Monday, May 6, 2013

Late Bird Gets the Awesomeness: Aviary

We had a late dinner at Aviary our first night in Portland.  It kinda knocked our socks off.  This remains my favorite meal in Portland to date.
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Aviary disproves the old saying, "Too many cooks spoil the broth."  Three co-chefs -- Sarah Pliner, Jasper Shen, and Kat Whitehead -- combine their extensive New York (Ducasse, Aquavit, Jean Georges, Tabla, Aldea, 5 Ninth) and Portland (The Heathman, Giorgio's, Couvron) experience to bring you exquisite dishes without pretense.

This is NYC-quality with Portland pricing and freshness.  In other words, it's a dream come true.

Housemade sodas.
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Very bubbly.  Very refreshing.  Not too sweet.

Charred octopus, scallion pancakes, green papaya, long beans, cashews ($15).
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Smoky and tender paired with fresh and crisp to make bright and tasty.

Duck confit, salted black beans, figs, fennel ($17).
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Gloriously salty and juicy with just the right amount of sticky and sweet.

Crispy pig ear, coconut rice, Chinese sausage, avocado ($15).
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Oh.  My.  God.  This is the dish to get.  This is everything in one hot mini wok.  This is happiness and comfort on a late Friday night.

Buttermilk panna cotta, mango, passion fruit sorbet, fennel crisp ($6).
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Tangy and creamy and how-is-this-only-$6?!

Cardamom rice pudding, cashews, pomegranate, saffron gelee ($6).
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When this arrived at our table, I got really worried.  It reminded me of the ridiculous concoctions that my seven-year-old niece makes at Yogurtland (not good, folks, not good).  But you know what?  It worked.  It worked so incredibly well that I scraped every little bit out of the bowl.  I guess sometimes a combination of all the flavors and textures you can think of actually succeeds.

Don't miss Aviary.  Put it on your list when you go to Portland.

9 comments:

  1. put a bird on it. fitting name.

    i want to eat it all.

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  2. Dah! I just realized we never ate there, although we always wanted to. We did get to Le Pigeon, which I think is its sister restaurant. (Maybe?) Anyhow, this is definitely on our list the next time we get up there.

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    Replies
    1. No. Le Pigeon's sister restaurant is Little Bird (which will be featured next week). ;)

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    2. Ahhhhh, THAT'S it! Damn Portland putting birds on everything. ;) Looking forward to your review!

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  3. Mmm. I could drool just thinking about those tasty, crispy little bits of deliciousness (aka pig ears.) Must go back!

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  4. lol at all the bird talk. Oh, Portland...

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    Replies
    1. I hate birds! Well, I like eating birds. That's about it.

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