A Diner’s Guide to Portland
August 13, 2012
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Austin
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A Diner’s Guide to Portland
Our hometown of Austin is famously quirky. From SXSW to the mobile food scene to the Congress Avenue Bridge bats to the graduate of our Austin culinary schools, we’ve got more out of the ordinary ways to do things than most other cities across the country. Our methods of creative expression come through in everything we do. Spending a weekend in Austin definitely helps visitors to understand the truth behind our efforts to “Keep Austin Weird”.
If there is one place that competes with Austin for the title of America’s most culturally progressive city, however, it’s Portland, OR. The hipster identity may have started in Brooklyn and peaked in the last decade, but Portland took the cult of inauthenticity and turned it on its head, creating a vibrant alternative to the typical mocking nature of hipster culture.
And nowhere is that more visible than the Portland’s food culture. Portland famously celebrates local, organic, and artisanal foods. It’s farmer’s markets and specialty food shops carry food products from proud producers who aren’t afraid to go outside of the mainstream in pursuit of perfection.
Best of …
Here are a few examples of how Portland restaurants go beyond what is expected:
- Best Nostalgic Eatery
It in a city that craves nostalgia and kitsch, it comes as no surprise that one of the best place to get a bite is Bluepate, an old fashioned lunch counter and soda fountain. All the sodas are house-made with real cane sugar and other natural ingredients. If you’re like me, then you judge a soda fountain by its chocolate malted. Blueplate delivers and then some. Match one with one of the daily blue plate specials like Grandma’s pot roast, beef stroganoff, or meatloaf.
- Best Carnivorous Experience
Brazilian steakhouses are known for their endless amounts of deliciously roasted cuts of meat, and Brazil Grill is no exception. Servers bring freshly grilled skewers of meat to your table where they cut it onto your plate. Some of the highlights include marinated lamb, linguicia sausage, bacon wrapped filet, and that West Coast favorite, beef tri-tip. One of the biggest treats, however, isn’t meat but fruit. They serve fresh whole pineapple straight from the grill. This alone makes the trip worthwhile.
- Best Sandwich
It doesn’t what you order at Bunk Sandwiches you will be eating the best of its kind in Seattle. From a bacon, egg & cheese sandwich that must be tasted to be believed to the Oregon albacore tuna melt the sandwiches at Bunk are simply perfect. Try the pork belly Cubano with a side of red beans and rice. You literally have never had another Cuban sandwich like this.
- Best Thai Food
Excellent Chinese and Japanese restaurants may not be quite a dime a dozen, but finding several of each in a large city is not hard. Finding an excellent Thai restaurant, however, is much more difficult. Seattle has arguably the best Thai restaurant in the nation with Chef Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok. The James Beard Foundation agrees since they named cooking school graduate Chef Andy the Best Chef Northwest 2011. Stop by this surprising and delicious gem for Thai that is lovingly taken to the next level.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in Austin, Texas. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Austin for more information.
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