Hey Jim, Let’s say maybe. We are in Portland Friday. Typically, we get our Duckfat fix from their Frites Shack. While the menu is more limited the bonus of Oxbow beer tilts the scale in that direction.
Nick, we are in Portland Friday but shifting to Brunswick Saturday night. So sorry, no rideshare. We will probably head to Brunswick earlyish on Saturday but if that changes, we could be game to join you. BTW, see my note above if you are free for dinner Friday.
For those staying in Portland:
There are some fantastic breakfast options.
The 2024 James Beard Award for Best Bakery went to Zu
The 2024 James Beard Award for Best Baker went to Atsuko Fujimoto of Norimoto.
How ridiculous is it that both the baking awards went to a city with <100,000 people?
Other amazing breakfasts are at Hot Suppa!, Becky’s Diner and Ugly Duckling (an offshoot of Chaval).
Holy Donut is in both Portland and Brunswick, truly great potato donuts.
Ritual Bakehouse in Brunswick has the best croissants west of Paris and a limited selection of other Stuff.
Not to mention Tandem 's excellent coffee.
Yes Sir! I do have a plus one. I have considerable experience with the Durand and will pack mine to bring as well if having another one will make things easier.
For folks staying in Portland
Speckled Ax has excellent wood-roasted coffee & Standard baking Co. is not to be missed for their fougasse & baguettes.
Bayside American Grill has lovely Crab Cakes Benedict that has long been a favorite.
Green Elephant is an amazing Vegetarian/Vegan option.
to all:
We are getting close!
I have many generous offers to help with opening the bottles. Rather than try to pick, let’s all just gather at 4 and go to work. We will have half a dozen decanters, which should be enough. We will probably have almost that many Durands! We can taste what’s of interest and alternate with opening bottles once we’re up and running.
One menu change. Marc cannot source the swordfish he likes, so the fish will be halibut.
Food will open with fava spread, htipiti, tzatziki (if you’ve only had tzatziki from supermarkets, your eyes will be opened) and gigantes (which will be served warm).
We will segue into halibut, lamb chops, roasted lemon potatos and green beans with tomatos. Gigantes will be available straight through.
Sorry, Marc does not want to make a Greek salad. Local tomatos are long gone.
BIG QUESTION. DESSERT? PLEASE REPLY WITH PREFERENCES IF YOU WANT ANY.
Here’s the menu:
Epidorpio
Baklava- spiced honey syrup-soaked layers of filo filled with walnuts and cinnamon
Galaktoboureko- syrup-soaked filo pie filled with semolina-vanilla custard
Portokalopita- syrup-soaked orange and shredded filo cake
Pagota- Mastiha Ice Cream (pine sap from the Island of Chios), Greek Coffee Ice Cream or seasonal flavors
Yiaourti- Sophia’s goat & sheep’s milk Greek yogurt topped with walnuts, Attiki Greek honey and fruit spoon sweets
I’m not sure everything will be available, but most everything should be. I am not a dessert guy.
I haven’t eaten any ice cream flavor but coffee for half a century. The house-made coffee ice cream is unlike any I’ve ever had. It’s got Greek coffee in it. As in you can feel and taste the ground beans.
See you all Saturday! Two of my guests have to close their book store, will not appear until after 5PM, everybody else any time from 4 on.
All sounds great. As do all the dessert options. I have a particular love of Galaktoboureko. We used to get them from now closed Artopolis in Astoria Queens. Always better than Baklava.
Referencing your request to know preferences for food. My +1 does not eat fish. I have no feedback about desserts…but welcome trying anything. I tend to not order desserts myself…but look forward to the experience.
We’re probably going to have ~4oz portions of fish and 1 - 2 loin lamb chops per person. Happy to provide an extra chop for any non-fish people. I’ll alert Marc.
TAXI !!!
Both Uber and Lyft are available in Brunswick, but not on short notice. I CAN alert Brunswick Taxi for potentially more than the usual calls around 8 - 10PM.
Please let me know if you think you might want their services. If you plan to use Uber or Lyft, be aware that they will come, but not as fast as they would in even a small city like Portland.
Please let me know if you might need a ride after the event.
Thanks for posting, Dan.
I’ll definitely need a rideshare/taxi back to Portland. Hopefully on arrival those of us going back to Portland that evening and maybe can plan a team departure with a little bit of foresight 
.
Dan,
This sounds amazing and incredibly generous. I hope everyone has a wonderful evening. I look forward to the pictures and notes.
I collected these wines to share with friends and other wine lovers, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m very happy that there are board members who are coming from away for this.
I’m just seeing this after a hell week of 14 hour work days and missing the lunchtime plan at Duckfat. I like dessert in general, but also never order it at restaurants because it’s usually not worth it. but this sounds worth it. Galaktoboureko sounds intense but they all sound great so I’ll just take bites of whatever other people order 
Aiming for Frites Shack at 3ish, I’m wearing a light green flannel shirt if anyone pops in around then…
jim
Seconding Mike’s emotion, I am so happy this is going to happen even though I can’t be there (and wish I could). Enjoy, all!
Agreed, this sounds EPIC! Safe travels to everyone and kudos to Dan…
Hope everyone has a great time! I’ve been following the thread with regret that it’s impossible for me to attend as the event and dans generosity sound amazing
Bright-eyed & Bushy Tailed after a truly beautiful evening with Dan & the group. I am very grateful to have been included in such a warm collective 
.
When our Photojournalists get their photos up on the main page, I cannot wait to chime in with more details & notes. So many wines showed extraordinarily well, particularly amongst the Reds. Some beautiful, remarkable showings.
And we left a good case of things unopened! So, maybe next year we can do a joint event where we can contribute some nice things too & celebrate Dan some more 
.
It was a very warm, unassuming event. And for all of Dan’s determination to keep the Organization at the minimum: we had very smooth transitions from flights & family style courses.
Such a Beautiful Saturday. I am very touched to have joined 
This was a lovely evening, and Dan was a gracious host that took every effort to ensure that the evening was a success. I love @Nick_Christie 's idea of meeting again in a year’s time to re-create another vision of this with folks bringing wines to share as well. For me the mixed-company, conversation, and food only made the evening that much more enjoyable. I did not take photos of this event…in an effort to be as fully present as possible I left my phone away to fully enjoy the conversations and company.
Dan gathered some wonderful people around those two tables…and the food was stellar. The introductory course was a nice mix of flavors that excited the palate, the two veg courses after were both delicious and very wine-friendly. The halibut was the best halibut I’ve ever had…as was the Lamb. I rarely “enjoy” halibut…but I’m still thinking about that fish today. I eat Lamb 1-2 times/month and have had it served as a course in multiple 1-3 Michelin star restaurant dining experiences…this was the best lamb I’ve had in my life.
In some ways words do not seem to do justice to the execution of these dishes. I’m reminded of how my experience from Tinder Hearth redefined my understanding of croissants (which I had never cared about before having had theirs). The preparation of the food that was presented was so clean & well executed that they allowed the beauty of the food to truly shine…I will be going back to eat in Brunswick again as soon as I can. It was worth the hotel cost and the 2 hour drive each way just to experience a restaurant that so clearly has a passion for their culture and wants to share that beauty & authenticity with the guests.
The 1998 Palmer was my favorite red of the evening and the 2014 Caves Duplessis Chablis Grand Cru Le Clos was my favorite white. Having said that there were many special wines over the course of the evening…and Dan, I hope to share a glass with you and others I spoke with again in the future.
It was fantastic to meet everyone; thank you for making the journey. I also love the idea of doing something like this next year around this time. I’ll add it to my calendar to send out a feeler in late summer/early Fall and work out some details.
I posted my best accounting of the wine lineup and some thoughts in the main thread.
David,
It was wonderful chatting with you & JP last night. Looking forward to returning to this amazing restaurant in another year (probably sooner).
Wow Dan, what a nice night. I expected a good time but the mix of wines with such history and endurance, and the great group of random internet people, wildly exceeded my expectations. A million thanks for putting this together!
I have some pictures and videos I’ll put up in a separate post.
jim