Friday Night Supper Club - Aviary PDX

Okay, so my buddy Kevin decided to put together a monthly supper club with the goal of trying out some of Portland's top 100 restaurants as listed in the Willamette Week. Unfortunately this was the first time I actually made it to one of the posted events this year. Friday night's pick for April was Aviary on NE Alberta.

The restaurant had a clean modernistic appeal and the 8 of us were fortunate enough to be seated at the big table near enough to the door that we could watch people coming and going yet far enough away that we weren't affected by it opening and closing.

The premise is small plates (tapas) of locally sourced fresh ingredients in amazing combinations. Things like butternut squash, snap peas, black garlic, egg yolk and parmesan cream. It sounded fantastic and it was only when we started getting our plates that we realized none of us had ordered this dish.

I had the beet and asparagus salad and the charred octopus. But of course, no evening out should begin until we've had a cocktail!

I'm a huge fan of Tuaca so when I spied The Opera Sidecar on the drink menu, I knew I just had to have it! Clear Creek pear brandy, Tuaca, and house made sour mix. It was sweet and tangy and exactly what I needed.


Next out was the salad course.

 The presentation was amazing and not anything like what I was expecting in a salad. Frisee and shaved asparagus were piled in the middle of the plate and then 'covered' with paper thin slices of fresh beet. The plate was then garnished with yogurt, sunflower seeds and za'atar (a delectable middle eastern spice blend). I still can't get over how beautiful it was.


Then for the entree.

The charred octopus was cooked perfectly and was served with scallion pancakes, a slaw made of green papaya and long beans and garnished with cashews. Though the octopus was perfect, the stand out on the plate was the slaw. Who would think to do that with green papaya and long beans?

Since we had been sharing our plates throughout the evening and there was about half my salad remaining, I opted out of desert but I did get a few tastes of three items ordered by everyone else. One of the best things I tried all night was Heather's cake (for the life of me I can't remember the name). It was sweet and gooey and brought back memories of my mother-in-law's apple cake served during Oktoberfest.

However, the dish that stood out the most all evening was the tempura green beans, served with green curry and sesame salt. They were AH-mazing!

While I did enjoy the evening, I did feel I had spent a lot of money for a little bit of food. I think it's my redneck upbringing. I'm just used to getting a big ole' prime rib dinner for $10. Enough to fill you up and still leave with a doggie bag. That certainly didn't happen on Friday night.