It’s a good thing the Pacific Northwest’s cities are so bike-friendly–what better way to work off all the calories from the endless array of amazing restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and food trucks that await? One of North America’s most abundant regions, you can easily spend entire days here grazing on everything from quintessential Pacific Northwest fare and coastal seafood to far-flung international flavors and fusion. To get a diverse taste, we ate our way up from Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington to Vancouver, B.C. Here are some of the places you definitely need to try.
PORTLAND, OREGON
The mothership of the artisanal locavore hipster movement, Portland is inexpensive to boot, with no sales tax and some dining spots offering slashed-price early or late-night happy hour menus. While the city’s East Side percolates with neighborhoods undergoing all sorts of exciting developments and brand-new restaurant concepts, the West Side, where downtown’s hotels and much tourist infrastructure are based, has seen a number of incredible, innovative additions over the past year or two.
One of the West Side’s most original, upscale newcomers is Racion (1205 SW Washington St. Tel: 971-276-8008. www.racionpdx.com), which opened in spring 2013. This is Portland’s El Bulli, and one for avant-garde cuisine enthusiaists must lists.
Chef Anthony Cafiero brings a fine arts background to cookery, and conceives incredible, scientific ways to temper flavors and ingredients. The menu includes a mere dozen or so items per service, and a five-course tasting is just $55. He’s particularly fond of adding dashes of flavored meringues for texture, and utilizes sous-vide cooking, which involves vacuum sealing ingredients in pouches and heating them in water baths. He also uses this method in cocktails, helping to mellow the alcoholic bite, resulting in more harmonious flavors.
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