In Portland’s food and beverage scene, those little lights really do shine

“Go big or go home” doesn’t work in Portland. The city’s sweet spot has always been the small, the intimate, the passionate – and no two are alike. Our newest crushes: a fearless anti-somm wine joint, two brothers reinventing their family’s pho shop, a cook-run brunch, and a vegetarian cot fighting for a fairer world.

Fragrant

Vietnam’s wonder bowl of beef broth and silky noodles is a persistent Portland food swarm, topped with tallboys and donuts. You’re not a local if you don’t have a top 3 Phở list to defend, and Thơm, which opened in August, should be part of the conversation. The house broth – a head frenzy of slowly boiled marrow bones under melting fillets – could win the championship belt. It tastes of passion, care, commitment. Plus, you won’t find a cooler, bespoke hangout anywhere else to consider an old-school Phở Bò. The feeling of stepping into a hidden studio in a mid-century house lit by Isamu Noguchi’s Akari light sculptures. They hang over space like eternal paper moons.

Every inch of this tiny room was built or designed by Johnny Le, a Los Angeles photographer. He’s also a member of the Phở Lê clan, one of Vancouver, Washington’s first Phở spots that is still steaming after 30 years. In the kitchen, the 32-year-old younger brother Jimmy pays tribute to dishes that he has learned at the side of his father – a journey since his 5th room for “memories, reinterpretations and spontaneity”. The four dishes on the menu come from the handwriting of Phở Lê, but Jimmy is already shaping the family tradition. The roasted chicken skin on his cơm gà (chicken and rice) is a beautiful, deep, dark, sweet soy and tender chew. He loves cloves, maybe a little too much – they overwhelm an otherwise tender vegan Phở. Thơm’s most popular dishes are “Dad’s Barbecue Pork Noodles”, a comfort classic made from sweet grilled pork and bouncy noodles, finely tuned in every detail and of good quality. As always, Father knows best. 3039 NE Alberta St, @ thom.pdx

Cheeky market

Restaurants are increasingly becoming our favorite grocery stores as chefs reveal fine ingredients and inside finds on makeshift shelves set up like shrines in corner rooms. Now comes the opposite: a small, chef-run grocery store that also houses a coffee bar with a dedicated barista, rustic pastries and brunch to take away and on the terrace – one of the best in town. Opened in August, the Coquine Market is the soulmate of the next-door Coquine restaurant, known for its fine home cooking and strong commitment to small farms. The owners Katy Millard and Ksandek Podbielski are our personal shoppers. If life were really fair, every neighborhood would have a place like this – happy eggs, French butter, house bread, good affordable wines, farm produce, and an optional latte with flashing coava beans, a Dane, and a large chocolate chip cookie.

Before the pandemic, brunch was a Coquine trademark. Now it’s back on the market (Friday-Sunday), with plans to move back next door someday. Seasonality is still a focus – maybe chanterelles over hash or roasted carrots and beets wrapped in date vinaigrette. Regulars are still praying for the barley flour waffles glazed in salted maple butter and roasted cinnamon. The red acorn bread takes shortening seriously – 100 percent fat drops and omitted chicken fat. It’s thinly sliced, grilled crispy on both sides, and served with an emery of soft thyme butter. Murderer. And let’s talk about these triple-fried french fries, a labor-intensive process developed by legendary British chef Heston Blumenthal. The experienced coquine chef Greg Redfield has taken on the matter. These are arguably the best fries in Portland – served, natch, with a ranch side dish. 6833 SE Belmont St, coquinepdx.com

Meals 4 heels

In just two years, cook and activist Nikeisah Newton has been dubbed a home hero and revolutionary in America’s strip club capital. In 2019 she entered uncharted territory with Meals 4 Heels, a delivery service for seed bowls for sex workers – a community that is often pushed aside and exploited and has no access to nutritious food until late at night. With the pandemic, many are closing temporarily She shifted her focus away from sex workers to strip clubs and began serving the wider Portland communities as well, without losing sight of her mission to fight for a fairer world. “I was previously imprisoned. I am a college dropout. I’m black and gay, ”says Newton. “That’s a lot of resilience.”

Your t-shirt says it all: Pro Black. Pro brown. Pro Trans, Pro Science, Pro Hoe. It hangs in the Meals 4 Heels take-away crib, which opened last May as a 150 square meter “restaurant in residence” in Redd on SE Salmon Street. Each bowl (all vegetarian; vegan or gluten-free on request) tells a different taste story. You jump from Ethiopian mushrooms; another pops with black-eyed pea donuts, sweet chowchow and buttery corn bread. GTP (Gettin ‘That Paper) is a happy jumble of Tom Kha cauliflower, tamarind and sweet potato glass noodles, truffled tomatoes and roasted coconut. “Nobody makes cauliflower like that,” moaned Mike Thelin of Feast Portland one afternoon. Nobody does anything like Nikeisah Newton. 831 SE Salmon Street, mahlzeiten4heels.com

The closed one

In case I got misled, confused, or otherwise lost my mind, Jeff Vejr recently texted me to clarify, “I’m not a sommelier. I’ve never attended one of their courses. “

Do not worry about it. Vejr is many things: funny, smart, talkative. He’s a winemaker, a walking encyclopedia of Oregon’s wine history, and a die-hard discoverer of grapes from unknown centers like Croatia and Georgia. But Vejr is best known as the co-creator and narrator of Les Caves, which has a bohemian rock club atmosphere. If anything, he’s the anti-Somm. “Don’t drink what a sommelier tells you,” says Vejr. “Drink rebelliously; be fearless. “

This impulse rules Le Clos, the new permanent patio room of Les Caves, which offers 20 seats and is laid out hilariously with artificial turf carpeting up to the bar. You sit on sofas or pews or chairs in the color of a smiley face. Your server is wearing an Elvis t-shirt. In this wine lover’s paradise, sweatshirts and champagne are finally one. We sip from a list like no other, worldly and knowledgeable, unconventional to the core, made to be discovered and poured into chic, curvy glasses, poured whole or half, just as you like. “This is a veritable ‘dartboard list,'” says famous wine writer Matt Kramer, whose picture hangs in Les Caves. “Whatever the dart lands on is a deeply gratifying choice. A wine list just can’t be better. “

Portland is game for everything. Hence, the popular order is the Mystery Pour, which can be a rare Turkish wine or a juicy, carbonated gamay from the Loire Valley. Roam the list to find a rosé full of great refreshment and full of wild cherry and watermelon pings – from Slovenia. Or, discover a smooth and smooth Patagonian malbec, aided by the only meal in the house, golden grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m a fool for the Alsatian, topped with minster and ham, thinly coated on the outside with mayo and mustard powder and then browned in a panini press. But all are cut well and happily to share. The shine lies in its truth: grilled cheese is a perfect meal. “I want people to drink wine freely, how to eat freely, how to drink beer freely.” says Vejr. “I felt that Portland was missing that.” No longer. 1719 NE Alberta St, lescavespdx.com