Ned Ludd for lunch with my friend Katherine. I met Katherine a few years ago when I posted a personal on Craigslist looking for a dining companion. Interesting approach, but it gelled into a great friendship. We’ve enjoyed each other’s company since then, whether in a restaurant or not. For a while, Katherine and I used to meet to discuss our writing goals and ideas in cool coffee and tea shops on random Sundays. I don’t see her as much lately, and I missed her birthday party recently, so we arranged to head out to lunch instead. Ned Ludd was on my list of places, and Katherine, never one to eschew a great new dining experience, as all-in. We joked about a little role play of street-walking hooker, since she simply texted me to meet her on the corner of 4th and Montgomery at 1:00. She’s easy to spot and I drove up and asked her if she wanted a date, and how much would it be. Katherine, studying for her Masters at PSU, always treats going out with me as special, or perhaps she just always puts as much thought into what she wears. Short black leather skirt, a sexy top, and a white jacket. Leather boots finished off the look–and attitude. OK, enough about that dish. Suffice it to say she’s a fun companion for anything, especially dining. We parked a block west of MLK, having spotted Ned Ludd after a spin around the block.
Ned Ludd is interesting in that they do all their cooking in a wood-fired oven, which the owner later said they inherited from the former pizza place in the space, and decided to work around it. All produce and meat is locally sourced, some even from the garden behind the restaurant that is part of a farm. Having looked up Ned Ludd’s website prior to coming, I found the woodsy feel to the website quite appealing, and that sensory experience didn’t take long to welcome us as we walked up. That delicious aroma of burning wood hits you a block away. We were greeted by a taller pony-tailed guy with horn rimmed glasses, and invited to sit wherever we wanted. There were only a few tables occupied on this gorgeous Monday afternoon. It sounds cliche to describe ambiance as “Portland-y”, but Ned Ludd’s decor is something you wouldn’t find many other places. I would go so far as to say NL brings the outside in. There’s wood tables, planks, and logs stacked in various spots (at least that’s the memory I have now). it’s colorful, with bright blue paint on one wall, and green on another. A small bar to stage left of the brick oven looks like a fantastic and comfy spot to spend hours consuming all the best the Northwest has to offer.
The menu is simple, too, and changes daily based on what’s available, or as was described to us later with hands pointing skyward, “whatever it’s doing outside.” I like the little wooden theme on the menu, too. Although that stands to reason, since for years many people enter my home and say “you like the wood.” I think I got that look into my head years ago after I got my divorce and went to visit my friend Dave in Bozeman, and somehow when we went to stay at a cabin on McDonald Lake at Glacier, I found the whole Northwest ambiance totally to my liking. It didn’t take me long to tranform the sterile white-walled interior of our home with spring floral pillows and the like that I inherited from our marriage into more of an earthy autumnal look. When I looked for homes in Oregon, I got that feel in my new place. And I upped the ante by commissioning an amazing mantle made of a Sitka Spruce not long after we moved into the house. Ned Ludd seems like a natural offshoot of that sensibility.
We sat by the window overlooking the simple patio, where one party was enjoying lunch at a picnic table. After some back and forth, we ordered a couple of beers–Katherine a German beer, and I an Iron City Lager. We let the server tell us a bit about the menu, and decided on the charcuterie plate, a smoked trout salad, and then upon asking what the signature dish was, we nodded at the “meat pie!” While Katherine indicated that she probably wouldn’t want that much meat encased in a pastry (avoiding that sort of thing), she did say it was virtually impossible not to order anything that had an exclamation mark attached to it. I agreed.
The charcuterie plate featured a number of different meats, ranging from duck bacon to head cheese (not really something I love the sound of) to what appeared to be prosciotto and a very nice meat spread. All was served with grainy and dense wheat bread slices and a spicy mustard. Hold the pickled beets for me. I tasted half of one, and gladly invited my dear companion to enjoy the rest. To me, beets taste like eating dirt. Reminds me of a fight I had in fourth grade. The plate was nice, as was the trout salad. The trout had a pinkish hue to it, and if one would have told me it was salmon, other than the slightly different consistency, I might have believed it. The greens, misted with a champagne vinaigrette, were quite refreshing. So much so that as I dove into the meat pie!, Katherine ordered an arugula salad with lamb prosciutto. At least I think that’s what the lamb was. I loved the meat pie! Even if it didn’t have the exclamation mark, it would have been quite satisfying. The crust was perfect, crispy on the outside, and buttery and flaky inside… with a treat of lots of meat! (four kinds) inside. Katherine couldn’t resist a taste, so she took one, and resumed with her salad. We did both kind of nod our heads at how the prices of salads have seemed to have gotten up close to the $10 mark now. I suppose with the included meat or fish, that’s the case. But we’ve noticed in some places that perhaps the propensity of Portland establishments to include delicious meat options in salads had led to some less than honorable proprietors starting to charge that just for greens.
The whole meal was delicious and fulfilling, and so to top it off we both found it hard to resist wood-fired s’mores with some french-pressed coffee. Katherine decided to attack the s’mores hands-on, and before long had chocolate and marshallow art on her fingers and stringing down her chin. Good look. I went the fork route, which later she said she should have taken. But who would have a fork by a campfire? So, I think she had the better idea.
After we enjoyed that, I introduced myself to the owner, who was working on his laptop at one of the side tables. Jason, a co-owner, is a very personable and handsome guy, who grew up in Maine. So, when I introduced him to the concept of my new business, he expressed genuine appreciation of it, because he was glad someone was treating the Portland Food scene as an incredibly special food destination. Jason talked a bit about what was going on in Portland and why it’s become a magnet for young food professionals, and how the kitchens pencil out their business–many in different ways. I’ve said it before. I always marvel at the skill and systems it takes to keep some of these small places going so smoothly. And that’s the foundation before the food even gets prepared. Jason described his entire busy weekend being quite successful with just two guys doing the cooking in that wood oven! Amazing.
And by the way, I’ve been visiting restaurants now for about a month since I conceived of my new business, and I find it astounding how fun it is to introduce myself to the proprietors of these very noteworthy Portland restaurants, and enjoy such hearty conversations with them. Some only know me as a semi-regular, like John Gorham at Toro Bravo. But Jason didn’t know me from a hole in the wooded wall, but he took the time to come over and chat with me and Katherine for about 15 minutes. While everyone won’t strike up a conversation with these people when they go out to eat, as I sit here and write, I can think of a dozen restaurant owners who have made my visits to their places really that much more special. Adam at Country Cat comes to mind, and John at Navarre. Even Michael, who serves up an amazing Chicago style roast meat and sausage sandwich on Sandy and Burnside, is a kick to get into it with.
But for today, Jason Francis French’s Ned Ludd had all the fresh ingredients for a superior Portland and Northwest Spring Monday afternoon.
home
