Portland Walking Tours: Epicurean Excursion

I’m on the west coast on my first trip out to Portland, Oregon for the Oldways Whole Grains Conference. I came out here a day early with Corinne to explore the city a bit, along with THE FOOD. Ohhhh the food. I was fully prepared to fill my stomach to the brim with local, organic, seasonal, vegan, food and more, and I did. Upon arriving in Portland, we immediately dropped off our bags and headed to meet our guide for a food tour, recommended to me by my friend Nicole. The Portland Walking Tours: Epicurean Excursion is the one we went on, and we were pleasantly surprised to see we were the only two who would be on that afternoon’s tour! And get this: our tour guide’s (real!) name was Herb. Herb Spice. We knew we’d be in for a real foodie treat.

We started at a chocolate shop called Cacao and sipped on some melted dark (75%) chocolate. It was really delicious – rich, a little fruity, thick, and not too bitter considering how high in cacao it was. Did you know you can only call a food “chocolate” if it has more than 10% cacao in it? That’s why those “chocolate” flavored cereals say things like “chocolatey goodness.” I’m also a huge white chocolate fan and was happy to learn that it IS actually real chocolate, since it is made with cocoa butter!

Next we went on to taste olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I’m getting into the wide variety of flavored balsamics out there and was so excited to stop in Benessere. If I had to narrow down favorites, I’d say the truffle olive oil and the strawberry balsamic vinegar.

Our next stop brought us to the Flying Elephant Delicatessen. We sampled some tomato orange soup. What a neat combo! I couldn’t guess the fruit flavor at first, but loved the subtle citrus flavor. Now I want to try it at home. Let’s see if I can veganize this…I loved that the Delicatessen had some very clear labeling for food allergies, vegetarian, and vegan diets. Rumor has it they have a shop at the airport. I need to find it before catching my flight home!, unless the pending storm has me stranded in Portland forever…

After that we headed to Pearl Bakery, which is so popular, they literally sold out of EVERYTHING by the time we got there! We got to sample a few slices of bread, brownies, and an amazing fig pastry that was like a grown up version of a Fig Newton.

Next to In Good Taste, a mix between a kitchen store and a location to take cooking classes. We sampled some wine, condiments, and truffle salt. I purchased a nice dill sauce that’ll make a great tofu or salmon marinade, along with a $25 container of truffle salt. It is worth every penny, I swear. I cannot wait for truffle salt popcorn…

We sampled mini cupcakes at Cupcake Jones

Before moving on to Hotlips Pizza. This pizza was one of the best I’ve ever had. Apparently Portland’s delicious water is what makes the crust taste so good. Who knew?! (It’s also making my curly hair look good – score!) The owner tries to get food as local as possible, and when tomatoes aren’t in season (most of the year) he even tried to swap his tomato sauce for a pumpkin and squash sauce. I didn’t even miss the red sauce on my veggie slice. Apparently they have killer vegan slices too.

We rolled outa there and went to McMenimins Brewery to sample some beer and hear fun stories about our awesome tour guide’s acting career (from commercials to movies!).

At this point we were SO stuffed, but rounded out our tour with a small scoop of gelato from a place I didn’t catch the name of. I loved the Amaretto flavor though!

It was an awesome way to see the city, and eat in some of the best spots. I’d recommend this tour to ANYONE, and ask for Herb Spice! Now that I’ve digested, I’m ready to kick off the Oldways Whole Grains Conference! Stay tuned for more from the west coast!