Ten Reasons I Love Portland April 25, 2010
Posted by pinchaque in Adventures in Beer, Travel.Tags: beer, cupcakes, doughnuts, portland, travel
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Earlier this month I completed another fact-finding mission: figuring out if I really truly love Portland, Oregon. Amanda and I first visited Portland in 2005 after a glowing recommendation from my brother. Since then I’ve been longing to go back: to explore the endless shelves at Powell’s books and sample what some claim to be the best pizza in America.
The cats like to help us pack
1. The Weather
When I saw that the forecast was for rain all weekend, I knew this would be the first trial of my love. Plus, we weren’t renting a car, so we walked around in the chilly (40-50deg) rain all weekend. This did not dampen my spirits one bit. I really enjoy overcast weather because it cuts down on sunburn and keeps things cool. Plus there are so many wonderful green trees and lawn there.
2. Voodoo Doughnut
We learned about Voodoo Doughnut on the Food Network and of course had to visit their downtown location. The first time we went there (Friday morning) the line was out the door and we would have waited for 30mins just to get our doughnuts. So we went to Stumptown Coffee Roasters (also great!) instead and vowed to return.
Breakfast at Stumptown Coffee Roasters
The second day was much less busy and gave us a chance to peruse their funky menu and order up some sugary concoctions for the days ahead. We started with a Triple Chocolate Penetration (yes, it’s topped with Coco Puffs) and something that was topped with Cap’n Crunch cereal. What’s amazing is how well the cereal worked by adding just enough crunch to an otherwise soft and delicious doughnut. The sugar balance was also just right.
Cap'n Crunch doughnut
Triple Chocolate Penetration doughnut
For breakfast the next day we grabbed a blue-raspberry-cotton-candy flavored one and their namesake Voodoo Doll doughnut, which is filled with raspberry jelly that looks like blood when you bite into it. Yum!
Blue raspberry and Voodoo Doughnut
3. Friendly Service
One consistent thing we noticed is that service there was universally friendly: from the baristas to the bartenders to the servers. People were willing to take time to explain things to you and always had a smile. It certainly made our trip even more enjoyable.
4. Deschutes Brewpub
We always try to hit as many breweries and brewpubs as possible, and this trip was no exception. My favorite of the bunch was Deschutes Brewpub because the food, beer, ad location were all excellent. We actually ended up going there twice.
Beer sampler at Deschutes
The interior space has a modern warehouse feel to it and the restrooms have gigantic urinals. Amanda was on a venison kick so she had elk stew one day and the elk burger the next.
Elk stew at Deschutes Brewpub
I had the Reuben sandwich and the Blue Bacon burger. They offer generous beer samplers and even have a special/seasonal beer menu that you can choose from. I’m really glad we didn’t have to drive anywhere afterwards.
Enjoying a Belgian beer at Deschutes
5. Artisan Distilleries
One of the surprises of the trip was running into a couple places who made their own spirits. Our first night there we went to McMenamin’s Ringler’s Annex which is tucked in the basement in a triangle-shaped block. Upon finishing our panini-centric meal and imbibing a couple of their house beers, we spotted their Alambic “13″ Brandy and realized we had to get that. It was served warm by precariously positioning a brandy snifter over a glass of warm water, which releases the intoxicating aromas.
Our second encounter with artisan distillation happened at the Rogue Public House, where after having enjoyed a couple of their fine ales we decided to move on to the hard stuff: hazelnut spiced rum, spruce gin, pink gin, and probably some others I’m not remembering. I’m not a big gin fan, but the Rogue incarnations were amazing. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that trying artisan spirits there and at McMenamins was a revelation.
6. Cupcake Jones
After drinking at Rogue we had the munchies, and my phone told me there were cupcakes nearby. We found ourselves at Cupcake Jones where we could point-point at the ones we wanted to devour. Those first couple were gone so fast we didn’t even have time to take pictures (nor can I remember the flavors), so we went back the next day just so that I could bring you this fine shot of their chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake.
Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake
7. Powell’s Books
What else is there to say, other than Powell’s is a full city block and 4+ stories high (depending on how you count, since the stories don’t cover the full block)? One neat thing is that, at Powell’s, they intermix used and new books so that you aren’t limited to what is still in print. They even have a rare book room. I spent a lot of time in their humor and art sections, and also scoped out some good cycling books.
8. Hawthorne Blvd Food & Beer Extravaganza
One of our side trips was to do a pub crawl down Hawthorne Blvd, with the final dinner destination being a pizza place we didn’t make it to last time: Apizza Scholls. We started at the Lucky Labrador Brew Pub, where we enjoyed a couple of their beers, a pulled pork sandwich, and some unshelled peanuts. The pub has a very open feel but was a little more grungy than Deschutes. The food was unadventurous and so-so but the beer was tasty.
Our next stop was Roots Brewing Company, just one block away. The food menu there looked tasty but we stayed away, preserving our appetite. They had a great selection of beers to offer in their reasonably priced sampler, including the unique heather ale and the tasty Festivus. You knew it was a working brewery because the whole placed smelled like boiling and fermenting beer. This was a great stop and certainly a place to get some food next visit.
Beer sampler at Roots Brewing Company
We then hopped back on the bus and made our way further down Hawthorne. At our next stop we visited a couple shops including a mystery bookstore (Murder By The Book), Powell’s Home & Garden (yes, they’re so big they have specialized satellite bookstores), and a neat Italian market.
Our last destination of the evening was Apizza Scholls, which is well known for making a high-quality pizza with fresh ingredients. It had also been featured on TV and we tried to go here last time we were in Portland but it had been closed for Memorial Day weekend. This time we showed up at 4:30 to wait in a ~20-person line for their 5pm opening. Service was slow at first as they struggled to deal with the glut of people right at opening. Their beer list included a local (homebrew?) IPA that Amanda got, and I stuck with a non-alcoholic birch beer.
Invasive Species IPA by Porches Brewing Company
We ordered their sausage pizza, figuring that a homemade sausage would beat out pepperoni. It was an excellent pie, but to be honest I was expecting it to be more transcendent than it was. I’m a big fan of Blind Lady Ale House here in San Diego, and I’d say they offer just as good of pizza with more unique ingredients (love the poblano chorizo one) and a better beer selection.
Apizza Scholls sausage pizza
9. Portland Saturday Market
In spite of 30-degree temperatures with driving wind and rain, there was an amazing array of vendors at the Portland Saturday Market. What sets this apart from other street markets is the quality of crafts and selection of booths. There is a great selection of food items, cute haberdashery, and some great art involving utensils. The only thing we bought was a catnip-filled body pillow for the cats – about as much fun as you can have for $6.
Zephyr with catnip body pillow
10. They Don’t Have Earthquakes
Well, I guess there hasn’t been one yet. The 7.2 San Diego earthquake happened while we were still up in Portland and we returned home to a mess of tumbled CDs and some terrified cats. Actually it was interesting and fortunate that the only things that fell were my CDs – the glasses stayed put in the cabinets.
Earthquake aftermath
Athena hiding after the earthquake
Beer and BBQ in Austin, the Live Music Capital November 23, 2008
Posted by pinchaque in 101 Things, Adventures in Beer.Tags: 101things, beer, travel
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Congress St and the Capital Building
Last weekend we took our yearly trip to a previously unvisited city: Austin. The lure of live music, Texas BBQ, and eclectic shops was too much to resist! We’d heard lots of good things about Austin previously: that it was the most liberal city in Texas, that it has a wide variety of delicious food, and there were fun things to do. So we booked our plane, picked our hotel, and made a weekend out of it!
Food Network Redux
One of the inspirations for our trip were our Food Network Friends, Rachael Ray and Gui Fieri. Rachael had visited Austin a while back on $40-a-day and bought some cowboy boots that Amanda was jealous of. Guy had visited a dive bar named “Casino El Camino” with some big burgers, so we just had to go there.
The Highlights
Salt Lick BBQ
- Barbecue. More specifically Salt Lick BBQ and Lambert’s BBQ. Texas is known for it’s brisket and both of these places had wonderful examples. Was everything you’d expect out of a roadside establishment that’s clearly grown with its fame: plastic dishes, no alcohol served, but excellent food. Lambert’s was more gourmet and located downtown, but was equally tasty. It makes me wonder why these types of places don’t exist in San Diego. Is it we don’t have access to the cattle? Or we can’t get licenses to smoke meat?
- Friendly Folks. Everywhere we went people were friendly, helpful, and smiling, like they were happy you were visiting! From the gentleman at the Enterprise-Rent-a-Car kiosk and the bartenders at all the dive bars we hit, to the cleaning staff at our hotel and the museum curators, we really felt welcome.
- Austin Museum of Art. They only had two exhibits but both were awesome. “Chair” was a collaborative exhibition featuring chairs that fit into 8″x8″x8″ cubes constructed by dozens of artists. “Workers” consisted of black & white photographs by Salgado celebrating/commemorating manual labor around the world.
- O’Henry House Museum. Best known for his story “The Gift of the Magi,” O’Henry was an author who stayed for a while in Austin and then eventually fled the country on embezzlement charges. The modest house featured fun period objects, furniture, and wallpaper (some actually owned by the O’Henry family) along with a friendly curator to help explain it all.
- Mansion at Judge’s Hill. Our hotel of choice used to be a treatment center for alcoholics. In spite of the ironic appropriateness of this, it was quite luxurious and conveniently located.
- Interesting shops on South Congress, such as the Uncommon Objects store and a couple Latin American (a.k.a. dia de los muertos) shops. Also this is where Amanda bought her COWBOY BOOTS so she could be like Rachael Ray.
- The Draught House Pub & Brewery. The beer scene wasn’t as great as we had hoped (see below), but this pub had a great selection albeit an overly cautious bartender who kept warning us the beers we were ordering were high in alcohol. (Yes, we know, that’s why we’re ordering them. Don’t worry, we’re from San Diego, we can handle it!)
- Book People. An awesome book store on Lamar St. Took a couple hours to make it through. In spite of my goal of not buying books until I get my to-read shelf down to 10, I just had to buy a book about how to entertain my indoor cats (including building an in-home jungle).
- Lovejoy’s. An utter dive. No-smoking signs that everyone ignored. No food served. I watched them cool a 6-pack of Guinness in a dirty bucket full of ice. BUT they had a great selection of beers and friendly bartenders. Amazingly enough, recommended!
- Music. The selection of live shows was overwhelming (no way to see them all), and the one we did choose at Amsterdam Cafe was great. I think that it was the singer’s mom that kept going up to people to ask if they had paid their $5.00 cover charge–hilarious. Having this selection of dozens of bands all within walking distance is a great plus!
What Didn’t Impress
Austin at Sunset
- The Beer. Apparently Texas law prevents breweries from selling or offering tasters of their own beer. In order to dispose of their beer they need to run a restaurant or give it to bars! So we weren’t able to visit any true breweries. Furthermore, the brewing culture just doesn’t seem to be as developed there. The local beers we did try were more on the fizzy-yellow side of the spectrum, and when we ordered dark beers we got strange looks. There were some real winners at the Draught House, but overall I would say Austin is not a beer city.
- Warehouse District. This is the sleezy bar district of Austin, where all the college kids go for a good time. Think of it as the Bourbon Street of Austin. That’s not a good thing. They apparently never power-wash the streets (which they seem to do weekly in San Diego). The buildings are run down, so don’t go during the day.
- Casino El Camino. I like Guy Fieri and all, but he was off on this one. The burger was mediocre after a 45-minute wait. Chili cheese fries were good. Beer selection was bad. It was like a normal bar plus a couple of gargoyles, black paint, and 3/4 lb burgers (best split between two people).
- Tex-Mex Food. Between Taco Xpress (another Food Network recommendation that fell short) and Torchy’s Tacos, I think I can definitively conclude that Tex-Mex food has absolute nothing on San Diego Mex food. The El Pastor was good at both places, but I definitely give Torchy’s tacos the edge in this battle of two touted taco establishments. But overall nothing matches the glory of San Diego mexican.
- The Bats. They are supposed to fly out from Congress Ave bridge around sunset but were apparently on holiday or had already migrated.
The Verdict
Chuck by the University of Texes at Austin Longhorn
We had a great time in the short time we were in Austin! We had some of the best BBQ we’d ever had and got to try a new selection of beers at the local breweries. It seems like this would be a city in which you could always find something to do, whether that’s eating, drinking, listening to music, visiting historic buildings, or viewing art. It’s a big city with little geographic features, so I found it somewhat less aesthetically pleasing than Colorado Springs or Portland, two of my favorites. Those were both incredibly green, which I guess comes from all that rain they get! We look forward to our next visit to Austin, and in the mean time I will enjoy crossing “Visit a new state” off my 101 things list!
