Portage

We ( my wife and I ) went out for dinner the other night to Portage, on Queen Anne Hill...This is a tiny spot, but the room looks fabulous, lots of small deuces (that's restaurant speak for tables for two), white table cloths, and a nice looking bar in the middle of the room.

One of my favorite places in the world is Prune in Manhattan, a space about as small - so my hopes were high...but....not so much.

We started out looking at the very limited menu, "Great Lake Whitefish " huh ???? here we are in the Northwest and I see whitefish from the Midwest ? The wine list is mostly in French ( My American palate has been insulted by the best !) after trying a couple of recommendations by our server, we settle on a bottle of Austrian Pinot Noir...(as in the Sound of Music..not g'day 'mate, though I'd have loved to had some Strong Australian Cab representation on the list).

We then decided on a split of salad, a Tuna Tartare app, a squash app, a Mushroom puff pastry roll entree, and a interesting combo of Diver Scallops & Pork Cheeks.....

The salad never arrived, the Tuna, while OK was not inspired, the olives in the mix added a nice salinity, but the texture just didn't seem right. The Squash dish was fantastic. Small bits of squash with frisee, lardons, and pomegranete seed in a light vinaigrette...very nice.

The Pinot built strength as the night went on... I like a big Pinot, and this one was not meek. The entrees arrived, and I dove into my Scallops which were really good - nice carmelization, and a super cream fraiche sauce , the pork cheek was a dud, on top of a watery potato puree, - everyone wants to do a Rubochon potato, but for it to work ,the execution is key - good Potato, Lots of butter, more butter, salt, and HEAT ! One of the items on the bottom of the list in the world is lukewarm thin potato puree. 'nuf said.

The mushroom roll had the same problem..not enough heat ...we had a lovely conversation though, and eventually the Chef made a tour of the room..he stopped by out table and I asked him about if there was a way I was to eat the scallops & pork..kind of iron chef'ish..."what was the philosophy of the dish"...his response was a lame "my take on surf and turf". His next attempt was to say that we had chosen a nice bottle of wine. We chatted about Pinots and he said if we were interested, next time we should try the Andrew Wright, that wasn't on the list...I then said I thought it was Ken Wright, which he then agreed to.....AWKWARD !!!!!!

Anyway- I really want to love and support this place, but it just doesn't hit the mark...I wish it would ! I feel like saying "here ...go to NYC...go to Prune...hang out for three nights, and come back inspired !!!!