The Little Bloggers Who Could: WAR DIALING French Laundry

At 0900 this morning, Michelle completely interrupted the TableTalkPortland team's normal morning routines with a top secret missive. Since I can't keep a secret to save my life (oh my gosh, NEVER tell me what kind of baby you are having, in my excitement I will accidentally tell your mother, who didn't actually even know you were pregnant), I'll share it with you. 

Troops,

We have an important mission today, probably the most important in our lives.

Goal
We must secure a reservation at the French Laundry.

Your Mission
At exactly 9:45 you will begin dialing 707.944.2380.
If you get a busy signal, you will hang up and keep dialing until you get through.
If you should break through the busy fortress and actually speak to a human being then you are to attempt to secure a reservation for 2 on August 28th for lunch or dinner under the alias Brian or Michelle. If you are told they are completely full then ask to be put on the waiting list and leave this number 503.xxx.xxxx.
If you should get through make sure that you text your fellow comrades to cease and desist.
I will send a message for the War Dialing to begin at 0945.

We will be successful,

Captain Michelle

Naturally this urgent message raised a lot of questions. What do we do if we have to go to the bathroom or require a snack mid-mission? What if Thomas Keller himself answers and we get tongue-tied and blow it? And why does Michelle get to be captain?

I can't answer all these questions for you. But I can release the TableTalkPortland French Laundry WAR DIALING DIARIES--which consists of this morning's genuine TableTalkPortland team e-mails, text communications and snapshots--to tell our story. In case you are wondering what war dialing is, it is when you have three (or more) people calling at the same time on your behalf to get a reservation at French Laundry. See, they only have three lines, so theoretically if you can capture them all, holding all the other billion phone line invaders at bay, reservation victory will belong to at least one of you. It seems very simple. 

The TableTalkPortland French Laundry War Dialing Diaries

0931 JEN: Princess Captain Michelle,
I am ready to do battle with the infamous French Laundry reservation system. I've had six cups of Stumptown (organic French Roast, if you must know) and my determination levels are at an all time high. I want you to know I am taking a break from my Tuesday morning home spa ritual to undertake this crucial mission. That is what sisters are for. Godspeed to you all.

0932 BRIAN W.: I love it! Where is my war paint?
0933 JEN: Use coffee grounds! Hurry up!

0934 BRIAN W: Don't rush me. Gareth of Wales is ready with his phone too.

0937 MICHELLE: Troops, As we get closer I must remind you to be safe, don't press down to hard on the phone keys, you must protect yourselves! Also, take a picture of yourselves so that I have an initial locate as to your whereabouts. Bless you all.
0939 BRIAN W.: Ur all nuts.
0940 JEN: Brian! Quit complaining and put your headband on already!

0940 BRIAN W.: O-k! I am not sure if i should wear the rainbow headband or the cream colored waffle stitch.
0941 JEN: maybe the rainbow one.
0941 SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT APRIL: Special Correspondent April reporting for duty! On a 25-mile run but able to perform war dialing duties as requested!

0941 BRIAN P.: Brian P here! Sir! Yes Sir!....Sorry I meant Princess! Yes Princess!  I have received my instructions, my shoes have been shined and my suit and tie ready for eating. Wait ....correction Princess.... no reservation.
Prepared to dial. 2 Phones secured. Private location secured. Friend covering for me. No time.... must go. Fire Fire Fire...again...again...Never back down....never stop..... 

0942 JEN: Princess Captain Michelle,
I am a little scared! I am eating my new favorite chocolate, L' Artigiano di Gardini Finissimo al latte al Sale Dolce de Cervia e Olio Brisighello (which can be purchased at Cacao), to calm my jittery nerves. My hands are shaking, but maybe it was all the coffee. What if Thomas Keller himself answers and I become flustered and accidentally proposition him instead of making your reservation? This mission is fraught with peril. 

0943 MICHELLE: Send an email if you get past the busy signal...
1 Minute and counting... phones up
0943 JEN: AAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh, I CAN'T HANDLE THE PRESSURE!!! I HOPE I AM NOT CAPTURED! WHAT IF THEY THREATEN TO DESTROY MY CHOCOLATE SUPPLY! I AM GOING TO CRACK!
0944 MICHELLE: : SIS- YOU MUST FOCUS. YOU KNOW YOUR MISSION AND DON'T LET ANYTHING GET IN THE WAY. SEE IT AND BELIEVE IT!
AIM and FIRE!! GO!

(EVERYONE CALLS SIMULTANEOUSLY. WE GET A RECORDING SAYING THE LINES ARE CLOSED. IT IS DEFLATING, TO SAY THE LEAST.)

0945 JEN: NO ONE IS ANSWERING! THE TENSION IS UNBEARABLE! WHY IS THOMAS KELLER DOING THIS TO US?!!!

0946 MICHELLE :, It is a mind game Jen... he is doing it to make you break. Just focus on the goal! keep calling.. there reservation office opens at 10, but the lines get jammed right before! 

0947 JEN:Princess Captain Michelle, we talked about this! "Their reservation office..." Jeezus.
0948 MICHELLE: Don't question rank or i will have you thrown in the stocks
0949 JEN: WHATEVER. I WILL BE RIGHT BACK. I NEED A SNACK.
0950 MICHELLE: no
0950 JEN: But I am hungry now.

0951 BRIAN W: I got past the Busy signal but there reservation line opens at 10 am.....Did you try Open table?
0952 JEN: Yes! Michelle tried Open Table already! Don't you read TableTalkPortland!! And can none of you SPELL?
0953 MICHELLE: you have to keep dialing because right before 10 they turn it on and no one can get in! Open table has only 4 tops and only 2 of them.
0954 BRIAN W: Get the 4 tops...find some friends there! This busy signal is driving me crazy. 

0954 JEN: What busy signal?
0954 MICHELLE: are you not getting a busy signal?
0955 JEN: no
0956 MICHELLE: are you dialing the right number?
0957 JEN: Yes, what do you think I am, an idiot?
0957 MICHELLE: you said it
0957 JEN: I quit this mission. I am going to go make a ham sandwich.
0958 MICHELLE: Mom said never be a quitter... 5 more minutes
0958 JEN: but i have a terrible hankering for a ham sandwich!

0959  SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT APRIL: Not having any luck here, but have burned 4 million calories! 

0959 JEN: that's a lot of ham sandwiches. maybe I should be running too.
0959 MICHELLE: troops, at 1008 we will retreat and try again later
1000 JEN: i am playing eye of the tiger for inspiration!
1000 BRIAN W: I am playing Broadway's Best!
1001 MICHELLE: good idea, don't give up troops we are almost there! push through this and we will be successful!
1002 JEN: my ear hurts. can't we hire a flock of monkeys to do this?
1008 MICHELLE :well troops, should we pull back and go for a sneak attack at 2?
1008 JEN: Whatever you say Princess Captain Michelle! I am going to go make a ham sandwich.
1009 MICHELLE: Ok... RETREAT... I will see you all at 2 

1010 JEN: Good work troops. This day will live in infamy. Or something like that.
1011 BRIAN W: pooper. 2 pm it is- Jen are you taking me to Breakfast?? Lunch?
1012 JEN: No. I have to remove my NARS mud mask, and then I have to write all day. I am trying to finish my memoirs.
1013 MICHELLE: Good Try troops... Don't look at this as a failure... Look at it as training!
1045 BRIAN P: Did someone say retreat? Just a second--let me tell my admin to stop calling.

1130 BRIAN W: I can't stop calling...still busy!
1135 MICHELLE: Cease and desist! I got through! I am on a $*#*$# list! My next thing is to email Thomas Keller and try to get one of his private tables. Thanks for all of your help! 

1137 BRIAN W: Yeah. The poop list or wait list?
1138 MICHELLE: poop. just kidding. wait list. i am on my way. we are 5th and 6th on the waiting list.
1139 BRIAN P: Did someone say poop? am i still supposed to be calling?  

1140 JEN: That's fantastic news sis! We are an amazing team here at TableTalkPortland! now we just have to hope that everyone ahead of you on the list and two already scheduled diners swim with the fishes! i mean, i hope they make other plans, maybe at Cyrus!
1142 BRIAN W: I am celebrating for you. 

1142 SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT APRIL: Me too! And I earned this drink, dammit.

1142 JEN: me three! what a day at TableTalkPortland!

And there you have it. TableTalkPortland's first attempt to secure a reservation for Michelle and Brian P at French Laundry was a semi-success. But Michelle won't be satisfied until she is sitting at a table Thursday night.

Stay Tuned.

A Whirlwind TableTalkPortland Weekend

What a weekend! Sure, I say that every weekend, but seriously, it was quite a weekend here at tabletalkportland.com. First Thursday, Bite of Oregon, Farmer's Market, Toro Bravo...it's all kind of a blur. Fortunately, I took lots of pictures.

First stop, the Pearl District's Teardrop Lounge for First Thursday.  Heather and Patrick secured the big booth in the corner for our relaxed sipping pleasure, and we all piled in--Michael, Patrick, Heather, Bradley, me, Michelle, and Teardrop Executive Chef Alyssa Graff. 

It was Sake Sangria night for me--Teardrop makes fantastic sangria with sake, fresh seasonal fruit (peaches and blueberries this particular night), brandy and spices. At $6 a glass, it's the best bargain on the cocktail menu. And if you happen to make it in during happy hour (4-7 pm), it's only $4 a glass. 

We'd neglected to eat dinner, so Michelle ordered the lamb meatballs,  

and the Panzanella salad--chunks of crispy brioche, fresh tomatoes and cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, tender pieces of mozzarella, a chiffonade of basil, olive oil and vinegar. Delicious.

Then we moved on to the Everett Station Lofts for a courtyard art party. Our friends Fabian and Mary Anna (who was singing at the party, hear her lovely voice HERE) were hosting a mojito party in their loft. Fabian has a distinct mojito-making style, which involves cutting up tons of limes with a very big knife and a maniacal grin.

Fabian kindly provided his Quick 'n Easy mojito recipe, which uses 7Up in place of simple syrup and soda water to streamline the mojito-making process. He also puts lime zest in his mojitos, which releases essential lime oils into the drink for an extra punch of citrus.

Fabian's Mojito Recipe

Juice and zest of 5 limes

4 liters of 7Up

1 bottle rum, "quality dependent on quality of your guests"

Mint

Crushed ice

Mix above ingredients in a big pot. Crush ice with a cast iron skillet and fill cups, then ladle mixture into them. So easy! So good!

After all those mojitos Thursday night, it is understandable that I was a little late to my Friday morning volunteer shift at Bite of Oregon, Portland's annual Waterfront culinary festival benefitting Special Olympics. Leigh, Erin and I were in charge of selling commemorative 25th Bite of Oregon Anniversary Riedel wineglasses to festival patrons.

 
It was a very hard job, but somebody had to do it. 

After our shift, we browsed the booths. Hip Chicks Do Wine was there, and we tasted a few of their wines, including the Bad Birl Blanc and the Riot Girl Rose. 

I'm a big fan of Hip Chick's sassy labels. I believe I will get this particular one for Michelle for her upcoming birthday (September 5). Don't tell her please. She doesn't actually read my postings so I am safe telling you my plan. 

Leigh and Erin took their pictures with the Thomas Kemper root beer models. 

After our grueling day at Bite of Oregon, we met up with Mom and Dad, who were in town for the weekend, for happy hour at Bluehour. We sat next to Bruce Carey! Oh my!

The drink of the day was Sparkling Sangria! Mom liked it very much!

We also shared a few appetizers off Bluehour's phenomenal happy hour menu, including the Portabella mushroom brushchetta.

Feeling in need of dessert, we headed to Fenouil for a flight of Italian digestifs

and a delectable peach tarte tatin.

Saturday morning Michelle and I were at our 8:15 am Taste the Place volunteer job at the stroke of 8:37 am, and after buying roughly 10 pounds of Gathering Together Farm's beautiful eggplant, we were soon frying up thin strips of eggplant to woo the eggplant skeptical and delight the eggplant loving. We used the family Fried Eggplant recipe. Slice eggplant thinly (a quarter inch works) then dredge in flour and pan fry in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkling lightly with garlic salt, until golden and crispy on both sides. See, so simple! 

Michelle was very bossy today and quite frightening wielding her big eggplant slicing knife. "Cut faster! Dredge faster! Dance, I SAID DANCE!" she snarled. "I do not wish to dance," I informed my cantankerous kitchen tyrant of a sister, slapping her with a slice of undredged eggplant.

After a brief flour fight and a few good wallops with the frying spatula, we settled our differences.

Saturday night we raced the clock to get to Toro Bravo at 4:55 pm, just in time to slip into the looooong line of hungry patrons hopeful of making the 5 pm seating. Thankfully we just made the cut, while the unlucky sods who didn't were forced to sit out the first seating in Toro Bravo's skinny little waiting closet. To soothe our nerves, Dad and I had Blackberry Pimm's.

Mom dishes out the Singing Pig greens salad,

we gobbled up crispy little Manchego and paprika fritters with spicy pico de gallo

and the superb lamb with apricot and coriander.

Michelle had coffee and we shared the sweet-salty chocolate almonds for dessert.

Sunday morning was breakfast at Junior's on SE 12th Street. I like Junior's very much. It is tiny, with sparkly gold vinyl booths and walls filled with mirrors clasped in gilded frames. The pictures on the back wall are crooked, which made Mom dizzy, and I could see she was itching to straighten them, but really, I think they are intentionally crooked just to panic the obsessive compulsive, which is rather amusing. 

However, there were a few things about Junior's Cafe that were NOT amusing.

They were:

-out of spoons (we're living in a spoonless world for the next few minutes, says the server)

-out of all freshly baked goods (you'll just have to use your imagination, says the server)

-out of Nutella toast (we're out of Nutella, says the server rather unapologetically. huh? what?! who runs out of Nutella??????????!!!!!!!!)

-low on menus (you want one to keep? forever? we're short, but maybe next time, says the server)

Despite all the shortages, breakfast was very good. I'd love to tell you all the details, but I couldn't keep my menu and my memory is poor. I will try though. 

Mom had the Migas  scramble--three fresh free-range antibiotic free eggs, green chiles, jalapenos, tomatoes, chorizo, salty goat's cheese and lots of yummy fresh cilantro, served with fresh fruit in lieu of potatoes ($3 extra) and whole grain toast.

Dad had the basic eggs 'n bacon. "It's not fancy, but it's good," he growled when I accused him of being an unadventurous breakfast eater.

I had the maple smoked ham, brie, and leeks breakfast sandwich on whole grain bread. It was like a very nice grilled cheese sandwich, although I thought it could have benefited from some sort of spread to give it a little more flavor. But maybe the lack of Nutella in my system was just making me surly. 

I guess I know where I got my love for jam. Thanks Mom. 

And that's about it, folks. Hope your weekend was fabulous too.

The Little Blogger Who Could: Day 2

HARRY POTTER SAYS, "TRYING TO GET A LAST MINUTE RESERVATION AT FRENCH LAUNDRY IS RIDDIKULUS!"

DAY 2: 

No word from the mysterious blogger who claims to be able to conjure up French Laundry reservations like Harry Potter's Riddikulus charms, "Riddikulus" pretty much being the reaction Michelle has gotten from most everyone when she tells them what she's trying to do. I might have actually said something more along the lines of "You're completely insane," but I totally support Michelle's endeavor to land a reservation at French Laundry during Sonoma's premier annual wine events, considering I would eat a pound of scone toads and donate all my appendages and my ears to charity for the chance to eat at French Laundry and I'm planning to live vicariously through Michelle should she successfully land her reservation. I mean, when she successfully lands her reservation.

Michelle contacted the concierge at her hotel, I will call him "Jules", because I do not know his name and Michelle is downstairs and I am too lazy to walk down there and ask her what his real name is. Jules also told her she is Riddikulus and that sadly, he lacks the clout to hand her the reservation on a platinum platter, and to eat at Cyrus instead. Cyrus is of course one of the Bay Area's finest restaurants, however, let's face it, it ain't the French Laundry. Jules is fired. 

Tomorrow: WAR DIALING

A Tale of How the Little Guy Bloggers Tried to Get A Reservation at the Big French Laundry During the Sonoma Wine Festival

Well, the BF and I decided last night that we would attend the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend in two weeks. We went last year and it was absolutely amazing, so we made a blood oath over a bottle of Forth Vineyards rosé that we would go every year until the day we died. It came upon us very quickly this year, because we were so distracted by our busy summer, and now we are having a horrific time trying to score reservations.

To top it off, this morning I had an epiphany- I MUST GO TO THE MOST FAMOUS RESTAURANT IN AMERICA- FRENCH LAUNDRY. I logged on to Open Table and put in my date and time...and the rejection began... the earliest available date was in mid-September. I then read that they only have two tables of 4 available through Open Table, so slightly relieved, I dialed up the reservation line. It was busy. I called back a few hundred more times. It was still busy. The BF had the brilliant idea to Google "how to get a reservation at French Laundry" and found 152,000 posting on the subject. After reading just a few we found out they get over 500 calls a day and it is almost impossible to get reservations.

Hmmm... this seemed to be quite an obstacle, preventing a cute blogger from having a beautiful meal in the most famous restaurant in America....I was about to give up and then I heard Mom's voice in my head, "Quitters give up and YOU are not a quitter!" That is right! I am not a quitter, so I will try every day until August 28th to get a reservation, and if that doesn't work I will stand outside the door that night and beg and plead with Chef Thomas Keller to let this little blogger in his big restaurant. And you will be kept informed of my adventure, because I am going to chronicle it!

DAY ONE

I was very excited to find a website that was dedicated to securing reservations at French Laundry. People who were tired and defeated by the arduous task of securing a reservation at French Laundry had contacted a person on this blog and something magic happened... they got a reservation. So, today I emailed the magician and begged and pleaded for his/her help. If I could have soaked my email with tears I would have!

I have also started saying a mantra every hour, "I will get a reservation at French Laundry on August 28th, I will get a reservation at French Laundry on August 28th." I believe in the power of positive thought!

Stay tuned... if I am not successful I plan to email Chef Tom Colicchio, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oprah, The Oregonian, The San Francisco Chronicle, etc...pleading with them to help The Little Blogger Who COULD (get a reservation at French Laundry with only 17 days to go, that is)!

Toast- Saved Me From My Southeast Breakfast RUT

Sunday breakfast is a ritual for the TableTalkPortland family. It's on a pedestal with Easter, Christmas, my birthday, watching Jen's face when I told Ken Forkish (owner of Ken's Artisan Bakery) that Jen was actually a stalker and the blog was her excuse to follow him, soap on a rope, happy hour, beautiful shoes that are comfortable... you get the point! Lately though I have been in a east-side Sunday breakfast routine rut where I only frequent Bread & Ink, Crema, Pine State Biscuits, Genies (if the wait is under 20 minutes) and Jace Gace. Don't get me wrong, they are all great, but variety is supposedly the spice of life, so this Sunday I was determined to break out of my rut and try something new!

The BF and I headed to Toast to break the rut! Due to their recent write-up in the A&E and the fact that Portlanders love Sunday breakfast more than any other meal, We were expecting a wait as we walked up to the tiny restaurant, but we were pleasantly surprised when the host told us we could sit up at the bar right away. It felt like we were in a cute old school type diner as we watched all the regulars shuffling in, most of whom the servers knew by name.

Moments after we sat down, two homemade marionberry scones were placed in front of us and coffee was poured immediately! LOVE IT! This is the instant breakfast gratification you rarely get around Portland. I then spotted the most beautiful blueberry muffin that I have ever seen...

Upon my first bite I was greeted with a mouthful of warm blueberries surrounded by cinnamon and sugar spice... I was in breakfast heaven and I hadn't even looked at the menu yet.

The breakfast menu is super cute with names like Hippies Use the Front Door (oatmeal), Truck Stop (steak and eggs), and Take the Leap (seared pork belly, eggs). I decided on an item called "Just Another Breakfast Roll," which was housemade sausage, scrambled eggs, hollandaise sauce atop a homemade brioche bun served with a rösti (finely shredded potatoes crispy fried on the grill). I have to say those potatoes may be the best breakfast potatoes I have ever had, they are perfectly crispy on the outside, soft NOT mushy on the inside, and PERFECTLY salted. The spicy Italian sausage on the roll was amazing and without it the dish would have been a bit on the bland side.

The BF decided on the chile relleno stuffed with shredded chicken atop perfectly over easy eggs, and the amazing rösti. The pepper was fried to a light crisp and the savory chicken filling was subtly spicy--with the creaminess of the egg yolk it made a perfect combination.

Not only was the food wonderful, but Toast's staff is also amazing... they effortlessly orchestrate the small place, and nothing is overlooked.

Thanks to Toast, my Sunday Breakfast RUT is officially over... though I may have to go back next Sunday to try the Truck Stop and force Jen--an ardent West-sider--to order Hippies Use the Front Door!

-M

Toast* 5222 SE 52nd Ave* Brunch Wed - Sun, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m* (403) 774-1020

Table For Twelve at D.O.C.

TABLE FOR TWELVE AT D.O.C.: The "Living La Dolce Vita in Rome....Or Michelle's Backyard, Whatever" Edition

So quite a few of our readers have been all up in our grid this week, complaining about not being invited to the latest Table For Twelve. To which Jen said, with some alarm, "What? When was it?! Michelle, why wasn't I invited?! This is the last straw! I QUIT!!"

But really, the truth is, we've just been so busy this summer posing as normal people versus the princesses that we are, zooming down the Via Margutta on our Vespas, getting stylish new haircuts at our favorite little "salone" near the Trevi Fountain, sipping glasses of Sambuca and Chianti at the Caffe Rosati on the Piazza del Popolo, sticking our hands in the monument Bocca della Verita ("Mouth of Truth")--the ancient stone lion's mouth that, according to legend, will bite your hand off if you tell a lie (Michelle is totally going to have to learn to twirl her pasta one-handed, was Jen's unspoken thought), and .... Oh. Wait! Sorry! That wasn't us, it was actually Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday! We got confused for a second there, as the real truth (we swear on the Bocca della Verita) is that we've been busy lazing around Michelle's backyard this summer, wishing we were in Rome while living La Dolce Vita as best we can-- reading the latest issue of L'espresso magazine, sipping Prosecco, eating cannoli, and watching Roman Holiday every day.

So, to complete our Italian Summer fantasy, we decided to take Table For Twelve to the Northeast's brand-new and highly anticipated Italian restaurant D.O.C. (And NO, DOC does not stand for Department Of Corrections, it stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata--the law governing Italian wines.) Chef Greg Perrault (of the Tasting Room in NYC) and Sous-Chef Melissa Pelletier (formerly of Fife) are in the kitchen turning out marvelous-sounding dishes like Pacific mackerel with watercress and white cucumber, lamb shoulder with corn, pardon peppers and peaches, lasagne with tomato, fennel and side-striped prawns, and for dessert, cannoli with riccota and blueberries (click here for a MENU PREVIEW). With only 24 tables, D.O.C. promises to be an intimate, delicious evening with friends, food, and very Italian mixed drinks like Negronis and Campari Soda and sparkly, lovely Prosecco (our favorite, of course).

We hope you hop on your Vespa and head over to D.O.C. this Wednesday for Table For Twelve at D.O.C: The "Living La Dolce Vita in Rome....Or Michelle's Backyard, Whatever" Edition!

Details, Details

When: Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 7:30 pm

Where: D.O.C—5519 NE 30th Avenue, Portland, Oregon (If you see barbed wire as you pull up, you did not pay attention to the top portion of this invite)

Why: Because if you can't be living the La Dolce Vita in Rome like Princess Ann and Joe Bradley, you can still get your Italian groove thang on at Portland newest Italian restaurant

RSVP: By emailing tabletalkportland@gmail.com. Pronto! Grazie! Ciao! Campari! (That about sums up our knowledge of the Italian language)

See you at the table,

Jen & Michelle

TableTalkPortland T-Shirts Are In!

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM BERRIES?!

Michelle and I are very excited about our new TableTalkPortland.com t-shirts. They come in two styles for girls, a black v-neck and a black and grey three-quarter length sleeves version. For guys, they come in one style--regular t-shirt style, in slate grey, as modeled by Brian,  sort of. Brian was so excited to take his picture with his new TableTalkPortland.com t-shirt, he couldn't even wait to put it on! We think you will be just as thrilled with yours. 

Our new TableTalkPortland t-shirts are very versatile, and you can do many things while wearing them.

You can eat a Salvador Molly's tamale and make a poo-face (no reflection on the tamale, by the way--they are fantastic) while wearing your TableTalkPortland t-shirt. 

 
You can hang out at Farmer's Market at the epicurious.com booth with super fun 'n nice Epicurious Food Editor Sarah Kagan while wearing your TableTalkPortland t-shirt.

You can hold Gareth of Wales while wearing your TableTalkPortland t-shirt. 

You can say hello to  your friend Michael and his incredibly darling bulldog Marston while wearing your TableTalkPortland t-shirt.

You can go out for a glass of wine in your TableTalkPortland t-shirt, and then when you get a little sleepy, you and your berries can even take a nap in your TableTalkPortland t-shirt!

You too can order your very own TableTalkPortland.com t-shirt. Just e-mail us at tabletalkportland@gmail.com if you want one. I don't know how much they cost yet, Michelle is on the TableTalkPortland T-Shirt Pricing Committee and she is completely neglecting to reply to my text inquiring as to the price, probably because she stole my sunglasses last night while we were at Doug Fir and she knows I want them back. Either that or she and Brian are out to brunch, wearing their new TableTalkPortland.com t-shirts, I'm sure. Because they are great for wearing to brunch too!

-J