WHAT AN AMAZING WAY TO START OUT THE YEAR!! THANK YOU SAVEUR MAGAZINE, SARAH, CHRIS & PORTLAND! WE ARE SO HONORED!!!
City Dozen:
Chris Onstad and Sarah Kanabay's Portland, Oregon
Source: Saveur
With its graceful urban landscape, relaxed attitude, and mild weather, Portland, Oregon occupies prime quality-of-life territory squarely at the intersection of low cost of living and high levels of culture. A major factor in its attractiveness as a destination (it's routinely named one of the best cities in which to live in the United States) is the town's steadily rising profile in the firmament of gastro-worship: cooks and civilians alike can afford to own a 1914 Craftsman and a fairly reasonable car, with enough disposable income left over to take dining (and snacking, butchering, coffee-drinking, and beer-drinking) seriously. Anchored on a strong community of farmers, gardeners, ranchers, and charcutiers, Portland's full-blown "farm to table" culture is the envy of cities ten times its size.
Author and cartoonist Chris Onstad moved to Portland in 2009 (after working and dining there for over a decade); Oregon Culinary Institute alum Sarah Kanabay has lived and eaten in the city for two years. Here, their picks for a dozen can't-miss destinations for the culinarily-minded visitor to a place they describe as "the Shire of American cities": a bungalow-dominated landscape dedicated to comfort, the championing of second breakfast, and staying out of the damp with a proper pint.
DovetailThe old adage about good things coming in small packages is particularly apt for this jewel of a bakery, whose petite case is daily filled with the sweet scents of its equally petite proprietress' pastry wizardry. We particularly enjoy bringing non-vegans here—and failing to mention that everything made within is free of animal products until after they've had their first swoon-inducing bite of a signature sticky bun; astonishment invariably follows (in the best way possible). Baker Morgan Grundstein-Helvey displays a deft hand throughout her range of treats, from the toothsome, chewy molasses spice cookie to the pleasant, surprisingly crisp bite of millet seeds in a moist apricot jam-and-carrot muffin. Excellent tea, coffee, and kombucha are all on tap, and biscuits and gravy emerge from the kitchen on weekends, along with a rotating cast of delicious soups.
