The Franklin Post has evenings we call “Late Nights” twice each issue. Writers and editors alike stay at school and work on editing and formatting our stories, which is an essential but time-consuming part of the newspaper production process. Food is a frequent discussion topic as late nights keep most people at the school until long past dinnertime, and staff members begin to fantasize about a meal that isn’t from Domino’s Pizza, the consistent caterer for Late Night dinners.
Discussing favorite restaurants, cuisines, and dishes regularly leads to the shocked gasps of, “How have you not tried this? It’s the best!” and “We have to get food there soon, you can’t die before you’ve eaten it.” Eventually, we — Fiona Snyder, Krystal “Krys” Le, and Lenore Myers — curated a list of foods we had never tried before, then ventured out together to taste all that Portland’s food scene has to offer over the course of a single day.
Lenore tries Annam VL
After an incident where we were all forced to learn how to fix the air pressure of a car tire, Fiona, Krys, and I were off to grab some phở at Annam VL. To the shock and horror of many, I’d never tried the noodle dish. Unfortunately, I technically still haven’t, as the soup wasn’t on the menu for the day since the restaurant has a different menu for each day of the week. Despite this, I tried miến gà, a chicken and glass noodle soup, which was the perfect thing to help me recover from my lingering cold. Fiona ordered a Vietnamese coffee, and Krys got bánh ít trần, which is a type of sticky rice dumpling.
Fiona and I both tried some of Krys’ dumplings; a dish that, to her, was reminiscent of childhood snacks, but, to us, was an unfamiliar texture and taste. The dumplings and mung beans inside them were very soft but had a crunch courtesy of the dried shrimp on top. When my soup arrived, Krys and Fiona couldn’t stop themselves from trying it, prompting a helpful waiter to bring us more bowls. Fiona pushed us to go out of our comfort zone with some of the provided chili sauce, and wolfing down the doctored-up soup was my favorite part of the day. As we dug into our dishes, our food was gone far too soon, though they served us quite a large portion of miến gà.
The restaurant itself had a very clean and natural atmosphere. Its many windows and plants, along with its all-wood furniture, made it very airy and bright. Annam VL is a family-owned business that is part of a larger group of VL restaurants. An V is the chef at Annam VL, and is the son of the owners. While serving customers, V wants to nurture a sense of community in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “We take a lot of pride in including anyone that comes into our restaurant … cooking is a love language, so being able to do that for the community is what’s fulfilling for all of us.”
V also writes menus for pop-ups the restaurant holds called “Annam by Night.” V says, “Last summer, we did a Vietnamese street food menu based off of what [my brother and I] enjoyed as children.” He further explains, “We host it at the restaurant, it’s another way we can … showcase Vietnamese cuisine and allow people to understand what Vietnamese cuisine entails outside of the common dishes you see.”
Fiona dives into Peruvian at Salt & Pepper
Our second stop of the day was the Peruvian food cart Salt & Pepper, located on 82nd and Beech in Northeast Portland where I was looking to try some authentic Peruvian food. The owner, Rafael Luis, met us in the heated tent next to the food cart to discuss his restaurant before we ordered.
Luis told us how it was his dream to serve authentic Peruvian food made with the highest quality ingredients to those who visited his food cart. He had moved to the cart’s current location after previously being housed in a brick-and-mortar in the Belmont neighborhood. Unfortunately, his previous landlord neglected the property and Salt & Pepper was forced to move to its new home as a cart. Luis explained that he “works seven days a week, between 10 a.m. and midnight, [and on] Friday and Saturday until two in the morning.” Despite these incredibly long hours, Luis insists that he loves his job: “I like to cook. I like my job, I like to cook Peruvian [foods from] my country.”
Cooking and serving the food of his country is important to him — a sentiment that strongly echoes what we heard earlier at Annam VL. Luis shares that the hardest part of running his food cart is getting customers willing to try what, to many, is a new cuisine. Despite people’s initial hesitation, he encourages all to come and try this authentic food that’s made with the freshest and highest quality ingredients, hand-chosen by Luis himself.
We bought an order of picarones, a Peruvian doughnut-like dish, and a stuffed potato dish called papa rellena, but Luis insisted we try the lomo saltado as well and refused to let us pay for the dish. His suggestion was well made, as the classic Peruvian beef stir fry was one of the best dishes of the night. Served next to a side of jasmine rice, thin beef strips and slices of onion, potato, tomato, and other vegetables had been grilled to perfection and drowned in an absolutely delicious salty, savory sauce.
Lenore wasted no time in completely mixing the rice into the stir fry, and from there we embarked on a heavenly journey of savory Peruvian cuisine, alternating between the Peruvian beef stir fry and the stuffed potato. The potato turned out to be constructed around the filling of something akin to fried mashed potatoes. The filling was interesting and delicious; at one point I pulled out an olive, and Krys found half an egg.
Before long — and before we had even finished the other dishes — Lenore could wait no longer and swooped on a picarone. These desserts were fried rings served in a dish of sticky sauce. The picarones themselves were crispy on the outside, doughy on the inside, and not particularly sweet. The sauce was sweet and had a licorice-y taste. Overall the dessert was pretty good, but not the best dish we had at the cart — we were blown away by the amazing lomo saltado.
Krys delves into Ya Hala Lebanese Cuisine
We ended the evening by going to Ya Hala Lebanese Cuisine — a small, aesthetic restaurant located on Stark Street in the Montavilla neighborhood — because I’ve never had falafel. The restaurant was covered in pleasing Mediterranean decor and packed with customers dining and chattering. We decided on getting a side of their falafel along with a side of their grilled pita. We also spontaneously ordered a slice of chocolate cake that was calling to me and Lenore.
We were introduced to Maddy Day, the manager of Ya Hala. She brought us our food and told us she’d sit down for an interview when she got a moment. We had just dug into the falafel and pita when Lenore proclaimed that I was eating it wrong. She urged me not to use a fork, claiming that falafel was made to be eaten by hand, and shared her falafel eating guide: first, you spread tahini sauce on the pita; then, you put the falafel inside and fold the pita, making a sandwich-like concoction.
After we finished the nutritious falafel, we split our cake — which was so delicious that Lenore snapped a picture of the ingredients — and waited for Day. We watched as she ran around, taking orders and bringing out dishes. It reminded me of myself, running around during rushes at my own workplace. Oh, the food service life…
Even though there are “ups and downs,” Day “really enjoy[s]” her job, and is very committed to her role as manager. “At the end of the day, it is my job to create a memorable experience for guests and to make sure they are taken care of,” Day says. One important aspect of a successful restaurant is the vibe and energy of its staff, to which Day adds, “The energy in this building is awesome … The family that owns the restaurant really cares. They bring all the positive vibes, and it trickles down to all of us.”
Ya Hala is definitely worth checking out. Day recommends the lemon chicken meal with lentil soup and says, “Come have a meal and hang out with us! The folks in this building really care about the work they do, and you can taste it!”
Overall, the night was a huge success. All three of us got to try some delicious food we had never had before, and together we explored the diverse scene of East Portland’s cuisine. From not-actually-phở at a small family business, to a very warm welcome with steaming Peruvian food, to a delightful atmosphere of Middle Eastern aromas, trying new things can have so many benefits, like discovering your new go-to spot or strengthening your friendships. From going on this endeavor, the three of us discovered three new amazing spots that we would all go to again. If you’re ever bored and stuck on what to do, definitely consider checking out a new restaurant, because you never know what you could discover. Specifically, we would recommend checking out Annam VL, Salt & Pepper, and Ya Hala, because we left all three spots fulfilled and closer to each other.
