In Our Spare Time...

We like to read

8 Questions with...Evan

Name: Evan

Position at the Cafe: Expert

If you were a bike, what kind of bike would you be?
A unicycle
One of your favorite books?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
Favorite condiment/spice/herb?
Sriracha
One of your favorite movie quotes?
“Also, let’s not forget - let’s NOT forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for uh, domestic, you know, within the city - that ain’t legal either.” – Walter Sobchak
Your Dream Pet?
A pterodactyl
Great Show you saw…
What was that show again? I can’t remember.
This summer you’ll find me…
Conversing with aliens and laughing until my sides hurt
Where would you like to live and why?
Summer in Big Sur, CA, and Winter in Ubud, Bali: Jelly Donuts and Mangosteens

Just Another Day

Well folks we thought we were re-opening the cafe tomorrow, but it looks as though we will remain closed one more day so that we may attend a memorial service for my uncle Jim. In loving memory:

James Durkheimer, 1920-2008

R & R & Beer Bongs?

Let's just worry about that rash when we get home.

Originally conceptualized in effort to take care of some much needed kitchen maintenance issues while simultaneously offering us some down time, but now at least on an emotional level inspired by the events we witnessed on a cable TV show last night which detailed how they like to celebrate spring break in Hermosa Beach, California, the LRBC is currently on its own "Spring Break," and will remain closed through Thursday, March 27.

The cafe will reopen this Friday, March 28.

Also reopening this Friday is our seasonal bike-thru window...more details on that to follow, just as soon as I finish slamming my six pack of Milwaukee's Best bro!

Whoooohoooo!!! Spriiiiing Breeaaak!!!

What's for Dinner...

I surprise E with a special garnish pre-plating

Tomkha Soup

Leftovers from our favorite Thai place. Eh? Not too shabby...

Notes For the Weekend

Caramelized Pear Ice Cream Batter done in the cast iron skillet my mama gave me.
Oh hell yes.

I know it can be annoying for all of you weekday cafe regulars to happen upon the "Brunch Menu" on the weekend. So often you scan this weekend-only menu for your regular weekday order, only to find the item altered, or missing all together. My only explanation for this occurrence is this: Evan and I see our weekends as our free pass, or better yet, our creative outlet. Frankly, having the same menu day-in and day-out is a little boring to us. We look forward to the weekends and see them as our opportunity to spice things up, or to pursue a recent inspiration, and when it comes down to it, the weekends are the only time we have the wo/man power to execute these ambitions.

As a compromise, I'm relying on this blog post to inform you of a few of the new items you can expect to appear on this weekend's Brunch Menu. Granted I'm not posting this until late Friday night but the fact of the matter is that it's currently 9:32 pm and I just ate my dinner out of a box (T. Joe's Organic Mac'n'Cheese) and Evan is still at the cafe assembling a kitchen cart from IKEA. Forgive us. Believe me, we're doing our best.

Hellway
With a Fried Egg, Bacon, Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese, Caramelized Onions, and Pasilla Aioli on toasted ciabatta
Veggie bacon available upon request

Roast Beef Sandwich
With Caramelized Onions, Gorgonzola, and Creamed Horseradish

Not-Your-Average Grilled Cheese
With Aged Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, and Provolone with Fresh Basil

Homemade Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
With Garlic, Spinach, and Farfalle Pasta

And due to the number of overwhelming requests, yes, we will have Pain Au Chocolat Bread Pudding with Candied Orange. You can thank my mother for this. I have nothing to do with it, unless you consider me calling and harassing her about it proactive.

Oh yeah, and if the picture above didn't already indicate, we've got Caramelized Pear Ice Cream for the weekend. Get your milkshake orders in while it lasts. I'll make the whipped cream.

LRBC Little-Known-Fact #46

Honeyed Yogurt ala Dylan and Logan

Sometimes we can get a bit competitive in the kitchen about who can make the prettiest honeyed yogurt. Upon completion it is not unlikely for the maker to turn to their fellow kichenites and show off the prized work of art prior to running it out. However, today we all learned a very powerful lesson; that sometimes we're best when we work together. This creation is certainly a competitor for greatest honeyed yogurt ever and it was co-created by Dylan and Logan this morning. Good work, boys. You make your "Boss Lady" very proud. XO

Solid Gold

Worth their weight? We think so.

So what if they've got the siphon bar, clovers, vacuums, and French press...we got gold. Swissgold. (Alright, alright, we got French press, too.)

It took us a while to kick that nasty paper habit of ours, but as of last week, our house coffee(s) have been exclusively brewed with the three filters you see pictured above.

Our taste-buds surely appreciate the difference, hopefully yours will too.

8 Questions...

For those of you who are not able to visit, or for those who have not yet noticed, we've got this thing going on at the cafe called 8 Questions. Attached to the "Specials Board" is what we consider our "portfolio;" these profiles highlight eight questions we've asked every single one of the LRBC Crew. FYI: we consider these answers highly secretive/pertinent information regarding all of us. Consider it our attempt to create eight questions that inform all of you who we are, and what we're all about.

This month the Crew created 8 new questions. Here's a sneak peek...

Name: Ali
Position at the Cafe: Milkshake mixologist

ALI
If you were a bike, what kind of bike would you be?
A Beach Cruiser…next question.
One of your favorite books?
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
Favorite condiment/spice/herb?
Garlic. Yeah, I said it. Or cilantro. Damn, it’s soooo good.
One of your favorite movie quotes?
“Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn.
What this book presupposes is... maybe he didn't?”- Eli Cash
Your Dream Pet?
Zeus (our pug) is really pushing for a little sister named Gertrude, a potbelly pig
Great Show you saw…
Too many to count…
This summer you’ll find me…
In a wedding dress, dancing, and camping in the Redwoods
Where would you like to live and why?
Guatemala: La lengua, La gente, Cacao, Coffee, El Lago de Atitlan, etc.

Breakfast In Bed

Extra Special Delivery

About a month and a half ago Ali and I made a conscious decision to cut back on our egg sandwich intake. You see, prior to opening the cafe we rarely, if ever, ate eggs. Sure we might eat foods with eggs as an ingredient every once in a while, but you would never be able to find eggs in our fridge, nor we would order eggs when dining out at breakfast. But there was definitely a stretch during those first four to five months when it seemed as though we each ate an egg sandwich every day (and yes, sometimes twice a day!). It seemed a good sign to us that we didn't tire of our own food, but we began to worry about how our diet was affecting our overall health. And so it was that we decided to cut out the fried egg sandwich. The Vegan BLT quickly became my new favorite LRBC menu item, and I affectionately nicknamed it my "anti egg sandwich." The weeks went by and miraculously we found that there were other foods we enjoyed eating besides fried eggs.

Everything was going smoothly, that was until last week when we both fell off the wagon. Ali gave to her first egg sandwich in more than a month during a busy weekend morning. I followed suit a few days later, convincing myself that I should eat an egg sandwich so that our newest employee could have an opportunity to practice cooking a menu item which he had not previously prepared. Damn these sandwiches and their gooey goodness. Realizing that we are not going to be able to permanently stay away from these glorious sandwiches, our newest goal is to achieve moderation in our consumption. We can do that...right?

I think that this morning's events perfectly capture what we mean when we tell people that it is both a blessing and a curse to live 0.4 miles from our place of business. Zeus let us sleep in later than usual, and after laying in bed for about 30 minutes and feeling so comfortable that neither of us wanted to get up, Ali mentioned that she was hungry. My mind quickly tried to figure out how I could quell Ali's hunger without going to the store, going out to eat, or trying to piece together a meal from the sparse assortment of condiments which fill our home refrigerator. "How does an egg sandwich in bed sound?" I asked her. She looked at me with big doe eyes and nodded her head in approval.

LRBC's first home delivery:
Ali's breakfast-Fried egg with light pasilla aioli, sliced apple, Beecher's Flagship cheese, and veggie bacon, on Fleur de Lis ciabatta. To drink, an 8oz organic orange juice.
Evan's breakfast-Zoobomb with veggie bacon, sub Beecher's Flagship cheese. To drink, the last of Joel's Brazil Cafe Zhino (about 55 grams French press for about 3 minutes and 45 seconds).
It doesn't get any better than this right? Wrong! We currently have almost an entire leftover Dove Vivi pizza in our refrigerator.
Today may even rival Ice Cube's good day.

Setting the Table

Today after work Ali got some work done.

Coming Soon?

The Little Red Trailer?

Well, we're not exactly sure what we have in store for this food cart but when our friend Tracy informed us she was selling it, we knew we had to have it. We immediately thought summertime, homemade pies, fresh squeezed lemon and limeade served in mason jars, and of course our personal favorite, our ice cream in double scoops served in fresh waffle cones for your licking and slurping pleasure.

Care to dream with us?

I Spy...

Spotted on North Lombard St. on 3/10/08

Spring Forward

While we're still trying to adjust to the recent time change, one cannot help but to look around this fair city and know that Spring is well on her way. Just the other day Evan was speaking with cherished cafe regular and local botanist, "The Nutty Irishman," and learned that the most tell-tale sign of Spring's arrival in Portland are the blossoming pink flowers of the plum tree, which are all too commonly mistaken for cherry blossoms. (We had always assumed they were cherry blossoms.) Not so, claims our friend, who generously gifted me the blooming "Pregnant Onion" you see pictured above. Thus far in the journey this little plant is the only foliage I haven't managed to kill in the cafe, a sure sign that Spring is working her gorgeous magic despite the odds against Pacific Northwest weather systems and negligently green "Green Thumbs." Like today for example, a day where sun and rainshowers shared the sky for a brief but beautiful moment, a day where I came home to find my dog napping in a pool of sunlight that streaked through the bedroom blinds, a day where spontaneous cravings for sweets like Rice Krispie Treats and Basil Ice Cream become reality. Yes, that's right. You can expect Homemade Rice Krispie Treats and Basil Ice Cream tomorrow afternoon at the cafe. Along with:

Maple & Bacon Ice Cream
Mexican Coffee Ice Cream
(think rich courier coffee, cinnamon, and orange zest)
Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Who else is ready to get their Spring on?

From the Weekend...

Pumpkin Maple Bread Pudding

Neighborhood Carnival

This is one of our favorite times of the year; when the carnival comes to our neighborhood. Today after work our posse walked there.
We ate popcorn, red rope, and drank hot chocolate.
We went in the fun house.
AnnMarie rode the rides.
And I managed to pop four balloons in a row with dull-ended darts and won a stuffed Pac-Man toy.
The end.

Oh yeah, we almost forgot...

Always Remember to Read the Fine Print

For those of you who only visit the blog and don't have the opportunity to visit the cafe, or in case you simply haven't noticed, we felt that we should at least mention that our menu underwent some small changes about a month and a half ago. We're not talking anything too drastic, for the most part the majority of the changes I write of were actually additions to the existing menu. Yes, we know some people miss the "old turkey sandwich," as well as the menu items we originally included for those with single digit ages. Hey, we're not perfect, we're just trying to make food tasty enough to make you want to come back for more.

Now, thanks to Dan, you can view the new menu with the click of a mouse. So peruse, criticize, and drool. We promise not to change up the turkey again anytime soon. Well at least not during the weekdays. For now.

Happy Six Months, LRBC!

We have two more boxes in our fridge. No joke.

We having a running joke in our house that February was like our "National Pizza Month" Seriously, I think we had pizza something like nineteen times--probably more pizza than I ate in all of 2007 combined. Evan informed me very early on during our dating process that he loved pizza and in all of its glorious forms. He would often refer to his childhood growing up in Northwest Portland and to all of the accessibility to pizza in the area. He declared his absolute affinity to Escape from New York, he sadly recalled the greatness he claimed once resided at Silver Dollar Saloon & Pizza on NW 21st, (something I never could believe having spent one too many occasions in my early drinking years in the smoky bar throwing them back), and he even remembers being a kid when Pizzicato opened their NW 23rd location on his birthday, and he and his mom becoming the operation's first customers. Imagine his delight when I wound up working for the company on-and-off for four years, where it wouldn't be uncommon for me to come home reeking of garlic but bearing the gifts of extra slices or a custom pizza made by friends.

Personally, I was never too big of a fan. Sure, I liked pizza as much as the next gal but too often I was reminded of Round Table soccer parties, where all I really cared about was playing the video games anyways (You know, Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids, Street Fighter II, etc.) But after nearly eight years together, this boy has us both hooked on pizza and we spent the entire month celebrating this fact.

I'm not quite sure how it all began but I can tell you it certainly didn't help that we happened upon the loveliness that is Dove Vivi one Sunday evening. To put it frankly, it was love at first sight. And then love at first bite. Since then we have spent the last five Sundays in-a-row working our way through their menu. We always begin with a combination of slices and a whole pie, and spend our week snaking on leftovers until the stockpile runs dry and do it all over again. A couple of our favorites? The Fig Pancetta, The Wild Mushroom, The Vegan Corn Cashew, The Pesto, and The Blue Room (Holy Hell is this one good).

There really is nothing like coming home from work completely fatigued and starving and finding this box in your fridge staring back at you. The sweetness and simplistic beauty of the stamp only hints at what awaits inside. In the past month I have eaten this pizza cold, hot, lukewarm, and on the car ride home from the restaurant because I simply can't get it out of my mind.

It's not just the food that's good, (I didn't even mention the salads...don't get me started) because like I said, at first it was love at first sight. Pretty much every detail of the space felt personal to me. Everything from the mason jars, the exposed beams and lightbulbs, the reclaimed wood, the "knock-knock" artwork, the definite warmth and presence of what could only a "family" coming together and making it happen all spoke to me. Familiar, and devotingly comfortable, as though someone had created the night-time version of our cafe. And as narcissistic as it sounds, we fell in love with it/them immediately. The food was just a bonus.

Given that we felt so comfortable here and that it was not unusual for us to spend a lot of time (perhaps too much so) getting lost in conversations with dear and loving friends, laughing wholeheartedly, and relishing in culinary delights, we couldn't think of a more delightful place to celebrate the cafe's six month anniversary than Dove Vivi. After several salads, pies, bottles of wine, and homemade chocolate-chip cookies fresh outta the oven, what was left of the LRBC crew finished the night celebrating with whiskey-gingers, kick-ass juke-box tunes, and a solid game of Apples-To-Apples. To Alex, Alice, AnnMarie, Dekin, Dylan, Joel, Lindsey, Mom, and Tim: Thank you, gang. We heart you tremendously and fully acknowledge that this wouldn't be possible without your presence, your support, your patience, and your wisdom thus far in the journey. Thanks for being with us and making $h*t happen while we jointly pursue our various dreams.

Some highlights from this month:

• A pie fashioned by Joel during a dinner party at his house, made distinguishable by the raw egg he cracked on top just before he finished it off in the oven. Which in turn lead to Oh-My-Goodness-Deliciousness
• The whole large cheese pie we ordered from Escape, made complete by sipping root-beers (my absolute favorite pizza accompaniment) while walking around the neighborhood on a gorgeous night, waiting for it to bake
  
• The fabulous pizza stone I purchased for Evan for Valentine's Day which has already been privy to three homemade creations including this beauty:

My Veggie Lovers: Roasted Onion and Garlic Jam, Roma Tomatoes, Shitake Mushrooms, and Broccoli

• And last but not least, and perhaps our most favorite discovery while studying our ongoing love affair with pizza, our noticeably increasing addiction/crush to/on the pie and our new friends at Dove Vivi. Thanks for making our 6 month anniversary so great, gals and guy. It was everything it needed to be and more! XO
  

And so during this very well deserved and joyous hangover we are nursing ourselves with Evan's homemade hot chocolate and season six of Curb. Ohhhhh yeahhhhhh... It feels good to be Six Months old. Thanks for being along for the ride.

Dove Vivi Pizza
2727 NE Glisan St.
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 239-4444