This weekend marks the official start of the Rose Festival here in Portland, Oregon.  At GP we will be celebrating with Rosé Wines for the entire month of June.  Not only are they beautiful, ranging from soft pinks to dark ruby reds, rosés will excite, but not overwhelm the palate, and are a perfect wine for the transition into warm weather.  Though they share many characteristics with red wine, they lack the tannic composition, allowing them to harmonize brilliantly with many of the seasonal foods enjoyed in spring and summer, such as salads and fish.  Rosés are typically served cold, but can also be enjoyed at room temperature, making them a wise choice regardless of weather.  So what's stopping you?  Take a break to stop and taste the rosés!

Gourmet Productions Featured Rosés:

Del Rio Grenache Rosé

Domeaine de Nizas Rosé

Château La Roque Rosé

Imagine this:  You're sitting in a meeting full of nameless big wigs, whom you want to impress.  Your stomach suddenly sounds as if it is impersonating the man-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors, shouting "Feed me, feed me"!  It's not too difficult to imagine, as the vast majority of man-kind has experienced this, or a similar situation. 

Do you ever wonder why your stomach seems to have a mind of its own?  I did, so I researched the scientific reasoning behind my chatterbox of a tummy.  Discovery Health's website explains that it is due to a hormone called ghrelin which stimulates the appetite by telling the brain to start contractions in an attempt to give you a little reminder that you're hungry.  The actual growling is the vibrations from your stomach walls rubbing together due to a lack of substance. 

So next time your stomach starts growling, maybe you need to heed its advice and get a bite to eat!  Need some suggestions?  Try Gourmet Productions fresh, local creations to comfort the creature within.

Last week Gourmet Productions welcomed a new Chef de Cuisine into our Kitchen.  Jeremy Larter, who boasts 20 years of culinary experience, is excited to bring Northwest inspired creations to freshen our palates.  In the short time he has been here, he has already donned our menus with items like Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Roasted Fennel, and Chicken Breasts stuffed  with Housemade Ricotta, Black Mission Figs and Basil.  Like the rest of the gang here at GP, Larter is passionate about using  ingredients from local farmers.  If you're lucky, you may just see him and Executive Chef Jim wandering through the Farmers Markets in an effort to find the freshest seasonal ingredients to use in our dishes.  

Imagine sitting down to dinner to find a corn tortilla shell bursting with spaghetti noodles, marinara, and meatballs.  Spaghetti Tacos were first introduced on the kids network, Nickelodeon.  This food fad seems to be all the rage with kids on the East Coast.   Our staff has been getting endless requests to add this Mexican-Italian hybrid cuisine to our menu.  After much resistance, we have finally decided to oblige your requests.  At Gourmet Productions, we are not offering merely a basic spaghetti taco, ours comes with zesty Italian sausage and heirloom tomato marinara.  But why stop there?  We will also be including fettuccini alfredo tacos with grilled chicken breast,  gnocchi tacos with dungeness crab and roasted garlic cream sauce,  wild mushroom ravioli tacos, and spinach and goat cheese manicotti tacos.  Yummy!

APRIL FOOLS!!!  While spaghetti tacos are a very real phenomenon, you will never find them at GP.  The fillings in these tacos may reflect fare you would find in our display case,  but we will never taint them with a tortilla shell.