Portland’s Cacao Shop Featured in Sunday New York Times
In the travel section on Sunday June 17, the NY Times wrote about our local chocolate shop, Cacao. It’s a tiny little article, but oh so, as zee French would say, enchante. I betcha the NYT writer that wrote it just wanted an excuse to come to Portland to eat chocolate. Can you blame her?
Researchers have linked a rare disease called amyloidosis to Foie Gras
Tests on mice suggest the liver, popular in French cuisine which uses it to make pate de foie gras and other dishes, may cause the condition in animals that have a genetic susceptibility to such diseases, Alan Solomon of the University of Tennessee and colleagues reported.
You can read the whole terrible explanation of your fate here. Be brave, poor readers, be brave. What a way to go.
A documentary called “Burnt Chocolate Water”, talks about coffee and the coffee culture. Also, coffee made from civet, a mongoose-like animal, poop.
Unfortunately, it’s already ended its run in Portland, but maybe it will come back around. From the promo:
Jeff Grinta hates the taste of coffee but decided to learn as much as he could about it and see if there was a type of coffee he would like. Living in the Pacific Northwest proved a natural testing ground.
He visited local coffee shops and tried many cups of coffee ranging from Starbucks to the independent shop to free coffee at rest stops. He even tried rare coffee made of Indonesian cat poop.
He interviewed coffee lovers and coffee haters, attended cuppings and found a shop where the baristas serve coffee in lingerie. This film is full of amusing and enjoyable coffee characters who really have a unique outlook about the bitter bean.
This is all fine and dandy, but what caught my eye is that ‘cat poop coffee’. Also called Kopi Luwak Coffee, and somewhat rare, it is created when the Indonesian civet (a cousin of the mongoose), ingests coffee cherries, which are then passed through its digestive tract. Let’s just say it comes out the other end largely unchanged. The droppings are collected by farmers, the beans cleaned and shipped to roasters.
From Life After Coffee.com,
Why would you want to drink this shitty coffee? There are a lot of theories on why kopi luwak is different. Research has determined that coffee passed by a luwak has been changed chemically. Specifically the process seems to break down some of the bean’s proteins which are known to contribute to the bitterness of coffee.
Interestingly enough, I was at a Starbucks the other day and thought their coffee reminded me of poop, but it wasn’t anywhere near the $30 for a four-ounce sample that the genuine stuff goes for. Anyway, this all has me thinking. Does anyone want to invest in a civet farm? We could get Ristretto to provide the beans and make us a fortune!
This whole thing reminds me of the time I bought this girl a beautiful gold wedding band. She only took it off her finger to do the dishes. One day she set it down and our Husky jumped up, snatched it off the counter and swallowed it whole. I said I’d buy her a new one, but she thought it just wouldn’t be the same, so every morning she’d collect all the er.. poop from the yard, put it in a bucket, and carry it out to a nearby field where she’d poke through it looking for her ring. On the third day, a neighbor stopped her and asked why she was carrying a bucket of poo. When she explained he said, “wouldn’t it have come through by now?” At about the same moment I was sweeping the kitchen floor and discovered the ring had actually fallen under the dishwasher. Ah, the things we do for love.
Potential investors, feel free to drop me a note. Previous civit experience a plus.
pdxwineoh says
OMG! The Starbucks reminding you of “poop” had me peeing in my pants. Great, great, posting. Love the brainstorming/phraseforming effect of the info provided….muy inteligente…
nancy says
I know Legere’s over on SE Clinton and, I think, 16th, has some of the Kopi Kaki or whatever it’s called. Jonathan, the owner, showed us the beans, encased in amber. Better, I suspect, than the alternative.
As for Bonefish: I have a bone to pick with Outback Steakhouse, because of their inane yet compulsively singable theme song.
jo says
I’ll gladyl sleuth out the rave/bakeries in L.A. Do I need some sort of secret password or egg to present upon arrival? I’m on it.
Speaking of sweet sweetness, didjya see that article in yesterday’s NYTimes food section about the rise of dessert-centric restaurants ? Apparently, I need to go pay a visit to my brethren. Those are my people!
suds sister says
RE: Fusion Confusion
That ad has to be for Isabel:
http://www.isabelscantina.com/restaurant5.html
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070618005323&newsLang=en
pollo elastico says
Nancy, I suggest you check out Of Montreal, who sold their souls to the Big Corporate Satan in the process of licensing this song for Outback to use in their commercials.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Montreal
Very listenable, good fun pop.
pearlinsider says
The Isabel folks are a little ahead of themselves…
From the press release:
“…and the recently opened Isabel in Portland’s upscale Pearl District.”
And from the website:
“In the hottest downtown in America this ultra chic, urban Pearl district cafe is becoming a local icon.”
The place isn’t anywhere near open yet – it’s still 100% a construction site. How is it that it’s “becoming a local icon”!? Too funny.
Food Dude says
Remember when the Merc reviewed Gotham before they were done with construction? Maybe someone will do the same thing here ;>)
I have to say, after looking at her menus, I’m not exactly going to rush down to try this restaurant.
Kevin says
I’d ask what’s the difference between an “underground bakery” and a bake sale, but I’m afraid someone would tell me, and it would involve all lower-case letters and a “baking manifesto.”
FrannyGlass says
FD,
I have two “on the large side” cats that will eat anything-a plus, they’re from exotic Puerto Rico.
I heard about this when I was working coffee in the early 90’s, but back then they said it was a rare Indonesian monkey, guess they thought civet was too weird….
Franny
tup? says
Bakeries Must Die!
kill the restaurant, part ii
allison says
I first saw the Civet Coffee (aka Kopi Luwak) at Le Grande Epicerie in Paris… it cost somewhere around $50 a pound. And next to the Kopi Luwak they were selling bags of tea leaves that were hand-picked by TRAINED MONKEYS! Not as gross, but still pretty awesome.
thecobra says
i rarely drink anything that at no point has come into contact with some manner of fecal matter. simply on principal.
incidentally, you should really see the new wine program i’m putting together. largely indonesian.
mczlaw says
Le’ see. . .where to start:
How about with the vegan propaganda machine–cuz you know their hand is in this somehow. . .last portion of the deeply insightful news story excerpting the fascinating study:
So, there you go, only vegetarians and pork only meat eaters are safe.
Next item: Terrier. . .oh bummer. Almost went tonight. Then I had a couple sticks of pepperoni and a stale bagel instead. I think I made the right choice. Guess there will be a lot of embarrassed food mavens like me around if this bad joke turns out to have a good punch line. I like the odds, though.
Cat shit coffee @ $30/lb? This sounds like a job for the redoubtable Doc Stool. He’ll sniff out the truth. C’mon, it’s gotta be a great value. . .right up there with gopher gonads. . .which probably cause amyloido-see-dosis.
About that underground bakery in LA: What a novel, wonderful idea. Who thinks up this stuff?
“Show Us Your Bonefish”
O&O,
–mcz
Doctor Stu says
[QUOTE] Pearlinsider: The Isabel folks are a little ahead of themselves…
From the press release:
“…and the recently opened Isabel in Portland’s upscale Pearl District.”
And from the website:
“In the hottest downtown in America this ultra chic, urban Pearl district cafe is becoming a local icon.”
The place isn’t anywhere near open yet – it’s still 100% a construction site. How is it that it’s “becoming a local icon”!? Too funny.
[/QUOTE]
That’s because in Portland, when it comes to new restaurants,hype and PR are more important than anything else.
Doctor Stu says
[QUOTE] mczlaw: Cat shit coffee @ $30/lb? This sounds like a job for the redoubtable Doc Stool. He’ll sniff out the truth. C’mon, it’s gotta be a great value. . .right up there with gopher gonads. . .which probably cause amyloido-see-dosis. “Show Us Your Bonefish”
[/QUOTE]
I thought that only Starbucks served it!
As to bonefish, I won’t show you mine if you won’t show me yours.
pollo elastico says
Apparently you are unaware of the existence of New York City or Los Angeles, despite disclosing you’ve lived in the latter. Call me when NBC airs an overly stage managed “reality” show is based upon a restaurant opening in Portland that features 3 separate takes of a waitress spontaneously quitting and then amalgamates them together to document said “reality”.
$30/lb for the civet anus coffee is a bargain (but I think CBF put the price more at $120/lb ). The magic that occurs in the bowels of a civet is one of nature’s great miracles.
Reminds me of Up in Smoke where Chong’s dog eats his stash and he follows it around for days waiting for it to expel.
Cheech: “You mean…we’re smoking Labrador?”
Doctor Stu says
Posted by pollo elastico:
[QUOTE] Apparently you are unaware of the existence of New York City or Los Angeles, despite disclosing you’ve lived in the latter. Call me when NBC airs an overly stage managed “reality” show is based upon a restaurant opening in Portland that features 3 separate takes of a waitress spontaneously quitting and then amalgamates them together to document said “reality”. [/QUOTE]
That’s a TV show intended for “entertainment”. I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the reality of the restaurant business; it certainly doesn’t in my limited experience in the field. If it was truly reality, the “chef” would have been killed by end of the first episode by the people he thinks are his slaves and not employees. Even in Los Angeles I never saw so much hype about “celebrity” chefs and new restaurants as I do here. I also have never seen such an obsession with food anywhere in the world.