I parked, as instructed, on a block lined with modern, yet inviting buildings housing restaurants and toy stores. We walked up to the door of Lincoln Restaurant, which I had never even heard of before. (Turns out Jesse had read about this place in Conde Nast Traveler magazine while waiting to submit his passport application earlier in the day. The article can be found here.)Upon entering, a table of four people right behind the host desk turned excitedly to look at me. Jesse slid delicately out of the way and overheard one of them exclaim “Jen!” Mm, no. The host led us to a booth tucked into a cozy corner of the bar as I cursed my universally recognizable appearance. Huge windows exposed the huge sky scattered with tumultuous, crawling clouds. The sky isn’t always so big in Portland.
Practically every item on Lincoln’s small menu sounded delectable, but with our server’s assistance we decided on sharing the Mizuna and tatsoi salad with grapefruit, fennel and pine nuts. Jesse ordered the Lamb leg and loin chop with corona beans, rosemary and arbequena olive oil and I went with the Hanger steak with blue cheese butter and onion rings. This was a dream date. Jesse talked about the importance of taking time to enjoy the present moment, something with which I have great difficulty. I sipped my “El Diablo” and let the residual tension of the long day dissipate.
The salad was fresh, bright and so satisfying I decided I could absolutely eat one every day. My entrée arrived (I had only a 1.3 mega pixel cell phone camera to record the dish’s splendor) and I eagerly stacked a cornmeal battered onion ring on a blue cheese butter-drenched, exquisitely cooked piece of steak. Bliss. If only I could have been anticipating this meal throughout the day. As much as it pained me, I consumed every last morsel of steak on my plate, save the 3 carefully arranged bites I shared with Jesse. Though I personally could not bear to think about eating dessert, we ordered the chocolate espresso cake for the road. I can’t wait to come back.
