Portland, Oregon -- Sunday "supper"
Jun 20th, 2009, 03:50 PM
#41
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"A Tale of Obsession" or "Patrick Gets a Happy Ending in Portland".
You've all read my story about missing Mothers' salmon hash. And those who know me, have accurately pictured me pouting all week and running from restaurant to restaurant all over Ashland asking if they do salmon hash with poached eggs -- all to no avail.
Today I had to drive from Ashland back to Seattle, spending the night near SeaTac for my flight out tomorrow morning to San Francisco. The car was packed and ready and after a brief stop at the Human Bean coffee trailer on North Main in Ashland and armed with a 40 oz. 4 shots of espresso Americano, I was on my way at 7:30 AM. Soon I was seeing signs telling me how far to Portland. Hmmm. That should put me passing by there about noon today. Hmmm. Why pass by, when I could make a short detour into downtown and hit Mothers? Surely they serve breakfast until noon or later, or if they do a brunch menu on Saturday, surely they'll have salmon hash on the menu. And so the plan was seeded. Soon, a little drool began to escape my lips as I could already taste that salmon hash. The cruise control came in handy keeping me from flooring the accelerator to get there sooner.
By the time I reached Portland, I was nearly quivering with anticipation. I headed off the interstate, made my way quickly through the downtown as if controlled by radar, and parked just a block away from Mothers as a car pulled out of a parking place just for me! At 11:57 AM I paid for my 90 minute parking sticker (just to be safe) and hurried around the corner. By now a little foam was coming out of my nostrils and I was like a man possessed. Uh-oh. Trouble ahead. I see some 25 or 30 people standing outside, clearly there is a major wait. But a quick check and sure enough there is a place for one at the counter! Quickly I check the menu, my hands shaking. Oh, no! I don't see it. I plead with the waitress "please tell me you have salmon hash with poached eggs". "Oh sure. It's right there", she says pointing to the center of the list. "But it's called WILD salmon hash". "I want it," I say my eyes now glazed over and the foam nearly pouring from my mouth. She demanded to know what was wrong with me. I told her the whole story. How I'd waited three years; how I overnighted in Portland last Sunday for the main purpose of having salmon hash at Mothers on Monday; how I arrived to find the "Closed on Monday" sign; how I had had to settle for oyster hash at Bijou; how I had pouted all week.
As so it came to pass. On Saturday, June 20 Patrick got his wild salmon hash at Mothers in Portland!
And how was it after all that anticipation? We all know something that is remembered so fondly for years and then tried again never lives up to the expectations, right? Wrong! I savored every bite and it was just as good as I remembered it. Perhaps even better than I remembered.
I drove on to Seattle with a huge smile on my face.
You've all read my story about missing Mothers' salmon hash. And those who know me, have accurately pictured me pouting all week and running from restaurant to restaurant all over Ashland asking if they do salmon hash with poached eggs -- all to no avail.
Today I had to drive from Ashland back to Seattle, spending the night near SeaTac for my flight out tomorrow morning to San Francisco. The car was packed and ready and after a brief stop at the Human Bean coffee trailer on North Main in Ashland and armed with a 40 oz. 4 shots of espresso Americano, I was on my way at 7:30 AM. Soon I was seeing signs telling me how far to Portland. Hmmm. That should put me passing by there about noon today. Hmmm. Why pass by, when I could make a short detour into downtown and hit Mothers? Surely they serve breakfast until noon or later, or if they do a brunch menu on Saturday, surely they'll have salmon hash on the menu. And so the plan was seeded. Soon, a little drool began to escape my lips as I could already taste that salmon hash. The cruise control came in handy keeping me from flooring the accelerator to get there sooner.
By the time I reached Portland, I was nearly quivering with anticipation. I headed off the interstate, made my way quickly through the downtown as if controlled by radar, and parked just a block away from Mothers as a car pulled out of a parking place just for me! At 11:57 AM I paid for my 90 minute parking sticker (just to be safe) and hurried around the corner. By now a little foam was coming out of my nostrils and I was like a man possessed. Uh-oh. Trouble ahead. I see some 25 or 30 people standing outside, clearly there is a major wait. But a quick check and sure enough there is a place for one at the counter! Quickly I check the menu, my hands shaking. Oh, no! I don't see it. I plead with the waitress "please tell me you have salmon hash with poached eggs". "Oh sure. It's right there", she says pointing to the center of the list. "But it's called WILD salmon hash". "I want it," I say my eyes now glazed over and the foam nearly pouring from my mouth. She demanded to know what was wrong with me. I told her the whole story. How I'd waited three years; how I overnighted in Portland last Sunday for the main purpose of having salmon hash at Mothers on Monday; how I arrived to find the "Closed on Monday" sign; how I had had to settle for oyster hash at Bijou; how I had pouted all week.
As so it came to pass. On Saturday, June 20 Patrick got his wild salmon hash at Mothers in Portland!
And how was it after all that anticipation? We all know something that is remembered so fondly for years and then tried again never lives up to the expectations, right? Wrong! I savored every bite and it was just as good as I remembered it. Perhaps even better than I remembered.
I drove on to Seattle with a huge smile on my face.
Jun 21st, 2009, 03:19 AM
#43
See..that was the problem...
You asked us all how to get salmon hash. If you had asked us how to get WILD salmon hash, we would have given you the secret tips and saved you some trouble.
But then, the unexpected ending to your quest made the hash even better!
Congratulations! I'll have to try this hash on my next Portland trip.
You asked us all how to get salmon hash. If you had asked us how to get WILD salmon hash, we would have given you the secret tips and saved you some trouble.
But then, the unexpected ending to your quest made the hash even better!
Congratulations! I'll have to try this hash on my next Portland trip.
