portland, oregon – time to eat! ::::
This post is all about the trip Eat and I took to Portland, Oregon for the weekend without the kids earlier this month, but it’s also about trying out Instagram for all my photos ops there. While I have some technical know-how, I’m not savvy enough (or have enough time) to figure out how to offload the pictures in sizes other than thumbnails. I ended up compiling them into one panel, though each is small, for a Portland collage. These are just highlights. We also visited the largest used bookstore in the world, Powell’s, went on a hike from Multnomah Falls to Wakeenah Falls,walked many a neighborhood, and visited some of Eat’s high school friends in Camus, Washington. We stayed at the Paramount Hotel, centrally located downtown. If you like to walk, you can access the food trucks, the market, many restaurants, the bookstore, and many other things. There was even a boutique-style Goodwill store, the fanciest Goodwill I’ve ever visited.
The people were overtly friendly, and genuinely so. I’ve never seen so many young parents with tattoos. There were more smokers than I expected for such a green city. Everyone seemed to be dressed in vintage, technicolor shades in hair and clothing, with a smattering of older preppy-golf types with Dockers and polos. While seemingly disparate, people of all sorts were complimentary to each other. The differences work together. Here are some of them:
From left to right –
Row 1:
~The prolific food trucks of Portland :::: You can find the best gooey grilled cheese sandwich with pesto here, as well as Georgian food, every variety of Asian food possible, Korean-Mexican fusion, BBQ, Persian, Polish, Nepalese, Indian, British, you name it.
~Eat enjoying some mussels at Wildwood :::: They were fair, but not the best we’ve had.
~Fresh bread and butter at Wildwood :::: I had a hard time not eating more of this. You give me fresh, crusty bread and some salty butter, then you might as well stop trying to have a conservation with me. I am engaged with the bread, not your moving mouth.
~Halibut with rapini, fennel, and rhubarb at Wildwood :::: Nicely presented, but nothing that couldn’t be found in a similar restaurant.
~Little desserts at Wildwood
Row 1 highlight: Wildwood was one of the highlights in Portland, but not exactly in a good way. First, Waitress, when you bring the couple complimentary champagne that the pregnant woman at the table can’t drink, offer her something non-alcoholic on the house. I felt excluded. Secondly, if you have trouble remembering our order (which happened more than once), start writing your orders down. With a pen. On a piece of paper. Lastly, when you mess up an order (the coconut lime sorbet is NOT the same color as the Meyer lemon-blackberry sorbet), don’t charge the patron for the correction. I’ve never heard of any customer getting charged for a mistake that the waitstaff makes. Even though we explained it, the waitress seemed oblivious to think that it was her mistake.
Row 2:
~Breakfast at the Screen Door :::: You want southern food in Portland, Oregon? This is the place to go. They have amazing biscuits and gravy (and I’ve tried many). Eat’s Fried Oyster Eggs Benedict were definitely a pinnacle of breakfast for him on this trip.
~Voodoo Doughnut near the weekend open market :::: We couldn’t bring ourselves to standing in line for them. And, honestly, I’m not a big doughnut fan unless I’m planning dessert. Currently, sugary desserts are out of my reach, especially in a doughnut dose.
~A lovely accordion player outside the markets, playing Pachelbel’s Canon :::: This is the essence of the quirky Portland music scene.
~Some microbrew glowing in the light of Clarklewis :::: I did not taste this loveliness but Eat enjoyed the whole stein. My craving for beer on my last and this pregnancy is unreal.
~The creamiest, perfect bite of Clarklewis’s housemade burrata I’ve had the honor of tasting :::: I would seriously eat this every day, drizzled with an aged balsamic vinegar.
Row 2 highlight: Burrata, you are like a perfect cheesy pillow. Please come visit again.
Row 3:
~Shrimp salad at Clarklewis: no mayo needed
~Our downfall of desserts at Clarklewis. Yes, my blood sugar was a little high that night, even with tasting restraint!
~The counter at Tasty N Sons for Sunday brunch
~Tasty’s Morrocan chicken hash
~Pans awaiting cooking duty at Tasty’s
Row 3 highlight: Everything at Clarklewis was a highlight, though Tasty N Sons was pretty hard to find disappointing (and I ate two breakfasts that morning!). Clarklewis really made our trip great, not only in that the food really was outstanding, but it made up for the disappointments at Wildwood. I like to think the extra dessert the waiter brought us at Clarklewis as he saw us trying to decide between three while only ordering two made up for the extra charge we received at Wildwood for the wrong dessert, then corrected, that was brought to Eat.
All in all, it was a great trip, despite missing the kids, not sleeping enough, and being too fast. Eat and I are ready to go back to Clarklewis on our next trip, me awaiting the next dose of burrata love that I found there. Portland, you are my new favorite place!
Happy Mother’s Day a day early! Celebrate with a good meal! Need some mothery posts from the past?
See my quick pickled cucumbers post. Or a post about her teacup collection. Her dilled shrimp dip recipe. Her recent turkey empanada recipe we gorged on in March. The story of quince in children’s storybooks and my subsequent membrillo making. The start of my rhubarb interest. You can plan a menu easily with these posts, perfect for Mother’s Day.
