So this one time Lizzy said that 50 Plates rocks.

I love tiny food. I really do. The fact that when I eat tiny food, I probably eat more food than if I ate big food has nothing to do with it. There's just something about stuffing an entire tiny burger into your mouth at once, instead of taking multiple bites of one gargantuan burger.

So imagine my pure delight when Ansley and I wandered into 50 Plates the other night and saw that they have bunches of different kinds of sliders. (Also, imagine my delight when I saw that there was a long table full of firefighters just behind us!) Chicken and waffle sliders (Roscoe's), pulled pork sliders (Carolina), beef burger sliders (Old Faithful, Tidy Joe), and one with fried green tomatoes, called The Lousy Hunter.

The waiter explained to us that 50 Plates was referring to 50 States - the menu draws from the best of American cuisine all over the country. The names of the food and the descriptions were just delightful. The 50 Plates Victory Garden salad - whatever is at the farmer's market tossed with our lemon, black pepper and maple dressing. The Buffalo Breast - So one day Joel said "why is it always just the wings?"

A menu with a sense of humor? A menu that makes me laugh and salivate? They had me at "So one day..."

I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone and ordered Buffalo Tamale Pie (cornbread crusted organic bison, cheddar, tomatoes, corn, olives from our hearth oven). I have only had buffalo one other time in my life and it was as a burger. I did not like it that time. At all. It was tough, chewy, and had an odd flavor.

But this time, the buffalo was tender and fell apart as my fork touched it. The flavors of the buffalo, cheddar and vegetables were so perfect together, as if they had been simmering for a whole day. The cornbread was moist and a little crunchy on the edges, just as it should be. One bite of the tamale pie yielded at least two minutes of happy dancing for my taste buds. It tasted like an upscale version of this dish my mom used to make. It tasted like it was homemade from my kitchen if I had the recipe and if I had the guts to cook with buffalo. Which I don't.

Because Ansley is so nice, she let me have a bite of The Lousy Hunter that she ordered. The tomato relish on top of a crispy, thick sliced, fried green, tangy tomato with goat cheese on a tiny toasted bun? It was a hallelujah moment for me. It melted all together with one tomato-y bite - tomato nirvana.

And, when they brought us the check, they also brought us out two spatulas with chocolate batter on them. OMG. They had me at chocolate. Hell, they had me when I walked in the door and saw the menu. They had me when I tasted the food. And they'll have me again. Many times.

50 Plates
333 NW 13th Ave
Portland
www.50plates.com