For Haitian Americans like the chef Gregory Gourdet, 49, potato salad bears little resemblance to the deli counter mainstay. Growing up in Queens, he instead ate salade russe, a traditional Haitian recipe in which potatoes are combined with peas, onions and beets, which turn the dish bubble gum pink. Today, Gourdet serves his own take on that dish as part of the summer menu at his restaurant Kann in Portland, Ore., smoking the beets and binding the ingredients with creamy rémoulade. It’s just one of a number of variations on Russian potato salad, known as Olivier — which was created in 19th-century Moscow and now shows up everywhere from Sweden to Korea — currently appearing on restaurant menus. At Eel Bar on New York’s Lower East Side, the chef-partner Aaron Crowder, 39, makes what he describes as a “New York version of the Spanish version of Russian potato salad,” informed by the ensaladilla rusa served at tapas bars that often includes green olives and roasted red peppers. He tops his with orange trout roe. Tyler Akin, 41, the chef and a partner at the Mediterranean restaurant Bastia in Philadelphia, makes potato confit in chicken fat and then mixes it with saffron-spiked aioli and shavings of Sardinian bottarga. Potato salad, he says, “just so clearly wants to be served warm and soft,” like the bacon-flecked, mayo-free German-style version that his family favors.
9 things to know before visiting Portland, Oregon
18.11.2024 - 22:23 / lonelyplanet.com
Nov 18, 2024 • 7 min read
It was a reclaimed furniture store on Hawthorne Blvd that convinced me to move to Portland. I popped in, road-weary after weeks of driving cross-country, trying to decide where I wanted to land after living on the East Coast for most of my life. Something about the kaleidoscope of colorful old furniture, the candy-jar abundance of funky light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, and the mid-century paintings of mountains and rivers on the walls made me suddenly want to stay awhile. I sensed a creative but cozy energy in that shop that I projected onto the city – and it just felt right.
Ten years later, I still call this city home. It’s funny to me now that a single store convinced me to move to a place that is so layered, like a vintage armoire that’s been painted again and again and again. Oh, how much I didn’t know. But the city is both more delightful and more flawed than I ever could have imagined.
If you’re visiting Portland, you’ll want to get a little lost. Our food scene, bars, coffee shops, thrift stores and surrounding nature make this a city in which your senses will guide you. Portland’s reputation often precedes it, but I promise, it’s even better than whatever you’ve heard.
Before you embrace the unexpected, here are some helpful things to know,
And not because it takes a long time to get through security. Portland International Airport was already a lovely place, as far as airports go. But in the late summer of 2024, PDX revealed the new terminal that’s been quietly under construction since 2020, and it is perfectly, gorgeously Portland. There are trees planted throughout and a wavy wooden roof made from Douglas fir timber, all sustainably harvested within a 300-mile radius.
And the food! You won’t be scarfing down some price-hiked airport McDonald’s here. All of the shops and restaurants are local favorites. You can sample some of 90 local beers at Loyal Legion, order fresh pasta at Grassa or pick up a dozen artfully flavored donuts from Blue Star.
Portlanders refer to the city’s sections as “quadrants,” even though there are six of them. We know it doesn’t make sense, but that’s just how it is.
The main divisions of the city are the Willamette River, dividing the east and west sides, and Burnside Ave, which splits the north and south. These are the quadrants you’ll hear referenced most regularly: Northwest (Forest Park and Slabtown), Northeast (Alberta Arts District and the Hollywood Theater), Southeast (Mount Tabor, Hawthorne, and Division) and Southwest (downtown and Multnomah Village).
But then there is North Portland, tucked into the crook of the Columbia and Willamette rivers, where you’ll find old-Portland vibes and a stunning Gothic suspension bridge in St
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