Portland is a great city for cycling, for book shopping, but it is probably most famous in the moment for its food culture. Even though the Mark Spencer Hotel offers a free breakfast, we ate out almost every meal. Staying in the Pearl District is great for walking to great restaurants.
About 18 months ago, I decided to give my adult children experiences instead of things. This weekend Sarah Harriet, Marcos and I were in Portland for the World Domination Summit. We kicked off our visit with dinner at Clyde Common with friends Lisa and Meg. We ended the evening at the fabulous Ruby Jewel ice cream shoppe.
The next morning we sought out the highly recommended Barista for coffee and second breakfast. The coffee was good but the baristas were aloof and the everyone there was so hip.
We intended to go to Lardo for Friday lunch but when we looked at the menu we changed our minds. We ended up at Cha!Cha!Cha! for Mexican food. Sarah and I shared some greasy nachos and we both got upset tummies. We drove to dinner at Bamboo and enjoyed a terrific meal with really good service.
On Saturday we were determined to get to the opening session of #WDS2015 early and be at Blue Star Donuts at the 8 a.m. opening time. First we went to Stumptown and got some coffee. Marcos liked the Nitro Cold Brew best. We hung out for a few minutes in the Ace Hotel lobby and Sarah and Marcos used the photo booth.
There was a line when we got to Blue Star, but not too long by Portland standards and it moved quickly once the shop opened. Lisa said Blue Star would fundamentally change our relationship to donuts–especially the buttermilk donut. They are truly amazing and I loved watching the Blue Star team working together. Skip the line at Voodoo and go to Blue Star! When we got to the Summit many of the Portland based ambassadors gave us thumbs up for the Blue Star box.
Sarah and Marcos grabbed Jimmie Johns sandwiches for a hike in the Columbia Gorge. (They highly recommend the hike to Punchbowl falls although watch the parking markers to avoid tickets and towing.) I went to Tasty n Alder for a wonderful frittata. We met up again for dinner at Cheryl’s because it was close and we were looking for a burger. The place was empty at 6:30 p.m. and while the food was solid, the service was rubbish.
On Sunday we went to Heart for coffee and a muffin. Sarah also ordered the sandwich but then could not eat it because of the relish and the ham was more like uncooked bacon. Sarah and Marcos liked their coffee the best and found the baristas super friendly. Lunch was a challenge because Zeke’s deli had a tremendous line and we were really hungry. We went down the street to Zeus Cafe. The food was good and we felt that good feeling that refueling gives.
Oh yeah, and somewhere in the midst of all of this activity I went a half block to the candy shoppe Quin and bought some caramels. Yum.
It was a dash to the finish of the conference and to the airport. So much good food in a few blocks. We will be back.
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