Dining Out in Portland

The Nines Hotel
525 SW Morrison
There are two restaurants in this super-posh boutique hotel on 4th Ave. On the 8th Floor is Urban Farmer, a modern steak house that does just about everything on its menu superbly. The beet salad is actually comprised of heirloom beets (rather than a heap of packaged lettuce with a few shaved beets on the bottom) and is beautifully dressed. Like many Portland restaurants, the emphasis here is on Local and organic, and the chef knows how to bring out the best in his ingredients. Featuring simple decor, a video art installation (it's kinda cool) and leafy palms, the ambience is cool and hip. Because it's set in the atrium of the Nines hotel, the noise level is a little high, but somehow the tables manage to maintain a sense of privacy. This one is a five starer fo shizzle.

Three weeks ago, the Nines opened Departures -- a trendy, lounge-like, Portland knock-off version of Nobu with a futuristic air-travel themed design. The decor takes advantage of the restaurant's position on the 15th floor of the hotel and large windows overlook the Willamette River. This is where all the pretty people in Portland serve and are served (best look bartenders I've seen anywhere, hands down). Purple, white, silver and black are the colors and the entrance way is like a set from the film Gattaca. Overall, I loved the ambience -- it was bright (though watch out for a few tabled crowded into cubby holes near the bar -- they're hot, dark and cramped), and easy to talk. While the service, sake menu, and decor score a 10, the food leaves a little to be desired. The kitchen is clearly still working out the chinks in the menu. Apparently the executive chef, Bryan Emperor worked under the famous Nobu and he is clearly trying to recreate the immensely successful modern Japanese fare that made the master chef and the restaurants that bear his name so famous. But it does fall a bit short. The menu looks fantastic with things like savory pork buns and calamari tenpura (a reinterpretation of Nobu's super yummy rock-shrimp tenpura) and the idea of a sort of pan-Asian tapas restaurant is very appealing. Everything is well presented but I would be honest in saying that nothing is memorable, except the Liquid Gold Sake which really is just incredible. The prices are more than reasonable, way more modest that Nobu, and I highly recommend stopping in at the bar for a drink, a few appetizer dishes and the view then head down stairs for dinner.

SouthPark Seafood Grill and Wine Bar
SouthPark is a place for an easy dinner. Featuring fresh, local, wild fish and a great selection of wines, it's a good choice for a quality meal without a lot of frills (with good proximity to the theater and museum). I really enjoyed the Local Organic Roasted Beets with Shaved Fennel,Watercress and Pistachio Pesto salad and my rock fish was well cooked with crisp grilled asparagus and a lovely tapendade that was not overpowering. A safe bet but not necessarily a splurge dinner.

Everett Street Bistro
Nestled in the heart of the Pearl district and only a stone's throw from Powell's Books, Everett Street Bistro is a great place to grab lunch between gallery tours and book browsing. It feels tres Parisian and is light and airy. good food and a casual atmosphere (though the sandwiches are a little over sized -- forget about trying to get your mouth around them). The pomme frites are a must.

The Red Star Tavern and Roast House
Attached to the Hotel Monaco this is where I got breakfast most mornings. The Red Star has a great menu and an earthy, Northwest feel with its large wood tables, ruff-n-tumble earthenware table settings and sturdy silverware. The housemade granola is delicious and the vegetable frittata hearty and tastey. There is nothing more dissapointing than bad breakfast potatoes, and the Red Star's homefries are about as good as they get. Being a tea snob, I love the fact my English Breakfast came as loose-leaf in its own pot -- they take their caffiene seriously (the coffee is free trade and smelled delicious). Apparently, they have a great happy hour, which I would believe and they also have a wood-burning brick oven which i would imagine produces some pretty flavourful lunch/dinner dishes.

Portland City Grill
Perched on the 30th floor of a 43 story building on SW 5th Ave, Portland City Grill offers spectacular views of Portland and the surrounding Cascade Mountains, Mount St. Helens and Mt. Hood. The food is average or just above. The kitchen paired wild salmon with a heavy risotto -- a big mistake, since the risotto, in both texture and taste, overwhelmed the fish (which was also slightly over cooked). However the drinks are tasty as are the appetizers -- go here for Happy Hour, watch the sun go down and enjoy a 10 Sage (a drink made with tanqueray 10 and sage).

A New York Yankee in Portland's Downtown, or Why a New Yorker would actually like this crunchy town

There are a lot of things about Portland New Yorkers might find unnerving. First, people in Portland are friendly -- Portlanders are just determined to help you. They will give you directions to your destination, they will help you with your groceries and they will have a conversation with you, about anything. They're just so gregarious and so ready to talk that for the more solitary New Yorker, so much niceness might seem smothering. Second, there are no cabs to be seen and no subways. There's a light rail that runs all through the city, but it lacks the grime, mystery and free music performances of New York City's metro system. Portland is also absurdly clean -- there is not a cigarette butt to be found on the streets. Of course New Yorkers are used to a bit of a pollution. Despite Portland's lack of the few things that New Yorkers deem as truly essential for daily living,and despite Portland's overwhelming friendliness and eco-consciousness, even the most New York of New Yorkers can find themselves at home in this Northwest city. And here's why:

1. Dogs
New Yorkers love their dogs and take them everywhere with them. Luckily so do Portlanders, and perhaps Oregonians in general. Portland dogs can be found in hotels, in the park, on the street, on the beach and in the restaurants. From big scruffy dogs to little purse size dogs (though, I'd say the majority are capable of chasing sticks, as opposed to toothpicks).


2. Happy Hour
Every bar in Portland has happy hour from 4-6PM, at way more reasonable prices than in New York. The Hotel Monaco has free wine tasting everyday except Sunday (and they don't check room #s... insider's tip >>wink, wink<<). The Portland City Grill has Happy Hour all night on Sunday. Way to start the week!! wooot.

3. Restaurants
Portland is teeming with good places to eat and the value is fantastic. The restaurants tend to feature local providers -- which means super fresh and yummy.

4. Districts
New Yorkers are used to their neighborhoods -- we've got the village and chelsea, chinatown, and SoHo. Well Portland has the Pearl,Nob Hill, Downtown, Chinatown... etc. Oh, and did I mention the whole city is on a grid system!

5. Homeless People
There are not too many people on the streets in Portland, but there are a healthy number of homeless people on the corners. They're cleaner looking than New York homeless people which might throw a visitor off -- they are easily confused with leftover hippies.

6. Coffee Shops and Voodoo Doughnuts
There is no shortage of caffeine refueling stations in Portland. Starbucks, local coffeehouses, tea shops -- yea, the city has a place to fill up your cuppa on practically every corner. And did I mention that all the coffee is actually delicious and not bitter. Then there's Voodoo Doughnuts, the greatest doughnut on the planet, to go with your free-trade coffee. Bagels pale in comparison.

Reasons Why I Love Portland

1. Powell's Books
Touted as the world's largest independent bookseller, Powell's is the word-lover's El Dorado. Seriously, they have everything. I've also decided this is the best place in North America to pick up an intellectual for a drink-date.

2. The People
Soooo friendly! And I've decided also very educated. All the employees at our hotel list their favorite artist on their name tag. One of the women who works the front desk has listed William Hogarth -- now to name Hogarth as your favorite artist means you have had more art history than art hum and are very likely a print nerd. And then everyone wants to talk to you when they meet you. It's almost a little unnerving how nice everyone is... especially when you're a new yorker. So far, I've had more lengthy conversations with strangers in two days than I have in Manhattan in a year. I swear, we almost hug before we say good-bye.

3.The Hotel Monaco
Whimsical and comfy, boutique but not snobby, this has fast become one of my favorite hotels in the US (and I'm a frequent frequenter of Fairmonts, Four Seasons and Ritz Carltons). The decorators are not afraid of highly-saturated hues, particularly in the public spaces which invoke 19th century orientalism but with a sleek, modern finish that prevents it from feeling garish or ornate. The staff is typical Portland friendly and extremely knowledgeable. A small bureau in our room was faced with the portrait busts of the West's greatest philosophers -- basically, the Core's greatest hits list. Every day from 4-6, there is a complimentary wine tasting in the lobby area that features local Oregonian vintages. The hotel is also pet friendly.

4. Art
Portlanders love art and are proud of their artists. It's everywhere -- even the public drinking fountains are sculptural. Portland has an active gallery scene and a well-respected museum. In NYC, "art lovers" are hipsters who love to be seen, who sport skinny jeans/tights with rayban sunglasses and wear layered haircuts with oversized 5-year-old style bangs. In Portland, it seems everyone is an art lover -- hipster jeans or no.

5. James Lavadour
This is really a follow up to #4, but Lavadour is so amazing that he requires his own number. He is my favorite contemporary artist, hands down. I had the opportunity to hear him speak about his work at an artist's symposium back when I was working at the NMAI in 2007. Luminous and organic, his ephemeral landscape paintings depict no specific locations. The geological structures appear out of the veil of paint like ghosts.

I just Shelled out another $100 grand and I don't even get a stripe.

I just bought my cap and gown for Columbia Commencement, Redux 2009: The Master's Edition. It cost $54 + 4 semesters at 23,000 a pop. Like the CU BA cap and gown, it's a powder blue with two black flaps encrusted with the Columbia Crown on the chest. Now, you would think that as a graduate earning a Master's degree there would be a hood, or a stripe or some other embellishment that would distinguish me from the bachelor degree recipients who will be standing to my left at commencement.

Ya... no.

The sleeves are longer? Yea... That's it. The sleeves are longer. I think I can store an apple in them in case I get hungry during Prez Bo's speech. Thanks Columbia.

I'm standing here holding this hideous construction of cheap periwinkle fabric, packaging strewn on the floor, and all i can think is "i should have cut an inch off the bottom of my undergrad gown and tacked it on to the sleeves." What the hell am I going to do with TWO identical caps and gowns? At least when I graduated in 2007 i was a class marshall, so I had one of those gold ropes on my shoulders.

Seriously Columbia, I love you, but really, don't you think I deserve a stripe or something? I mean you refused to fund my MA... in the very least give me the cap and gown for free?