The Best Of Portland

Haute Blocks - NW 23rd in Portland, Oregon ranked "One of America's Best Shopping Streets" by US News & World Report.

 

Named “One of America’s Best Shopping Streets” in 2012 by US News & World Report, Northwest 23rd Avenue is the quintessential charming shopping neighborhood filled with upscale national retailers, restaurants in their own elegant storefronts surrounded by quaint shops carved out of vintage houses with unique gifts for every occasion —  all within an easy walk of each other — and nestled beneath a beautiful forest with ample hiking and walking trails. 

Here and within a few walking blocks, you'll find a bevy of delights for the senses; Urban Outfitters, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Williams Sonoma, Kitchen Kaboodle, Doscha Salon & Spa, Free People, Moonstruck, Papa Hayden's, JoBar, Dazzle, Sammy's Flowers, 3 Monkeys, Kiehl's, Twist, Ringside Steak House, Elephants Delicatessen, Trader Joe's, Escape From New York Pizza, Zupan's and many more fabulous retailers and restaurants.

To discover more about Northwest Portland neighborhood offerings, click here.

"Diamonds In The Rough" - Sunset Magazine's Ted Katauskas on Oregon's elusive "White Truffle Shuffle"!

Fresh from the earth, the coveted Oregon white truffle can fetch up to $400 a pound.

John Clark

 

"As a general rule, I try to stay away from lumpy brown objects fetched from the jaws of strange dogs. But when you’re in the heart of Oregon mushroom country, every mud-caked ball of earth could be a truffle treasure.

I’m standing at the edge of a dense fir forest in the Willamette Valley with 18 foot-stomping, hand-clapping gourmands and their pets—shepherds, poodles, a Chihuahua in a knit sweater. We’re huddled together on a chilly Saturday morning to learn how to hunt one of the state’s most prized culinary ingredients: the elusive Oregon truffle."

“Today we’re going after the Oregon white,” says Jim Sanford, a 6-foot-4 former elephant handler turned dog trainer and the leader of our expedition. Beside him, sitting at attention, is Tom, a 35-pound Lagotto Romagnolo with tight white and tan curls, a trained truffle hunter who in one season sniffed out 200 pounds of French Périgords, the second-most expensive mushroom in the world at around $900 a pound. “The only place we’ve ever hunted Oregon truffles is right here. Exactly this weekend every year.”

"The last full week in January, to be precise, when Oregon truffles tend to reach their musky peak of perfection and hundreds of enthusiasts from around the world come to Eugene for the Oregon Truffle Festival—three days of unrestrained fungal madness that includes workshops, cooking demos, seminars, wine tastings, and elaborate multicourse dinners built around the mud-caked balls of earth that Tom and his pack of four-legged foragers hope to uncover."

Click Here to read Ted Katauskas full article on Oregon's truffles featured in January's issue of Sunset Magazine.

Click Here to learn more about Oregon's next Truffle Festival Janury 24-26, 2014.

 

Vosages metal birdcage with decadent Peanut Butter Eggs, Wondrous Rabbit Banana Toffee Lollipop, Enchanted Toadstools, Wandering Rabbit Caramel Bonbons and Petits Chocolats will put a spring in anyone's step this Easter!

Each Vosages metal birdcage arrives with one set of 3 Peanut Butter Eggs, one Banana Toffee Rabbit Lollipop, one set of 4 Enchanted Toadstools, one set of 5 Wandering Hare Caramel Bonbons and Petits Chocolats, tied with Orchid Purple Grosgrain ribbon.

Gift as an alternative to an Easter Basket or to the host of your Sunday brunch - bunnies never go out of style.

Easter Birdcage parfums include:
Peanut Butter Eggs:
Organic peanut butter + 50% deep milk chocolate + pink Himalayan salt + Maldon salt

Wondrous Rabbit Banana Toffee Lollipop
Hawaiian dried bananas + 62% dark chocolate + toffee + walnuts + black chia seeds

Enchanted Toadstools
55% soft dark chocolate praline + organic Reishi mushroom + white chocolate shell decorated with yellow dots

Wandering Rabbit Caramel Bonbons
Soft butter caramel + lemon zest + dehydrated strawberries + 36% cocoa butter white chocolate

Petits Chocolats
(3) Pink Himalayan Crystal Salt Caramel: Pink Himalayan salt + burnt sugar caramel + 70% cacao dark chocolate
(2) Blood Orange Caramel: Blood Orange + Campari + burnt sugar caramel + hibiscus flowers + 70% cacao dark chocolate

Click Here for more details.

The March issue of Travel & Leisure is out - Portland, Oregon ranks 14th on Travel & Leisure's Best Pizza Cities in America!

 

The food-cart champion puts some of its best pizzerias on wheels, such as the portable wood-fired Pyro Pizza, whose original location is in the city’s Cartopia at SE 12th and Hawthorne. For an old-style brick-and-mortar alternative, try Oven & Shaker, helmed by a James Beard–nominated chef and maker of Oregon Anchovy pizzas. Here, you can also order creative cocktails by one of the city’s A-list mixologists: try the Stumptown Daiquiri for an after-five take on the city’s coffee, which ranked at No. 2 in the survey.

Click Here to see the full line-up.

Portland's own Pok Pok is serving-up all kinds of national attention...

 
 

From a cult Korean wings spot featuring exquisitely crispy fried chicken to elegant confit deboned wings from genius chef José Andrés, Food & Wine names America's best chicken wings." - MSN.com

 

Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings
Chef Andy Ricker came up with the recipe for his amazing Thai chainlet's crispy-tangy signature dish after trying fish sauce wings at a roadside stand in Saigon. He scribbled down his guess at the ingredients on a paper napkin, which he carried with him until the first Pok Pok opened. Ricker marinates the wings in fish sauce and palm sugar, then deep-fries them and tosses them in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic. Click Here to see the full line-up on MSN.com.

pokpokpdx.com

 

Food and Wine's Best Restaurants of 2012

Every year, Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin tastes her way through the most exciting restaurants in the country. Here, her favorite stops of 2012. 

 

 

 Astoundingly good Thai food can now be found in Brooklyn, New York, like the herb salad with lime leaf, lemongrass, and sawtooth coriander in mild coconut-milk dressing.     

pokpokny.com

Portland's Grand Central Bowling makes MSN's list of the "Coolest Bowling Spots in North America"!

 

Bowling is a perennial favorite activity for millions of people. From mega-alleys to historic mom-and-pop places, we've gathered up a list of the coolest alleys from coast to coast. It's time to lace up your rental shoes and roll some strikes.

Set in a picture-perfect scene of Willamette River bridges, downtown high rises and forested hills, Grand Central has a quintessential Portland vibe. On the east side of downtown, this cool spot has 12 high-tech lanes featuring plush couches and computerized, giant, HD scoring screens. As it's Portland, Grand Central offers foodie treats such as kung pao chicken, pulled-pork sliders and revved-up mac 'n' cheese dishes. The alley is a quick taxi ride or a refreshing long walk from the Convention Center District and most downtown hotels. Plus, the city's famous light-rail system gets you close, or you can bike there in true “Portlandia” style. 

Click Here to read the full article on MSN.com.

Text by Greg Thilmont | Photo editing by Mike Hipple

 

Mrs. Prindable's gift basket recipients are left feeling as though there's a "pot of gold" in every gift basket delivery!

Click Here to order yours today!

Things are getting hot in the kitchen for Superbowl Sunday!

 

Men may rule the field, but don't forget on Superbowl Sunday the girls usually rule a very important place... the kitchen!  Speaking of which....what's on your Super Bowl menu?

We're STILL in awe of and crushing on Scott Pham's Snackadium

Last year we added a mozarella and iPhone Jumbotron simulcast to ours...check-it-out!

... a couple Superbowl Parking Lots filled to the brim with SUV Pickle & Olive, Raspberry & Bread Pudding and Strawberry & Blueberry delectables!

...and we'll always be head-over-heels for Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip - this recipe is easy-peezy!

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. pkg.cream cheese, softened 

1/2 cup White House blue cheese salad dressing

1/2 cupFRANK'S® REDHOT® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or FRANK'S® REDHOT® Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese  

2 cans (12.5 oz. each)SWANSON® White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth. 

MIX in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken. 

BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

GAME ON!

Confucious says you will find good entertainment this year at the Chinese New Year celebration of The Year of the Snake - February 10-24, 2013

The Chinese New Year annual event in Old Town takes place at Lan Su Gardens.  It's a not to be missed experience for families and kids of all ages and includes lion dances each weekend day, martial arts demonstrations, feng shui talks, dance and music performances, plant talks and much more. The festival ends with three nights of specially ticketed after-hours Lantern Viewings.

Click Here for more details.

Like the houses of the zodiac in western astrology, the animals of the Chinese zodiac are thought to dictate personality traits in the year they represent. Because self-reliance is the leading characteristic of the snake, it's good to count on oneself, and remain alert. The last Year of the Snake was 2001. Snake years can be years of deception.

  The Year of the Snake can also be associated with unpredictable events, seeming to come out of nowhere. To counter this possible negativity, it's best to live more cautiously than normal -- as would a snake person -- in case hardships occur. It's not a good year to go out on a limb. Prudence is the key to making things work this year.

  With the snake's prime characteristics being awareness, cunning, pride, and vanity, this will be a year of "me first" and a year to not cross or be crossed by others. 

  The characteristics of the snake year are tempered by one of the five Chinese elements: metal, water, wood, fire, and earth that overlay a five-year cycle of additional characteristics on the original 12-year cycle. This year is ruled by water, which tempers the snake's characteristics a bit, mellowing the austerity of that sign. Previous years of the snake were 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, and 1941

 

TheBestOfPortland's picks for Dim Sum in the Portland area -

 

Fong Chong
301 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 228-6868

House of Louie
331 NW Davis St
Portland, OR 97209-3924
(503)
228-9898

Lum Yuen
28 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 229-1888

Wong Kee BBQ Dim Sum Restaurant
28 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR
97209-3802
(503) 229-1888

 

Listen-up Sweetcakes! Nonnie Waller's traditional southern cakes are nothing short of spectacular.

Click Here to peruse Nonnie Waller's online catalog.