fter hearing such good things about Portland, Oregon
we were very much looking forward
to seeing the place for ourselves.
Our first night was reserved at the lovely Vintage
Plaza Hotel downtown. This smart, boutique hotel’s
interior decorating theme was wine...how apt. We arrived
early evening into the airport and caught the excellent
MAX public transport
light-rail system right into downtown for $1.50!
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The Hotel Vintage Plaza carries
its wine theme throughout the hotel
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The Hotel Vintage Plaza’s small, inviting lobby houses
a welcoming fireplace surrounded by books and cozy conversation
areas in rich dark colours, leather and woods. Rising up
from the lobby entry level is a stunning atrium that towers
all the way up to the roof, adorned in long trailing, tendrils
of pothos vines. This hotel is in a very convenient position,
easy for all things downtown, restaurants, theaters, galleries
and shops as well as the transport systems.
Built in 1894 the hotel is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. All 107 guest rooms are named for,
and dedicated to Oregon wineries and vineyards.
The 21 suites offer ‘Starlight Rooms’ with conservatory
style windows and ‘Garden Suites’ with outdoor
hot tubs. All rooms have fully stocked honor bars, complimentary
shoe shine and newspapers, 24 hour room service, speaker
phones with dataports, valet parking, irons and ironing
boards. Most rooms also have 2 person jetted soaking tubs.
They have more than 5,000 square feet of unique and flexible
meeting and banquet spaces, plus a fitness center.
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Pazzo Ristorante in the Hotel
Vintage Plaza features delicious,
modern Italian cuisine
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We checked into our comfortable room in golds, purples
and dark greens, with a lovely bed and soft linens. We
then headed for Pazzo Ristorante
downstairs, adjoining the lobby. This was buzzing on a
Wednesday night, but it was a great find and wonderful
to relax in after travelling all day from Florida. This
was definitely the furthest we’ve travelled for dinner!
This large, cozy, busy and happy creamed walled area was
fitted with generous black wood booths and a gorgeous,
old moulded ceiling. A pub-type atmosphere with great modern
Italian food happening from the bustling open cucina.
As our eating clock was rather off with the time change
we chose a selection of small plates...our favourite way
to eat. The Tri-Cicchetti; duck liver pate on toasts, fresh
mozzarella in olive oil and marinated mushrooms and the
unusual Carpaccio D’Agnello; Willamette Valley lamb,
summer truffle vinaigrette and grana parmesan were both
excellent. An enormous plate of breads also arrived for
us, fresh and warm, made right next door in their own bakery.
We ordered some wonderful vegetable dishes with this. A
sadly lacking option in most restaurants. We very much
enjoyed the young beets agrodolce and the braised escarole,
old, dark earthy flavours, yum!
Manager Jennifer and server Neena took good care of us.
My husband Neal then chose the Ravioli Salmone Bianco e
Nero, which was really delicious black and white ravioli
stuffed with salmon, baby spinach and a divine lemon cream.
Our perfect desserts were the Panna Cotta with rhubarb
compote semi-freddo and a chocolate cake layered with pistachio
ice cream. You can’t get much better than my comment
after...that the food was just what I’d hoped for
and imagined prior to arriving.
After a lazy morning enjoying the hotel and a light room
service continental breakfast we headed out to find the
trusty Gray Line City Tour
bus, which made a stop right nearby at the venerable Benson
Hotel. This place had a fabulous lobby with soaring ceilings,
wood-paneling and the biggest mirror on the stairway I
had ever seen. Worth a peek!
This three hour tour was interesting, informative and
relaxing, especially as there was a light drizzle of rain.
We checked in for tickets at the Gray Line office in the
Embassy Suites Hotel.
Even this huge building had some amazing ceilings and mouldings
worth seeing. Here in the lobby I had my first shoe shine,
also worth it!
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Beautiful gardens are in and
around Portland.
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Earl, our driver, was great and started with the fact that
the Portland of 30 years ago was very run-down and neglected.
Over the last 20 years it has greatly benefitted from a
beautification and renovation project, and from 2,000 people
living downtown then, there are now 20,000. These changes
included tearing down warehouses along the riverfront in
favour of tree-lined riverwalks and parks.
Bike stands are everywhere as well as on the buses and
MAX. A healthy lot here in Oregon! The climate is conducive
to outdoor activities all year due to the surprisingly
much more temperate climate than the NE coast of the USA.
Pioneer Square, the hub of the city, was packed with people
lunching to the sounds of an open-air concert. Very nice.
The wide but gentle Willamette River, (emphasis on the
AMette we found out), was named after an Indian tribe and
despite being 105 miles from the ocean, Portland grew up
as a deep sea port, also due to the lack of roadways. Here
is the largest import of Japanese cars and export of grain.
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The historic Pittock Mansion,
what a family!
Lovely views along the Willamette River.
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The Willamette is a major tributary of the larger Columbia
River to the north, that runs to the Pacific Ocean.The
sycamore lined streets and much low-rise red brick buildings
with flowers and TLC showing makes for an attractive small
city, very user friendly, with free MAX transport in the
downtown area.
We stopped and visited the Pittock
Mansion atop a hillside west of the town affording
great views of the surrounding Cascade Mountains, including
Mt. Hood on a clear day. Beautiful. Another stop was at
the Washington Park with the Oregon Metro Zoo and attractive
Rose Garden with a great little store...all things roses.
Portland, after all, is the “City of Roses.” The fir
trees here were huge and stunning, alone worthy of seeing.
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The room and restaurant of the
conveniently located
Four Points Sheraton Hotel
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We then transferred hotels, for a change of scene, to the
Four Points Sheraton Hotel,
on the river. This location on Waterfront Park, overlooking
the Willamette River and the Portland skyline is great
for long walks or cycling riverside yet still close to
downtown walking or a hop on the Max.
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Powell's Books the legendary
independent book store in Portland
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The hotel comprises 140 well-appointed guest rooms, (we
do like these smaller hotels), as well as several meeting,
banquet and function facilities plus a 15 person board
room with a view of the river. There is use of Gold’s
Gym adjacent and close by are the Trade Center, Museums
and History Center.
Happy Shopping There is no sales
tax on any purchasein the “Beaver State.”
Our dinner reservations were at the well-known steakhouse
Morton’s Steakhouse
In fact our first visit to one. The group has been on operation
for 26 years, this one here in Portland in its sixth year.
Scott, G.M. and Maitre d’, welcomed us and obviously
ran a ‘tight ship,’ with the service being professional
from greeting to goodbyes. He told us of a recent auction,
a Beringer/Morton collaboration, of an 1,150 glass wine
bottle...four and a half feet tall and five feet around
of Cabernet!
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Morton’s Steakhouse shows
their
beef in its natural state and then presents it
in dramatic fashion
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The dining room was medium sized, dark and inviting with
muted lighting and fresh white table cloths. Booths and
dark wood retro seating were available. A private adjoining
room, (for 60-170), was busy in use too.
Our server Lisa was excellent and brought the presentation
cart first with all the huge raw cuts of meat examples
which was different, rather off-putting we thought! All
excellent quality of course and offered with three different
sauces.
The Broiled Sea Scallops wrapped in bacon with apricot
chutney and the Lobster Bisque appetizers were very good.
We then shared the Single Cut Filet Mignon with Sauce Bearnaise,
Lyonnaise potatoes and sauteed wild mushrooms. Very delicious
and plenty for two. The French Margaux at $65 was one of
the lower priced and was a great complement to our meal.
When ordering our entree, we had to make the premature
decision of whether to order the Chocolate Pudding or Souffle
for dessert, both of which needed extra baking time. However
this proved to be a good move as the pudding was absolutely
divine. Again sharing was more than enough. The rest of
the dessert selection was small but looked good also. This
was a fine place for major meat lovers and with an uncomplicated
menu, as was attested by the eager diners filling the restaurant.
After a comfortable night, the bed was excellent, we met
up with lovely Sales Manager for the Four Points Sheraton,
Sandy Resare. We enjoyed
a light breakfast and coffee while sharing travel stories
and histories in the hotel restaurant Riverside, overlooking
the Willamette. Sandy had been a great help putting this
leg of our journey together. We were then ready to head
for a shop in Pioneer Square, via the Max and then over
to famous Huber’s, Portland’s oldest restaurant,
(1879), for a light lunch and their infamous Spanish coffee.
Wow! that’s strong, but deeeelicious.
W e then spent a very pleasant two hours on the river boat,
Portland Spirit, for
a cruise on the Willamette River. The weather was much
improved and a short walk along the river to the boat was
part of this lovely day. The boat was clean and very well
run, we found a great spot and very much liked the relaxing
time with views of upscale residents and attractive river
bank areas along the way. This was a late afternoon cruise
but dinner and lunch cruises were also available with bars
and dining. With 350 dining seats offered there was plenty
of space and with over 500 total possible passengers there
was no need to reserve our places. This was a great find
that was very enjoyable.
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Dine as in Peru when at
Andina Restaurant
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Andina Restaurant is
to be found in Portland’s Pearl District, another
renovated area, busy and tres hip. With more than 40 restaurants,
30 art galleries and 50 furniture shops among loft apartments
and townhomes, this is the Soho of Portland. No apologies
in advance for me raving about this restaurant. We fancied
trying the Peruvian place, how often do you find that?
We were very impressed. Andina means Peruvian woman. The
lovely and interesting Platt-Rodriguez family have been
running this place for over a year, with New Zealander
manager Jels, overseeing operations. We had a very nice
chat with gracious matriarch Doris, originally from a northern
village in Peru at 7,500 feet above sea level!
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Decadent desserts made them
hard to leave
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The menu, work of the family, Executive
Chef Emmanuel Piqueras Villaran and Sous
Chef Arran Stark, was very full and fascinating
and it took some time to make our choices with the help
of our excellent server Julie, very knowledgeable, smiley
and friendly, with a Cuban background enabling her wonderful
pronunciation.
We tried a Sacsay huaman, a cocktail with Rocoto Pepper
infused Vodka, passion fruit purée sugar and cilantro.
Delish! Then we had the soup of the day, the gazpacho.
This was amazing, so light and different, of puréed water
melon, yellow chili and fresh ginger. Not as easy as it
sounds as I discovered trying to replicate it at home.
The restaurant was spacious, inviting and vibrant with
pine floors and natural wood ceilings. The kitchen was
open and a buzz with action but a nearby musical trio had
a calming effect.
There was a great atmosphere, dignified and sophisticated
with rich earthtone walls and booths.
Following tastings commenced with the Cazuela de Quinoa
y Hongos; a creamy vegetable quinoa risotto with fresh-picked
wild mushrooms, white truffle oil and aji Amarillo. Quinoa
is a very high protein grain and very nutritious, delicious.
Next came the Pez Escolar, (a robust white fish), with
mango, ginger and shrimp ravioli, sweet potato cucurucho
seasoned with three sauces; the spicy shrimp stock, chive
oil and a rocoto pepper-passionfruit honey. What a culinary
adventure, this was fun. Then the Pecho de Pato con Salsa
de sauco y Foie Gras Anticuchado. This a magret of duck
accompanied by foie gras marinated with aji Amarillo served
with a sweet currant sauce and Peruvian purple potatoes.
So good.
On the weekends, “Mama’s specials” are
offered, Doris’ traditional dishes from Colonial Peru.
All are rustic, regional and entirely homemade.
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The user-friendly MAX line
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The Pearl District with more than
40 restaurants, 30 art galleries and 50 furniture shops
among loft apartments and townhomes, this is the Soho of
Portland
Our last tasting was the Lomo
Saltado con Yuca and Arroz; tenderloin strips of
Oregon Painted Hills organic grass-fed beef, wok-fried
with onions, tomatoes, soy sauce, garlic and aji, served
with rice and fried yuca. This was also very good. We liked
the family type affair where the servers all helped each
other. So much nicer than not being able to get a refilled
water or another request due to your server disappearing
from you!
The desserts sounded wonderful, plus Ports, dessert wines,
Madeiras and special coffees. Our final treat tastings
were the Cronologia de Chocolate, a tasting of Equatorial
Chocolates matched with Peruvian flavours: divine; and
the ‘pecial’ Fresh Mango Torte with passion fruit,
so different with a luscious tang.
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A favorite Portland tradition
is the Saturday Market
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This place is truly a great find, please make time for
a meal here when in Portland you’ll be glad you did!
After room service coffee only for breakfast...surprise,
surprise! we readied to check out. But before leaving Portland
we wanted to experience the large and famous Saturday Market
with its eclectic artisan offerings, cafes and entertainments.
This was a good walk from the Sheraton and much needed
exercise. A good couple of hours was spent with amusing
sights and sounds.
The next part of our trip was west to the scenic coast
and a lot more of fabulous Oregon. See our next issue for
more Great Finds in Oregon.
Photos by Neal Finelli
