DOC

Last night Zeph's mom and step-dad took us to DOC for Zeph's birthday dinner.  The cozy spot off of Alberta is the newest venture by the same people who own PDX favorites Yakuza and Beast.

You literally walk right into the kitchen when you step inside, a kitchen that is admittedly smaller than my own.  There are only six tables in the entire restaurant and the best part is that you can watch the chefs cook from anywhere you sit.  Despite the size of the dining establishments' micro kitchen, these chefs put out BIG flavors. We did the 5 course tasting menu.

Course 1:
Bread, olives, radishes, butter
Spring lettuce, fennel, feta, oranges
Oysters on the half shell with ginger and garlic
Smoked trout, greens, mustard, radishes
Beets with horseradish and creme fraiche
     -this was so yummy. I'd never think to pair beets with horseradish.
Cauliflower with anchovy butter and bread crumbs
     -probably my favorite of these. Buttery and comforting with a nice crunch from the bread crumbs.
Pork pate, strawberry, herbs, balsamic.
     -the combination of pate with strawberry's was a pair made in heaven. delicious!

Course 2:
Risotto with morels, fiddlehead ferns, belper knolle
     -The morels were divine. They soaked up every flavor in the risotto. Belper knolle is a creme-cheese type of cheese
Cavatelli, pork sugo, pecorino, mint
     -Arguably our favorite dish of the night

Course 3:
Pork atop lentils, watercress, sorrel
Sturgeon, ramps, turnips, asparagus
     -The only course I was less than impressed with. The sturgeon was a tad dry and the entire dish wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as the others
Wild nettle and Oregon black truffle lasagna with a cracked duck egg on top
     -Second favorite dish of the whole night. They were generous with the truffles and the dish was just beautiful.

Course 4:
Farmhouse cheeses with accompaniments (kiwi & strawberry jellys, cherries in chocolate), fruit & nut bread.

Course 5:
Espresso panna cotta, rosemary biscotti
Almond financier, rhubarb, creme fraiche ice cream
    -This was divine. But I'm partial to anything with rhubarb!
Chocolate cake, malted ice cream
Cara cara & proscecco sorbet, shortbread
    -The only dish we didn't polish off was this sorbet. It was very sour!


We left STUFFED and giggly after a few bottles of gorgeous Pinot.  I would definitely go back to this little gem!

DOC

5519 NE 30th Ave. Portland, OR 97211