NOVEMBER 2009

Celebrate your holiday party at Andina

The holidays are upon us. What better way to celebrate than in Tupai, one of Portland’s most lively and versatile private event spaces. Located directly above Andina, Tupai is perfect for a seated dinner or a cocktail party. Andina’s three other private dining rooms accommodate smaller company parties, social gatherings and special events. For a tour or to reserve one of these spaces, please contact Special Events Director Jennifer Anderson at 503.228.9535 Ext. 206 or e-mail jennifer@andinarestaurant.com.

Noviembre, mes para dar gracias

November: Month for giving thanks

As the Good Book and an American folk song say: “There is a season for all things that Life provides”, a season to laugh, a season to cry, a season to grow, a season to harvest.

November, with its yellow and orange fields, where the wheat is no longer, but where squashes, pumpkins, and trees are showing off their autumn colors, is a season to harvest,  a season when the earth responds to all that human hands have placed in its care; and it is the season for us to give thanks for what we have received.

At Andina, my family and I especially wish to echo what nature, human wisdom and Seeger’s lyrics speak of and celebrate in this season of harvest. We would like to give thanks for all that we have received and found in this beautiful part of the United States.

A portion of our deep gratitude must, of course, lay with the fruits of the land, rivers and ocean of the Pacific Northwest. These have sustained for millennia a variety of crops and seafood of which we are merely one among every other of the most recent beneficiaries. Combined with the wonderful products that Andina sources directly from a remarkable community of farmers in Peru, Oregon’s local harvest contributes everything to the freshness and to the excellence of the food we prepare and present. In turn, we are thankful to each of our providers – to the local and Peruvian farmers and purveyors who daily (sometimes twice or three times daily!) respond to our requests, delivering the best of their products according to the high standards they have set for themselves.

From the depth of our hearts, we give special thanks to all of our staff who day after day take such care, and make such efforts, to provide a unique experience for our guests. They are the heart of the restaurant. Their hard work, their energy, enthusiasm and genuine desire to provide for all guests, make Andina what it is: a place where our clients find special food  (wine and cocktails not to be forgotten) matched with extraordinary service.

And finally, our thanks go to the people of Portland and beyond, who, since we opened our restaurant, have made us feel welcome. The loyalty and the appreciation that our clients show for our food and our service motivate all of us more than I can say. Andina hopes to reciprocate by each day finding ways to improve what we do.

To all within the large and extended family of Andina (clients, staff, farmers, vendors), THANK YOU!  You are an essential reason and cause not only for our gratitude, but also for our continued enthusiasm and energy, as we on our part strive to nurture the animated conversation between two languages, two cultures, two lands.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Mama Doris.

A Note from Andina’s founder, Peter Platt Rodriguez

As we head into the Holiday season and a celebration of our regional bounty, the Andina family would like to seize the moment to focus on those less fortunate than ourselves for whom the season’s theme is not so much one of celebration as of getting by. These conflicting themes continue to play themselves out on a national scale, but our own local response says much about the character of our community and the commitment to our shared values.

Together with friends and partners in the food industry, the inspired and inspiring President of New Seasons Markets, Lisa Sedlar (a good friend and lovely lady), is producing the annual Oregon Harvest Dinner to benefit the Oregon Food Bank on Nov. 7. The evening’s theme, “Under the Big Top,” promises to bridge the gap between feed and need in one hell of a party! Please indulge your sense of curiosity at their website. We look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,
Peter Platt Rodriguez

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Noche de Vinos Latinos:
Argentian/Chilean/Spanish Wine Dinner

Monday, Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m.
Andina Restaurant . Upstairs in Tupai
$55 + gratuity—shared tapas and wines
Reservations: 503.228.9535

KEN COLLURA, WINE DIRECTOR

There was a time, and not too long ago, when putting together a wine dinner featuring offerings solely from Argentina, Chile and Spain would have been a folly. People knew little about the wines from South America, other than that they tended to be inexpensive, full-bodied and rather rustic. As for Spain, Rioja was the most widely-recognized region of repute for table wines, as others such as Ribera del Duero and Priorato were just beginning to gain notoriety. All that has changed.

With each passing day, the wines of Argentina and Chile are improving. This improvement has been dramatic, as rustic and alcoholic reds have been replaced with elegant, mid-weight and balanced wines of distinct quality. The comparable ratio of quality-to-price for New World wines is unequaled for the offerings from Argentina and Chile. The future bodes well, as it’s not just Malbec, Cabernet and Carmenere being bottled here. Bonarda and Syrah from Mendoza and Pinot Noir from Colchagua appear to have great upside potential, as anyone who attends this dinner will find out for themselves.

Spain has moved so far ahead since the era of General Franco that the rearview mirror has blurred. Regions such as Jumilla, Calatayud and Bierzo are now commonly displayed on shelves throughout U.S. wine shops. Sure, Rioja and Ribera del Duero pretty much still lead the pack on the world’s wine stage, but there is so much more coming into the market: Ribeira Sacra, Galicia, La Mancha, Navarra. This country’s wines are an explorer’s paradise.

So, if you’ve got nothing on your docket for Monday, Nov. 9, come to Andina’s beautiful upstairs event space and familiarize yourself with these cutting-edge wines. Kitchen Manager Hank Costello will be plating up both new and recognizable tapas (you won’t leave hungry), and DJ Malo (that’s me) will spin Caribbean and Latin sounds. Hope to see you there.

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Tupai Fall Performance Series showcases a more modern, edgy Peru

NINA LARY

Music has always been an integral part of Peruvian culture. From the development of the antara, the most advanced pre-Colombian instrument in the Americas, to ancient bone-flutes called pincollos and quenaquenas that were popularized during the Chavin period, and the dramatic qquepas or Conch-trumpets used primarily in battle or war ceremonies, Peruvians have a deep history of musical development and experimentation.

When the Spanish conquered Peru in the 1500′s, they brought along strong European musical traditions, which according to Robert Stevenson’s The Music of Peru, “the Indians took immediately to.” No doubt that is hardly a complete assessment of the Peruvian Indian reaction to being colonized; however, the music of the Spanish conquistadors, whether by force or inertia, quickly became integrated into Peruvian culture. Banking on the popularity of the European music, Evangelist preachers further disseminated the conqueror’s culture by establishing music courses in native schools from Quito to Copacabana.

Much like its food, the music of Peru has absorbed influences from the Spanish, African, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and other South American populations which are now as much a part of the country as its indigenous communities. “Mestizo” names someone of mixed Indian (i.e., American) and European descent, a term quickly developed and used throughout the Americas after the arrival of the Spanish. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, mestizos currently represent about one-third of the Peruvian population.

Andina’s Bar Mestizo represents a modern mix of the native and the new seven nights a week, where performances range from the Latin-based fusion of Scott Head’s Musica Melodica, the allure of the bossanova ensemble SambaFeat, to Toshi Onizuka’s exhilarating guitar, percussion and bass ensemble. Though Andina is at its core a restaurant born of the Andean culture, it would not be accurate to showcase only Peruvian pan flutes – perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Peruvian folkloric culture. This would perpetuate a one-dimensional vision of Peru.

The vivid photographs of Andean life that hang on Andina’s walls represent a thriving subsection of contemporary Peruvian culture.For those that have toured or lived in Peru, these brightly colored portraits flash familiar scenery. For those who have not, they call upon a collective nostalgia for tradition and simple living, for what we like to think of as authenticity. As comforting as these images may be—reminding us that life can be slower, that somewhere “the way it used to be” is still the way it is – they are, nonetheless, incomplete. Even in remote Andean regions, Peru is not a country untouched by civilization. As important as it is to Andina’s owner to represent her Cajamarcan roots, she knows it is just as important for Andina as a cultural conduit to showcase the multiplicity of cultural currents that exists in Peru today.

Over the past six weeks that variety was put on display in the Tupai Fall Performance Series, which ended with a bleached blonde bang at Sunday night’s Pepe Raphael y Los Duendes show. The show began with three musicians gently riffing out a jazzy, wandering symphonic set and ended in a full-blown 9-piece Latin ensemble performing crowd favorites such as “Besame Mucho,” punctuated by the comedic ornaments of the irrepressible Raphael. Illuminated by a back-lit design wall that doubled as stage backdrop, the Fall Performance Series offered a fresh alternative to the nightly music in Bar Mestizo.

And Tupai, an attractive combination of great acoustics, high ceilings, exposed brick walls with windows overlooking the Glisan St. treetops, and warm, design-conscious lighting, was an elegant and edgy setting for the series. From the European influence of the Stolen Sweets’ pre-war vocal jazz to the mixed Latin styles of Alfredo Muro’s guitar mastery and the subconscious creativity of Luciana Proaño’s performance art, the series asked audiences to depart from the feigned engagement often attached to dinner theater. Those looking for refined food and ambiance were pushed to expand their vision of Latin music and performance; those craving something experimental and avant-garde were comfortable bringing along less-than-adventurous friends or family. If Tupai is Andina’s chic younger sister, then the Performance Series was her interpretation of modern Latin art and music. She does not forgo the roots and influence of the Andean culture, but rather expands the very concept of it, to include the younger, edgier, even avant-garde, musical expressions that exist today in Peru.