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Portland restaurants
Portland has begun to make its mark as a culinary destination, specializing in locally grown fare served with a California-Mediterranean influence. In recent years, a number of young maverick chefs have moved to Portland, taking advantage of the gorgeous local bounty and relatively low cost of living to open their own restaurants and experiment with new flavors and techniques. The result is a surprisingly large number of destination restaurants for a city of its size.
Formality in Portland restaurants is all but banned. Like just about everything else here, the restaurant scene is decidedly casual—if you really want to dress up, spring for designer jeans. Reservations may be necessary in new spots that are wildly in vogue, but as often as not, these laid-back hot spots don't even take them. Be prepared to cool your heels at the bar and adopt the laid-back attitude of the locals. Good things come to those who wait.
What makes Portland's restaurant scene fun is that it is so democratic and accessible. The city's residents really enjoy good food, turning out at the many farmers' markets in droves. The Portland Farmers' Market at Portland State University is a major weekend destination for local chefs and amateurs alike. And you don't have to have an expense account to partake of the fun. Some of the city's best restaurants are ridiculously reasonable compared with similar places in bigger cities. You'll often spot the chef-owners themselves toiling away behind the bar, chopping some locally sourced ingredients in their open kitchens and chatting with customers.
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In a city where the philosophy "buy local" is nothing short of a religion, the local farmers' market is a bit like Mecca. Starting in spring, crowds descend on...more
On a cold and rainy night (alas, there are a good number of those in Portland), the casual and inviting Toro Bravo is a ray of Mediterranean sunshine. Even if...more
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