Every month LAD puts together a list of some of our favorite things. This month, it’s a list of wonderful things I’ve had the pleasure of eating and drinking during my most recent trip to New York City:

1. PDT (Please Don’t Tell) — highlight — gorgeous Aquavit Cocktail with a hint of Sambuca
2. Spotted Pig — highlight — big bowl of haddock chowder seasoned perfectly with lots of paprika
3. Degustation — highlight — slow cooked poached egg with cheese foam and two salty pieces of proscuitto
4. Gotino — highlight — fantastic pot of salt cod scooped up with crunchy crosstini
5. Scarpetta — highlight — roast chicken with liver sauce, lipsmacking good
6. Morandi — highlight — a sloppy, rustic presentation of tiramisu made it appear like a brand new idea in desserts, plus it was dee-licious
7. Momofuko Noodle Bar — crudo of fluke with confit capers and micro cilantro paired with an Ommagen Wheat beer
8. Anthos — highlight — soft shell crabs with rhubarb compote and house-made rustic style cured ham
9. Gotham Bar & Grill — highlight–a classic place for a lingering prix-fixe lunch, always love the pasta there
10. Clover Club — Pimms Cup punch, nice vintage flair, enjoyed the Brooklyn terroir
11. Prune – whole roasted fish was perfectly seasoned

Although LAD loves Portland based restaurant Nostrana all of the time, there are so many notable things about Nostrana this month and their chef and owner Cathy Whims that we hereby declare June as Nostrana Month!

First off Cathy is featured on the Cover of Portland Spaces magazine as part of an article on Cathy’s home kitchen.

Then, the LAD team spent a “Foodie Friday” at the restaurant with Cathy learning to make her excellent foccacia bread with a special steam baked technique. The results were fantastic. We’ll see if we can get a recipe and post it here soon.

Finally, on Tuesday, June 24th, Cathy was thrilled to host no other than the legendary Ruth Reichl at the restaurant. It was Ruth’s 1^st meal in Portland on this trip as part of a Sustainable Agriculture Conference.

Congratulations Cathy and Nostrana!

LAD’s client, Olsen Family Vineyards has launched their blog!

From Jamie Olsen, president:

We are looking at this blog as a way to connect with people and let you know what we are up to. In case you are unfamiliar with us, we are a 5th generation family owned farm here in the Willamette Valley that began making and selling wine last year. The exciting news is we are growing quickly. In fact, we have so many activities and events going on we felt that a blog would be the perfect place to connect with people and give them a peek into what Olsen Family Vineyards is all about.

This summer is an especially busy time for us. We have hired a new winemaker, have released our first rosé, are attending and sponsoring events all over the country. Our Viridian Wine Van, in partnership with Cayce Kerr who is Fuzzy Zoeller’s caddy, can be seen around the country at several PGA events throughout the summer. So look for announcements and news about events, interviews with staff, tours of our Vineyard through the year, regular updates from Cayce on tour, tasting notes, and even recipes and videos of things like tastings with Viridian wines. We may even go a little crazy and hold a contest or two.

Yet the blog is something more to us. As a newer wine brand we look forward to connecting with people that care about the same things we do, including feedback, ideas and other input. So whether you are an old friend, or someone new, take a look at our blog blog.viridianwines.com.

Here’s a cute video by LAD client, Nancy’s Yogurt. The statue is of the legendary Ken Kesey, who is related to the Kesey family, the founders and owners of Nancy’s Yogurt and the Springfield Creamery. The statue is located in Eugene, Oregon where the company is based.

If you are interested in the concept of terroir including sense of place and place based marketing, check out this Podcast LAD did as part of the 2008 Portland Indie Wine Festival.

The podcast, titled Can You Taste Place in Chocolate, Coffee and Wine? features industry leaders Aubrey Lindley, owner of Portland chocolate boutique Cacao; Mason Sager of Caffé Vita Coffee Roasting Company; Joseph Whinney of Theo Chocolate; Michael Hebberoy of ONE POT and Athena Pappas of Boedecker Cellars who’ve created thriving enterprises by paying attention to origin and place. Is terroir’s alleged death just an excuse for inferior products? The seminar was moderated by Kate Simon, senior editor of Imbibe Magazine and was presented at the Hotel Vintage Plaza in downtown Portland.

Terroir 101 – Can You Taste the Place?

How fun!

LAD has launched blogs for clients, talked about blogging in front of key industry groups and now we are joining the party.

For LAD this has meaning because it allows us to share all the cool things we have the privilege of working on in a more real time situation.

In fact, one of our most exciting projects, the development of the identity and positioning of Lucier Restaurant is just now beginning to become part of the Portland dialogue and we are so excited about our work and contribution to this seminal project.

When LAD was first invited to talk to Chris and Tyanne Dussin, the owners of Lucier, about the project all we knew was that we had worked with this couple before when we launched Penner-Ash wine Cellars ( Link to Penner-Ash website) . LAD believed Lucier would be as equally exciting. We were right.

Our concept in developing the name or identity for Lucier was to project a French sensibility while connecting directly to Oregon. When Lisa was going through the concept development process, she came across an interesting character in Oregon’s history – Ettienne Luicer, the founder of Oregon’s first farmring colony. Bingo! His melodic French name and his pioneering efforts in agriculture were perfect. It struck LAD that Lucier would potentially become a wonderful icon for the quality and excitement found at this new restaurant.

As with all new ventures, the jury is out. Only the market will decide the relevancy of Lucier. And so the same holds true with LAD’s new blog.

We hope you enjoy reading about our thoughts, adventures, observations and stories and that they help you stop and appreciate what is beautifully presented in front of you as a delicious dish or perhaps a chilled cocktail. It takes a lot of commitment to share great taste and we aspire to those moments. Please feel free to stay in touch and contact us if you wish. We’d love for you to join the conversation.

May you dance like no one’s watching. May you sing like no one’s listening. And may you live as if each day is your last.

Cheers,

Lisa Donoughe and the LAD communications team