From Page To Plate

Nostrana and Chef Gabrielle Hamilton make memories out of Blood, Bones and Butter.

Gabrielle Hamilton has a childhood memory of her French, ballet-dancer mother traipsing across the yard of a New Jersey dairy farm in heels and a silk scarf, smoking a cigarette, as she purchased her family's massive weekly supply of fresh milk. Sure, her mother and artist father were chaotic parents, but they were masters of the kitchen—it's no wonder Hamilton ended up a restaurateur.

She was a waitress by age 13, a server at a disco club in 1980s New York, a starving backpacker who survived by cooking at restaurants in Greece and France, and an MFA fiction student at University of Michigan. Then, in 1999, Hamilton transcribed her biography into the menu of her very own restaurant, the massively popular Prune, in New York's East Village. She tells her life story through memories of food in her vividly written new book, Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef.

This Sunday, Hamilton's memory of her father's springtime lamb roasts will be re-created at Portland Italian restaurant Nostrana. Hamilton and Nostrana chef Cathy Whims are old friends, and both are known for their localized versions of southern European cuisines. So, in honor of the New York chef/author's visit to Portland, Nostrana is hoisting an entire Cattail Creek lamb up onto the spit. Hamilton will read from her unconventional memoir while lucky locals slurp Bloody Marys, Negronis and Prosecco, and gorge on food described in the book, from lamb to bites of Gouda and "sardines on Triscuits."


GO: Blood, Bones and Butter at Nostrana, 1401 SE Morrison St., 234-2427. $60 ($86 with copy of book). 1-4 pm Sunday, March 13. Info at nostrana.com.


Headout Picks

WEDNESDAY MARCH 9

[COMEDY] MICHAEL SHOWALTER

The other Michael from Stella and Michael & Michael Have Issues comes to town in support of his book, Mr. Funny Pants. He is indeed. Mission Theater, 855-227-8499, cascadetickets.com. 9 pm. $12-$14. 21+.


THURSDAY MARCH 10

[MUSIC AND FOOD] SNACK ATTACK!

What's better than watching Guidance Counselor and Forbidden Friends tear up Holocene? Eating snacks, of course! Show up early to see Wampire, Operative and Ilyas Ahmed hold live "cooking shows" onstage. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 8:30 pm. $5. 21+.


FRIDAY MARCH 11

[MUSIC] THIRD ANGLE

The new-music ensemble performs three classic works by Steve Reich: Violin Phase, New York Counterpoint and the magnificent Drumming. Montgomery Park Atrium, 2701 NW Vaughn St., 331-0301, thirdangle.org. 8 pm. $10-$35.

[MUSIC] ETERNAL TAPESTRY, MOUNT EERIE

The Artistery is closing (boo!), but tonight's show is still a celebration, with the psychedelic, towering drug-rock of Eternal Tapestry and the hushed beauty of Phil Elverum's Mount Eerie project. The Artistery, 4315 SE Division St., 803-5942. 8 pm. $7 (or $6 with canned food donation). All ages.


MONDAY MARCH 14

[MOVIES] DOGTOOTH

The Greek foreign-language nominee about richy-rich island madness may not have won an Oscar, but nothing can take away its giant scissors. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave., 223-4515. 7 and 9 pm. $6-$9.


TUESDAY MARCH 15

[MUSIC] THE EX

Amsterdam's the Ex might not be the best punks, but the band's schizo take on classical, avant-garde and European folk is just as wild as any snotty London punk outfit. Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $15. 21+.

[DANCE] ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

If you only see one dance company in your lifetime, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater would be a fine choice. The show ends with the company's signature piece, Revelations, which is so packed with emotion that it is known for moving even confirmed stoics to tears. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Wednesday, March 15-16. $22-$70. Info and tickets at whitebird.org.

WWeek 2015

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