City: Portland, Oregon
Population: 550,000
Local specialties: Salmon, Cherries, Peaches, Wine
Portland! It's such a rich city for food-lovers. Here are a few of our picks from Portland's best shops and resources for cooks. What would you add to this list?
• Salmon
• Oysters
• Cherries
• Peaches
• Stumptown coffee
• Locally-made wine and beer
• Portland State University Farmers Market - We don't like to play favorites, but...this is one of the best farmers markets we've ever been to!
• Downtown Farmers Market
• Hollywood Farmers Market
• Portland doesn't have any covered food halls that we know of (do you?), but definitely keep your eye out for downtown street carts!
• New Seasons Market
• People's Food Co-op
• Foster and Dobbs - especially for meats and cheeses
• Grand Central Baking Company - Definitely check out their rustic baguette and their raspberry scones
• Kettleman's Bagel Company
• Pix Patisserie
• The Meadow - Gourmet salts, as well as chocolates, wine, and other yummies!
• Voget Meats - Their main retail store is located in Hubbard, Oregon, but we think their products are sold in various places around town. Keep your eye out!
• Alma Chocolates
• Stumptown Coffee
• Tillamook Cheese - Their main location is in Tillamook (which is totally worth a trip if you can get there!), but their cheese is sold throughout the Northwest.
We focus mainly on home cooking here at The Kitchn, and we know that one huge source of inspiration is travel. We want to give you ideas for things to eat and places to visit even when you're away from your home kitchen. We want to inspire your inner chef and introduce you to the best spots for food-lovers in a dozen or so major cities.
These guides don't deal with restaurants; there are plenty of other resources for that. These are the spots for food-lovers and cooks: the markets, specialty cookshops, and best small-batch artisans. If you're traveling in one of these cities this summer, we hope these guides help you find something inspiring. And if you live here, maybe you'll find a new resource to inspire your daily cooking!
We need your help, too, with these guides. Each city's thread will have at least some recommendations, but of course they will be incomplete. So we need your insider help. Tell us where the best markets, food shops, jam-makers, brewers, butchers, independent groceries, bakery supply stores, and quirky, strange, out-of-the-way food experts are. What are your favorite places to shop, as a cook?
(Image: Flickr members StuSeeger, biskuit, and jesse.millan licensed under Creative Commons)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Pastaworks!! http://pastaworks.com/ Excellent wine selection, cheeses, wonderful selection of fresh and cured meats (don't bother buying salami anywhere else in town). They have three locations, but I think the best one is on SE Hawthorne.
view sjbreeze's profile
Portland is def. on my list of places that I want to visit.
view WhitinChi's profile
One of my favorite places to visit! Here are some "must try's"
Steve's Cheese http://www.stevescheese.biz/
Beast for dinner or brunch! http://beastpdx.com/
Pearl Bakery http://www.pearlbakery.com/
Pok Pok for some of the best thai you will ever have http://www.pokpokpdx.com/
Ringers of McMinnimans for a beer or fresh squeezed cocktail http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=46
Bunk Sandwiches http://www.bunksandwiches.com/
and more Portland restaurants listed on my blog, including Lovely Hula Hands, one of my favorites! www.paintedpeach.blogspot.com
view Elissa-D's profile
Apizza Scholls has amazing pizza and Cafe Mingo has the best Italian food in Portland! DOC has a great menu, very seasonal. Portland has so many great restaurants, its hard to choose!
view kraffty's profile
One of my favorite go to markets is The City Market on NW 21st. The only link takes you to pastaworks. They have a bunch of different markets within the shop including:
Pastaworks - see links provided by others.
Chop Butchery & Charcuterie, with the slogan "know your butcher, is where I go to for some good local meats, homemade pates and sausages, farm fresh eggs and advice on how to cook everything. They all know me by name there, which is pretty cool.
Newman's Fish Market probably is the best place in Portland to buy fish, the fish is always fresh, and the staff are all knowledgeable, and they smoke their own salmon which is well worth the hefty price tag.
I also like Ken's artisan bakery http://www.kensartisan.com/
for fresh breads and granolas
And for fruit and berry picking, I suggest a ride out to one of the many farms on Sauvie Island. http://sauvieisland.org/
view crossfitcourt's profile
Ken's Artisan Bakery is magnificent. Monday night pizza at the NW 21st and Flanders location can hardly be beat--but the SE pizza has the bonus of many draft beers. Hopworks Urban Brewery is heaven on earth (and the design is cyclist chic). Meriwether's, Clarklewis, Wildwood...all special places. Pok Pok is sublime for Vietnamese food. Habibi (we're headed there tonight), and its cousins Nicholas and Hodas--we have what we need. Clear Creek, New Deal, and other distilleries. (But the earlier reference to McMenamins--come on, we have infinitely better beer here.)
view krister's profile
As mentioned, Ken's Artisan pizza (McMenamins is more for the atmosphere, less for the food/beer)
Best breakfast: Petite Provence
Best Thai: Typhoon
Best Labanese: Ya Hala
view poweredbytofu's profile
Chocolate: Sahagun
Wine: Oregon Wines on Broadway (but the town has tons of great wine shops)
Coffee: Ristretto Roasters and Barista
Ice Cream: Cool Moon Ice Cream (interesting flavors)
I'd say that the meat (pork and beef) is much better than the Salmon/Fish/Seafood in Portland. Many restaurants are doing their own butchering and smoking/curing in-house.
view JenPDX's profile
Best Portland market = Zupans
Best Portland Corned Beef Hash = Everett Street Bistro
Best Portland Bread = Grand Central Como
Best Portland Street for "Where would you like to go for dinner?" = NW 21st Avenue
Best Place to take your best friend (woof) for a beer: Lucky Lab Pub
Best Chocolate Anywhere: Verdun
view Terri's profile
What about three hours South in Bend Oregon? I have no idea where to start with our local goods.
view stellaphent's profile
Okay, please someone mention Nicholas (http://nicholasrestaurant.com/) on SE MLK! It's incredible and delicious. Get the mezza for 1 to split between two. Have three people at the table and enjoy naan fresh from the oven and big enough to be a baby blanket!
Also, thanks for the shout-out to Kettleman's! Definitely the best bagels in the city!
We also like: Cha!Cha!Cha! for very large burritos after a long bike ride (another awesome thing to do in/around Portland) and Saburo's for delicious, inexpensive sushi (in the Westmoreland (SE) area of town).
Portland is also home to a large number of fabulous brewpubs where you can taste the numerous local microbrews that we are very proud of. Laurelwood, McMennamin's, Deschutes, and Lompoc just to name a few (and McMennamin's and Laurelwood both come in $3 Movie Theater variety)!!
view nibo's profile