I live in Southern California and for a quick couples get-away it seems we usually go to the Bay Area. Don't get me wrong...many a people have left their hearts in San Francisco! However, I think I have officially left mine in Portland Oregon!
Our trip started with an amazing stay at the HEATHMAN hotel right in the heart of Portland. Besides the cozy and very quiet rooms, my favorite thing about the Heathman was that it was within walking distance of everything!!!Right next door was a store called the HABADASHERY where you buy the best men's hats around....except many women are also clientele (like myself) and it summond me of course so I just had to go inside and browse!
So....what do you think of my choice?
The blocks are all smaller blocks, so when the map says 10 blocks, its as if that means 10 stores! So walking is a must in that town! The more you walk, the deeper my mad love grew for Portland! As I walked on, I ran into a store called Powell's book store.
Powell's is located on the entire block! They carry used books as well as new ones! I mean I could have spent the entire day in here! (mainly because it's like a maze getting out!) You can read yourself silly in this place. They also have a coffee/pastry/goodies area in the way way back corner of the store! No need to ever leave!
Next it was on to the food carts! This part was the best idea I have ever seen! How many times have you said, "we should open a restaurant?" but never really could because of the expense? Well, Portland has solved this with a row of trailers all stacked next to each other called
food carts that all open for lunchtime! SO, What does one do when one stumbles upon these at lunch time? You eat at the one that has the longest line of course!!!!!! So we settled on this one:
NONG'S KHAO MAN GAI
In an increasingly competitive scene, that's what the best carts produce: not just good food, but something worthy of obsession. And no cart better summons the beast within than Nong's, which opened in late spring.
"Nong" Poon Sukwattana Narumol works in the style of a Bangkok vendor: staking her reputation on one dish. Her labor-intensive khao man gai (pronounced "kow mon guy") could bring a picky Thai grandma to her knees.
Each serving is a ritualistic pleasure and a steal at $6.50. On a square of white butcher paper, Nong first unmolds a heap of superior rice, cooked with giant knobs of ginger and footlong, vanilla-esque panadaus leaves. Each grain is flavor rich and moist. She adds rough-cut chicken slow-poached until succulent as a peach, plus cucumbers and cilantro, then bundles it all into a package bound with a rubber band. As is Thai custom, a delicate broth comes on the side to wash it all back, to keep the throat moist. But the stairway to heaven is the sauce: a deep thrash of fresh ginger, Thai chiles, fermented soybeans and Nong's cane sugar syrup.
This colorful cart looks right off the Bangkok streets, with hanging baby bananas, a Buddha shrine and imported Asian drinks (don't miss the sweet-creamy Palm Juice). But the infectiously bubbly Nong, 29, is clearly a Portlander now: her spot-on made-to-order Thai iced coffee is fashioned from Stumptown beans.
(Southwest Alder Street between 10th and 11th avenues; 10 a.m. until sold out Monday-Friday, 971-255-3480; khaomangai.com)
Yum Yum is all I'll say about that experience!
Next I'll be posting about Portland shopping, the pearl district and of course, MORE Great Portland food!
TTFN! (ta-ta-for-now)
Sooooo.....here are some shots of why I love fabric:
just a little re-make and re-purpose...I think it's going to be adorable!
