Portlandia

Tim picked me up from the airport in the famous Portland subaru hatchback.  We drove to Burgerville. Tim, my older brother and his wife Sandi and Lucy moved to Portland 2 yrs ago after Lucy was born. Part of Tims lovability-you warm up to him fast- would lay in the fact that the man not only loves doing it but is the perfect unpretentious guide for a town like Portland.  He's got that personable restaurant manager and occasional stoner kinda draw.  Before I arrived he'd been talking up this place 'Burgerville-think McDonald's except instead of regular paper packaging, all biodegradable paper from recycled materials.' mixed greens w/ local smoked salmon and Oregon Hazelnuts-they grow like mad out here. And no MickyD's soy/mealworm patty either. Instead the beef's all Oregon grown, veggie fed, antibiotic and hormone free. No egg Mcmuffin; instead, an open-face poached [cage free] egg with poblano pepper and hollandaise. Even an entire menu of veggie burgers. Their mission: 'Serve With Love'. Sure anybody could slap that motto on. We're so surrounded by clever food marketing today anyway where 'serve with love' could mean anything short of 'I'm lovin it', 'Youre way, Right away!

Tim: nowadays people are afraid to ask for it 'THEIR WAY'. maybe the grill boy'll spit in it, who knows WHAT their gonna do to your food'

And I agree. Pulling out of the drive-thru, taking my first bite into the double burger, It tasted like something better than expected. I tasted every ingredient separately. It didn't blow my mind like an 'In-and-Out' burger [monster style or no] but it was damn close and I realized for the first time I was eating what I wanted [and satisfied] but more important knowing the impact this small meal was doing for the Portland region was part of what made it good. As hokey as that sounds. The produce was from my backyard, not South America [No cheap labor and fuel costs].  I was eating for taste but also eating with my brain. Its no surprise that a place like Burgerville has sprouted up here. Portland is like the starter kit any city would die for. The only metropolitan city I know that encourages new and local talent and discourages big business. And no new traffic lanes either. The city is bent on focusing on biking and public transportation as opposed to driving so they make it difficult on purpose. Its also the microbrewery and microdistillary capital.  And COFFEE. Most folks would agree. Portland's taken the crown from Seattle as the emerging coffee town with spots like Stumptown and the new wave of trendy coffee spots around. As if it couldnt get better it's the strip-club capital. more strip-clubs per capita here that any other American city. And I think Churches [one of its few downfalls] but I could be wrong. From what Ive seen so far, if there was a utopian American city of the future, Portland to me would be that special place.

On the way home, Tim and I were both thinking Chili. But what kind? Cooks Illustrated's latest issue just came up with a pretty scientific recipe for the best chili. The Original Steer meat market was our first stop. I had the butcher cut me 3 lbs of good marble chuck eye roast. Then past Multonmah Falls for a quick round of disc golf. The waterfalls [there are a ton around here] are heavy this time of year as the rain builds so you get a pretty sick view...I needed snow boots and a good jacket so we went to Next Adventure and Oregon Mountain Community. simply put...just outdoor and sports paradise. And Tim mentioned '50 Plates', where he works so we stopped in for dinner with a few castmates on our 'snow day'. 'Hair cast stranded in NYC-show canceled  ' read the news report as we sat down for Chili...even though Kit, our company manager, asked that we not tweet or facebook any of this. Too late now:)