You Can Bank on The Vault

Marshall's Pretzels - The Vault 

I love returning to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the holidays. In addition to being around my family and friends who I don't get to see often, as a lover of food I also get the opportunity to try new restaurants that pop up over the year. Lucky for me the lovely owners of Elote, opened up a new restaurant this year that serves pretzels! What used to be First National Bank (Tulsa's first ever drive-thru bank) is now home to The Vault. Located on S. Cincinnati between 6th and 7th, this trendy new restaurant and bar adds a modern twist to the bank's original art deco design. The Tom Tom lounge, situated above the restaurant, was like walking into a scene from Mad Men.

My friend, older sister and I sipped on our cocktails and treated ourselves to Marshall's Pretzels - made with Marshall brewery grains, everything salts, cheddar cheese and served with herb butter and dijon mustard - these tiny twists were soft, fluffy and flavorful.

While I didn't have time to treat my taste buds to some of their other tasty selections this time around, rest assured I will be returning to this place the next time I come home. 

Gaumenkitzel: Berkeley, CA

I recently got to spend a week with my sisters, brother in law and nephews in San Francisco (well really Berkeley). The day after Thanksgiving we decided to go on a hike to Muir Woods, but before we left town we stopped by Gaumenkitzel to grab a pretzel.

This little bakery/restaurant had several different types of pretzels.  Naturally I opted for the salty one, but my sister ordered the one with sesame seeds so I got to try both. Now that I have been to Germany I can say that these pretzels were fairly authentic - the bread was a bit tough, minimal salt and served with butter.

I preferred the one with salt as the other one just reminded me of a bagel. I think my sister liked the one with sesame seeds better so win-win.

This Berkeley pretzel was definitely a step up from the other pretzel I had in Berkeley, but it doesn't even begin to compare to some of the tasty treats I have had the pleasure of eating in Portland. .

Gaumenkitzel also had garden gnomes scattered throughout their restaurant. This might have given them an extra cool point.

Some OKC Pretzel Love: RePUBlic

Thanks to my little pretzel blog when I travel home or to other cities, people tend to recommend restaurants to me that serve pretzels. A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days in Norman/Oklahoma City and while I lived there for about 5 years it wasn't until this little trip back that my friend introduced me to the Home-Made Pub Pretzel at Republic. In general they have an amazing menu, from salads and burgers to fish and chips. In fact I actually celebrated here after my college graduation but that was before I started rating pretzels as a hobby...

This pretzel was so good. Not only was it super soft and proportionately salty but it was served with Serrano-honey mustard and beer-cheese fondue sauce. I am partial to salt on my pretzel, but add in a mouthwatering cheese-sauce? You have yourself a winning pretzel every time in my book. (Note: For your Portlanders reading this post, I might remind you that Widmer and Deschutes breweries have amazing cheese-sauces to compliment their pretzels.) 

So if anyone reading this post wants to escape the Portland rain and head to Oklahoma City where the weather is sunny and in the 60's, be sure to pop into Republic (5830 N Classen Blvd) and have yourself a nice cold American beer and Home-Made Pub Pretzel! 

P.S. Boomer Sooner ;) 

Brix Burger + Pretzel Bun

It's funny how what we are looking for is sometimes right in front of us. This past week I was at Brix Tavern in the Pearl, 13th NW Hoyt (a place I have been to several times since I moved to Portland) only to discover that this whole time their Brix Burger consists of house crafted ground short rib on a pretzel bun!

Naturally I ordered it. 

I would have to say that while I prefer salt on my pretzels, the pretzel bun didn't need it. It was exceptionally soft and tasted as if at one point it might have had a little salt, but didn't need it anymore. I think I probably ate more of the bun than the actual burger, but I suppose that wouldn't be surprising to many. 

Brix Burger served on a pretzel bun. Enough said. 

If you're feeling your pretzel craving kick in but want more of a meal, I highly recommend giving this Brix burger a go. 

On a non-pretzel related note I am also quite obsessed with Brix Chips as well. I mean who can pass up verde roasted pork shoulder/baked cheddar in a skillet served with grilled tomato salsa and cilantro cream and tortilla chips on the side? Not me. You can get them for $6.95 during their Happy Hour (everyday 3-6:30 PM, Monday's 3-close, Sun-Thursday 9:30 PM - 12 AM). 

Dr. "L" Riesling is also quite good. 

Have I given you enough reasons to check out Brix Tavern? If not, let me know  @PDXPretzels and I will give you even more reasons to check them out. 

Oktoberfest: Munich, Germany: Let's Get Loud.

A couple of weeks ago my sister and I met in Munich to begin our German-Prague adventure. We arrived in Munich the day after Oktoberfest started. I had only been in Munich less than an hour and everywhere I looked I saw pretzels and people everywhere wearing their traditional Bavarian garb (Dirndl's and Lederhosen.) Unfortunately, Dirndl's are a bit pricey (some range around 400 euros) especially in Munich, otherwise I would have bought one to wear in a heartbeat.

My sister and I started the morning off right, showing up at our friend Ralf's apartment to find him and his friends eating a traditional Bavarian breakfast: white sausages, a basket full of pretzels, and of course, bier. I couldn't have asked for a better first impression of Munich/Germany and we hadn't even made it to Oktoberfest yet!

Munich's Oktoberfest this year had about 6.5 M visitors (if my math is correct, I think that is close to about 11 times the population of Portland, OR!) needless to say it was quite a site. Even though I was jet-lagged, I was determined to eat my giant pretzel and drink my liter of Oktoberfest beer. Some of the tents hold about 10,000 people (some less) and it was absolutely nuts! Everyone is drinking, dancing on tables, eating copious amount of German food, laughing and just simply enjoying life. This goes on everyday until about 11:00 P.M. - then there are after parties at some other Biergartens on the same grounds as Oktoberfest (we got a chance to check those out too!)

I think one of my favorite moments was being in one of the Oktoberfest tents drinking a beer with my sister and dancing with everyone in the tent to J-Lo's song: Let's Get Loud. It was simply fabulous, and that song is quite popular.

Fortunately I think we ate enough giant pretzels to keep the beer from affecting us...too much. 

Stay tuned for some more posts about all of my German pretzels!

Oktoberfest @Widmer

It's September and in Portland that means the beginning of grey skies, chilly nights and...Oktoberfest celebrations! Last year I had the opportunity to go to Mt. Angel for their Oktoberfest (which had a mighty fine pretzel if I do say so myself) and this year my friends and I decided to hit up Widmer's Oktoberfest. This is Widmer's 8th year since they restarted the event. Why did they cancel it for a brief period? Because it rained every year...so Portland. 

This year they hosted it at the beginning of September and the weather was perfect and naturally the beer and pretzels were flowin'.

This is the second time I have had Widmer's pretzels and they rock. For this event they were offering their perfectly soft (and simply salted) pretzels with or without their Swiss cheese and Drop Top Amber Ale fondue sauce. Do you even have to guess which option I chose? This marks the second time I have eaten their house pretzel with fondue sauce and it is unbelievable. Their Gasthaus Pub on Russell Street has the option to choose between a House pretzel with mustard or their house pretzel with the cheese fondue sauce. Normally priced at $4, and $5, respectively from 2:00 P.M - 5 P.M Monday - Friday you can get it for $3 during their Happy Hour.

Fun fact, home brewing was legalized in Oregon in 1979, and Kurt and Rob Widmer opened up the brewpub in 1984. This history is actually pretty fascinating, so if you're not already an expert on the Widmer brother's story, I recommend reading it for yourselves here.

 While this event was a blast I can't help but think that the real Oktoberfest is way better. Fortunately I will get the chance to compare the two in about 2 days! Tomorrow I head for Munich and when I land on Sunday my sister and I will begin our Germany adventure beginning with THE Oktoberfest.

Stay tuned...

4 twists! Swiss Cheese and Drop Top Amber Ale sauce is delectable.

Shotgun Sub Shop is to die for...

This past Labor Day weekend I fully embraced my inner Portlandian. Not only did I go for a run along the waterfront and sign-up for a yoga-hike through Hiking Yoga (highly recommend) but I also hit up some tasty food-carts. Which brings me to the focal point of this post: Shotgun Sub Shop's pretzel baguette sandwich. Located at SW 10th Avenue, Shotgun Sub Shop is only a couple of weeks old and is a part of the Grilled Cheese Grill family.



Before I dive into the dirty details, I must hand it to Matt Breslow, founder of both Grilled Cheese Grill and Shotgun Sub Shop, as he knows what he is doing. From a branding perspective, the design of the food carts align so well together that regardless of whether they are next to each other, if you see one - chances are you can identify who is behind the other. Also, unlike some food carts, which have so many choices it is slightly overwhelming, the menus at Shotgun Sub Shop (and Grilled Cheese Grill) are simple, clever and fun.

With names like The Road Runner or The Miss Ellie you can only imagine how much fun it must have been to create. If you don't want one of their specialty sandwiches you can also create your own in about 5 simple steps. Done and done.

Special thanks to Eater PDX for keeping me up-to-speed on the latest food cart offerings and highlighting Shotgun's Sub Shop's pretzel baguette sandwiches - because it was delicious. I decided to create my own, which happened to be
pretty close to The Bullfrog, with the exception of ham and provolone as a substitute for cheddar. I am a lover of turkey sandwiches so  the result of combining two of my favorite foods? Bingo. What's more is pairing the baguette with their Shotgun Mustard - couldn't have been a better choice.

It might not be a pretzel-baguette, but trying the Jalapeno Popper from Grilled Cheese Grill is definitely on my to-do list.

While I haven't been too strict on my rating system, I am not going to put this pretzel baguette in the same category as my pub pretzels...if you chose to disagree feel free by tweeting your opinion to @PDXPretzels.