Skip to main contentFor most of its short happy life, the Daily Cafe in the Pearl District has been a lively breakfast, brunch and lunch spot; and for weeks after it began serving dinners, a sandwich board on the sidewalk out front has asked you to tell your friends about its evening meals. Very Portland.
Despite its bare-bones industrial look, The Daily Cafe is actually quite homey, if not especially cozy. With its concrete floor, open beams, exposed pipes and vents, and jellybean-colored plastic chairs, the restaurant still looks more like a lunch option than a choice for dinner, but the Daily's appealing dinners remind us that good, attractively prepared food, with touches of imagination and canny invention, can be found in settings Stumptown-simple.
Chef Amy Jermain revamps her menu every week or so, partly to stay abreast of the local markets, partly to hone her edge. Her repertoire is eclectic--touches of Mexican, Caribbean, Indian and Italian appear side by side with American regional dishes. She wisely keeps the numbers manageable: a trio of appetizers, a handful entrees and a trio of desserts form the card; even more pared down is the wine list--a half-dozen easy-going bottles with every last one at $21. You won't get great wines, but there's no need to perspire while choosing--you can't go very wrong.
Soups ($6) are a hit here, and I've liked several of them immensely. One was an inspired combination of yam and coconut that made for a thick and subtly sweet purée, just right for chilly evenings, but not so rich it threatened to take away my appetite. Even more welcome was a marvelous blend of shrimp and fava beans with crustacean shells lending a salty and deep sea aroma.
One of the most satisfying dishes is a fritto misto ($6), but instead of the seafood that normally provides the ingredients for this Italian treat, the Daily uses spring vegetables; the result is something like a heaping mound of vegetarian tempura, the crinkly and light batter just enough to play peekaboo with the delicate asparagus. A lively rouille comes on the side. A brilliant-hued, satiny, house-cured salmon ($6) has a fatty feel in the mouth (this is a good and healthy thing where salmon is concerned); it arrives showered with watercress and accompanied by lightly fried wontons.
A couple of other starters more than make the grade. That salmon shows up again with a stack of blinis deep golden in color ($7), for they're made with Dutch yellow potatoes. Dabbed with black lumpfish caviar, it feels like a proper Baltic treat. A dish influenced by traditions closer to these shores, namely those of Buffalo, N.Y., the Daily's spicy chicken drumsticks ($6) replace more conventional wings, but keep the authentically blue-collar bleu cheese dressing with carrot sticks; the chicken is juice-spurtingly moist.
If I had to name a clear winner here, it would be the lamb vindaloo ($13) with potatoes and cauliflower. The joint of lamb is Neanderthal huge, the heat's in evidence but not so much that you'll need endless infusions of the cooling raita that comes alongside. Seared scallops ($14) are nicely undercooked; they appear to be "dry-packed," which means they release less water and retain their briny flavor. They are done with a rum, lime and coconut sauce and accompanied by plantains that should have been cooked to greater and sweeter softness, one of the few missteps.
Two recent entrees pointed southward. One was a crunchy fried chicken ($12) with a "mess o' greens," mainly collards. The other was a plate of delicious cakes made from masa (ground corn) called huaraches ($11), filled with braised pork that's been long-simmered with ancho chilies, along with three homemade salsas for slathering on them. The colors are as pretty as the taste is exciting.
One quibble: The actual plates seem left over from lunch, as if the restaurant had not yet gotten around to ordering real dinner plates. They are far too small and make things looked cramped.
The great staple among the desserts served recently is a luscious clafouti ($5); a peasant dish from the Limousin region of France, it seems more elegant than rustic. Essentially it consists of a collection of fruits in a fireproof dish over which one pours a batter and then bakes. You must order it at the beginning of the dinner--do it! Small bittersweet-chocolate tarts ($5) arrive pooled in a glowing, deep mahogany caramel sauce laced with pistachios and mascarpone cream, a quartet of flavors, colors, and textures that will hearten anyone.
The Daily has been slow to catch on as a dinner establishment, but as word spreads, crowds will inevitably grow. A restaurant such as this one--home to honest yet interesting cooking, friendly and welcoming service and prices gentle to your wallet--is destined to win a popularity contest. And it should.
902 NW 13th Ave., 242-1916. 7 am-5 pm Monday- Tuesday, 7 am-9 pm Wednesday- Friday, 9 am-9 pm Saturday, 9 am-2 pm Sunday. Credit cards accepted. Moderate $$.
: Dinner items change, but fritto misto, fried chicken, lamb shank vindaloo, and clafouti stand out.
: A small wine list, all at $21 per bottle.
WWeek 2015