Pickwick Restaurant, Duluth, MN

Nearly 100 years old, but yet a “newborn”, the Pickwick (“the Wick” to locals) has always been a Minnesota favorite, and has been operated by the same family until this week. The new owners have modernized some of the infrastructure, and will be “updating” (horrors!) the menu.

First pic of the new bar area (below) shows that they have increased seating, extended the bar itself, and added more seating at the bar (formerly, it just had 8 highly coveted stools). Looks like the have lightened up the room a bit, and possibly removed the plethora of dead animals and fish that previously hung on the walls and replaced them with flat screens (horrors, again!) (Can’t we go anywhere, anymore, w/o having to watch television?).

Minnesota Burger Reporter Kawikamedia and the Minnesota Burger Posse were there for

Pickwick Pepper Cheeseburger

the opening last night, and reported nothing had changed, apparently, in his usual (and favorite) Pepper Cheeseburger and onion rings. But he added an aside, that the “true test” of the burger is how it tastes after a night in the frig (like I believe the test of a pizza is how it tastes after a night on the kitchen counter!).

Still waiting for that verdict.

The Wick has retained their charcoal broiler for steaks and fish. One can only imagine they kept the various local fish entrees, featuring Walleye. Or one can hope. Word is they will be opening the 2nd floor, previously unused space, as a wine bar.

The group started with the Pepper Poppers, before launching into the burgers.  Poppers were reported as “a nice addition to the menu.”

(All photos @ Kawikamedia, and cannot be reproduced w/o permission).

View Larger Map

Pepper "Poppers" at the Pickwick

Pickwick Pepper Cheeseburger & Onion Rings

Canyon Grill

“Voted Best Burgers in Town!” the sign outside says. Doesn’t say by whom, or what town. I’ve driven by this place a million times, on Canyon Rd, or “Car Dealer Row”, or more appropriately these days, “Empty Car Dealer Buildings Row”, as quite a few are in the wind these days.

I first spotted the Canyon when I was at Chicago Windy City Hot Dogs for an Italian Beef. Regretfully, the Chicago spot has gone to hot dog heaven as well. Tough crowd, tough neighborhood.

The Canyon is one of those places where you immediately have the impression that they have been around forever, and always will be, attended to by some loyal family, generation 1 or 2. It’s neat inside, with a small seating area, but a large patio outdoors, with heaters in the winter. Basic condiments adorn each table, along with a small jar of free peanuts for noshing on while you are waiting for your order.

After I ordered and paid, I sat in the sun with the NY Times Saturday puzzle, munched a few peanuts, and wandered in after awhile, and was pleasantly told by the help that they would bring my burger out when it was ready. “It’s done when it’s done” said the cook, but with a smile. Kinda different from the gruff treatment one has come to expect at another local institution, Giant Drive-In, Lake O.

I said “no problem” and also smiled, to let them know I wasn’t being pushy or impatient, as Mrs. BDB says I am on occasion. I apparently get “the look.” In short order (get it?) my bacon cheeseburger and fries were delivered, the burger perched betwixt a soft kaiser, with shredded lettuce on both top and bottom, tomatoes on top, dill chips on the bottom.

Canyon Grill Bacon Cheeseburgern short order (get it?) my bacon cheeseburger and fries were delivered, the burger perched betwixt a soft kaiser, with shredded lettuce on both top and bottom, tomatoes on top, dill chips on the bottom.

The fries were seasoned with a (house-made?) salt/pepper seasoning, with a bit of kick, reminiscent of Tony Chachere, but not – this had larger flakes of the spices. A lot of this seasoning ended up in the bottom of the basket, lowest layer of fries, and a few of them were kinda hot, but not in an offensive way. The shoestrings themselves were fried perfectly, in one of the “lighter” oils, and I suspect most burger boys would say are equal to McDonalds, the gold standard for many people.  Lagniappe:  they throw in a little ramekin of ranch for your fries.

The owner has chosen a high quality beef, and a bacon equal to it, as the (not frozen) patties are cooked to just south of medium, if you don’t specify.

It’s a good burger, and a good value. Worthy of a return trip for me, or a first trip, for you. He has weekend breakfasts, which if we have another nice Saturday, I think I’ll give a whirl as well.

Canyon Grill Portland

Canyon Grill Bacon Cheeseburger

Texas State Fair

I went last year, and was disappointed at the selections of foods available …. State Fairs were started as showcases for local farmers; in fact, Oregon’s was started iin 1959 by the Oregon Fruitgrowers Association. So in my humble opinion, a State Fair should highlight the best of the region, unique and/or innovative twists on local favorites.

But during my visit last year, I saw nothing beyond ordinary carny food, your hot dogs, churros, burgers(1), cotton candy, etc., etc., ad nauseum. This may well be a restriction placed on the fair by the carnival rides company (2) – maybe they get the foods concession as well. If that’s the case, the fair committee should seek a new rides company.

Oregon is blessed with abundant natural resources, and creative growers, distributors, manufacturers, chefs. One need only attend any summer event at Waterfront Park, street fair, or food cart pod to experience this.

The Oregon State Fair, if it isn’t courageous enough to go with an entirely “new plan”, might consider at least carving out a portion of the fair ground for nothing but local food carts. Why? Because the carts and their owners tend to source locally, and their excellent products give out of the area visitors to the fair a chance to sample some of Oregon’s home grown bounty, and become regular consumers of such products in the future.

The Minnesota State Fair (and Texas as well) are two fairs I have attended over the years that do a great job of showcasing local products with innovative flair. Everything from local ‘fish on a stick’, to local sausages stuffed with local produce. Or the “All the Milk You Can Drink for a Buck” booth, as Minnesota is a dairy state (as is Oregon).

Here’s a short video of Minnesota fair-goers talking about their favorite food finds. I noted with some irony that one of the most often mentioned items is an Oregon invention – the Pronto Pup!

Fair Food from Steve De Jong on Vimeo.

(1) Want to know what’s in your Oregon State Fair burger? Here’s their requirements: Hamburgers: No less than 5 patties to the pound (pre-cooked weight). No more than 20% fat, 8% water, and 4% texturized protein. Beef must be USDA approved. Served on a bun no smaller than 4 inches diameter, sesame seeds are optional. Must be cooked to 160 degrees.

(2) The Oregon Fair’s policy on food vendors is on their website, and I just read it.  A portion of the vendors ARE in fact from the carny company, with the rest being put out to bid.  So why aren’t there more local, unique, and small operators?   Probably the financial restrictions – the fair takes 22-30% of the vendor’s gross (that probably eliminates most small operators and food carts), and requires a $1,000,000 insurance policy and up-front deposit of $2500- $7,000 (which eliminates everyone else that wasn’t eliminated by the first requirement.)  There are a couple dozen other restrictions that would tend to limit innovation.  I fully understand the need to control safety and sanitation, but the Fair committee might consider easing up on some of the other points.   We have one of the most unique food cultures in the nation – let’s showcase it for the world to see and taste!

(Guest columnist William Duval, Portland business attorney,  and frequent BurgerDogBoy burger companion, turns in this report):

During my Match.com days – the ones after my divorce – I made a point to be filthy informed and up to date on the epicurean landscape of my fairly miserable city.  I knew where the creamiest crepe could be found, the meatiest rattlesnake, the spiciest enchiladas – - I could even identify the venerable vegan joints (because as an eternal opportunist, I never lost my thing about hippie-chicks).  This period, mind you, was a mere ten years past, when low-carb was gospel, organic was in its infancy, and the only gluten-free choice for food was relegated to the bottom shelves of the end of isle four at the first and only (at that time) New Seasons Market.  I doubt I had seen a gluten-free bakery or even gluten-free menu items back then, or, for that matter, met a rational person who actually eschewed gluten by choice.

Flash-forward to these happy days of monogamy: the restaurant scene has moved on without me.  I have no idea who serves what, where; and why would I?  My Newlywed Forever makes the best of everything, and if she doesn’t feel like cooking I can always come here and be told where to find the very best beef in a bun.   But I do know this about local restaurants in 2010: one nowadays just as easily finds Portland-area menus with gluten-free choices as one finds clueless bicyclists fucking up traffic 24/7.  (Make your own correlation.)  The Neilson Company confirms a trend is in the works: sales of gluten-free items in the U.S. rose 74% from 2004 to 2009 with sales expecting to top $2.6M in two years.  Bob saw it coming by adding five new Red Mills to pump out gluten-free products some nine years back.  And similar to blogs devoted to pleasures of the burger, there are website/blogs devoted to gluten-free shit in Portland you can see here http://www.glutenfreeportland.org and here http://www.glutenfreechoice.com.

The challenge, as you know may know, is finding a gluten-free anything that is as palatable and tasty as its gluten-laden ancestor. Sure, there’s gluten-free pizza at the PSU Pizzacato on Thursday nights, but have you tried it?  Or how about those $5 frozen bricks labeled “Bread” at Whole Foods?  After laboring five minutes to hacksaw off a slice just try to brown it in a toaster.  Double-down: now eat it.  Making edible gluten-free anything is hard. Making it taste familiar is even harder. My beautiful Match is on a gluten-free bender approaching six months now; I know that of which I speak.

But followers of the adventures of BurgerDogBoy will be simply fascinated, I am sure, to know a very juicy little tidbit concerning our anonymous Maximum Burger Director.

This past Friday evening, he and the ever-gracious Mrs. BurgerDogBoy invited us into their home, a place where by rumor we believed we would receive a most satisfactory well-cooked homemade meal.  Did we ever!  While I most assuredly don’t know the half of it, Mr. and Mrs. BurgerDogBoy really know how to cook.  I can state this with absolute certainty.  Yet this is not the juicy piece of which I taunt

Mr. and Mrs. BDB laid out a divine assortment of olives, roasted garlic, lasagna, pizza, salad and cookies.  And what do you know – irony of ironies – BurgerDogBoy makes THE best – you saw this coming – gluten-free pizza, gluten-free lasagna and gluten-free cookies one will ever hope to find anywhere, I am sure.

Each was presented in two varieties: Gluten free for my own lovely gluten-free adventurer and other guests on a similar journey; and for the rest of us – wholesome, thick, rich gluten maximus served up without reserve.  The results were spectacular; there was little difference to be perceived in each instance.  The sauces for the Italian choices were splendid – a sweeter, tomatoey mix for the pizzas, and a hearty, meaty blend to put my Aunt Sally on notice that her lasagna Florentine trade secret is in jeopardy.  BurgerDogBoy used at least three different meats for both forms of lasagna, the leftovers of which I enjoyed two days later.  As I am fully cognizant that this venue at which we all loiter is burgersdogspizza.com and not burgersdogslasagna.com I shall tarry only briefly off topic: Each version had plenty of ricotta, nice firm noodles, just the right sized layer of spinach and a scrumptious cheese baked golden brown and yellow on top…. it really was perfection. (Editor’s note:  Mrs. BDB’s recipes for lasagna are so secret, she won’t even tell ME what’s in them!)

As for the pizza – both versions offered the type of NY style crust I crave: thin and tasty, hand shaped and cooked over hot briquettes.  What was remarkable was the virtual similarity between each version of pizza.  Each contained a healthy variety of meats (salami, sausage and pepperoni i.e. heaven) laid atop the aforementioned slightly sweet, perfectly spiced tomato sauce. Only a slightly different taste made evident that the ingredients in the dough must necessarily have varied. Save for a minor few forgivable black burns on a portion of the crust’s bottom, the gluten-free version was far better than anything I’ve ever paid for.  This was seriously good pizza made and presented by our very knowledgeable hosts.

So it can be done; proven this very night by BurgerDogBoy himself -connoisseur of all food pleasing, tasty, and properly prepared.  But this really begs the question and laysdown the challenge:  for if BurgerDogBoy can give the gluten-free treatment to lasagna, cookies and pizza without sacrificing any of the attributes we’ve come to expect from some of our favorite foods then what potential there must be for a perfect gluten-free burger.   But the challenge is heretofore issued: You make the buns, and on my own grill our beef shall sizzle.

(The closely-attuned reader will no doubt call attention to the fact I neglected to speak of the cookies.  I am Mr.Cookie.  I love all cookies and eat cookies all day, so in saying that I thought the cookies were wonderful, little is really said.)

(Ed Note:  Readers, if you are looking for gluten free hamburger buns, you’ll find them in the BurgersDogsPizza.com online store!)

William and Victoria Duval

Saturday was a “way too much” food day for the Burgerdogboy family, due to relatives being in town.  I wasn’t able to document it all, a general ‘walking food coma’ overtook me at some point.  Problem with eating so much yesterday, is I have to still deal with what’s on the plate for us today!  WHOA!   Gonna have to take a couple days off from eating.  (OK, I’ll start tomorrow).

In no particular order yesterday, it started at the Saturday market, launched in to happy

Kincaid Sliders

hour at Kincaid’s, on to Sushiland,  moved over to PGE stadium, before ending at Serrato on 21st.

Kincaid’s has three beef sliders for $9 (happy hour price $4), and at the happy hour price they’d be a better deal. They are tiny burgers on oversized buns, with a olive mayo that is ver nice, and a sweet hot mustard that is not so nice. We wandered in there because Mrs. BDB’s unquenchable thirst was hollering out for a couple of lemon drops ($9 per), and Portland’s unseasonably hot weather streak made the AC a welcome relief.

At Sushi Land we set the record for the number of stacked empty plates, I believe, with

PGE Park Zenner Hot Dog

Mrs. BDB and my daughter leading the charge.

Burgerdogboy’s daughter, the vegetarian (harumph!) had the boyfriend du jour in tow this trip,who partook of a Zenner’s hotdog at the baseball game, and pronounced it so amazing, his eyes popped out.

We ended the evening on the sidewalk at Serrato, nobody was feeling very hungry but me, they had a antipasti platter ($18) on the menu, which had my name on it, and it included some salami, olives, and possibly the best cheese I have ever had, a high fat soft concoction called Humboldt Fog, from Cypress Grove Cheeses, Arcata, CA.  Absolutely marvelous.

A typically wonderful diverse Portland food day!

Sushi Land

Rogue Brew Pub and Eatery

In the midst of elephant garlic territory (you missed the festival last week, btw), in the center of town….ok, in the center of the one block of town, sits the Rogue Brew Pub and Eatery, which i don’t believe is any relation to the Rogue Ales brewer type guys. Tho they do serve those quaffs.

This is a neighborhood bar w/o a neighborhood, out in the middle of elephant garlic heaven, Oregon. We were on our way to the coast, when hunger pains struck, but regretfully, far past the exit for the Helvetia Tavern.

So it was either grab a couple of burgers from the AM/PM mini mart, or check out this place. It was mid afternoon, so the place was empty, but that didn’t deter the waitress from popping the top on a new case of attitude, just for us.

You know what I mean, the waitress (or waiter) who rolls their eyes so hard, you think you can HEAR IT, when they say to themselves, “oh great, customers.” After delivering the menus, and taking our drink orders, she had to return a number of times to get our order, and despite being the only customers, despite repetition, despite her successfully (one assumes) passing it off to the cook, after a considerable length of time, it was at last delivered……wrong.

Fuck it, we say, let’s eat, and we did. I ordered the elephant garlic burger, a 1/3 pound food service patty adorned with elephant garlic pureed with a little basil, wine and mayo. This was plopped atop an over-sized slice of genoa salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and raw onion.

While the menu cautioned this burger is for “garlic lovers only,” elephant garlic is not really a member of the garlic family, closer to leeks, and thus milder in flavor. I didn’t find it entirely unpleasant, and will try and concoct same at home, but using a higher quality meat, and a harder salami. Just personal preference.

The burgers come standard with run of the mill chips, fries or rings $2.00 extra. We tried the rings, and they weren’t particularly memorable, either.

There were three of us, two burgers, one rings, two beers, one soda, one calamari, one side salad, $33, plus tip.

Kind of spendy.

I’m glad I went, so I can go “oh, pshaw,” when someone brags to me about what a good burger this place has.

It’s a good burger if you happen to be in North Plains and run out of gas or get a flat tire, maybe. Otherwise, “this isn’t the burger you are looking for, move along.”

Rogue Brew Pub Elephant Garlic Burger

H50 BBQ Shrimp

This is worth doing, for several reasons: 1) it’s cheap 2) it’s rather compact, unlike, say “A Taste of Chicago”, 3) you have a chance to sample a great many a) Oregon restaurants, b) Portland food carts, c) Oregon microbrews, and d) Oregon wines. (And visit the Pepto Bismol booth to boot!).

We would have gone anyway, but our attendance was helped by the fact Mrs. BurgerDogBoy won us free weekend passes when we were rockin’ out to Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at the Oregon Zoo earlier in the week.

So we gathered up our nickels and dimes, took Portland’s fabulous transit system downtown to avoid the parking/traffic mess, and made our way to the “Bite of Oregon” event happening in Waterfront Park.

There are plenty of activities for the chillun’, and as with most happenings in Portland, your canine friends are invited as well.

Mrs. BDB went straight to a brew queue, and had a Ninkasi Total Domination IPA, while I quenched my thirst with soda from Thomas Kemper.

Say “barbecued shrimp” to someone who has lived in New Orleans, and they

Tillamook Cheddar & Chorizo Mac N Cheese

automatically think “butter, oil, herbs, pepper” but our plate at Bite (H50 Bistro) was a tasty skewer of medium sized grilled shrimp, with a sweet bbq sauce, and a smattering of blue cheese slaw (heavy on the slaw part, light on the blue part), and a cup of Tillamook Cheddar Mac N Cheese with crispy chorizo bits.

Moved on to Gustav’s booth for some cheese fondue w/ bread cubes, and a Bavarian pretzel on the side. In my head, I’m thinking that fondue is a “winter” dish, but even on a hot summer day in Portland, this creamy deliciousness hit the spot. I have a craving for more.

Chaquita Banana Tattoo

A quick stop at the Chaquita Banana booth to have our pix taken in banana costumes, and add temp tattoos to our arms, then over to Adam’s Rib & Smokehouse, from Salem, for the gianormous rib plate, and a beef slider. The ribs were slightly sauced, but came with a ramikin of their sweet but vinegary sauce on the side, and the BBQ’ed beef slider was an ample serving on fresh soft bakery roll.

Things I didn’t get to try? Rogue’s was serving Kobe slider and dogs, but I had run out of room.

We hit a couple of bars downtown, and ended our excusion at the Red Star, where Mrs. BDB was feeling a might peckish, so she ordered the happy hour version of the carnitas street tacos, and while carnitas usually have a nice lemony/cilantro flavor, these were enhanced to be over the top good.

Think we’ll do volunteer duty at Bite next year, and that way, have even more time to enjoy the food, quaffs, and friendly people.

Gustav's Cheese Fondue

Adam's Rib Smokehouse Beef Slider

Fellow burger aficionado Mr. Good Burger was kind enough to send along this photo of his effort to duplicate Friendly’s Double Grilled Cheese Burger. Using grilled cheese sandwiches in lieu of burger buns is all the rage in some quarters. We say it looks like he did a grand job, how about you?