for the next six months.  To Meg & Toji! Celebrate the good times to come, and safest travels.  xxoxoxo.

-e

loco loco local 188 review

truth be told, local 188 is probably my favorite restaurant in all of portland.  actually, anything Jay Villani does in food, i favour.  it’s taken me quite sometime to remember to bring my camera to local in the attempt of actually reviewing the place.  but yesterday morning, after our typical sunday morning stumble up congress street, i found myself at the regular spot at the end of the bar next to A, with my digcam in hand.  the night prior, we had gone to sonny’s- which until then i had protested… ask me why, and i will tell you, but i should have believed that if jay’s work at local is wunderbar, then it would be the same at sonny’s.  so the idea that i had committed a dirty double in both of mr villani’s places of business, made me content, as any foodie would be.  i had indulged the night before in a feast- fried avocado, chipolte cheeseburgers, chicken enchilladas, and raspberry sangria sorbetto.  sonny’s exceeded my expectations… and i plan on returning stat so i can take photos and do a review as well. 

i don’t know when i started going to local.  actually… i do.  it all began when a and i lived on the west end.  we’d meet j for brunch every sunday when i was in the 6th grade.  i would always order a grilled cheese and the daily soup.  sometimes if i was really hungry for “breakfast”, i would order their scrambles with carmalized onions, bacon, and machengo cheese.  i have very fond memories of the place, and it seems as though everytime i go, good times are rollin’.  as of late, i feel as though the one consistent restaurant i find myself in is local, and i have to admit, that’s not such a bad thing.

dinners at local are exquisite- their gnocchi is always light and crispy, the tortilla de nocha is also delicious.  the inclusion of locally harvested ingredients and seasonal specialities is one of the reasons, why not just me, but most in portland who have dined love local 188.

moving on to my brunch yesterday.  a and i ordered a bloody mary- the best in town, and while we battled over what we wanted to eat, we ordered a pecan sticky bun.  the caramel was gooey, and the cinnamon reigned supreme.  i couldn’t find the pecan, but that was okay, but i don’t really love nuts in my buns…(cooking sexual innuendos). the bottom was crispy, and the top melted in your mouth.  it was garnished with fresh strawberries and mint- it was pretty heavy, but delicious nonetheless.

a decided to go with her staple- a scramble.  she had red peppers and broccoli in hers- not to mention the house made english muffin on the side, with local’s savory homefries.  she seemed content with what she got, and she said the eggs were cooked to her liking.  she even enjoyed the homefries, which is a big step for her.  overall, she was happy, per usual with her brunch at local.

i decided to go on the more “lunch-like” route.  i picked the local 1/2 lb burger, which is served on their in house baked bun, with lettuce, tomato, onion, and homefries.  the burger was cooked medium well- just like i asked, and the meat was seasoned well, with a small amount of fresh herbs, and salt n pepa.  my homefries did me quite well, the little pieces of onion and green pepper were delicious, and i was very happy.  i do have to say, that this burger is one of the best in town- not to mention well priced.

we sat at the bar, our service was fine, and the day was beautiful.  as always, local made my day as great as it could be.  so great in fact, that i ended up sitting on their couch at 11pm the very same evening, enjoying conversation, and sipping beverages.  i guess this is where i should talk about the decor and atmosphere.  local has always been for locals- though as of late, more and more tourists and out of staters have journeyed to local after seeing them on the national food scene.  the tables are all vintage, and the chairs never match.  the space is large, yet intimate, and their is a very artsy feel about the place.  you can go to local with a group of ten and be seated comfortably, or you could go alone and experience the same comfort.  local art is hung from the walls, and a very hipsteresque track is always playing.  the staff is great, and not to mention, aesthetically pleasing.  all the tableware has been thrifted, and there’s a lot of character in the place.  the bar is handpainted, with fun, bold little illustrations.  all in all, local is the best environment for someone like me, and it’s situated in the best area of the portland arts district.

i love local, and i think you will too.