Philly Style Bagels- Fishtown

“No toaster on premises” is written on the bottom of the chalkboard menu as you enter this corner bagel shop in Fishtown.  It turns out that a lack of bagel toasting is quite alright at Philly Style Bagels, winner of Philadelphia Magazine’s best bagels 2016 and Bon Appetite Magazine’s best new sandwich in the country.  The outside of the bagel is nice and crispy with a soft doughy interior- truly unlike any other bagel I had while living in the Philadelphia area.  This contrast creates a perfect balance that requires no further toasting.  

The menu options are pretty standard:  bagel selections, cream cheeses and bagel sandwiches.  The ‘Classic Lox’ bagel recently won ‘Best New Sandwich’ in Bon Appetite Magazine.  Our order of the ‘classic’ exhibited a perfecto portion of salmon, tomato, cucumber and red onion complimented with the rich cream cheese but textures of the bagel (in this case an everything bagel) stole the show.  

Classic Lox Bagel

Philly Style Bagels has predominately morning hours and will close early when the day’s stock is all sold.  A line out the door and up the sidewalk can be common even at 9AM on a Sunday. However, the quality of the bagels, cream cheese and sandwich options will definitely call for multiple return trips, even if it requires a 30 minute wait. 

Lincoln- Portland, OR

Portland is a great city for food enthusiasts.  The city is a melting pot of influences from Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and of course the Pacific Northwest.  One can find fare of most any nationality in upscale, casual or food truck grab-and-go dining.  (The city boasts the most food trucks of any US city; and these are the modern form of a food truck from trained chefs, not the classic coach you find on a city street corner during business hours.)  

During our trip to the Pacific Northwest we opted for one nice, pre-planned meal on our entire trip since most of our days were planned last minute and spent much time outdoors. We wanted to find something that embodied the vibe of Portland and carried a wide variety of food options. Complete your food choice with a pairing of local wine, spirit (craft distilleries are numerous in the NW and making their way east) or beer (the most craft breweries of any US city per capita).  Pair this with a philosophy of simplicity and local sustainability and you discovered the workings of Lincoln in Portland’s Northeast neighborhood.

We started with grilled dates and macrona almonds and wow were they amazing. Served on toothpicks in lime sauce and sea salt they were so savory but small and light so just one bit with a total of six pieces. Next was the asparagus hummus with shrimp. Now one of us likes asparagus and the other hates it so this was concerning. And for no reason. The hummus was amazing with light accompaniments that allowed the creamy, earthy texture to shin without being too much like asparagus. The shrimp added a briny flavor that was unexpected as it seems like it would not fit with this dish. But it totally did. Lastly we had the heirloom tomato salad. I have little to say about this as it was by far the most underwhelming dish of the evening. Seriously, not even close. The tomatoes were good, I guess?

Grilled dates with macron almonds (top) and asparagus hummus with local shrimp

The first entree was the spatzli with lardo, morel mushrooms, and pickled persimmon. The sauce was thicker than expected, giving it more of a feel of very savory and fatty mac and cheese. The lardo was more present than I would have expected but was well balanced with the mushrooms. The portion was definitely plentiful and I was unable to finish it all although I made serious attempts to do so. 

Spatzli with lardo

The second entree was a special made up of pan-seared sockeye salmon, wild rice and greens.  This was hands-down the best salmon I ever tasted.   While the flavor was a mild “salmon” flavor, the preparation was virtually immaculate.  The sear was perfectly executed allowing the skin to be edible and crispy with some rendered fat underneath to provide extra flavor and a butter-like texture.  

Pan-seared salmon

We opted to forego dessert on this evening as our appetizers and entrees provided more then optimal nourishment.  Overall, Lincoln serves as a representative of the trending food culture of Portland while an award-winning and published chef (Jenn Louis) is at the helm.  There was nothing exotic about the menu options or preparation but a professional way of presenting locally sourced and fresh ingredients.