• 15Aug

    portland

    The Portland Epicurean Tour…

    Tomato-orange Soup at Elephants Delicatessen – a Portland legend.  Tomato, yes.  Orange, a little more nuanced.  Not the liquid love it’s hyped up to be.

    Bridgeport Beer…delicious.  And the entire operation only produces one dumpster of waste per week.  Portland has more breweries in its city limits than anywhere on earth.  Pretty amazing, and it creates an atmosphere of something for everyone.  I learned the history of the IPA – hint, it involves India.

    Pearl Bakery…sourdough bread, buttery croissants, and brownies.  The best part – an amazing olive oil that is only sold in bulk to large-scale operations.  The bread and pastry, while nice, could have been bought at a Whole Foods.

    Next up, wine tasting and mustards at the cooking school In Good Taste.  The only highlight was curry mustard.  We bought some to take home and I forgot it was in my carry-on bag.  It sadly made it’s way to the trashcan.  We also learned about ceramic knives…I’m intrigued…more on these later.

    We then went for tea.  Chinese and nothing to do with Portland.

    After tea, Hot Lips Pizza.  The chefs create seasonal toppings like peaches and feta.  Why doesn’t D.C. have this exciting pizza creativity?  Forget the giganto sloppy slice!  Interestingly, I learned a woman on our trip – who looked like Trey’s mother from Sex and The City – worked for the Reagan White House.  How interesting!  Food brings everyone together!

    It was also here we first tried Dry Soda – in flavors of rhubarb, lavender, and lemon grass to name a few.  Inspired with a nice glass of gin.

    And finally, we went to Cupcake Jones.  Any loyal reader of AEK knows I HATE HATE HATE the cupcake craze!  But I will admit, while I didn’t try it, this establishment attempts to make flavors like Root Beer Floats – filling the cupcake with root beer flavored buttercream.

    All in all, Portland is a liveable city.  The Pearl District, where we primarily ate, was a New York City sized U Street.  The tour was great and I suggest you sign up – and then walk around after and explore the area.

    AEK

  • 03Aug

    imagesSeattle….food tour…Seattle Bites Food Tour…FABULOUS…

    Let’s take a tour of Pike Place Market for $30 (per person) and get healthy sized tasty bites from various famous stands.  This is a MUST do in Seattle!  And the highlights were…

    1) Crepe de France…a Nutella/banana/almond crepe with whipped creme.

    2) I Love New York Deli…pastrami and pickels shipped in from New York daily?!  A knish that’s a REAL knish!?  All from a stand that’s about the size of my bathroom?!  I do love New York, even in Seattle.

    3) Pike Place Chowder…supposedly the best New England clam chowder in the U.S.  Yeah, right, this isn’t New England!  But wait, I think it might be the best chowder.  And they aren’t allowed to compete in Rhode Island any more because they just kept winning.

    4) Maximilien…an “eh” cheese tarte.  But a full glass of wine and beautiful view.  They say it’s the most romantic restaurant in the market – kissing and such.

    5) Uli’s Famous Sausage…good sausage, darn good sausage.

    6) Pure Fish Food Market…not the one where they throw the fish, but pretty darn amazing.  Smoked salmon.  Ah, the smoked salmon.  Even my fish-hating fellow traveler gobbled it all up.

    7) La Buona Tavola…pretentious “small-batch” wine seller.  Filled with passionate winers, the kind that say they don’t drink desert wine because it’s not real wine.  They knew their stuff and garnered some instant respect.  And the wine was wonderful.

    And the tour completed.  3 hours, tons of food, and an inside into the market.  Here’s an interesting fact – look up why there are no Japanese sellers in the market.  Google it – trust me – it’s interesting.

    As a side note, we also grabbed some delicious pastry at Piroshki Piroshki – doughy filled yumminess.  And no, we didn’t go to the first Starbucks.  And yes, I did go to the first Sur La Table.  And no, we didn’t drink Seattle’s Best Coffee – it’s owned by Starbucks.  P.S. the FABULOUS flower bouquets are $5 after 5:00 because they want to get rid of them.  But you’ll learn that on the tour.  You can find them through www.tripadvisor.com – do it when you go…or else!

    Up next…PORTLAND!

    AEK

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