It sates itself on the life-blood of fated men,
paints red the power’s homes with crimson gore.
black become the sun’s beams in the summers that follow,
weathers all treacherous. Do you still seek to know? And what?
Every one, a perfect moment.
Golden light filtering through newly-leafed oaks. Falling cherry petals covering a car. Spring is back in Portland. A quiet spring. A tired spring. But spring, nonetheless.
If you’re looking for my normal vitriol, I apologize. I have gorged on anger and outrage and fear this past year. I have no taste for it. I’m sure there will be room for salt in my diet come a calmer future.
To work then; we live in a world of take-out only restaurants. You can even get booze delivered to your door. Thanks Kate. Some have risen to the occasion; some have foundered. Toro Bravo is decidedly among the former.
Most persistent dining companion and I, despairing of ever satisfying our wee valkerye with pedestrian fare and needing a reminder of art have retreated to our ordering patterns from the dreamtime. Namely: one of pretty much everything.
Toro Bravo make it easy:
Sidra House Dinner for Four
A selection of highlights – Farm Greens, chroizo and cheese, grilled octopus, smoked coppa steak. All are fabulous. I’ve been lax in my persecution of cephlapods in recent months and this meal offered me the opportunity to fuck with the be-tentacled freaks in a couple of delicious ways.
That steak is also something to chase down when you have the chance. Easily some of the best beef I’ve had in town.
Potatoes Bravas
And brave were these little taters in their service to El Presidente. Few fried things really survive a thirty minute car ride, but these still held their own.
Squid Ink Pasta
Anchovies and hazelnuts weren’t really how I expected my day to end, but sweet tap-dancing Moses does this taste good. Creamy and rich in all the right ways. I’m not generally at home with the filbert, but I’d be the little spoon after this one. Love is love.
Basque Burnt Cheesecake
I’m genuinely surprised I got much of this. I haven’t seen most persistent dining companion attack a dessert like this since I miss-spelled some geography in the Middle East. We didn’t even both with the whipped cream – also tasty. As I look now, it’s gone from the takeout menu. Totally unsupervised it sold out.
To make art in defiance of adversity is courage laid bare. Each moment we notice – savor – is a victory. Every one, a perfect moment.