These are the places I’d go if I were visiting my city, in order
of preference. I sent this exact list to one of my colleagues visiting from Hong Kong.
Public – My favorite restaurant in the city won a Michelin Star
this year. Great ambiance, interesting dishes, great mixed
drinks.
El Faro – Really great, real Spanish food, in a super-casual
atmosphere. They’ve been open since 1927 in the same spot; this was my
parent’s favorite dinner date spot. Have the paella a la valenciana,
and/or mariscada with green sauce, and some sangria, then some flan
or laruca for dessert. This place is super packed on weekends; it’s
best to go early on a weekday.
Casellula – A really great, small wine bar in Hell’s
Kitchen/Midtown West with an amazing cheese selection and good lite
fare.
Casa Mono – More upscale Spanish restaurant with an amazing wine
list.
At least one of Eleven Madison/The Modern/Tabla/Gramercy Tavern -
Danny Meyer’s restaurants; Eleven Madison is particularly great
(but more expensive than the others), but all are worth visiting. The
Modern is inside the MoMA, but eat in the Bar Room; the Dining Room is
not worth it. All of them consistently get great reviews and awards,
and are known for their great service.
La Esquina – Good Mexican street food upstairs (very informal),
dressed up Mexican downstairs (reservations required; good people
watching).
Tarallucci e Vino – a nice wine bar-turned-restaurant with a good
menu.
I had a wonderful opportunity to spend the last few days in Portland,
Oregon in advance of attending OSCON. I can honestly say that of all
of the places I went to, none were mediocre or worse. This is a really
cool, well-planned, well-run city with a really great culture.
I also happened to luck out with the weather: when New York was
experiencing a heat wave, Portland was experiencing the largest number
of consecutive, beautiful days that it has had in months.
Here’s a recap of some of the places I went.
Day 1:
Heathman Hotel – My company has a
behind-the-scenes deal with Heathman, so I was required to stay
here. While I definitely wouldn’t have picked it myself out of
the many hotel options available in Portland, I’m really happy
that I stayed here and would totally do it again. The staff here
are extremely friendly and the service is excellent. My room was
small, but comfortable, well stocked, and pretty luxurious. The only
negatives were a dearth of sunlight (there are only heavy curtains
and a small, non-tinted window) and there was a strongly anticipated
(read: hungover, see “Portland International Beerfest” below) breakfast
room service order never arrived.
Waterfront Bicycles – After dropping off my
luggage at the hotel, I headed down to Waterfront Bicycles to pick
up the bicycle I had reserved for the week. Interacting with the
guys at the shop was enjoyable and they immediately picked up that
I have a bit of an interest in bicycles. I got a Trek Hybrid that
worked out pretty well, though part of me still wonders if I should
have sprung for a more expensive road bike or even shipped my fixed
gear from home. I even had a bit of an incident regarding a large
stick killing a small, detachable component of my rear fender, which
I pointed out but didn’t get charged for.
Pine State Biscuits – While waiting for my
plane in the airport, I overheard a cookbook author talk about
how he only had one must visit restaurant on his list:
Pine State Biscuits. I figured the idea of really good biscuits and
gravy sounded amazing, so I decided to make this my first stop. Upon
tasting their offerings, the only disappointment I experienced was
that at some point in the near future, I would have no more amazing
biscuits and gravy, and sweet tea. So delicious, this is a must visit
destination. Apparently, this place gets packed on the weekends
during peak hours, so do what I did: middle of the afternooon on
a weekday.
Saint Cupcake and Noun – I took a walk down
the road and happened upon a cute little store front that houses both
a cute little cupcake shop and a cute little kitchy shop. Both are
worth visiting: the cupcake I had was delicious and I bought a cute
little fabric sack as a case for my phone.
Stumptown – Stumptown is the name in coffee
right now, and it started in PDX. This particular outpost has a
Stumptown cafe and their Annex, which sells over a dozen beans by
weight. They also have daily coffee tastings, which I was fortunate
enough to experience: the baristas take you on a guided tour of both
how to taste coffee and what you’re tasting. It’s basically an open
house on what they do when they source new coffees for their shop;
moreover, it’s a time for the baristas to geek out about coffee and
share their passion with their guests. Highly recommended.
Chinese Garden – This is just an awesome example
of a Chinese garden, situated in the middle of a city. Bring a book,
find a place with a gorgeous view, and stay for hours.
Clyde Commons @ Ace Hotel – I can’t recommend
this strongly enough: I ended up at the bar three separate times
because they have awesome food, even better bartenders, and they’re
open ’til midnight. Every bartender is so passionate about his craft:
most of my drinks were off-menu, spurred by a simple question of,
“Can you make something that would go with this?” The storied burger
is overrated, but the lamb is beautiful. I even recommend coming here
alone, if you’re travelling that way, placing a book down at the bar,
and striking up conversations with your neighbors.
Tear Drop – More really, really good cocktails,
and open late. While the bartenders here weren’t as interactive as
those at Clyde, their offerings were nevertheless delicious.
Day 2:
Manhattan Cafe – Needing a bite to eat before
my massage, I stopped by this cafe, just down the street from my next
destination. The service here was excellent, but otherwise, this was
a good, ordinary cafe. Its large space would be very conducive to
coming here to hack or meet with people.
Zama Massage – Great massage at extremely
reasonable prices, but in the middle of nowhere. Note that this is
not a spa, so you won’t get the whole bathrobe and tea experience.
Backspace Cafe – A huge cafe with lots of art
that doubles as a music space at night. Be sure to come here to write
some code with good coffee and check out the list of bands playing.
Gilt Club – I highly recommend coming to this
restaurant. While the locals seem to look down upon it for its haute
culture food and ambiance (which they consider non-Portland-like),
this Manhattanite really appreciated their work. I had a “Tracy’s
First Love” (house-infused cucumber vodka, muddled cucumber, basil,
and fresh line) and the Foie Burger, a beautiful combination of
house-cured bacon with foie gras.
Ground Kontrol Barcade – Hell yes: a dark,
dingy, beer-serving arcade, with tons of games at quarter play, a live
DJ spinning good music, and — more importantly — tons of pinball
machines. This is a must visit, especially if you think Barcade in
Brooklyn is awesome. I came here twice and that was too few. Don’t
mind the weapons check upon entering.
Day 3:
Portland Saturday Market – All the guide books
and websites say this is a must see. I don’t: it was much like the
generic street fairs in New York. There are a few t-shirt artists
worth visiting here, though.
Widmer Beer – Recommended. The tour isn’t
amazing (ours was cut short due to activity in the bottling room),
but it’s worth a visit. And you get a free bottle opener and pint
glass. Definitely taste the IPAs in the Widmer brew pub, though.
Amnesia Brewpub – This was one of the most
enjoyable experiences of my trip: This is a great brewpub, with great
brews, great bartenders, and a great space. Sit at the bar, have one
of everything, and talk to the other locals. The location is off of
the typical tourist rounds, (but|(and therefore)) is totally worth it.
Random Order Cafe – I had some time between the
brewpub and a show of some local punk bands that was recommended to
me by the guys at Amnesia, so I perused the neighborhood. I stopped
by this cafe due to their beautiful array of pies on offer. The
Jamaican stone fruit pie did not disappoint; it was easily one of
the best pieces of pie I’ve ever had.
Tin Shed – A good local bar with lots of outdoor
seating. The punk show I went to was entertaining and free. It’s
worth visiting if you’re in the area and need food/beer.
Day 4:
Bijou Cafe – I had a delightful Sunday brunch
here. Not only did I find a copy of the Sunday Times on the counter,
but even the off-menu fruit plate side was pretty innovative. (Fruit
plates? Innovative? Hmph.)
Stumptown (next door to Bijou) – The coffee was
great as always, with a lot of seating, and good music playing. The
line is long on the weekends, but feel free to stay a while and enjoy
their stable wifi.
Springwater Corridor and Sellwood – I’m really
happy I made the trip down to Sellwood, which is pretty far from
downtown Portland. Cycling along the Springwater Corridor (bike path)
was worth it alone; when I come back, I’ll bring a racing bike and
do this path properly. The path itself is separated from any roads for
miles and supplies some amazing views of the Willamette River. Sellwood
itself is a cute little area, with lots of antique shops and small
restaurants.
Powell’s Books – This is one destination that
both locals and tour books recommend. I didn’t understand this:
a bookstore is just a bookstore, right? I was surprised at how much
time I spent perusing the books and kitchy items they have around the
shop. It’s kind of like the Stand, but way better. I totally echo
the recommendation to come here. Also, for geeks, go to Powell’s
Technical Bookstore down the street: I found some awesome original
reference manuals and very niche publications.
Portland International Beerfest – This was
fantastic. I was surprised to see how many unique, rarely seen beers
were offered here. The VIP package is a great deal, so long as you
spend many hours with your friends here with copiously long breaks:
they serve 4oz pours.
Some notable beers I had here:
Nectar Ales Black Xantus (seriously awesome, have at all costs)
Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop
De la Senne Equinox
Caldera IPA
Sam Smith Yorkshire Stingo
Rest of trip
Most of the rest of my time was spent at the O’Reilly Open Source
Conference (OSCON). I did visit two other places during the conference
worth mentioning:
Slow Bar – A good local bar with a really good burger,
open late.
Oregon Brewers Festival – This is a seriously big beerfest, with
two different lawns lined with long tables full of delicious offerings,
at a great location in the esplanade along the river. Spend all of
your tokens at the Buzz tent, where the most unique and the rarest
beers of the festival are served. I wish I was here for more than
one of the days of the festival; I totally would have returned. And,
at $20 for 14 pours (7 pours at the Buzz tent), it would have even
been a cost-effective way to spend time.
Some notable beers I had here:
Caldera Mogli (Seriously one of the best beers I’ve ever had. Try at all costs.)
21st Amendment Mo’TCHO Risin’
Medocino Brewing Imperial IPA
Terminal Gravity Single Hop Double IPA
Laughing Dog Dogzilla Black IPA
Unvisited Recommendations
Other places that were recommended that I didn’t get to (aka the
“When I go back to Portland…” list):
Rose Test Garden – Supposedly a really awesome
garden, part deux. I hear the guided tours are worth attending
(and free).
Davis Street Tavern – This place looked
really nice with a good menu. It suffers from the same complaints
of locals that it doesn’t really fit in Portland, but the volume
of patrons shows otherwise.
Park Kitchen – I arrived just after the
kitchen closed, so wound up at Gilt. I should have and will come
back here at some point as the menu looked good and the bar manager
(whom I met at another bar) is a really nice guy.
Prost – A German beer place where supposedly
they serve a large number of German/Austrian beers out of a
boot. I presume that the boot is made out of glass.
Hop Works Brewpub – I’m told the number
of hoppy taps here are off the charts, with really good
homebrews. It’s supposed to be the best brewpub in Portland.
Green Dragon – Another awesome brewpub,
recently purchased by Rogue (which has its own brewpub in Portland,
but which itself isn’t recommended).
Beaker and Flask – This looked like a really
nice bar and restaurant and was recommended to me by a bartender
at Clyde.
Saburo’s Sushi – All of the locals swooned
at the mention of Saburo’s. Try their specialty rolls.
Deschutes Public House – The brewpub of a
well-respected, Portland-based brand. The restaurant looked cool,
and the brews I had elsewhere from Deschutes indicates the stuff
they have on tap would be fantastic. This seemed to be the
standard brewpub against which the locals would compare everything
else.
Pok Pok – this one is supposed to be seriously off-the-hook.
General Recommendations
Ask for recommendations from locals – People here are super
friendly and really want you to experience the awesomeness that
is Portland. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Food Carts – Where I thought food carts were pervasive in
New York, the food cart movement has totally conquered Portland,
and in a better way. There are so many different kinds and they’re
located everywhere. Ask some locals about their favorites.
Resist temptation: Drink in moderation – Don’t let a good
night preclude your activities tomorrow; there are too many cool
places to experience.
Rent, borrow, or bring a bicycle -
Portland is a fantastic pedestrian city, with a well-organized
mass-transportation system. But, since the city is so bike friendly
(bike lanes everywhere, pervasive bike racks, and even bike hooks
on the trolley system), having a bike here makes life more fun
and more convenient. Spend the money to get a good bike or ship
your own here: you won’t regret it at the end of your trip,
but instead wonder how you’d experience the city without a bike.
Resources
Pick up a copy of these free, really useful resources to help plan
your trip:
Portland Monthly and Mix magazine – both of these local
magazines are free at hotels and have some good tips on local
events and where to go.
The Portland Mercury – a local newspaper
sort of like the Village Voice for Portland. Good goings-on
recommendations.
Walking Maps (from MapClicks.com, but in paper
form)- pretty much all the popular places (and hotels)
have the same walking maps, one per neighborhood. Pick them up,
but only use them as a guide to where the neighborhoods start
and end.
Finder – “Willamett Week’s Guide to Portland”, a pretty,
annual publication. This one smells more of directory and tourist
index, but still has good descriptions of places and a good
organization.
Strong winds and heavy rain pounded parts of the Northeast on Saturday, knocking out power to more than 450,000 customers, diverting international flights and toppling a boom crane at an Atlantic City casino construction site, injuring one police officer…
The winds downed trees and power lines throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut…
Logan International Airport in Boston received nine overseas flights bound for New York because they no longer had the fuel to wait for clearance to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, said Massport spokesman Matthew Brelis…
In New York, ferry service to Staten Island was suspended Saturday night because of heavy winds.
In the distant future, someone will read this as if it were written in the 1800s and read today, and say something like:
“Well, didn’t they have personal fusion devices then?”
“Gosh, why didn’t they just transform the weather?”
“I wonder what happened to the intergalactic flights.”
The Ten Worst Muppets – I honestly don’t know all of the Muppets, but as a geek and someone who used to wear sweatervests, I resent that Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is listed as number eight. Dr. Honeydew has inspired generations of once-normal children to aspire to be inventors, engineers, and wear lab coats.
Dr. Honeydew in action:
Amusingly, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s archnemesis, as shown above, lives on in Rob Dobi‘s recent acquisition.
Using my nifty XSLT posted below, I’ve updated my sidebar links to reflect what I’m actually reading these days. I just pruned down my subscriptions: I had like 30 cycling blogs that were good, but time consuming. (How many pictures of Chinese girls on bikes do you really need to see in your week?)
Not all of those I read are below and to the right for other reasons.
Also, if anyone knows of any good links I might like or blogs of our friends, send them to me.
Ars Technica – More edited than slashdot, but less good content.
tongue but no door (dot) net – Todd and Tony (mostly), who are friends from Bard (and are now doing super awesome things)
