LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

10/12/2005

6 Comments

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ADDING SALT TO THE WOUND

As I very much respect the role of the critic in the world of the arts, music and food, I have never written in response to a review. But regarding the recent piece on Castagna ["Perfectly Bland," WW, Sept. 28, 2005], here goes.

Is it your policy to review a restaurant based on one visit? Your reviewer visited our dining room a single time, approximately five months ago. His judgment is based on a sampling of very few dishes, and there is no mention of service, wine list or dessert.

His entire review is based on what was perceived as a lack of salt. It is generally accepted that the human taste for salt is highly variable and it's been shown in scientific tests that the taste for a given amount of salt is an acquired one, which is why there's salt on our tables. We use salt liberally in the cooking process, to enhance the flavor of the fine ingredients that we have to work with. Some ingredients are delicate and some are gutsy-we season them accordingly. If your reviewer had eaten here on more than one occasion, maybe he would have had a chance to understand that.

If your reviewer's palate is so jaded, with which I am in complete agreement, perhaps some time off in a salt meadow in France? Also, in the best interests of full disclosure, please let your readers know that your reviewer imports and sells sea salt.

Kevin Gibson
Monique Siu
Castagna
Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard

Arts and Culture Editor Kelly Clarke responds: I stand behind Jim Dixon's salty review, but I should have made note of his business connection with the crystal demon. Dixon imports extra-virgin olive oils from Italy and a hand-harvested sea salt called flor de sal from Portugal when he's not at his day job as an engineering technical writer and editor. In order to avoid any conflicts of interest, Dixon does not sell salt or olive oil to restaurants he reviews for WW. Contrary to Gibson and Siu's claims, Dixon made multiple visits to Castagna over a period of weeks this past summer in order to craft his critique. Due to WW's publishing schedule, the review did not run until September. For more restaurant reviews or olive oil and salt info, visit Dixon's website, www.realgoodfood.com.

Speaking of salt, I'd like to nominate Castagna for Best Letter-to-the-Editor Prop: A representative from the restaurant dropped off this 50-pound salt lick addressed to Jim Dixon at the WW office along with its missive two weeks ago.

GOOD FOOD, GOOD NEIGHBORS

I usually agree with Jim Dixon's insights and restaurant reviews.

If Jim had been at my table recently, he would have enjoyed an amazing meal-cauliflower soup, rustic salads of beets and tomatoes, a goulash with white polenta that was tender and fantastic and an incredible plum tart. Everything I ate was prepared and seasoned to perfection. I didn't reach for the salt once.

To top it all off, the entire meal was prepared with items from the Eastbank Farmers Market, our very own neighborhood market connecting neighbors to vendors right here in inner Southeast.

Since they opened on Hawthorne Boulevard, I have been a regular diner at both Castagna and Castagna Cafe. I appreciate what they have brought to my neighborhood, their serene aesthetic, their focus on creating the best food possible prepared with the best local ingredients. They are talented chefs, restaurateurs and great neighbors.

Lindsey McBride
Southeast Cypress Street

STUCK IN BOHEMIA

Were you in my house taking notes for "Portland's New New Economy" [Oct. 5, 2005]? My wife and I moved here from S.F. in 2001 because we wanted the change of lifestyle and pace that Portland offered. Four broke, under- or unemployed years later, and we debate nearly every day whether we need to give up this town that we've learned to love and want to get old in, die in and move somewhere where we can actually earn a living. I came here with five or so years of multimedia background and a BA from UCLA under my belt, and I haven't been able to pay the mortgage without all but selling blood plasma just about every month.

Would L.A. really be all that bad? All my friends are employed and living like adults while we're stuck in a long-protracted state of Bohemia that we never wanted in the first place.

Philip Golden
Northeast Wasco Street

PITCHING A TENT

I'm thinking that with the recent Oregon Supremes' decision on lap dancing we might want to change the state tourism marketing slogan to "Come for the Woods...Stay for the Woodies!" Whaddya think?

Larry McDonald
Northwest Fairfax Terrace

PORTLANDPURAM?

As a native Portlander, I was alarmed by the article on Portland's new migrants ["The New New Economy," WW, Oct. 5, 2005]. The influx of the young and highly educated who seek a spiritual and mystical bond in the Pacific Northwest reminds me of the invasion of the Rajneeshees in the 1980s. Now I know how the citizens of Antelope felt.

Len Stevens
Southwest St. Clair Avenue

CORRECTION The story "Come One, Come All" in last week's paper incorrectly reported the job title of Neel Pender. He is the executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon. WW regrets the error.

10.12.2005 at 09:00 Reply

Story Forum Archive

Autism and ParanoiaMuch as I sympathize with the plight of people like the Handleys, I have to take issue with the diabolical conspiracy theory they advance. We all want ready explanations for medical catastrophies, someone or something to blame, and a quick fix. Unfortunately, autism is still largely unexplainable, its causes unclear, and no quick fix yet exists. Desperate parents will attempt anything to ameliorate their lot and they are consequently susceptible to any con man or crackpot conspiracy theory advanced by well-meaning but deluded wingnuts, medical and non-medical, seeking validation of their twisted beliefs. The notion that a great medical conspiracy to conceal the problem or deceive the public is understandable but it ignores two important points: 1) doctors and insurers also have autistic children and, 2)the first pharmaceutical company to find a viable treatment for autism is going to make a pile of money. I doubt that doctors or insurers are so calloused as to deny good treatments, traditional or not, to their own children. And even the beancounters wouldn't be so stupid as to deny themselves the profits from such a treatment in order to further a profitless conspiracy. Conspiracy theories rely on the absence of any evidence of such a plot. I had a psychotic patient once confide to me that the proof aliens were infiltrating his mind with commands was that our puny technology couldn't detect the energy beams he was receiving from their sophisticated machines!The Handleys and their ilk would be better served using all that money they put into advertising to research autism and find a more credible treatment than chelation. After all, you're just as likely to be adversely affected by the mercury in a tuna sandwich than you are the mercury compounds in vaccines. It doesn't help that Americans have been infected by a "fast food" mentality that demands ever-faster services from transportation to medicine. I agree that time is too slow for those who wait, but science is a process that consumes both time and resources. Have some patience and don't go for the wierd treatments that have no obvious benefits, like chelation. The simple truth is that battle does not always favor the strong, nor do the swift always win the race, but that's the way to bet! If you're going to gamble with the future of your children, try to place it on a proven winner rather than a longshot. Medical science grinds slowly, but at least it grinds.—Pete Giberson

01.23.2006 at 10:00 Reply

LETTERS TO THE EDITORA real Wheeler-gate conspiracy theory: The Ted Wheeler campaign obtains the County Chair's e-mail list and spams the list of eleven-thousand people with his own political propaganda. The recipients demand he stop; he says he can't and he doesn't have to. Then his database computer is stolen. Sounds like an inside job to me.It is completely inappropriate of Wheeler. While it is legal for Wheeler to access that information via a 'public records request', he violated the trust and privacy of the very people he is asking to vote him into office.This is a man who claims he is running for office to bring credibility and trust to Multmomah County and yet, he has clearly demonstrated that he is willing to exploit personal information for his own personal advantage.—Bryan Boyd

02.04.2006 at 10:00 Reply

LETTERS TO THE EDITORThis war in Iraq strikes me in much the same way as did the war in Vietnam. I never had the feeling that our intervention was on the side of a leaders that wanted democracy. In Vietnam we asked young men and women to die for the benefit of cruel dictators or tin-general types. We were losing that war and the American people made the correct decision to leave. People like John Kerry had the balls to show us the errors of our ways.Today Vietnam is one of our trading partners. They make our shoes. If we had won, I suspect they would be one of our trading partners, but only if our installed puppets were not too corrupt. I am proud that I did not fight in that war. I am proud that I did not die in that war. It was worthless.This war in Iraq really smacks of cowardice. First of all there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Experts in the UN knew that there were no weapons there. Our experts knew there were no such weapons there. We have always had a constant presence in Iraq ever since Nixon installed Saddam.The proof that Bush knew, with great certainly that there were none in Iraq, is that he actually invaded Iraq. He would not have invaded if there were to be American casualties due to poison gas. He would not have invaded if he suspected Americans would die by biological toxins. No Americans would have the stomach for an elective war with those horrible kinds of deaths.The war is not worth dying for. That is exactly why the strong healthy and intelligent Bush daughters are not fighting along side of the other American women who are dying. The number of politicians who asked for this war and are actually fighting in this war is zero. The number of their children fighting in this war is very close to zero. Why is that? The reason is that they are cowards- they lack the courage of their own convictions. They ask other people to die for their cause. Actually, have they even asked?What we have to do is stop trading with those people who are supporting the mindless teaching of religious fundamentalism. That means that we do not do business with them, we do not hold hands with them and when we are the President of these United States, we do not kiss them. Bush kissing the Saudi Royalty is the greatest prevision I have witnessed by an American President.These people want us dead because we believe in freedoms of religion, gender, and democracy. They have attacked us as recently as 11 September 2001. The Saudi government is our friend. Note that they are must not be quite good enough friends to be worth conquering in the name of democracy. That is because Bush is friends with the tyrants in that country, not with the people.What we need to be doing is solving great problems. Humans have proven that they can do anything they set their minds to do. The key to solving great problems is the recognition that great problems are solved at the level of a nation. For instance, the Polio Virus Vaccination Program was a national effort started by one of FDR's people. The plan was to conduct a series of vaccinations over a scheduled period of time with provisions for careful record taking and follow up exams. It has been considered the greatest scientific experiment ever undertaken. We all experienced it as the Polio Shots.We developed three maned space vehicles, each progressively more difficult than the previous. I am talking about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo vehicles. The Apollo vehicle demanded that we invent nothing less than the electronic integrated circuit to succeed. We did this all because we had goals of performance (land on the moon and return), a time (about a decade), and an agreed upon budget. We did this as a nation. We got microprocessor computers as a bonus.Japan had the national goal installing an engineered quality manufacturing infrastructure. Have you driven an Acura? Korea had the national goal of surpassing Japan in electronic displays. Have you ever heard of Samsung LCD. We don't make LCDs in America, by the way. China has the goal of being the manufacturer for the world. Have you ever calculated how many of our daily goods are being built in Communist China? They don't really get to vote either but I suspect we won't invade them.We apparently have the goal of out-sourcing our manufacturing. We actually have the tax laws in place to encourage such nonsense. InFocus Corporation, here in Wilsonville, Oregon just moved all their manufacturing to China.We should have spent our $300 billion for the war in Iraq in other ways. By the way, we are borrowing money to pay for this war from Communist China. Why? That's where the money is, these days. We sent our money over there to buy cheap goods.We should have organized an effort, as a nation, to come up with a plan for energy independence. All we need is a performance goal, a time schedule, and a budget. We lack all three. Why is that? I suspect it is because our leaders are kissers, not Democrats.Keith F. KongslieTualatin, OR5 Feb 06—

04.30.2006 at 09:00 Reply

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR It is with growing concern that I have observed an escalation in the amount of anti-Iranian rhetoric coming from the Bush administration. And while the possibility of even more nuclear weapons being created, and therefore upping the odds that one of them will be used for their intended purpose (destruction) is disheartening, it is immeasurably more upsetting to see the US gearing up to act unilaterally once again. It does seem clear that Iran is pursuing a nuclear program under the radar of the International Atomic Energy Agency (though it is still undecided whether that program is of peaceful or military purposes), and for that the world should be wary. What the world does not need right now, however, is a knee-jerk reaction from its strongest military power. This is not a situation where Bush

08.03.2006 at 09:00 Reply

Becky OhlsenYour wired for speed needs to be turned up a notch. (8-2-06)Although it helped dispel people's belief that electric cars are slow. You missed the truth at hand. Your Photo for the article is my neighbor, John Wayland's ZOMBIE!. For 16 years, I have watched and admired John's perfection and improvements to the electric car. You failed to mention him, and his background. Let me assure you, his experience has generated interest across the GLOBE!. Most recently, a news team from Australia was visiting. His car has frequently clobbered other hot rods. One could quickly forget the "red-hot" Barracuda when a little white Datsun sends it scurring to hide from embarrasment. The electric car is alive and kicking up a storm. Several years ago, I had John meet a news reporter presenting a story on electric cars. He was able to set the report straight. Now, if only the country could be set straight from what the auto industry, oil industry, and the Bush administration is trying to sell!John has also built long distance traveling electric vehicles, a tractor mower converted to tow, and other fun, exciting cars. Our neighborhood knows when the weekend arrives because his yard is often full of others in this growing field, or recent converts. He also proves that they can be more than a dragster or hauling vehicle when you listen to the music "ROCK". —Michael Prothe

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

10/12/2005