The Best Things We Ate at Feast Portland 2014
In the land of New York City, which we of Bon Appétit inhabit, celery is green, a Ramos Gin Fizz is something that takes, like, an hour to shake, and a sandwich is two pieces of bread and a cow's worth of meat in the middle. But things are different in the magical, mystical land of Portland, Oregon, which we descended upon this past weekend for the five days of indulgence known as Feast Portland. Here are some of our editors' discoveries, old favorites, and unforgettable meals from the trip.
Via Flickr user John Pastor; flickr.com/ttkgeek1/14Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Spicy Wings at Whiskey Soda Lounge
"Late night at Whiskey Soda Lounge, I had the intent to eat one wing and ended up eating 10. Going to Portland and not eating these wings is like going to Buffalo and not going to Anchor Bar. I know it's an obvious choice, but obvious can still be delicious!"—Adam Rapoport, editor in chief
Instagram.com/yungbludlau2/14Mixed Meat Platter at Nong's Khao Man Gai
"Nong's is dope because the chef manages to keep her menu simple and does the Hainanese chicken and rice dish (here with pork, ginger sauce, and fermented soy) so well, retaining all the flavors. It's probably the only place I'll wait in line for."—Alex Lau, staff photographer
Andrew Knowlton3/14Tomatoes with Jacobsen Salt at the Oregon Grand Bounty Tasting
"When I left for Portland, I thought I had had my last summer tomato, but then—bam!—I spotted these beauties in the Bon Appétit tent at the Grand Tasting. Tomatoes and Jacobsen salt: good way to end the season."—Andrew Knowlton, restaurant and drinks editor
instagram.com/juliakramer4/14Salt & Straw Ice Cream Sandwich at the Sandwich Invitational
"After I tasted 14 sandwiches at this event, it was hard for a few of them not to blur together. But no one in their right mind could forget the mind-blowing ice-cream sandwich from mind-blowing ice-cream company Salt & Straw."—Julia Kramer, associate restaurant editor
instagram.com/lallimusic5/14Stuffed Squid at Sen Yai
"Charles Phan's squid, stuffed with pork and rice noodles, was an awesome first course at the collaborative dinner that the Slanted Door chef did with Andy Ricker at Sen Yai."—Carla Lalli Music, food editor
Andrew Knowlton6/14Bloody Mary at Olympic Provisions Southeast
"Needless to say, I had a few Bloody Marys over the weekend. The best was the Olympic Mary with a pickled egg, shallot, zucchini, and salami skewer at Olympic Provisions Southeast."—Andrew Knowlton
via Instagram: instagram.com/avagenes7/14Red Celery Salad at Ava Gene's
"The salad at the Hot 10 dinner was a testament to Joshua McFadden's vegetable wizardry. The combination of red celery, these amazing super-crisp Tokyo Rose apples, salted peanuts, and herbs was the perfect mid-course to a long meal."—Adam Rapoport
Andrew Knowlton8/14Drinks at Clyde Common
"By my count, I had something like 20 cocktails over the weekend at our hotel's bar, Clyde Common. Old German, apparently made by Latrobe Brewing Company, is basically Rolling Rock in a retro hipster can. I ordered the Bandol just to balance things out."—Andrew Knowlton
Instagram.com/lillisherman9/14Smorbrod with Pickled Rockfish at Maurice
"Maurice, one of our 10 Best New Restaurants of 2014, was as delightful and lovely in person as it looked in the magazine. I could eat this tartine with pickled rockfish, cucumbers, tomatoes, and dill for breakfast, lunch, or an afternoon snack probably every day."—Julia Kramer
Instagram.com/alxgrossmn10/14Soup at Ha VL
"The morning after all those 50/50s..and etc...there's only one place to go: the legendary Ha VL, the world's greatest Vietnamese soup place. We met Andy Ricker, who by his estimates has eaten there 1,000 times. It's the ultimate hangover fixer-upper."—Andrew Knowlton
instagram.com/lillisherman11/14Frozen Ramos Gin Fizz at the Tillamook Brunch Village
"Evan Zimmerman (formerly of Woodsman Tavern) made a Ramos Fizz slushie—blended gin, citrus juice, cream, vanilla bean, and orange flower water, topped with freshly grated nutmeg—and it was the best thing I had all weekend."—Lilli Sherman, public relations
Instagram.com/lallimusic12/14Lunch at Roman Candle Baking Co.
"You can't beat a lunch of Roman Candle's kale salad, farro salad (with pistachios, carrots, dates and ricotta), and pizza blanca topped with prosciutto in the full sun of a 90-degree Portland day."—Carla Lalli Music
Facebook/Kachka13/14Herring Under A Fur Coat at Kachka
"Somehow, through the fog of many, many shots of vodka, I can still remember how gorgeous and delicious this layered terrine of potatoes, herring, beets, hard-boiled egg and onion was. It was one of about 100 zakuski (cold shared plates, mostly featuring smoked fish) that we tried at Kachka, a newish Russian spot."—Julia Kramer
Instagram.com/alxgrossmn14/1450/50s at Pepe Le Moko
"Bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler's underground spot was one our top five best new bars in America. I usually end the night here, but Thursday night, [creative director] Alex Grossman and I started out here, with my go-to drink: the 50/50."—Andrew Knowlton
