In mid-January I attended a conference in Portland, OR. You may find information about said conference here. While I don't like to miss any opportunity to get info out/spread awareness about what I'm most passionate about i.e. veganism, the trend called "green", abolition of sexual exploitation/slavery, etc this blog is about the former so there's my plug on human trafficking awareness, for now. :)
Anyhoo, conveniently enough one of my best friends lives in Portland so it made the trip that much more exciting! Upon getting my luggage at PDX I boarded the MAX and followed my BFF's directions to some stop where she was nice enough to meet me and take me to a restaurant on her agenda, especially for my visit. I was hungry from a day of traveling and lack of nutritious sustenance so anything sounded pretty delicious! I was in for a treat--
Nicholas Restaurant is on an unassuming strand of SE Grand Ave and is a rather dinky place that serves up authentic Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Lebanese grub and I mean grub as in it is superbly grubbin'! (did I just make that up?... I swear I've heard/used such a word before...hmm) The place was packed with hipster types, non-hipster types, and well, us. We were very lucky and seated immediately in the corner at a table for two. It was warm and bright and within a minute of sitting down our waitress plopped this HUGE and I mean HUUUUUUUUGE, delicious, toasty piece of bread. I am unsure of what they call it specifically but based on my taste buds and eyesight it was the spawn of pita and naan but triple in both of their sizes. We almost filled up but luckily we didn't. The menu is divided up and vegan things are clearly marked. In typical vegan fashion, when given options, I was overwhelmed and couldn't make up my mind but eventually I convinced myself the mezza platter to be a "mix of everything" and settled for it. And now... I present to you... the Vegan Mezza Platter... hummus, falafel, taboulu, mjadra, AND a garbanzo plate!
We overdid it on the bread, oops but even so there's no way this wasn't going home for leftovers! It was a great lunch the next day and breakfast the day after that. Apparently there are TWO more locations in Portland. I had no idea until I checked out the website here. My friend and I can only speak to the SE Grand location, though! Seriously one of the best/authentic med-meals I've had in the states and definitely the least expensive, no doubt.
My friend is so thoughtful and planned all of my free time for the weekend around vegan food! Aww. She is not a vegan although she is a tried and failed vegetarian but she has lots of veggie friends and an absurd hatred for cheese she developed in her childhood that she has no intention of leaving behind, so she knows what's up!
During a night out she took me to The Bye and Bye, a bar/lounge/eatery in Northeast Portland. In addition to the signature drink, served up in a mason jar (I find mason jar drinks REALLY fun and Portland serves them up like no other) I ordered this:
What is it? You ask. Well a meatball sub and brussel sprouts... duuuuh! You have got to a take a look at their menu. More overload for a vegan. Luckily I happened to "check-in" via Yelp and a friend on facebook, who happens to be a former Portlander, saw it and demanded I get the meatball sub so she essentially made the decision for me. Where else can I get one of these bad-boys after 10 pm? and with a side of brussel sprouts? Maybe my kitchen but most of the time these ingredients are not handy and chances are if I'm cooking in my kitchen at such hours something like this would end up looking... well, even messier. I'm sold! If ever in Portland you must say "Hello and Hello" to The Bye and Bye. I haven't said much about the rest of the bar but hey, this blog is about food! P.S. The bread is AMAZING... it's from a local bakery but of course the name of it has slipped my mind and the meatballs tasted like the ones from Trader Joe's.
It's possible that no other meal on earth excites me as much as the possibility of a vegan breakfast/brunch. Interestingly I was never the type of person who was very excited about going out to breakfast. As a kid, in the rare case that we would accompany friends or family to diners such as IHOP or Denny's (eww) I would be dragged kicking and screaming (OK, not really that dramatic) because the idea of eating a pancake was like the idea of climbing a mountain and I mean that almost literally. I could NEVER finish a pancake. I would order them, eat a few bites and then ask if we could go home. I only ate waffles at my cousins' house because they made them belgian style with chocolate chips and I much preferred breakfast burritos with Morningstar Farms' sausage links (mmmm, seriously the thing I miss most from my ovo-lacto life!) and cereal in the comfort of my own home. I was a vegetarian child, mind you. I haven't been an egg-eater for any of my adult life so breakfast out with friends has always left much to be desired. I don't kick and scream anymore but I do find dry toast and fruit bowls rather drab when surrounded by eggs benedict, banana pancakes, and the like. Now that I'm an adult the prospect of going out to breakfast/brunch after a night out is VERY enticing. Can you say mimosas or bloody Mary's (hold the anchovies, please)? I knew Portland wouldn't disappoint. BTW-as a sidenote, veganism has enabled me to finish a pancake, multiple ones at that, haha. In case you were wondering! ;) So here is a photo of my El Paso scramble from Jam On Hawthorne a few Sundays past... oh, and a Bloody Mary w/ rosemary-infused vodka that I requested to be made vegan. I really indulged myself in Portland (eek!) but you would, and should, too! Oh, and I had these leftovers before my east coast bound trip at the bright and not-so-shining hour of 5 am the next morning. I was very grateful for them... and ketchup.
So, pretty much what I'm trying to say is that while Portland may not be a paradise in many regards it is in one- it's definitely one of the few vegan paradises of this country, let alone the world. If you feel inclined to plan a trip now just be sure to invite me :D.
Peeeeeas,
Bailey
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