Portland.
Supposedly Portland is weird. There’s graffiti on the city’s walls about it. There’s a whole TV show based on this and its quirky residents - Portlandia. But when I went for a few days recently, I discovered that Portland isn’t weird but it’s just wonderfully unique and alive.
Portland is only about 5-hours away from Vancouver and it’s been at the top of our list to visit. We had it simply planned out in our heads -drive down and have a groovy time. Neither JA nor I have a car (or even a license in my case) renting a car was our only option. What we assumed would be an easy two-step process ended up getting us so worked up we never thought we’d even get to go. These car rental companies seem to get you on all these additional costs for insurances and policies, especially when you’ll be driving it across the border. In the end we paid roughly the same for the hotel AND car! The train and flight prices were no different and would’ve taken longer or more hassle. So, if you have your own vehicle or access to one, definitely take that route.
The Stay.
The Dossier Hotel is conveniently located downtown on Alder St, an easy walking distance to our morning brunch and our daily dose of espresso in the afternoon as we head back to the room for a nap. JA and I love walking so we were happy to be able to stroll across the Burnside Bridge to East Portland and the Japanese Garden to the West.
The Food.
We had so many recommendations for nibbles and tipples from friends that we would’ve had to have been there for a week and eaten out at every in our elastic waistband bottoms to have even scratched the surface of what Portland offers. The culinary scene seems to be one of the city’s trademarks and we did our best to get a taste of it.
Our first stop was Tasty n Alder in the heart of Portland, open for a brunch and dinner services, all accompanied with a fully stocked bar. Serving up smaller sized dishes perfect for sharing, we were able to get a taste for what they had to offer - the lemon and ricotta pancakes were my fave.
If you’re looking for somewhere with some historical significance, then Jake’s Grill nearby could be the place. There are several locations however the one on the corner of Alder and SW 10th ST is housed in the historic building built in 1909.
My favourite, however, was Fuller’s Coffee Shop and it’s classic diner food. Located in the heart of the Pearl District, it’s got the classic American-diner-on-the-corner kind of vibe. Cheap and not actually that greasy, it served up all the breakfast favourites; with eyes bigger than my tummy, I over ordered some eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and pancakes. I did my best.
If you’re needing a boost from the brunch-induced food coma, don’t worry because Portland is littered with coffee shops on every other block so you’ll never be short of a caffeine hit. Limiting ourselves to one to-go coffee a day, we hit up Never Coffee, Good Coffee and Coava. I don’t know much about coffee but I can tell you that I liked what I drank, so you probably will too.
Weirdly enough Portland has a thing for doughnuts which is principally carried by two couldn’t-be-more-different locales. If you’ve done your research on touristic to-dos in Portland then I guarantee you would have come across one of Voodoo Doughnuts’ colourful creations; one with fruit loop toppings, one with crushed Oreos named Dirt, the “Voodoo” doll one, and the famous Homer Simpson. Go there for the picture. There’s also Blue Star Donuts where their doughnuts are simple with a bigger emphasis on flavour. With their unique combinations of ingredients you can try their Orange Olive Oil doughnut, my personal favourite Passion Fruit Cocoa Nib doughnut or their best-selling Blueberry Bourbon Basil doughnut. They weren’t too sweet and were delicious.
Our Portland friends invited us to one of their favourite spots in the East side of town: Luce. A piccola Italian restaurant with a homey vibe, the place also doubles as a corner shop in the day selling pasta fatta-in-casa, aceto balsamico e tante bottiglie di vino. The food was absolutely delicious, and as they conveniently offer half or full sized main dishes we were able to share the food family style. If you find yourself at Luce on a busy night with no room for you, fret not. The famous restauranting duo of Portland responsible for Luce, Giovanna Parolari and John Taboada, also count a Spanish tapas bar and a cocktail bar amid their roster: Navarre and Angel Face.
The Shopping.
When I told a friend that I was going to Portland for a couple days and I was thinking out loud about what to pack she says, “Just take one jacket, one pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a sweater. You can just buy the rest of your clothes at vintage spots.” While I didn’t follow her advice, I was astounded to discover that there was a huge vintage and thrift scene. There are so many that they each have the business opportunity to specialise in an area; sportswear vintage, niche luxury consignment vintage, dead person’s leftover clothing vintage, flannel and denim vintage, etc. Some noteworthy shops are Rebels & Heroes, Stand Up Comedy, House of Vintage. If you’re looking for a mix of vintage clothing and furniture pieces then you’ll find them aplenty along Hawthorne Avenue.
I wanted to pop into Frances May to check out their range of hard-to-find contemporary designers, such as Isabel Marant Etoile, Rachel Comey and Lemaire. The boutique carries both mens and womens clothing and shoes. The interior decor and design are also an attraction, being extremely photographable and kind of cutesy.
Machus was the shop on JA’s list. A curated shop featuring compelling designers in today’s menswear, seeking to select the smaller and ambitious of them all. They boast Purple Brand Denim, Brain Dead and John Elliott amidst their racks.
If interiors and vintage furniture is of interest to you then go no further than The Good Mod. Go to West Burnside St., go up to the fourth floor in a rickety steel elevator, and you’ll find yourself in a mid-century showroom. The humongous space houses one-of-a-kind pieces from which I guarantee you’ll find it hard to walk away; if you’re lucky enough to be based in the Pacific Northwest then you can always get it delivered so don’t worry if you didn’t bring a truck. The Good Mod also has their own workshop where they make contemporary furniture and lighting pieces, in addition to their restoration and upholstery projects. Regardless of whether you have the money or means to even own one of these beautiful items, it’s worth a visit just for the photos and their in-office golden retriever Finley!
If you looked up top 10 must-visit places in Portland then be sure to find Powell’s Books listed there. The gargantuan independent bookshop has been a success since its opening in 1971 and is now the size of an entire city block. I tried my best to limit my time to an hour to see the whole shop, but seeing as I got stuck in the fiction area in the first 25-minutes, that never happened. I’d love to see you try and not get sucked into the vortex of never-ending shelves and multiple floors of new and second-hand books.
When someone recommends me a Japanese cultural attraction in a western city there’s a 50% chance that I’ll actually go. Having grown up with temples, shrines and lacquer in my everyday, I find it hard to be positively stimulated by it like so many others in the world. So when my friend told me that I just HAD to go to the Portland Japanese Garden (in all caps lock and bold), I thought heck why not. And my god, what a wonderful place it proved to be. Nestled in Washington Park on the edge of Portland in what was formerly a zoo, there you can find a tea house, gallery, an intimate walkway connecting you to the eight garden sites -and more. For me, it truly felt like I was back in Japan when I would purposefully take a long meandering route home knowing that there was a shrine and some tranquility. Be sure to make your way there at some point.