Portland Food
LaserWolf
Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
Every few weeks the NY Times writes another article about a Portland restaurant. It has become a running joke and an announce here.
But I enjoyed reading this Time Mag article.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2031652,00.html
When I found myself heading to Seattle for business recently, all I could think about was Portland. The Oregon city is America's new food Eden, a confluence of every fertile trend in contemporary gastronomy. Locavorism, the New Naturalism, food trucks and so on ??? they're all there. I had the sense that if I went to Portland and ate around, I might get in on the ground floor of something great, the culinary equivalent of such local musical heroes as Elliott Smith or Modest Mouse. (Hell, I would settle for the food version of the Decemberists.) My guide, Kaie Wellman, who created and writes the city's eat.shop guide, saw to it that I got the Portland essence. (Watch TIME's video "The New Gourmet Food Trucks.")
Now, I'm not going to tell you that I caught the city's whole spirit and range in 36 hours. That would be stupid. I can, however, make some observations.
Portland Is a Small Town
The main motive I had in visiting was to eat at Beast, Naomi Pomeroy's meat-centric tasting-menu restaurant. I met this good lady at Food & Wine's Best New Chefs banquet last year and, after hearing of her culinary feats with beef and pork, determined that I would one day make the trek to her restaurant. But Portland is not a big place, and the chefs all seem to know each other, or have worked for each other or are partners in some way. The guy at the pork truck turns out to be a cook at Nostrana, whose pork entr??es he implores me to try later that night; Elias Cairo, the charcuterie master at Olympic Provisions, turns out to be partners with the chef from the wonderful restaurant in my hotel. More importantly, they all seem to like each other. Unlike New York City, where the winds of reputation stoke the fires of resentment, Portland is supremely communal and laid-back. This doesn't necessarily translate into better food, but it makes for a better atmosphere. (See pictures of food truck meals.)
Portland Loves Meat, Especially Pig Meat
Every one of the seven restaurants I ate at could be said on some level to fetishize pork. I stayed at the Ace Hotel, home of Clyde Common, a big, noisy, low-key restaurant that reminded me a lot of Publican in Chicago, with its spartan, old-timey menu and big, rough-hewn, urbane proteins (I had pan-seared sturgeon over forbidden rice, a Portuguese pork and squid-ink stew, and a hamburger). I began the next day at the Country Cat, a magnificent lardcore establishment where you can get chicken fried in beef tallow ??? for breakfast. The chicken-fried steak, bacon and meat loaf were great, too, as were the biscuits. (At night, the Cat's idealistic chef, Adam Sappington, does a whole-hog dinner.) Around midday I had a remarkable Cuban pork sandwich, made of dense and vinegary stewed duroc pig, at the People's Pig, one of Portland's innumerable trucks. I also ate some of the best saucisson sec, chorizo and pancetta of my life at Olympic Provisions, along with a towering meat-filled bread pudding that I dreamed of even as I writhed in pain later that night. Writhing in pain? Really? Yes.
The Food in Portland Is So Good It Will Literally Make You Sick
I hadn't reckoned with the level of craft at Olympic Provisions, the smell of the curing sausages, the siren song of its tremendous sandwiches. So I ate them. Likewise, the various food trucks, which sit next to each other in small trailer-park-like pods, seem too good not to at least try. But I really got in trouble when I stumbled into Bunk, the city's sandwich capital. Bunk is so good that its reputation has spread nationally, and it was impossible not to at least sample its legendary meatball sandwich, its pork-belly banh mi, or (best of all) a pork-shoulder sandwich with mustard greens and Gruy??re. I was reeling from the crunchiness of the bread and the succulence of the pork ??? but, sacrificing my well-being to its greatness, took a final step into the abyss and paid for it for most of the night.
Welcome to the Jungle
The most striking thing about Portland, for someone headed in from out of town, is how raw the area is, how natural. You're surrounded by mountains and forests, pine trees 1,000 ft. tall. Gray, hazy mists float by, interspersed with sudden delicate rainfalls. Kaie took me up to an old-school burger joint called Skyline Restaurant, and while the hamburger was just so-so, the surrounding scenery, which she seemed barely to notice, was awe-inspiring. (I even tweeted the moment, my own version of the "Double rainbow, man!" meme.) To be this close to such primeval forest keeps you from getting too wrapped up in blogger feuds, I think.
Lo-Fi Gastronomy
As I ate my way around town, I kept thinking about Smith, the city's music hero. The late singer-songwriter was famous for his pared-down lo-fi style, which was typically produced by his playing all the instruments into a four-track recorder, often in his kitchen or bedroom. Portland isn't a big-bucks city; there are hardly any big fine-dining restaurants. So young chefs work in small kitchens with minimal equipment and staff. (One restaurant, Ned Ludd, doesn't even have a stove.) I like this approach; I think it forces the chefs to cook better. It seemed to fit the spirit of the place, as much as I could discern it. Portland, even the small amount that I had seen, was marked by big appetites, broad strokes, an improvisational mood, and the bliss of simple expectations. There is none of the hype of New York City, the sanctimony of San Francisco or the monotony of Los Angeles. This is food for foodies by foodies, made well and in very large portions. I like it a lot.
My only regret was that I had to cancel my tasting dinner at Beast. I blame Bunk. I'm sorry, Naomi! But I know I'll be back soon.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2031652,00.html#ixzz17TTh5U53
But I enjoyed reading this Time Mag article.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2031652,00.html
When I found myself heading to Seattle for business recently, all I could think about was Portland. The Oregon city is America's new food Eden, a confluence of every fertile trend in contemporary gastronomy. Locavorism, the New Naturalism, food trucks and so on ??? they're all there. I had the sense that if I went to Portland and ate around, I might get in on the ground floor of something great, the culinary equivalent of such local musical heroes as Elliott Smith or Modest Mouse. (Hell, I would settle for the food version of the Decemberists.) My guide, Kaie Wellman, who created and writes the city's eat.shop guide, saw to it that I got the Portland essence. (Watch TIME's video "The New Gourmet Food Trucks.")
Now, I'm not going to tell you that I caught the city's whole spirit and range in 36 hours. That would be stupid. I can, however, make some observations.
Portland Is a Small Town
The main motive I had in visiting was to eat at Beast, Naomi Pomeroy's meat-centric tasting-menu restaurant. I met this good lady at Food & Wine's Best New Chefs banquet last year and, after hearing of her culinary feats with beef and pork, determined that I would one day make the trek to her restaurant. But Portland is not a big place, and the chefs all seem to know each other, or have worked for each other or are partners in some way. The guy at the pork truck turns out to be a cook at Nostrana, whose pork entr??es he implores me to try later that night; Elias Cairo, the charcuterie master at Olympic Provisions, turns out to be partners with the chef from the wonderful restaurant in my hotel. More importantly, they all seem to like each other. Unlike New York City, where the winds of reputation stoke the fires of resentment, Portland is supremely communal and laid-back. This doesn't necessarily translate into better food, but it makes for a better atmosphere. (See pictures of food truck meals.)
Portland Loves Meat, Especially Pig Meat
Every one of the seven restaurants I ate at could be said on some level to fetishize pork. I stayed at the Ace Hotel, home of Clyde Common, a big, noisy, low-key restaurant that reminded me a lot of Publican in Chicago, with its spartan, old-timey menu and big, rough-hewn, urbane proteins (I had pan-seared sturgeon over forbidden rice, a Portuguese pork and squid-ink stew, and a hamburger). I began the next day at the Country Cat, a magnificent lardcore establishment where you can get chicken fried in beef tallow ??? for breakfast. The chicken-fried steak, bacon and meat loaf were great, too, as were the biscuits. (At night, the Cat's idealistic chef, Adam Sappington, does a whole-hog dinner.) Around midday I had a remarkable Cuban pork sandwich, made of dense and vinegary stewed duroc pig, at the People's Pig, one of Portland's innumerable trucks. I also ate some of the best saucisson sec, chorizo and pancetta of my life at Olympic Provisions, along with a towering meat-filled bread pudding that I dreamed of even as I writhed in pain later that night. Writhing in pain? Really? Yes.
The Food in Portland Is So Good It Will Literally Make You Sick
I hadn't reckoned with the level of craft at Olympic Provisions, the smell of the curing sausages, the siren song of its tremendous sandwiches. So I ate them. Likewise, the various food trucks, which sit next to each other in small trailer-park-like pods, seem too good not to at least try. But I really got in trouble when I stumbled into Bunk, the city's sandwich capital. Bunk is so good that its reputation has spread nationally, and it was impossible not to at least sample its legendary meatball sandwich, its pork-belly banh mi, or (best of all) a pork-shoulder sandwich with mustard greens and Gruy??re. I was reeling from the crunchiness of the bread and the succulence of the pork ??? but, sacrificing my well-being to its greatness, took a final step into the abyss and paid for it for most of the night.
Welcome to the Jungle
The most striking thing about Portland, for someone headed in from out of town, is how raw the area is, how natural. You're surrounded by mountains and forests, pine trees 1,000 ft. tall. Gray, hazy mists float by, interspersed with sudden delicate rainfalls. Kaie took me up to an old-school burger joint called Skyline Restaurant, and while the hamburger was just so-so, the surrounding scenery, which she seemed barely to notice, was awe-inspiring. (I even tweeted the moment, my own version of the "Double rainbow, man!" meme.) To be this close to such primeval forest keeps you from getting too wrapped up in blogger feuds, I think.
Lo-Fi Gastronomy
As I ate my way around town, I kept thinking about Smith, the city's music hero. The late singer-songwriter was famous for his pared-down lo-fi style, which was typically produced by his playing all the instruments into a four-track recorder, often in his kitchen or bedroom. Portland isn't a big-bucks city; there are hardly any big fine-dining restaurants. So young chefs work in small kitchens with minimal equipment and staff. (One restaurant, Ned Ludd, doesn't even have a stove.) I like this approach; I think it forces the chefs to cook better. It seemed to fit the spirit of the place, as much as I could discern it. Portland, even the small amount that I had seen, was marked by big appetites, broad strokes, an improvisational mood, and the bliss of simple expectations. There is none of the hype of New York City, the sanctimony of San Francisco or the monotony of Los Angeles. This is food for foodies by foodies, made well and in very large portions. I like it a lot.
My only regret was that I had to cancel my tasting dinner at Beast. I blame Bunk. I'm sorry, Naomi! But I know I'll be back soon.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2031652,00.html#ixzz17TTh5U53
Comments
"But Portland is not a big place, and the chefs all seem to know each other, or have worked for each other or are partners in some way. The guy at the pork truck turns out to be a cook at Nostrana, whose pork entr??es he implores me to try later that night; Elias Cairo, the charcuterie master at Olympic Provisions, turns out to be partners with the chef from the wonderful restaurant in my hotel. More importantly, they all seem to like each other. Unlike New York City, where the winds of reputation stoke the fires of resentment, Portland is supremely communal and laid-back. This doesn't necessarily translate into better food, but it makes for a better atmosphere."
This goes beyond food. Many of you have been to Crossroads Music where 25+ record sellers have tables one next to the other. Many out of town record dealers have told me it wouldn't work where they come from because the dealers don't trust, or even like, each other. Which explains why Crossroads continues to be the only successful co-op record store in the country.
The funny thing is this:
"The most striking thing about Portland, for someone headed in from out of town, is how raw the area is, how natural. You're surrounded by mountains and forests, pine trees 1,000 ft. tall. Gray, hazy mists float by, interspersed with sudden delicate rainfalls. Kaie took me up to an old-school burger joint called Skyline Restaurant, and while the hamburger was just so-so, the surrounding scenery, which she seemed barely to notice, was awe-inspiring."
Dude was awe-inspired by a wooded neighborhood inside the city limits.
I'd be afraid to take him to Multnomah Falls, Mr Hood or Hug Point for fear he would have a heart attack.
Crossroads Music is usually pretty great for me.
Dude's full of shit though on the nature tip: Seattle and Washington are bigger, badder, and more varied than Portland and Oregon. Except Oregon has is the coast. OR coast is more beautiful, I'd say. We got you on all the other nature though. Take that LOL
It's always a per capita thing with Portland. Being a big town, it can implement cool shit more easily than the small city (with big city-itis) of Seattle.
and: I'm done.
Seattle is a more scenic city that is true. The hills, the water. It is a beautiful place. But don't sleep. Portland has the largest park inside a city in the world (Forest Park) that is 5 minutes from downtown and plenty of other amazing natural amenities. Less the 40 minutes from here you're in the gorge for world class kite boarding, hiking and mountain biking.
But I have disagree with your comment about the rest of the state. Central/Eastern Oregon (Bend, Steens Mts) is far more developed (for touristing) and interesting than Central/Eastern Washington. We have rain forests like the Olympic peninsula albeit at a lesser scale. While your coast is not as developed or interesting, the Pugent Sound is incredible. Sailing, Islands etc. I'd say that it is a toss up naturewise.
Just a small heads up Portland is not that much smaller than Seattle anymore. In the city proper it's only a difference of 60k now.
And before people get to into the notion of a laid back food culture we must discuss the PIG FIGHT.
A chef, and a the organizer of a hoity toity food competition, got into a fight out side a Portland strip club because "food comes from Oregon, not from Iowa".
Here is a calm intellectual take on Portland food culture and the PIG FIGHT, from the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/us/09local.html
Here is the original and much more entertaining account from Willamette Week:
http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2010/05/17/food-fight-chef-and-foodie-come-to-blows-over-pig-breeds-after-cochon-555/
Nature-wise, you could have fifteen Bends and a dozen Rogue River zones in the mix and still not beat Mt. Rainier. I wouldn't have to break out N.Cascades, Enchantments, Alpine Lakes, or Oly National Park until California came into the battle (which might win, dammit).
I'd stay away from the population argument and stick with the per capita styles. It suits Portland better that way. Oregon's probably in my Top Five States for Nature* though, don't even trip.
*Alaska
Hawaii
California
Washington
MontanOreWyUtaRado
Does anyone ever put Mt Hood up against Mt Rainier? Gotta be some Eugene anarchist or blinded by your Portland beard to even consider that! Crazed!
Is it true that the rest of the nation doesn't have trendy cocktail bars with specialty drinks and every restaurant and dive with a bottle of vodka attempting to jump on the band wagon?
What is this Mt Rainier you speak of? BTW greatest beer commercials ever. Vitamin R was it in high school.