In 1805, explorers Meriwether Lewis and Daniel Clark were deep in the midst of the first transcontinental exploration to the West Coast of the United States; in 1905, to celebrate the centennial of that expedition, Portland hosted a “world’s fair”, the Lewis and Clark Exposition. At that time in history, “World’s Fairs” were held annually in cities around the world, as showcases of the local resources and potential opportunities for both companies and individuals.
The building which housed the entrance area to that exposition now houses Meriweather’s – an apt location for a restaurant that concentrates on featuring food prepared using local resources – in fact, Meriwether’s has their own nearby farm and serves in excess of 8 tons of locally grown produce annually.
Open for lunch Mon-Fri, dinner seven days, and weekend brunch, the chef has come up with an interesting menu with new twists on old favorites, and created a number of his own daring entrees; the restaurant offers full meals, small plates, and a great variety of ‘samplers’ one can order in multiples from their happy hour menu.
We had received a gift card from some dear friends, and had it in our mind to spend a leisurely weekend afternoon happy hour at the restaurant.
Mrs. Burgerdogboy had been once before for a business engagement, but it was my first visit. She started happy hour with an adult beverage, Meriweather’s French Pair, featuring Grey Goose pepper vodka, sweet liqueur, and prosecco.
On our small plate “board”, we went with five choices for $16: anchovy and avocado toast, chickpea fries, artisan salami, cheese & honeycomb, and raw oysters; I added the bacon and cheeseburger as an afterthought, but it was served to us first.
The high quality ground beef was served medium rare at my specification, thick-sliced bacon, a mild cheese, and marsala mayo adorning possibly one of the finest hamburger buns the planet has ever witnessed. The beef was lightly-seasoned and the seasoning did not overpower the ‘beefy’ taste of the thick patty.
While the sampler plate servings were small, all were pleasing, with Mrs. BDB especially enjoying the anchovy and avocado toast, small whole anchovies adorning a spread of very creamy avocado adorning slivers of toasted bread. I enjoyed the small square of honeycomb adorning a piece of cheese, and knew well enough that if I reached for one of the oysters, I might lose a finger to Mrs. BDB’s protective eye.
We arrived at 3pm and the bar (the only venue the happy hour menu is served) attendance was fairly light; by 5p, that had changed considerably.
Service was perfunctory, but the food is the real attraction. I’m sure Meriwether’s will be added to our new favorites list.
