PORTLAND: PART ONE

THE ACE HOTEL
1022 SW Stark Street, Portland, OR
http://www.acepdx.com
I know it aint food, but this boutique hotel is a DISH in itself, with all its rooms uniquely decorated by local artists. Thanks to a legendary friend at the desk, we got an upgrade from our modest shared-bathroom bed-sit, to a fucking lavish suite with a huge bed, L shaped lounge, clawfoot tub and the piece de resistance – a record turntable! Complete with records including The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, ABBA and Kris Kristofferson.
The building was previously the seedier Clyde Hotel, and our room was just up the hall from one in which Matt Dillon got off the junk in Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy.






The upgrade was a double-edged sword… Suddenly, we didn’t wanna leave the hotel room, and afternoon naps and chill-outs became hard to resist.

We decided we should go out and meet some people to bring back for champagne in the bath, but unfortunately we didn’t meet any obliging parties. Next time for sure, and it’ll be Ace! I highly, highly, wholeheartedly recommend that anyone visiting Portland stay nowhere else but The Ace.


THE CLYDE COMMON
1014 SW Stark Street, Portland, OR
http://www.clydecommon.com



Also within the Ace Hotel building is Stumptown Coffee and The Clyde Common, where I had the most AMAZING Pork Chop.....



It had a Baked Peach with melted Blue Cheese on the side. Mmm. I want it again, right now.


MASU
406 SW 13th Avenue, Portland, OR
http://www.masusushi.com
I had eaten at Masu a few years back, after having met a sushi chef who had worked there. We sat up at the sushi bar and marveled at the art that came out.


Edamame (US$2)


Kaiso Salad with 5 types of seaweed, cucumbers, and sweet vinegar (US$6)


Tamago & other mixed nigiri


Veggie Inside-Out Maki


Someone else's amazing plate!

Thumbing through the Portland Mercury over dinner for something to do, my companion suggested we head to the Clinton Theatre for something called "SEXPDX". I agreed, without quite realising that we would spend the rest of the evening eating popcorn, watching porn... Yep. We sat down to some 70s porn out-takes as a prelude to a full feature called "Moments of Love" (1983), starring a young Ron Jeremy and a hung John Holmes. Interesting, to say the least.


HUBER’S
411 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR
http://www.hubers.com
Before a gig, we stumbled into a place that claimed to be “Portland’s Oldest Restaurant”.

We sat up in Huber's grand dining room, which certainly had an old world, romantic feel about it that we were happy to indulge. Hence I was taken aback when our waiter, dressed in a black tie and waistcoat, nodded at my ensemble and said “Rad Maiden Shirt!”. Way to ruin the illusion, dude.





Illusions aside, it was a nice dinner, and we ended up chatting to the owner of the restaurant for a considerable amount of time about - of all things - tennis!

I had the specialty of the house:

BAKED SUGAR-GLAZED HAM - Topped with pineapple sauce and served with fresh mashed potatoes (US$14.95)

VALENTINE’S
232 SW Ankeny, Portland, OR
After Huber's we went around the corner to see a friend play at a cute little café-style bar. She sat on the floor and made beautifully layered, laid back noise.

Grouper at Valentine's

I urge you to listen to some of Liz Harris/Grouper's music, and will point you toward an mp3 download of one of my favourite tracks: Grouper - "Cover the Windows and the Walls". Good.

The girl who ran the bar at Valentine's was awesome, stopping every once in a while, between pours to churn tunes out from her ipod. Coco Rosie, Biggie... Definitely the kind of place I’d soon make my local, were it in my locality. I heart Valentines.