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Endurance is a useful trait in many endeavors. Food and restaurant writing is one of them. You never know when you might be called upon to write about a half-dozen places under a tight deadline. Being full is no excuse when you have only made it halfway through the required complement of meals. Of course, there are far worse problems to have. But try telling that to your groaning gut.
So, you slog on: Eat, taste, take notes, repeat. Training and experience helps. So does a love of food and writing. I have been at it for 20 years or so. I know the drill, and I never get tired of it. This list is a reflection of my culinary peregrinations in and around town over the past year. You don’t need to get to them all in one day, but by all means, give them all a try.
Cortado at Push X Pull
821 SE Stark St., pushxpullcoffee.com. 8 am-3 pm daily.
A morning cortado at Push X Pull is how I start just about every day. If you have not heard about this special spot already, let me clue you in: It buys and roasts almost exclusively natural-process and similarly treated beans. Without getting too technical, naturals are not removed from the coffee cherry during the post-harvest fermentation process, which imparts flavor, unlike the more common washed coffees, where the fruit is removed immediately. The cortado, with equal proportions of espresso and steamed milk, is my favorite here, but the nitrogen-charged cold brew offers clean flavors and is perfect when the weather is warm. The bright, high-ceilinged, airy cafe has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, along with incredibly friendly staff. So, feel free to linger (there’s a Wi-Fi password, too) and maybe buy a bag of beans to take home for the days when you can’t make it in.
Cheese Medley at Cowbell
231 SE Alder St., 503-946-8485, cowbellpdx.com. Noon-6 pm Wednesday-Sunday.
Just a short stroll from Push X Pull is one of Portland’s best spots to buy cheese. Cowbell is fairly under the radar, located in the Produce Row area, and began primarily as a wholesale distributor to Portland restaurants, but ramped up retail sales as the pandemic mushroomed. It is not a restaurant, but let’s face it: There are still those who prefer to minimize their time among crowds, and times when it makes more sense to gather supplies for a nice spread at home or in a park. Cowbell will set you up. Though the selection changes according to season, there will reliably be six dozen or so cheeses to choose from. And sampling is allowed. Perhaps go with a chestnut leaf-wrapped disk of O’Banon, a gooey goat from Capriole creamery of Greenville, Ind.; a classic, aged Italian Parmesano-Reggiano; and the rich, sweet wine-injected French blue called fourme au moelleux. Add some cured meat and bread or crackers and you have a fine meal.
Afternoon Tea at Skywater Tea House
1601B SE River Road, Hillsboro, 971-427-4576, skywaterteahouse.com. 11 am-3 pm Wednesday-Sunday.
After coffee and a cheese board brunch, it’s time to make a jaunt to the former hinterlands of Hillsboro. That is where Skywater Tea House is located, and its afternoon tea service is testament to the city’s evolution. The business is the passion project of Hans Ramos, a first-time restaurant owner with vision as well as a knowledgeable, doting spouse, Neil Thompson, who owns a nearby wine shop also named Skywater. The tea house setting is like wandering into your favorite auntie’s living room, decorated with intricately painted teapots and porcelain plates, only the couch and overstuffed easy chairs have been replaced with tables. Afternoon tea is a simple affair—not to be confused with high tea, which is more like a full meal. Ramos begins service by making recommendations, from subtle whites to bold pu’ers to infusions in an assortment of flavors. Tea arrives along with a three-tiered tower holding crustless sandwiches, scones and petite pastries. Side plates of condiments and fresh fruit complete the experience. What a perfect spot for a day date or to catch up with old friends.
A Multicourse Dinner at okta
618 NE 3rd St., McMinnville, 503-376-5353, oktaoregon.com. 5-10 pm Wednesday-Saturday, Noon-3 pm Sunday.
A festive dinner at okta awaits those willing to wander nearly an hour south to downtown McMinnville in the heart of Willamette Valley wine country. This is Matt Lightner’s roost, and a meal here is a multicourse stunner. The weekend array might include a dozen and a half intricately conceived dishes that combine perfectly calibrated flavors, textures and presentations. If you didn’t already know about Lightner’s internationally recognized culinary wizardry from his days in New York City, his preternatural skill and creativity will become more evident with the arrival of each succeeding course. It’s difficult to pin down a favorite; the menu changes frequently. But a late September opening bowl of luxurious, buttery custard topped with delicately blistered corn kernels and a colorful array of botanicals practically shouted, “Welcome to Oregon autumn!” A glistening slab of amber beet also impressed. The root was cut lengthwise and presented over a pool of frothed Dungeness crab sabayon with nasturtium leaf and petals alongside. These were most impressive to me. You might get something completely different. Either way, okta is an island of elegant abandon to be savored in any season.
Pasta at Dame or the Duck Platter at Arden
2930 NE Killingsworth St., 503-227-2669, damerestaurant.com. 5-10 pm Thursday-Sunday. 417 NW 10th Ave., 503-206-6097, ardenpdx.com. 5 pm-close Tuesday-Saturday.
Unwilling to drive to McMinnville? That’s all right. In Portland proper, I have twin dinner recommendations. Both Dame and Arden are wine bars with food that may make you forget about the wine. If you remember one word about Dame, let it be “pasta.” Though the menu is replete with hard-to-skip items, after a day of dining, perk up your palate with a plate of the spicy squid ink bucatini. The noodles are like thick, hollow spaghetti and black as a long winter night. The heat in the brilliantly complex broth, from Fresno chiles, is no joke. And plump, perfectly cooked shrimp complete the plate. If you can still manage another morsel, or you prefer the west side of the Willamette to Dame’s location in Northeast, you could nosh on one of Erik Van Kley’s wildly creative opening plates at Arden, or finish strong with an entree that has anchored the menu mostly unchanged: the duck platter, with confit leg and thigh, pan-seared breast, plus mushroom vol-au-vent with miso creamed kale. Knowing dessert is still ahead, you might want to bring reinforcements.
Fresh Fruit Sorbet at Pinolo Gelato
3707 SE Division St., 503-719-8686, pinologelato.com. Noon-9 pm Sunday-Thursday, noon-10 pm Friday-Saturday.
Pinolo Gelato remains at the pinnacle of Portland frozen confection parlors for good reason. Sandro Paolini, Pinolo’s lanky Italian operator, is a flavor master. His compact range of uncomplicated offerings is pitch perfect in taste and texture. After a daylong dining trek, a cup of Pinolo fresh fruit sorbet is the ideal finish. These sorbets tend to taste more like fresh fruit than the fruit itself. It is uncanny. But Paolini has been doing this for years now. The only problem is that the fruits he uses—no purees or other gross stuff—arrive and depart with frightening frequency. Often the fruit comes in small quantities from friends’ gardens. Lemon is a near-constant, but the seasonal standouts from various species of berry, stone fruit and melon can be maddeningly difficult to pin down. Of course, you could do what I do and drop by Pinolo every day from July through September, or simply stalk the Pinolo Instagram feed, @pinologelato.