This is apparently the "It" place on any night in Portland, and with good reason. We ordered a good quarter of the menu of zakuski, after all, they're small plates and we were sharing.

Trusting to Yelp reviewers, we ordered "Herring Under a Fur Coat". Bizarre as the name is, the dish itself is more so. It arrives as a cylindrical, free-standing, stratified tower with only its own top layer for garnish. It needs no more dressing than that, though. A creamy base of Yukon Gold potatoes supports a glossy, silver and green bar of herring with parsley, topped in turn with a brilliant orange layer of shredded carrot, over which rests a rosy round of beets. Then comes the pretty pink layer of beet mayonnaise, and finally concentric rings of egg white and egg yolk dotted with dill. I made strange faces when I first read the description, too. As I said, we ordered this only because so many reviewers insisted on trying it. I was completely expecting to be Tom Sawyered at the collective amusement of all Yelp readers. After all, I actually hate the fishy taste of most fish, and herring is a particularly fishy fish. 

The young man bringing the dish from the kitchen advised us that the best way to eat it was to make sure and get all the layers in each bite, and so I did. Magic happened then, and despite the incongruous ingredients, the result was an inexplicably perfect balance of flavor and texture. It is a testimonial to how much I love R. that I restrained myself to finishing only half of the dish. 

The assorted pickles were only sort-of a hit with R. He found the beets and green tomatoes too sweet/not pickled enough. The cucumbers were just not his style at all, which was fine, because these were all precisely to my liking. I was so-so about the cabbage and the mushrooms (a bit on the sharp/sour side for me), but R. thought they were awesome, and so the plate was cleaned. 

The charcuterie sent R. on a joyful reminiscence about the salami of his youth. Russian style is very similar to Romanian it seems. He passed over the rye bread. Again, too sweet for him made perfection for me. The most impressive part of the meat and cheese board, however, was the mustard that packed more punch than even most wasabi I've tried. The server was understating when he warned about its potency! 

We continued with a rabbit sausage with raisins and walnut served with an incredible nut sauce, pickled fennel, and tiny slices of grapefruit that the menu described it as a "galantine". I am not certain whether that was accurate about the presentation, all I know was I've never had anything like it, which was an unforgivable lapse on my part that has fortunately been remedied. 

We rounded the feast of zakuski out with Cauliflower Schnitzel and Sour Cherry Vareniki. I've never before considered breading and frying steamed cauliflower or imagined what happens if you serve it with mayo mixed with turmeric and black sesame seeds. Turns out this combination is glorious. 

Vareniki are the Russian equivalent of uszka or ravioli or mini-dumplings depending on your native tongue. The tart cherries were real vişine (a tart cherry variety I have never actually seen grown in America, and often a little too tart for our sweet-heavy palates), and the dish was topped with sour cream, so it was an awesome bridge between savory and sweet before we moved to dessert. 

"Plombir Sandwiches" is what they call the slices of almond and grapefruit ice cream cake wedged between crispy almond-lace-waffle wafers. "Earl Grey tea milk caramel" is how they described the accompanying sauce that I am pretty sure is actually what the mythical nectar of the gods must have been. This may be due to Earl Grey and caramel both being on my short list of favorite things in the entire world, but I know full well that not everything blends. There is definitely some unknown magic going on in the kitchen at Kachka, and it's worth the 1,400-some-odd-mile trip from Albuquerque to Portland just to eat there.