We’ve been out in New York City the past few days (now we’re very briefly upstate) and I’ve been pretty surprised by what a nice city it’s become in the ten years since I really spent any time there. Some of this may be accounted for by the fact that I’m less of a scaredy-cat traveller than I used to be, but I think the psyche of the City has fundamentally changed since then, too. Some of my New York friends think it has to do largely with the shock of 9/11, and that makes sense to me. Whatever the cause, I actually think that New York is a warmer, friendlier place to visit than Portland. [Read more →]

Just read this tidbit from the excellent Exploration of Portland Food and Drink blog (posted by “food dude”) - whatever you read in Anthony Bourdain’s tomes of kitchen debauchery are likely more than accurate and even more likely understated:

I’m not going to name where they worked, but in the past week a cook was hauled off the line in the middle of dinner for kiddie porn, and a Chef de Cuisine from another restaurant was hauled off to jail mid-shift, “for something between 4 and 14 months”.

Pink Martini violinist Paloma Griffin is one of my long-time friends who gather each week for coffee and lively conversation on all things. She has been regaling us all with her photos of food and drink from the recent Pink tours, and she brought along her camera to our last coffee to document the spoils.

One of the best lattes you can find in portland is to be found at [Read more →]

Nancy Ives, the orchestra’s principal cellist, is a HUGE chocolate fan, and we from time to time will present each other with new and exotic varieties that we happen upon. Yesterday, in honor of Thanksgiving, Nancy gave me some aptly named chocolate:

Here’s a link to their website - enjoy!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving - if I’m not there in-person to say it myself!

My wife and I decided to go vegetarian two weeks ago, and we’re still doing fine - I’d have never believed it, being the two avowed carnivores that we’ve always been - but we’ve been doing a lot of reading about the state of industrialized food in the US, and thought it might be a way to eat more locally and know what we’re putting in our bodies. Here’s some of the reading we’ve done over the last month:

There are a lot of good coffee places in Portland, as with our famous neighbor to the north, and then there are a few really great ones. Here are three coffee houses which I and my snobby friends consider truly great - I hope you enjoy them if you’re in town or just visiting someday.

• Crema Coffee + Bakery (SE 28th and Ankeny St, 503.234.0206, map, credit/debit cards accepted). A great place to hang out, whether the weather is good, bad or ugly. Large windows looking out onto culinary hotspot SE 28th and lovely Ankeny Street are rolled up on nice summer and fall days, making for good people watching and warm breeze enjoying. A spectacular selection of pastries and savory options, including hearty soups and panini make it a one-stop destination for prandial delights. The fact that one of the baristas is a judge in the World Barista Competition will tip you off to the fact that you will be enjoying a tremendous espresso experience here. Free WiFi.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters (3 locations: Division, Belmont and Downtown, cash only, except for downtown location, which accepts credit/debit cards, see Website for phone numbers and maps). The Division Street location was the one which opened my eyes to what lay (far) beyond the world of Starbuck’s commercialized offerings. They offer a dazzling array of coffees from around the world, which they themselves import direct from the source and roast in their own facility. Not to be missed are special “coffee of the day” specials when they roll out the rare 100 percent Kona or Blue Mountain coffees which are served all day at the normal coffee cup price. Great baristas and a funky, laid-back atmosphere and service make for a good time. The Division location, however, can seem much like a library reading room if the place is full of laptop clicking fiends. Free WiFi.
• Blue Gardenia Cafe (3747 N Mississippi Ave, 503.460.2583, credit/debit cards accepted, Website). My personal favorite, because we stumbled upon this place within weeks of it opening, and already it’s an anchor of coffee and great baking in the Mississippi Avenue neighborhood. The cafe area is smallish, with only one table that will sit more than four people, but if you time it right you can get a group in there ok. Truly fabulous baking is going on here, as well as single origin coffee roasting, right on the premises. Great service, terrific baristas (especially Matthew on the a.m. shift) and a great, homey atmosphere all make for a quiet morning or afternoon relaxing and enjoying some of the best that North Portland has to offer.

This is a great new magazine that arrived unannounced in my mailbox on Monday. It’s published here in Portland (I believe by part of the same team that launched Portland Monthly several years ago), but is distributed nationally. It’s great because it focuses on the liquid side of one’s diet, more specifically, those liquids which happen to contain alchohol or caffeine: coffee, beer, wine and spirits. I highly recommend it - it isn’t too narrow in its focus, and it explores areas of the food world that the gourmet magazines don’t spend much time with, and the attitude is decidedly un-highbrow. Give it a look at www.imbibemagazine.com.