I'm back. Here are Friday's 3 Doors Down Cafe delicious dining and drinking delights.

Since Thursday, June 9, I've been either taking lots of photos, uploading lots of photos, and/or having a time with Flickr with lots of photos, not a totally horrible time with Flickr, but not the most fun I've ever had either. Now things appear to have come around to where I want and need them. Thank goodness.

I was hungry, thirsty, tired when I arrived. I left mellow, satisfied, ready to make it through shopping at Freddy's and then riding the bus on home with my rolling black bag stuffed with necessities like milk and saltines and such.

Here you can see why I left in grand state of existence.

Rhubarb Rita: Blue Agave Tequila, LIme, Lemon Juices, Rhubarb Syrup & Orange Liqueur. This was SO good that I really, really wanted a second one, but I knew I needed, above all desire, to be sure-footed while shopping. I only drank the one.


First appetizer: fromage de chevre mini pyramid, roasted beets, toast points. I smelled the toast when the plate was set down on the table, that's how quick the appetizer made it to me. Imminently spreadable cheese, which is, according to the menu, a classic French crumbly ash-covered goat cheese. Ash-covered? Didn't taste anything but smooth, creamy goat cheese. Thank goodness for goats and their milk and folks willing to make cheese with it. That cheese, combined with the sweetness of the roasted beets and the crispy, easily bitten and chewed toast--my, my. I am a blessed woman. Still wondering about the ash, though, so here's what I found at artisanalcheese dot com: Ash-Coated Cheese--Many goat cheeses, or chevres, are coated with a sprinkle of ash. Originally, the ash often came from oak charcoal, as was the tradition of cheeses from France's Loire Valley. Today, a recognized food grade activated charcoal ash is used which is sometimes salted and generally tasteless. The ash is helpful in mellowing the acidity to promote the affinage and produce a more delectable cheese. It also helps make the cheese surface more hospitable to the growth of molds that add to the complexity of the overall flavor.


Second appetizer: Potato gnocchi, Fava beans, duck confit, chicken stock with olive oil, and sauteed spring onion. Here's the back story: At lunch I called my older son Lamont who is sous chef at 3DD and asked, "Is duck confit on the menu tonight?" Since he is off on Thursdays, he wasn't sure but said there was a good chance that it would be since it had been part of a "3 for $21" special currently running at 3DD. (More about that below--don't miss it.) Oh, joy! Oh, boy! He was right. Suffice it to say that by the time I had finished, that bread to the left of the photo had helped me completely clean the entire bowl. Crunchy skin, meaty flesh, combined with the plump gnocchi and the dense Fava beans. Every morsel satisfied me more than the one before. To tell you the truth, I wasn't one bit sad when I had finished because it was perfect in proportion. Oh, and you can see there in the background that I didn't leave any of my first appetizer, either.

Here's the promised info about the "3 for $21"

On the menu at 3 Doors Down Cafe, SE 37th and Hawthorne

From Friday night and still on the menu in much the same fashion: Duck confit, roasted pork belly, roasted carrot, roasted shallot, cannellini beans, bread crumbs. Sprinkled on the duck and pork, Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. A fine mixture of textures and flavors for your dining enjoyment.

Three Doors Down Cafe, A Fine Food and Drink Series, No. 3

Poiré Authentique, pear cider from Eric Bordelet, a delightfully fresh cider. Matt told me that it's rare and unforgettable, both true descriptors. You can see SE 37th reflected in its golden self.


Here it is, right after being poured. I read this about it online "...a traditionally off-dry, sparkling style ... made from three hundred year-old pear trees. These sixty foot high trees have never seen one bit of chemical treatment during their long lives and produce absolutely marvelous fruit with which to work. Monsieur Bordelet makes from them a brilliant sparkling cider: one that has great complexity, refined bubbles, a deep underlying minerality, with excellent length and cut on the finish." I don't know what some of that means, but I did see bubbles coming up from the bottom center of the glass for quite some time, and it did taste good.


Bibb lettuce, chives, bacon in a creamy roasted garlic aioli dressing--this crispy, perfectly cold salad makes me happy. And it's not just because it's shape reminds me of a ruffled party dress. It tastes so good!


The special--house-made cavatelli, duck confit, delicata squash, and arugula. Lamont thinks it's so neat that I eat duck confit as often as possible at 3DD, and I never even knew what it was before! You see, I had never eaten duck until I moved to Portland. Now, if it's on the menu at Three Doors Down, I get an immediate memory of that earthy, meaty taste as soon as I read the word. So I order it and enjoy it, time after time.

Three Doors Down Cafe, A Fine Food and Drink Series, No. 2

My last New-fangled Old-fashioned, and maybe the last of the season--fresh cherries will not longer be available according to bartender extraordinaire Matt. I still believe that this drink can heal you of what ever is ailing you!


Duck confit, arugula, manchego cheese, Italian plum preserves, bruschetta--an appetizer replete with a meaty sweetness and a crusty crispness. Can you tell how thinly the manchego is sliced? I could see the arugula through it!


Beef, pork and Arborio stuffed chard, baked in a tomato sauce--talk about your perfectly matched tastes and textures! Let me just say that if you've been craving stuffed cabbage or stuffed grape leaves, you'd get over that craving with the first bite of this stuffed chard. I savored each bite, using that sharp, sharp knife you see beside the NFOF to cut thin slices, making sure I got plenty of the tomato concoction--I think I see onion in there, too, but I forgot to ask.