Omnivorous Offerings

CULINARY

CRAIG MITCHELLDYER

Northwest cassoulet with fall vegetables, fresh cranberry beans, pork shank and trotter stuffed with chicken mousse, sweetbreads and mushrooms.

Omnivorous Offerings

Culinary duo’s dishes celebrate a variety of flavors

By Jake Ten Pas

Members needn’t read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s

Dilemma to grasp the concept described in the title. As eaters of meat, veggies, grains, dairy and so much more, humans have an abundance of choices when it comes to satisfying hunger, fueling the body and keeping taste buds happy.

Consequences for those choices also abound. In an age when anyone can quickly research their food’s origin, and opinions vary wildly on the optimal way to nosh, it can be tricky to plot the best meal plan, both for the individual and the planet. Whether indulging carnivorous inclinations or pursuing a plant-based approach, MAC’s dynamic culinary team gives members plenty of ethical menu options.

Thank Executive Chef Philippe Boulot, who has put together a crew capable of catering to any dietary needs while also offering flavors worth lusting after. That crew includes butcher Matt Davis and Sous Chef Deanna Bascom, and both have added distinctive flavors and colors to the club’s palette.

A Cut Above Davis didn’t go to school to become a butcher, but his sum total of experiences is better than any curriculum he might have designed. Born in Texas and raised in Montana, he’s no stranger in a range land. Both states are known for their cattle industries, but cows are just the tip of Davis’ field of expertise.

At 15, he took his first job in the restaurant at Gallatin Gateway Inn, a historic hotel near Yellowstone National Park. Throughout college, he continued to cultivate his cooking skills as a way of supporting himself; the upside was that he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture and almost no student loans to pay off.

During his time in and around the wilderness and tourist areas of Montana, he learned to prepare a wide variety of meats, from ranch-raised to wild game. “I was doing bison, venison and some

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CULINARY

CRAIG MITCHELLDYER

Butcher Matt Davis and Sous Chef Deanna Bascom

Butcher and Chef

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of the exotic stuff for quite a while, working under chef Eric Stenberg, who was a longtime chef at Higgins,” he says. “He’s the one who got me going in Montana, if you will. Got me into sourcing, and sustainability, and just kind of the food scene in general.”

Once Davis plateaued in Montana, Stenberg encouraged him to head west to Portland. That move lined up with Davis going to grad school, and he soon found himself working in kitchens again to feed his academic habit. In Portland, the emphasis was on fresh seafood, and he got plenty of practice between Cabezon and the Heathman Hotel’s Headwaters, where he eventually ended up.

“I moved away from landlocked Montana . . . and I quickly became caught up in all the new resources, all the new people and learning about seafood.” His newfound interest in seafood led to a deep dive, and his passion for knowing everything about the proteins he works with continues to this day.

“I like to stay in tune with which rivers are doing well,” Davis says. “A lot of that interest stemmed from working for Flying Fish

Company here in Portland. The owner has a degree in microbiology, and he really put me in tune with a lot of the sourcing — whether color is added to the fish or not, wild versus farmed, the rating . . . Part of my job is passing that info on and helping people make informed decisions about their options.”

He applies this same thorough examination to the meats he works with at MAC. Recently, he participated in the Explore Beef Experience, which took him through calf-cow operations, feed lots, backing, stocking and the whole spectrum of how cattle are raised. “I got all sorts of great details about grass fed versus non-grass fed, and I learned a lot about animal rights, how they are treated and if it’s done humanely,” he explains. “Sourcing is now more important than ever because A) I have so many options and B) members enjoy having options. But sometimes it’s about just doing what’s best, right?”

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Sous Chef Deanna Bascom preps vegetables in the 1891 kitchen.

Butcher and Chef

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Given that MAC goes through roughly $1 million worth of animal protein each year, Davis takes his responsibilities of vendor selection, butchering and utilization of the whole animal very seriously. He’s a fan of offal and other lesser-loved parts, and goes so far as to view them as the “long lost souls of the animals.” Davis takes particular pride in the charcuterie board 1891 serves because the meats are house-made, and that represents creative freedom for him.

“I still use my degree. I just design with starch, protein and veggies instead of glass, steel and concrete,” he says.

So Fresh and So Lean

“We have a very diverse membership,” notes Sport Pub Chef Bascom. “Because we have a lot of families, kids, older members, sophisticated eaters, and some who are less sophisticated, we have to put things on the menu that are going to appeal to everyone.”

Rather than view the need to cater to so many disparate tastes as a chore, Bascom embraces the array of potentially pleased members

with a sense of enchantment. It’s obvious that she cherishes a good challenge, or at least doesn’t shy away from it.

“My menu was the first one in the club to designate gluten-free and vegetarian,” she says. “We started incorporating the Wellness logo so members could order healthy options on our menu.”

Bascom’s commitment to nutrition also stems from a recent development in her own life — being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. That revelation required her to make massive adjustments to her eating habits, which have enabled her to live a healthier life. “My own diet tends to influence what I put on the menu, because it just makes more sense based on how I have to eat,” she explains. “What I’m finding is that a lot more people are a lot more receptive to those sorts of things these days. Not everything I try is successful, but most of it has worked.”

For MAC members, this translates to gastropub grub that is as carefully considered as it is comforting to consume. While there are meaty mainstays of the genre such as burgers, paninis, steak,

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Fall Brings Dining and Event Focus Indoors

Family and friends settle back in to school and work routines, the weather turns decidedly autumnal, and more social and athletic activities come back inside the club. On the gastronomic front, 1891 reopens Tuesday, Sept. 11, with new hours (see page 21) and new menu items.

MAC’s culinary team took time over the summer to refresh and explore. French Master Chef Philippe Boulot spent part of his holiday in France, while Executive Sous Chef Phillip Oswalt spent a portion of his summer coordinating with the region’s best chefs to prepare the world-renowned Oregon Pinot Noir Festival.

Both return with new techniques and a renewed passion to bring members memorable dining experiences.

For those missing their Monday libation in 1891, Roni Pervizi brings his distinct flare and expertise in mixology to the Sports Pub, joining fellow bartender extraordinaire Anne Montoya on Monday nights. The Sports Pub also features an impressive lineup of beer dinners this fall featuring some of the region’s best brews.

There are plenty of Happy Hours to go around. Monday through Saturday, and all day Sunday, head to the Sports Pub between 3:30 and 6 p.m. or from 9 p.m. to close for a variety of entrées, salads and snacks (except during events at Providence Park, Family Fridays and third Thursday beer dinners). Tuesday through Saturday, join MACtinis’ Happy Hour from 4 to 6 p.m., and 1891’s Late Night Happy Hour (the earliest in Portland) from 8 p.m. to close.

The restaurants and Events and Catering gear up with new and traditional events, many of which are highlighted on pages 12, 13 and 21.

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Butcher and Chef

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and fish and chips, there are also plenty of low-fat and vegetarian alternatives.

Bascom points to The Bowl, MAC’s version of a Buddha Bowl, which substitutes quinoa and chickpeas for the usual rice. “It’s a nice balance of protein, because for vegetarians, it’s really important that they get that in,” she says. “With grilled vegetables and a cucumber salad and olives, there are lots of healthy fats, and then we put a nice green goddess dressing on top of that. I’ve been surprised at how well that sells!”

Elsewhere on the menu, she finds ways to ensure that the overall feeling of every dish is light and energizing, even as it satiates. “I always offer a grilled fish dish or simple fish filet. Right now, I have trout, and it has nothing but vegetables underneath it. We do seasonal vegetables, so during summer, there were yellow wax beans, green beans and Romano beans. And I always do an interesting sauce — always something super fresh.

“Because we’re in Oregon, we have a late summer, so we can still do heirloom tomatoes, and I’ll probably still be doing some summer squash,” she says of September’s sides. These vegetables are often cooked in olive oil instead of butter, both to preserve the natural flavor of the ingredients and to keep caloric and cholesterol content as low as possible.

“I lived in New Mexico for a while, so when we get into fall, it’ll be a green chili stew. We’ll get the Hatch green chilies, which our produce company brings in from Hatch, New Mexico, and we’ll roast them in the oven, peel them and seed them, and then that’ll go into the stew,” she explains. “I like to do a chicken and pumpkin curry, and I haven’t done a butternut squash lasagna in a while, so I might do that.”

Whatever veggies the season sends her way, Bascom says that it’s important to her that patrons of the Sports Pub don’t feel like they’re having to sacrifice to eat nutritiously. “You don’t want them to walk away hungry; you want them to feel satisfied,” she adds. “That’s what I’ve always explored with vegetarian dishes.”

“I think about it a lot more often just because of how I need to eat, and I’m always trying to think of creative ways to do it. We don’t have a defined box that the pub needs to fit into. We can do a lot of different things on that menu, so that’s just incredible right there.” WM

Butcher Matt Davis prepares trotter stuffed with chicken mousse, sweetbreads and mushrooms.

CRAIG MITCHELLDYER

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