ON THE OREGON FOOD TRAIL
Time seems to pass in a languorous, unhurried drip in Oregon.
Maybe it’s in sympathy with the climate: Oregon specialises in rain, with peeks of bright sun and rainbows, and reliably misty nights. At times, the dampness seems inescapable. But the conditions have created something special: a backdrop of vivid-green farmland and moody coastline, and a swathe of passionate, close-knit communities. These communities all live by a philosophy of food innovation driven by top-quality local produce – from craft beer and plump pinot grapes to seafood plucked direct from the cool Pacific waters.
Our food- and drink-lovers’ trail focuses on the northwestern corner of Oregon, beginning in the state’s largest city, Portland, known as one of America’s best food destinations.
Arrive in Portland Hungry
unofficial slogan: ‘Keep Portland Weird.’ It’s a defiant declaration, one that salutes the city’s independent spirit, liberal attitude and taste for the offbeat. But, for all that, Portland is also curiously hard to pin down. A cluster of girder-heavy bridges spanning its Willamette River lends the city an industrial air markedly at odds with the trail-rich, dense evergreen forests that surround it. To its immediate south lies Oregon’s sprawling vineyard country, but the city is arguably best known not for wine, but for its scores
