"portland oregon" news and stories

Yesterday I picked "Ethiopia Sidamo" from the thermal pot at my fave local coffee shop, on a whim. I almost never go with the boring, ordinary Colombian house blend. Sometimes I'm wowed by my alternative selection, other times it's just coffee.

Color me wowed. I can't get enough of this stuff. It tastes like berries. No lie. And I'm sure you're thinking, coffee that tastes like berries? I totally passed that raspberry-flavored stuff up in the coffee aisle at my grocery store. But this is more a terroir thing (do they call it terroir in coffee?). The coffee beans, they're not that different from grapes, after all. Roasting brings out these amazingly complex and, yes, fruity flavors. According to the roaster, Stumptown Coffee, "The cup is Neopolitan ice cream... Intense chocolate, strawberry and creamy vanilla flavors in every sip." Plus it's organic and fair-trade and ohmigod I am so in love with this coffee. I wish I could give you a taste, you'd never be the same.

Ristretto Roasters, located in Portland, Ore., and one of my favorite cafes in the whole universe recently launched their coffee blog. Written by the fabulous Nancy Rommelmann (wife of Ristretto owner Din Johnson) and other contributors, it's a fun read about all things coffee (and some things not.)

If you live in Portland and you haven't been to Ristretto, you must go. There is nothing like drinking coffee that has been freshly-roasted, or taking home bags of beans still warm from roasting. Any coffee lovers vacationing in Portland should put Ristretto Roasters on their "Things To Do/See/Eat/Drink In Portland" list.

When we lived in Portland, we were lucky enough to live down the street. We'd stop in every day for coffee and conversation.  Now that we are back in San Francisco, I miss their coffee (and Nancy's pumpkin muffins) terribly, but I'm thrilled to see that they now sell their coffee by mail.  I'm going to order some, how 'bout you?

Ristretto Roasters, 3520 NE 42nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon. Tel.: (503) 284-6767.

I'm not what you would call a sushi purist, but I really hate "California rolls" and other constructs meant to make sushi palatable to picky eaters and those fearful of raw fish. My favorite rolls include spicy tuna, barbecued eel, or soft-shelled crab, and I have a guilty love of that spicy mayonnaise served with some tempura rolls.

But when I visited a little sushi joint in downtown Portland at the insistence of my three-year-old son (he loves "slushli" and has been eating barbecued eel since before he was one), I almost didn't order the peanut sauce roll. But it had everything I love in one roll - spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, tempura shrimp. And Thai-flavored peanut sauce. Why not?

I tried it, and though I felt a little silly, I loved it. It's terribly frou-frou and not "real" sushi. But it's good. I don't know - it works for me. Would you order such a silly piece of sushi?

[Photo Sarah Gilbert]

I ate my Danish for D-day but didn't get a chance to write about it. Now, I do.

This Danish is... literally... six inches across. It's the most decadent thing for breakfast within a good 17-mile radius, scented with cinnamon and butter, dotted with crumb topping crumbles, sparkling with icing and swirled with raspberry jam. These delectable pastries, in a variety of flavors and many studded with whole blueberries or sliced local peaches, are baked fresh every day by Bowers Bakery in Portland. Just wait until you see the height of this ultra-yummy pastry.

I didn't really believe it, at first. A vegan cupcake? Yet there they were, almost glistening in the rainy late morning light. If any place is going to have a delicious vegan cupcake, I suppose, it would be here, in Portland, Oregon, at this strangely gourmet cafeteria where everything is vegan. The space used to be a the lobby of a grand downtown hotel, but now it's Veganopolis. I've tasted their almond pate, and it was wonderful, so I dared to try the cupcake.

And, yes, it was lovely. I picked the cranberry orange variety 'cause the waitress got teary-eyed in her description. It was fruity, it was pleasingly sweet, the frosting (most importantly) tasted just like buttercream. I still haven't had a chance to call and ask what was in it - silken tofu, maybe, or (yikes) shortening perhaps. Either way, the huge mound of frosting was even more than I dreamed. Too much more, in fact; it was so rich I couldn't finish.

[Photo Sarah Gilbert]