Oregon Trip Report

[jon777]

Thanks to all who provided advice in various Oregon threads -- very helpful in planning the food and wine portion of our trip.

Just back and had a wonderful time. Great place to visit, as there's so much to do in and around Portland. Using Portland as a central destination, waterfall hikes around the Columbia River Gorge, Hiking (or skiing -- we we're hiking) @ Mt. Hood, beautiful coastline and wine country, all within 30-90 minutes of the city. Throw in some beautiful golf courses, and food and wine and it's got all the makings of a great vacation!

In Portland, staying at the Heathman was a treat (hotel itself wasn't that great, but there service is first rate (they'll do anything to please), and the restaurant in the hotel is top notch. As for Portland eats we did:

Our first night Did apps/drinks at Andina followed by dinner at Blue Hour. Andina's cocktails and apps were wonderful -- would have loved to have gone back for a full meal. Blue Hour was very good, although did not blow my away. The scene was fun, the Gnocci were good as advertised (although better as a side dish shared by the table than an entree IMHO). A pork tenderloin was very good (mine) and a Cruster Tuna (wife's) was the star of the evening.

Mother's for breakfast (TWICE! - not to be missed) -- everything was wonderful, but the Wild Salmon hash was out of this world.

Lunch at Wildwood, limited menu but outstanding burger, good pizzas, very fresh flavors. Would have loved to eat dinner there or across the street at Paley's, but the schedule didn't work out.

dinners at Jakes Crawfish was a wonderful surprise. A lot of times these "institution" type places just live off their past reputation, but was blown away by the quality of the fish, and how perfectly it was prepared. No "Haute NW cuisine" here, just fresh fish, simple flavors, perfectly cooked. Very happy.

Drinks at City Grill (spectacular views -- get there as they open at 4 PM to get the primo seats by the window). Happy hour sported unbelievably inexpensive apps -- all very good. Best bargain of the trip.

Very nice dinner in Hood River at Billy's Poorhouse -- not based on any recommendation, just had the menu that looked the most appealing after a day of hiking. Nothing mind blowing, but everything was very good. Flank steak with a Blue Cheese mashed potatoes was the star.

At Mt. Hood (staying at Timberline) we did opted not for dinner at the hotel (seemed awfully pricey), but had decent fare at the Brewpub in Government Camp. Buffet breakfast at Timberline was excellent and a good way to load up before a day a hiking.

Cannon Beach was a little dissapointing from a food perspective. We weren't blown away by the Stephanie Inn menu, so opted not to eat there. Dinner at the Bistro was mixed -- good Fish Stew, mediocre lamb dish. Fish at Ecola fishmarket was just 'eh', and they were unfortunately out of crab. However, driving down to 3 Capes in into Lincoln City had a wonderful meal at Blackfish Cafe, in North part of Lincoln City on 101. Highly recommended.

Wine Country we hit the following:

Carlton Wine Makers Studio -- Nice place to taste several smaller local places that they represent. Weren't blown away by any of the offerings

Carlton Tasting Room -- Some very interesting wines here by smaller producers. Of particular note were some wines by EIEIO http://www.onhisfarm.com/

Thought they would likely be all marketing and no substance, but were very good.

Visited Anne Amie for lunch (nice view), but didn't taste (giving our palletes a break!)

Went down to Bethel Heights, Witness Tree and Christom -- unfortunately on Christom was open, and we weren't blown away. It was a Friday, and we didn't call ahead, as everything else seemed to be open... Oops.

Finished the day at Sokol Blosser, which was a very pleasant surprise. Strong Pinot offerings and some interesting Blends (I've like the Evolution in the past as a summer outdoor wine and the Medtarina I think would make a good Pizza wine -- have not seen that one out on the East coast yet). Also a very nice Rose of Pinot Noir and a very well balanced, and not overly sweet Reisling Ice Wine.

Dinner at the Painted Lady was a stunning bargain. The 7 course "Grand Tasting" was $65 and $35 for the wine pairings. A delicious 05 Lange Reserve Pinot Noir steered us there to start the following day.

Lange had some of my favorite wines of the trip. Torii Mor was in general a disspointment (I think part of this was because of the small overfilled tasting room, and the pretentious host). They did have a wonderful Port, however. At $50, however, was no bargain, and the overall feel of this place did not leave me wanting to spend my money there.

Adelsheim on the other hand was a great experience. They did two tasting -- a mixed red/white tasting (6 iwnes I believe, and they poured a 7th single vinyard Pinot for us) and a wine/chocolate pairing -- surprisingly with both Red's and White's. Chocolates were from a high end place in Portland, and with some interesting components (e.g Rose Water, Landender, Sea Salt and Caramel). Very fun, and really enjoyed their wines.

Lots of other places would have like to go, but didn't have the time (or the $$ or the Palette).

Stayed at the Wine Country Farm -- a small working Winery, which was a real treat, and not overly expensive. Definitely recommended. Spent about an hour talking with the winemaker there (who's from France and has an opinion about everything) which was a lot of fun. Interesting guy but will talk your ear off!

Overall a great trip -- if anyone wants more info on anything, let me know...

Edited September 25, 2007 by jon777 (log)

[syrah girl]

Sounds very nice. We loved the Heathman, also and Portland City Grill. Are you referring to the Painted Lady in Newburg? We also love Wildwood, you gotta get to Paley's Place next visit.

[jon777]

Sounds very nice.  We loved the Heathman, also and Portland City Grill.  Are you referring to the Painted Lady in Newburg?  We also love Wildwood, you gotta get to Paley's Place next visit. 

←

Yes, Painted Lady -- brain cramp... Corrected the original post...

[syrah girl]

Painted Lady is #1 on our list of places to try next visit to the wine country.

[sundownyellowmoon]

Thanks to all who provided advice in various Oregon threads -- very helpful in planning the food and wine portion of our trip.

Just back and had a wonderful time. Great place to visit, as there's so much to do in and around Portland. Using Portland as a central destination, waterfall hikes around the Columbia River Gorge, Hiking (or skiing -- we we're hiking) @ Mt. Hood, beautiful coastline and wine country, all within 30-90 minutes of the city. Throw in some beautiful golf courses, and food and wine and it's got all the makings of a great vacation!

In Portland, staying at the Heathman was a treat (hotel itself wasn't that great, but there service is first rate (they'll do anything to please), and the restaurant in the hotel is top notch. As for Portland eats we did:

Our first night Did apps/drinks at Andina followed by dinner at Blue Hour.  Andina's cocktails and apps were wonderful -- would have loved to have gone back for a full meal.  Blue Hour was very good, although did not blow my away.  The scene was fun, the Gnocci were good as advertised (although better as a side dish shared by the table than an entree IMHO).  A pork tenderloin was very good (mine) and a Cruster Tuna (wife's) was the star of the evening.

Mother's for breakfast (TWICE! - not to be missed) -- everything was wonderful, but the Wild Salmon hash was out of this world.

Lunch at Wildwood, limited menu but outstanding burger, good pizzas, very fresh flavors.  Would have loved to eat dinner there or across the street at Paley's, but the schedule didn't work out.

dinners at Jakes Crawfish was a wonderful surprise.  A lot of times these "institution" type places just live off their past reputation, but was blown away by the quality of the fish, and how perfectly it was prepared.  No "Haute NW cuisine" here, just fresh fish, simple flavors, perfectly cooked.  Very happy.

Drinks at City Grill (spectacular views -- get there as they open at 4 PM to get the primo seats by the window).  Happy hour sported unbelievably inexpensive apps  -- all very good.  Best bargain of the trip.

Very nice dinner in Hood River at Billy's Poorhouse -- not based on any recommendation, just had the menu that looked the most appealing after a day of hiking.  Nothing mind blowing, but everything was very good.  Flank steak with a Blue Cheese mashed potatoes was the star.

At Mt. Hood (staying at Timberline) we did opted not for dinner at the hotel (seemed awfully pricey), but had decent fare at the Brewpub in Government Camp.  Buffet breakfast at Timberline was excellent and a good way to load up before a day a hiking.

Cannon Beach was a little dissapointing from a food perspective.  We weren't blown away by the Stephanie Inn menu, so opted not to eat there.  Dinner at the Bistro was mixed --  good Fish Stew, mediocre lamb dish.  Fish at Ecola fishmarket was just 'eh', and they were unfortunately out of crab.  However, driving down to 3 Capes in into Lincoln City had a wonderful meal at Blackfish Cafe, in North part of Lincoln City on 101.  Highly recommended.

Wine Country we hit the following:

Carlton Wine Makers Studio -- Nice place to taste several smaller local places that they represent. Weren't blown away by any of the offerings

Carlton Tasting Room -- Some very interesting wines here by smaller producers. Of particular note were some wines by EIEIO http://www.onhisfarm.com/

Thought they would likely be all marketing and no substance, but were very good.

Visited Anne Amie for lunch (nice view), but didn't taste (giving our palletes a break!)

Went down to Bethel Heights, Witness Tree and Christom -- unfortunately on Christom was open, and we weren't blown away. It was a Friday, and we didn't call ahead, as everything else seemed to be open... Oops.

Finished the day at Sokol Blosser, which was a very pleasant surprise. Strong Pinot offerings and some interesting Blends (I've like the Evolution in the past as a summer outdoor wine and the Medtarina I think would make a good Pizza wine -- have not seen that one out on the East coast yet). Also a very nice Rose of Pinot Noir and a very well balanced, and not overly sweet Reisling Ice Wine.

Dinner at the Painted Lady was a stunning bargain. The 7 course "Grand Tasting" was $65 and $35 for the wine pairings. A delicious 05 Lange Reserve Pinot Noir steered us there to start the following day.

Lange had some of my favorite wines of the trip. Torii Mor was in general a disspointment (I think part of this was because of the small overfilled tasting room, and the pretentious host). They did have a wonderful Port, however. At $50, however, was no bargain, and the overall feel of this place did not leave me wanting to spend my money there.

Adelsheim on the other hand was a great experience. They did two tasting -- a mixed red/white tasting (6 iwnes I believe, and they poured a 7th single vinyard Pinot for us) and a wine/chocolate pairing -- surprisingly with both Red's and White's. Chocolates were from a high end place in Portland, and with some interesting components (e.g Rose Water, Landender, Sea Salt and Caramel). Very fun, and really enjoyed their wines.

Lots of other places would have like to go, but didn't have the time (or the $$ or the Palette).

Stayed at the Wine Country Farm -- a small working Winery, which was a real treat, and not overly expensive. Definitely recommended. Spent about an hour talking with the winemaker there (who's from France and has an opinion about everything) which was a lot of fun. Interesting guy but will talk your ear off!

Overall a great trip -- if anyone wants more info on anything, let me know...

←

Hi,

We spent a little over a week in the Portland area--5 days/nights in Portland, 3 days/nights in Cannon Beach.

In Portland, we stayed both at The Heathman and at the Ace. The Heathman was predictable, maybe even a little boring. We found the service in the hotel to be a bit cocky, and less knowledgeable than they would represent. The dinner, though at the restaurant there was pretty good, and, the sommelier was particularly knowledgeable. We drank a delicious bottle of Alsatian wine from Marcel Deiss that he recommended.

The accommodations at the Ace were decidedly different--low on the services, but high on the vibe and the energy. For example, the businees "center" was a long (16') wooden table with a few white macbooks waiting there for anyone to use. There were jars of pink rubber erasers, pencils, nearby. On the wall the complete lyrics to "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen were painted/written. If you wanted to (and I saw one young man doing this) you could don a pair of headphones and just sit at the macbook for hours and browse, e-mail, blog, whatever on-line.

The rooms were large and really comfortable. They even had turntables in them with a random selection of vinyl that you could conveniently broadcast through the clock radio speakers in the room. (our selection included "Harvest Moon" from Neil Young, "Songs from a Room" from L. Cohen, and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" from Elton John)

The restaurant in the hotel is called "Clyde Common" and it's outstanding. (In fact, in last week's NYT they featured Portland Restaurants and even had a photo of the chef from Clyde...The wine list is reasonably priced, and pretty interesting. We had a gruner veltliner by the glass that was crisp and delicious, and a great bottle of Bandol red from Bunan. But the chicken was amazing! They buy it from a local farm where it lives the good life outside. You get a half chicken. When you place the order, the chefs cook it. (Not cooked at all in advance). They cook it "a la plancha", and under a brick or some sort of weight. It takes about a half hour, but what was the rush? They serve it with summer succotash. For only the second time in my life when on vacation I went back to the same restaurant two nights in a row and ordered the same dish. It was that good. We also had a dish with beef tongue and diver scallop and a piquant sauce that was really tasty.

Go there when/if you are back in Portland. They change the menu every couple of days. The kitchen is open. The bar is very hip and fun. There is a mezzanine (where we sat one night) and the walls there are "papered" with pages from one of the early Fanny Farmer Cookbooks. These folks love food!

We ate another night at Le Pigeon which is in a neighborhood a bit off the beaten path. We went there because the chef had been included in Food + Wine's "best 10 new chefs" issue from the summer. The meal, however, was disappointing. Maybe they were having a bad night--the food was all too heavily seasoned--salt mostly--but the ideas were inspired. I just wished that the technique had been better. (The chef here and the restaurant also made it to the same NYT article--it's just not a place I'm going to revisit when next in Portland. (I did like the wine list...and we drank a delicious half bottle of beaujolais from Morgon (1998), produced by a biodynamic producer named Marcel Lapierre. 9 years old and still going strong!

On the coast we had a terrific meal at a little country spot called "Inn at Nehalem River". The food was elegant and refined (whereas the food at CC and Le Pigeon in Portland had been more gutsy and rustic), and quite good. While we didn't stay at the Inn, it seemed like a good place to frequent.

In Cannon Beach, we found nothing in the restaurants worth mentioning--but the walks on the beaches certainly made up for any lack in gustatory adventure.

[syrah girl]

Are you referring to the Nehalem River Inn? If so, I agree it's a great place to dine on the Oregon Coast. Thanks for the info on Le Pigeon, we were considering this place for a dinner in Portland in a couple of weeks, we may skip it now and just go right over to the coast for some great meals!

Too bad you didn't find anything you liked in Cannon Beach, we have several places that we enjoy there: Gower St. Bistro, Bistro, Wayfarer, Newman's @ 988 and the amazing Stephanie Inn which is producing some of the best food on the coast right now.