Pit Stop in Portland-

Pit Stop in Portland-

As we were finalizing our plans for the trip we decided to make a short two night stop in Portland. Two years ago we spent a couple of weeks here and in Willamette and I just love the area. Since then I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to get the hubby to move. In all honesty it is not plausible anytime in the near future but perhaps one day. Hey we all can dream, what would be without them?

My Reasons to Love Portland are simple….
1. The hospitality industry is not over the top but instead geared towards ppl who like to stay in unique and different places. (Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of high end hotels but there are also plenty of options for the rest of us.)
2. It is a great foodie town. Besides for the great restaurants they also have the most amazing farmers markets.
3. A very notable wine industry is just a hop, skip and a jump away.
4. Older homes and buildings with character- I am not going to write about this but just note that I find it to be very important!

Last time we were in town we stayed at this really cool hotel called Kennedy School by the McMenamins. The McMenamins are two brothers who buy old rundown buildings and recreate them into Pubs and Hotels. Two years ago we stayed in a Schoolhouse from 1915 and our room was appropriately named “The Second Grade”. The room came complete with a chalkboard, a large coat rack, and fairytale rhymes. Last night we stayed at another one of their hotels which was called White Eagle and is located in an industrial neighborhood on the north side of town. The building was built in 1905. It turned out to be a cute hotel with only ten rooms. The hotel was setup like a hostel and the rooms were very small with the bathroom and shower being down the hall. Scott walked in and was in shock, this apparently was his first time at “roughing it.”
Luckily for Scott we had booked ourselves at Hotel Monaco for the following night. This hotel turned out to be a treat. It is a Kimpton hotel and way cute! It is a dog friendly hotel and apparently if you are missing your pet they will lend you one of house goldfish for the night. Scott and I debated calling on the goldfish but could not explain how a goldfish would make up for the 150 lbs. Mastiff we were missing. The hotel was cute in other ways in addition to being pet friendly and its fabulous décor, they also provided every room with your own stuffed animal to cuddle, comfy socks, animal printed bathrobes and daily tasting in the “Reading Room.” Plus the hotel staff were top notch. I was called Mrs. Shanks multiple times. As I am still getting accustom to the name…. 5 years later, I was a bit slow to respond at times.
2. During our first trip to Portland we were introduced to a small restaurant called Le Pigeon by our good friend Michele. Michele is an old friend from the early Janos days. It was such a great experience the first time around that we decided to go back for seconds last night. This restaurant is one of the best we have ever enjoyed. In addition it is very small, the seating only includes a chef’s counter of about 10 ppl plus three communal tables that serve about 10 each. So to be served there on a Friday night is an honor. Thankfully, we have Michele to get us in, plus she was able to get us a great table in the corner where we can observe all the action. The food is one of a kind, please refer to pictures and the menu because I cannot describe food well enough to give adequate props to the dishes we tasted this evening. YUM!
http://www.lepigeon.com/

During our Dinner at Le Pigeon I mentioned my love affair of salts. Almost every time we break bread with friends I bring up the fact that I need to learn more about salts. Unfortunately I have yet to follow though, however when I mentioned it to Michele, she got incredibly excited and told us about a salt shop called The Meadow that was close to our hotel. We of course decided to visit this shop first thing the next morning. When we walked in I was instantly saddened by the fact this store was not right down the street from my house. It was the most beautiful store I had ever been to. There was a whole wall full of different salts in little vials, another whole wall full of different sorts of chocolate bars, in the front there was a beautiful table full of assorted flowers and vases, plus in the back of the store there was a table with assorted bitters and wines. After I took about 50 pictures of their shop, we started shopping and I was overwhelmed. Thankfully Michele had mentioned that they carried a few different sets and one that she particular liked was called the Starter Set, "an introduction to the classic artisan salt." I will not bore you with all the details but the set comes with six different salts and a pamphlet on how they are made and when to use them.
Please check out their website www.atthemeadow.com, oh and one of the owners wrote a book called Salted which will be coming out in October. I think I am going to preorder my copy today.

 

 

 

The farmers markets in this town are another example of amazing. At the market at Oregon State University we once again met our friend Michele. She showed us around the market

 

for a bit while we choose; local cheese, tomatoes, cherries, olives, peaches and plums. It was time to fill up the cooler for the Oregon Coast.