It seems I am never convinced.  Each year I feign shock when  the first asparagus arrive in the market.  But behold here we are on the precipice of spring time!  After long months of cabbage and beets and bloody rich rhones we can start contemplating the new foods and the wines that make them sing.  All of you who know me know that I am plotting my Rose strategies for summer.  The preorders have been made and containers will arrive soon.  Soon we will be sitting on the veranda (as we lovingly refer to our little stretch of sidewalk here at Kir wine bar) sipping some provencal rose and enjoying a bowl of fresh pea soup with a perfect poached farm egg.   This week we are attempting to drag the season in kicking and screaming with asparagus soup with poached egg matched with a bright fresh Pinot Blanc from Austria by Peter Schandl. I have long been a fan and his 2008- just released  (I tasted yeasterday) is a leaner and more mineral driven version and divergent from his 2006 fleshy and slightly tropical and spicy vinatge that I serve at Kir.  Come in and taste the 2006 so we can compare notes when the 2008 is unveiled!

From Amalie | Leave a comment »

Many people ask us why we named our wine bar “Kir.”  

Do we know what a Kir is?  

Yep.  

Is a Kir hip?  

Hmm.  Geez, I only hope so!  

In a website I discovered recently the validity of a Kir is a hot bed of discourse.  

I am told a Kir is an apperitif designed by the mayor of Leon some years ago as a celebration of French wine and the lovely local cassis liquors.  I tend to think it was a way to make the local unexpressive and inexpensive white wines more palatable for locals.  My experience with Kir has been mainly in a small sidewalk cafe in Paris or at the home of a french friend’s mother who serves guests a Kir in the late afternoon whetting appetites for the evening meal. Most importantly this apperitif functions as a lubricant for friendship and conversation paved by this simple modest drink of white wine and creme de cassis. True that there are many types of Kir (the peche/peach is my favorite on hot summer evenings) and this only adds to the very essence of Kir’s meaning… tradition and conversation and food.  

Come to Kir wine bar. Let’s talk about it, drink a Kir and think on it.  A Kir can be pretty tasty with some chicken rillette on a hopeful preview of spring day.    

Read on and decide for yourselves.

Best,
-The Kir Cru

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2010/01/kir_menu.html

From Amalie | Leave a comment »

Last weekend Kir raised two hundred big ones for Doctors without borders to provide relief in the aftermath of the recent earthquake.  Thanks to all the folks who showed up and helped the cause and especially my landlords, the Swiss Cleaner folks who kicked in a big chunk as well.

This weekend we are here enjoying some Cauliflower soup with fresh Oregon crab and watercress with a nice glass of Di Zamo Pinot Grigio from Fruili in north of Italy.  Come join us!  Park in our lot at the corner of 7th and  Burnside for your convenience.

Also note:  Two dollars off wine from 5-6 pm Tuesday through Saturday.  That makes wine go down just that much smoother!

From Amalie | Leave a comment »

Short notice- come to Kir wine bar and mention this email Friday 15th and Saturday 16th of this  January 2010 and KIr will donate  $5 for every $20 spent to relief operations in Haiti during the recent tragic earthquake.  Thank you and hope to se you soon.

The Kir Cru

From Amalie | Leave a comment »

My favorite day each year is the day that Yoko Ono takes out a full page ad in the New York TImes invoking the Lennon legacy- lines from “Imagine”, an art doodle or a poem.  This ad came out last Sunday and me, the weepy female that I can be,  shed a few solemn tears.  The ad said “War is over.”   Whether or not this is the case in a broad sense, it makes me pause and reflect on the last year and the struggles- personal and universal most of us faced in 2009.  Isn’t this what the new year and resolutions are all about anyhow?

2009 was an especially hard year for many folks- the economy directed the traffic of our lives.  Doesn’t it seem that we are getting a bit better?  Either that or we are just a bit more leathery for the wear, I can’t be sure.  But we are here, we are standing, we are inspired.  Restaurants are opening- this is a good sign.  Did you know that restaurants typically generate a profit of around one percent?  No one opens these things for the big bucks.  I opened Kir because it is what I do.

Some years ago I was in Paris with a friend walking around Mont Martre in the rain and had a classic french moment ducking into a little bistro called  Des Parte des Ange (which is a wine term meaning the tear of the angels, or the first small press of juice that escapes when a grape is crushed).  This tiny cafe about the size of Kir was run mom and pop style- one cooked while the other worked the floor.  The food, the wine, the moment… so perfect.  Moments like those brought me here.

Tonight Kir will be closed , but as we celebrate the new year I will think of all of the moments of 2009 of which you all have been a part.  We are going over to our good friend’s house to sit by the fire and I will bring a bottle of Mari ripasso wine from the Venato region of Italy (as it was decided by a new food friend of mine and I that ripassos are the best red wines of Venato.)  Ask me how this was decided next time you are in!  As we enjoy this lovely wine I will toast you all and my good fortune to still be standing.

Best wishes for the new year from  Amalie and the Kir Cru.  Come see us soon.

From Amalie | 1 Comment »

Not so bad, really.  Remember  last year?  I, being a first year wine bar owner decided I had to go to work.  In the 5 days that I risked life and limb to be at KIR one guy (who missed the bus) came in and bought a glass of wine, felt sorry for me and left a $5 tip!  Crazy.

This year we will be open T/22, W/23, T/29, W/30th for the holidays. Please join us for $2 off all glass pours between 5pm and 6:30 pm on these days.  Have a happy and relaxed holiday season and be seeing you in the new year!  All the best- The KIR cru

From Amalie | 1 Comment »

Dear Friends of Kir- With the end of summer we also have some new beginnings- some pleasant (mmm… winter squash) and some challenging. The Burnside/Couch couplet is in full swing and shall remain so for the next year, I am told. Yesterday the municipality deposited a huge dumpster directly in front of KIR- not in front of the empty space on the corner but at our door! I had to laugh to keep from crying. Kristen (my friend and kitchen matriarch) and I grabbed whatever rick rack and glitter we could and proceeded to decorate. It looks fabulous! Most importantly… KIR HAS A PARKING LOT ON THE CORNER OF 7th and BURNSIDE. Please utilize this and save yourselves parking trauma.

I, Amalie, will be out of the office for 10 days while I explore the vast and culinary important region of Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. I will visit Parma, Modena, and Bologna for inspiration. Read about my visit on these pages and look for photos of my exploits. I look very forward to seeing you, my friends when I return.
Take care and Ciao- Amalie

From Amalie, information | 3 Comments »

JUPITER HOTEL SEPTEMBER 24th with KIR WINE BAR (and others)!

Love to see you all there- Amalie

Indulge @ the Jupiter Hotel
Thursday, September 24th 6pm-10pm
Benefiting Ecotrust’s Farm to School Program
800 E. Burnside PDX 97214 ring 503.230.9200
For more information visit http://indulgeatthejupiter.blogspot.com/

Come join the Jupiter Hotel and our delectable eastside neighbors for an evening of delicious bites, tempting cocktails, splendid wines and sumptuous sweets. Rub elbows with chefs and chocolatiers. Clink glasses with winemakers and distillers. Go ahead…INDULGE.

Tickets are limited and are available NOW at Brownpapertickets.org and in person at the Jupiter Hotel.

$30 per person. Includes nibbles and drinks. 21 and over only.

PARTICIPANTS

• Alma Chocolate
• Artisan Spirits
• Bakery Bar
• Beaker & Flask
• Biwa
• Boedecker Cellars
• Bunk Sandwiches
• Cafe Velo
• Doug Fir Lounge
• Grochau Cellars
• Gnostalgic Spirits
• Highball Distillery
• House Spirits
• Integrity Spirits
• Kir Wine Bar
• Laurelhurst Market
• Le Pigeon
• Meat Cheese Bread
• Navarre
• New Deal Distillery
• Noble Rot
• Portland Wine Project
• Tabla Mediterranean Bistro
• Xocolatl de David

Sponsored by: Jupiter Hotel, Edible Portland , Phoenix Media, 105.1 The BUZZ, Rocket Aquifer Project and Food Services of America

From Amalie | Leave a comment »

Dear Kir wine friends,

Thanks for all your support during these lazy days of summer. Kir is holding its own during these economically tedious times, I am glad to say. We have our issues… broken air conditioning, clogged kitchen drains, and rambunctious cash registers that stick shut when you hit cash buttons. And this was all last weekend!

Press has been very kind to us lately, as well. Beginning with the Oregonians diner guide and lately the Portland Food and drink blog we have been able to please the people and that is our point, really. What pleased us most is that people GET us. The band Sonic Youth did a Portland Guide with the Ace hotel and gave us a sweet thumbs up – made our day. We serve simple plates of lovingly prepared foods and offer thoughtful and some unusual wine choices. None of our wines are not wines that we would drink. Even our less expensive wines are ones that we usually prefer. Nothing complicated, but it means a lot to us.

Thanks to you all for GETTING us, too. Best to you on this holiday weekend and big heartfelt thanks for the couple that sent me a very caring letter this week. It makes my world go ’round to know that we have friends looking out for us.

Most sincerely- Amalie

From Amalie | 3 Comments »

Sunny days are here and with those sunny days comes the new and expanded Rose wine list.  We will carry ten Roses by glass for the entire summer.  Right now we have Italian, Spanish, Oregon, and of course, French.  Mention this blog post and get a flight of roses for only five dollars (this offer precludes previous offers.)
Thank you Kir patrons!  Amalie and the KIR cru

From Amalie | 1 Comment »