Eating Well in the Rose City

Continuing my theme of contrasting Portland, Ore. with New York City, let me point out two NYT dining columns on the Portland restaurant scene. The first proclaims a "golden age" of dining in Portland and points to the city's relatively low rents and proximity to fresh ingredients as creating an environment hospitable to experimental young chefs (note also the accompanying slide-show of Portland eateries).

The article's emphasis on cheap access to local ingredients suggests Portland's thriving restaurant scene to be a positive byproduct of the city's Urban Growth Boundary, which preserves agricultural land on the urban hinterland. While some criticize UGB building restrictions for pushing up housing prices, evidently Portland rents remain cheap enough to attract cooking talent! And chefs describe these low rents as enabling them to take risks that would be impossible in a city such as New York, where the need to attract investors arguably produces a bias toward cuisine whose appeal is already well-established.

The second article profiles Michael Hemmeroy's new "One Pot" venture in Seattle. Hemmeroy is an intriguing figure - a master of hype and evidently also of reinventing himself. I only regret coming to Portland too late to sample his homemade gins.