Traveling Chefs: Matt’s in the Market Meets Pok Pok

You never expect a Monday to be the best day of your week. But man, yesterday was about as good a Monday as it gets around here. A sunny, 75 degree day, where I sat out on the deck at lunch and then wrapped up the day with a Thai-themed extravaganza/ Traveling Chefs dinner at Matt's in the Market, with dishes from Matt's Chef Chester Gerl and Pok Pok's Andy Ricker, 2011 James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northwest.

ByMichelleMay 8, 20120Comments

Restaurants Travel

Oh Tasty n Sons, How I Love Thee…

This weekend, we headed down to Portland to check out the Portland Bazaar that DesignSponge organized with a bunch of different local vendors from the PDX area. I'd hoped to get a little Xmas shopping done, but saw more things that would have been for me, like these excellent iPhone cases from Grove. So I held back. Before we hit the Bazaar, we went for brunch at Tasty n Sons.

ByMichelleDecember 12, 20110Comments

Restaurants Travel

Portland (PDX) – Part 3: Clyde Common

A little before 6 pm on a Friday night, Clyde Common is packed with people enjoying happy hour. It's connected to the Ace Hotel, one of the modern boutique hotels in Portland (parodied on Portlandia as the Deuce Hotel. BTW - a show worth checking out on Hulu). The dinner menu starts at 6 and I nabbed a seat against the windows, ordered a glass of the Crowley Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley and waited. By the time I was ready for my second glass, a spot had opened up at the bar. I was flying solo as my husband had come down with something and wasn't in the mood to go out. I have no problem eating by myself, but knew it might be a challenge on a Friday night at a place with a hoppin' happy hour.

ByMichelleJune 18, 20110Comments

Restaurants Travel

Portland (PDX) – Part 2: Taqueria El Rodeo Food Cart

Portland has an amazing food cart culture offering a broad mix of international cuisines, including Cuban, Ethiopian and Czech, as well as American favorites -- cheese steaks, sausages and fries. And while taco trucks might be a dime a dozen in other parts of the country, they may not be the first thing you think of when someone mentions Portland. We've walked by the food carts in downtown Portland a few times, always on a weekend, because we just don't seem to plan trips on weekdays when most of them are open. This time we got smart, planned a trip arriving on Friday and got there in time for lunch. I've been bookmarking food carts to try for ages -- Kim Jong Grillin, Solar Waffle Works, Chili Pie Palace, but for this quick trip, we were centered downtown, which focused our options.

ByMichelleJune 15, 20110Comments

Restaurants Travel

Portland (PDX) – Part 1: Tasty n Sons

I love Tasty n Sons. So much. Because of Tasty n Sons, I've only had breakfast/brunch at one other place in Portland, because if we only have one morning open on a trip down, we are definitely going to Tasty n Sons. It's a prime example of the food excellence coming out of Portland these days -- fresh, seasonal, delicious. It's an American place in the best sense of the word -- along with a breakfast biscuit with egg, cheddar cheese and fried chicken or sausage, and delicious little chocolate donut holes, the menu also features a Burmese red pork stew (kind of like char siu) served eggs two ways over rice.

ByMichelleJune 12, 20110Comments