After months of renovation, Laurelhurst Market, the butcher shop/restaurant from the Viande/Simpatica dudes (Jason Owens, Benjamin Dyer, and Dave Kreifels), finally opened last week at 3155 E Burnside, former home of that one crappy convenience store that always had stale gum. I swung by Monday after an afternoon spent inhaling other peoples’ BBQ at Laurelhurst Park, during which open-air animal cooking really started to feel like the biological imperative that it, I suppose, is. Plenty of options at the meat counter—a variety of sausages, patés, foie gras, Draper Valley chicken, smoked duck, ground beef, short ribs, steaks, fresh eggs ($.50/each), etc. The butcher counter is open from 10 am-7 pm daily, selling sandwiches from 11 am-5 pm, and the adjacent dining room is open from 5-10pm Wed-Mon. There’s also a bar in the back with a sliding door/window that opens onto a side patio, and the hostess mentioned the possibility of industry specials on Mondays, though she was fuzzy on details. I snagged a menu—it’s a for-real steakhouse, with prices on the higher end: $18 steak frites, a la carte steaks and chops from $16-29; sides, like mac & cheese or grilled romaine w/romesco, in the $5-7 range. Things I really want to eat include pork rillettes with pickled rhubarb; foie with rhubarb mostarda and pistachio butter; a Southern fried game hen. And a porterhouse. (The doneness scale on the bottom of the menu is a wonderful thing, from Rare [“Red. Cool center.”] to Well Done [“Not Recommended.”]) Vegetarians should be able to build a decent meal out of sides and salads—or, you know, don’t have dinner at a steakhouse. Everyone I spoke with was personable and welcoming in a way that made feel good about spending money there. Anyone had dinner there yet? Report back.
I was drinking with a butcher last night. He seemed impressed with the meat there… But he also said it was expensive.
Then he told me that he doesn’t pay for meat anyways because he’s a butcher.
I’ve had the roast beef sandwich. VERY good and a pretty reasonable price. I’ve certainly paid more for less.
Butcher shop is open ’til 7.
I’ll change that, thanks Jason.
Foie gras: it’s OK when hipsters are selling it!
Foie gras: it’s OK when it’s in my mouth!
Judging from a few past (unironic) musical references in the Simpatica newsletter, I don’t think anyone will confuse Ben Dyer with a hipster.
And Viande was in the thick of the original foie protests. Probably helps that they are nicer guys than Tom Hurley.
Bumped into my neighbor who was just walking back home after dinner there – she couldn’t stop raving. Another great choice in our neighborhood!