The Angry Jew

The rantings of an Angry Jew in The Pacific Northwest

When I can say I met an incredible woman, had a fantastic meal, and met some interesting people, all in a place I have never had the opportunity to explore, well friends, that is an Angry Jew Saturday Night.

My guide for this little adventure was an online friend who goes by the handle of Littleone.   Now, Littleone and I have been talking online for a few weeks now.  She lives down in Salem, the state capitol,  about an hours drive south of me.

Surprisingly, I have never spent much time in our states capitol, you would think a political junkie like me would be persona non grata there by now, so I jumped at her offer to meet her for dinner and to wander around downtown.

As it was her town, she selected the restaurant, a place called Venti’s in downtown Salem.

Now as any military man will tell you, the key to any successful operation is intelligence so I did a little online recon and found their website.  The selections looked good, and reading their blog, I knew they took their cooking seriously.

I pretty much had made my choice of what too order after reading the description of the Moroccan spiced beef.  I love Moroccan food, so anything inspired by that cuisine has to be good by extension.

So Sunday afternoon I headed down south, with just a little of  the trepidation that goes with taking an online relationship into the real world.  Lets just say my experiences, as I have written about before, have not been, well, lets call a spade a spade, good.  I have encountered everything from blatant false advertising to ladies more in need of modern psycho-pharmaceuticals then myself, and that’s saying something, but I had really enjoyed my text and IM conversations with Littleone, so I was willing to take the chance.

We met in front of the restaurant, and I was pleasantly surprised.  She is a tiny, full figured woman with an open face and an infectious grin and a barely suppressed energy that you just know at first meeting is going to be a challenge to keep up with.

As usual, I hid my nervousness with an endless stream of one liners and banter, and to my shock and surprise, she not only kept up, but she got in a few good shots of her own.  In no time, we were riffing like a long time comedy team, and cracking each other up to no end.

This was going to be fun.

Now of course, being the techno dweeb that I am, I must have forgotten to save the notes I took on our experience at Venti’s, so you will bear with me, as I am doing all this from memory, and anyone who knows me can tell you, very little good ever comes from that.

When it came time to order, you place your order at the counter and your food is delivered to your table, I went for the Moroccan beef while Littleone ordered a Teriyaki chicken bowl.  A man in chef togs came out from the open, well appointed kitchen and asked if I would like to try a new dish, a cherry/orange chicken.

New Dish?

Oh Hell yes!!!!

As I had all ready paid, I told the girl behind the counter and to not worry about the 85 cent difference in the price of my new selection.

Littleone and I adjourned to a nearby booth and went about to getting to know each other, and in a short time our food was delivered.

My first impression was WOW.  The presentation was art full, not at all what I expected.  The place looks like a typical rice bowl, quick food and my plate looked like it had come out of a four star, white tablecloth place.  It only got better from there.  As Tom, the chef, was explaining to me that I was the first paying customer to try the dish, I fell in love at first bite.

The cherry/orange sauce was tart/sweet and complicated.  It went perfectly over the chicken.  I was in heaven.  Tom explained to me that it was a reduction of cherry, orange juice, orange zest and balsamic vinegar. There may have been other ingredients, but again, damn this addled brain of mine.  I told Tom that I had come in to try the Moroccan chicken, but was glad he had suggested the dish to me.  Tom disappeared back into his domain and reappeared a few minutes latter with a full order of the Moroccan beef.

Another incredibly presented dish, with the flavors of exotic spices tingling my tongue.

Does it get any better then this?

I had the opportunity to sit with Tom and talk about his background as a sous chef for a variety of prestigious area restaurants.  I swear I took great notes, but my cell phone ate them.

I will say that the food and service at Venti’s was beyond reproach and they take their food seriously.  If you are going to be taking in the night life in Salem, Venti’s is a great place to start.

As for Littleone and me.  Well we had a great time hanging out, talking, laughing and getting to know some of the characters that populate Salem’s street scene.  It is defiantly my kind of town and she is my kind of woman.  I don’t know if this is going to lead anywhere beyond a partner in crime, but I am sure looking forward to finding out.

Stay tuned for details.

Venti’s Cafe is located at 325 Court Street in Downtown Salem.  Hours are Monday through Saturday from 11 am to 9 pm.