I’m a master of spicy food.

Spicy food in Portland starts at Ban Thai by PSU.

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I absolutely loved this episode. You had juicing, you had kale, you had waffles, you had mysterious rubbings, you had cart life, you had life in general, and you had Lisa & Brian, and David. Perfection right there. As for that invention or potential KS idea, I say go for it. Think of BBQ’s, cities/towns with boat race weekends, and you don’t have to think of anything else but the sole purpose the invention is to be made. Do it.

We’re just under five hours before the BAS segment on Travel Channel airs, and I highly look forward to it. In the series, there are a number of places spotlighted that I’d like to check out. In fact, when Adam Richman showed a place in the Richmond, Virginia area called The Black Sheep, I had to ask my cousin if she ever tried it. She said she had seen it many times, but no. I said whenever I get to visit, I must try what they call the “USS Brooklyn”, which is made with jerk chicken and banana ketchup and peach chutney. I know, major clash of flavors. I love jerk chicken, but never thought of banana ketchup going along with that, which I also love. My point is that yes, it will definitely be a major means of promotion, which is why Richman is on the **TRAVEL** channel. Everyone wants to try what’s popular and well known, so sure, people will flock for those wacky and tasty doughnuts, but how about walking down the block and seeing that great silver cart in the parking lot.

In the countless times I’ve visited Portland over the decades, I have never had Chinese food there. In my teens, when we’d come into Clackamas for “tax free” school shopping (back when you could fill up a gas tank for $10 and still have change), our mandatory stop was, I think it was called Teriyaki Express on 82nd. In fact, for years we pretty much stayed on the East side, and usually around 82nd. I think one of the first times was when we stayed in the motel that is now the Eastside Lodge on Burnside. I’m not sure if it was always the Eastside, but we stayed there because it was close to a restaurant/diner (the one in the parking lot), it was close to the highway, and… well, because it was cheap. Yet we’d always go to Teriyaki Express because it was the closest thing we had to the type of Hawaiian food we loved, which was less traditional Hawaiian, but more about the modern comfort foods of Hawai’i like loco moco, teriyaki beef plate lunch, etc. Every year we’d go there, and then one day we visited and noticed they had new owners. The quality of the food changed, and not for the better. A few years later, they were closed down. For me, when the Clackamas shopping was done, I would always head to Tower Records for my music shopping. I was the only one in my family who wanted to “take the risk” of going to what my mom would call seedy, which meant some obscure used record store where there was no parking lot, it was on a side street. This freaked out my mom, and I thought “wow, I’m looking for records, it’s okay.” When I had my own car and was able to do my own thing, I stayed within what was familiar but then discovered I was staying at a Motel 6 that had an Arby’s nearby and oh look: strip clubs. Did I go to the strip clubs? No, i was too much of a chicken shit at the time. Then I discovered different Goodwill’s and thrift stores. Records, 8-tracks, cassettes, YES! Laser discs? Eh, they had CED’s but after listening to this show, maybe Bobby had first crack at all incoming LD’s.

Even in those initial visits to Portland, it was always ordinary and “safe” food, and I’m glad Lisa and Brian brought up the thought of being bold with food exploration, even if it means nothing more than escaping ones comfort zone and trying something at least once. Plus, Seattle had always been my emphasis and yet I was exploring more music. I remember some great Asian food spots in the U-District and I’d always stock up at Uwajimaya, but in recent years I realized: I was enjoying Portland a bit more. Now, I’ve seen countless Chinese and Asian spots on 82nd and nearby, but never ventured to try it. With the recommendation of Lucky Strike, I will have to go there when I return again later this year. I would also like to try the recommendation made in the comment above: Ban Thai. Someone on FB has told me “the next time you come to Portland, I’ll show you all the great taco spots, you will go nuts”, so I look forward to that.

I think for all of us, we grow up with the familiar and we stay with the familiar. Then we expand our mind and pallets, and we realize we don’t have to be restricted in what we eat. Or what might’ve been scary doesn’t have to be. For me, I had always wanted to try new things with food, because if one was to look at me, yeah, I love food. Most of the time, they were not wise choices, and those bad choices I made, I had an abundance of it. Story of my life in more ways than one. What truly changed my stubbornness is being in a car accident and realizing I had a chance in not being able to do anything ever again. Something as basic as cauliflower: I used to hate it because of the smell. It was like grandma’s farts and the soft part of your wrist after taking off a watch. My vegetable intake was extremely basic before (corn and green beans was all I could tolerate) and eventually I broke out of that and wanted to not only try more, but make an attempt to grow some. Then one day I realized okay, after years of shunning cauliflower, I’m going to have to try this. Verdict: why did I wait that long to try it? As Lisa stated, one can simply try something at least once and if it’s liked, great. If not, that’s fine. It’s just food, move on and have something else. If you do a bit of cooking, even better, because your limits are based solely on you.

It was simply nice to hear a discussion with people involving passion, creativity, and fun, and I mean that for all five people who were in this episode. This is one for the ages.

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Brian and Lisa won! Congratulations to Big Ass Sandwiches!

Suck it, Batali!

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