Five Upcoming Portland Food Festivals

By Danielle Centoni April 22, 2014

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!–paging_filter–pAs any food-obsessed traveler knows, there’s never enough time (or room in your stomach) to eat at every restaurant on your painstakingly researched list. But there’s hope–in the form of food festivals. When most of a city’s best chefs are gathered in one place, your odds of trying everything on your list go way up. If you’re heading to Portland this spring or summer, try timing your trip with one of these five upcoming fests that offer bites and sips from top restaurants, wineries, breweries and distillers./p
pstrongApril 29, 6:30 to 9 p.m. (VIP ticket-holders get in at 5:30 p.m.): /stronga href=”http://ce.strength.org/events/taste-nation-portland-or” target=”_blank”Share our Strength’s 27th annual Taste of the Nation/astrongbrWhere:/strong a href=”http://www.mcmenamins.com/CrystalBallroom” target=”_blank”McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom/a, 1332 W. Burnside, PortlandbrstrongCost:/strong General admission $85; VIP tickets $150/p
pEach year, some of the city’s top restaurants, wineries and breweries gather under one roof to support Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger. This year the event returns to the McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom ina href=”http://\/\/seattlemag.com/article/dining-portlands-happening-west-end” target=”_blank” downtown Portland’s West End (the hot shopping and dining destination we detailed in the February 2014 issue/a). Sample bites from the best restaurants, including boundary-pushing a href=”http://www.aviarypdx.com/” target=”_blank”Aviary/a, Asian-influenced a href=”http://www.smallwarespdx.com/” target=”_blank”Smallwares/a, meat-centric a href=”http://www.laurelhurstmarket.com/” target=”_blank”Laurelhurst Market/a and mind-boggling a href=”http://saltandstraw.com/” target=”_blank”Salt Straw/a ice cream. VIP ticket-holders not only get to beat the crowds and enter an hour early, they get special access to 10 booths, including destinations such as a href=”http://www.mwlpdx.com/” target=”_blank”Multnomah Whiskey Library/a, a href=”http://www.pokpokpdx.com/” target=”_blank”Pok Pok/a, and a href=”http://tastyntasty.com/” target=”_blank”Tasty N Sons/a. Wash it all down with drinks from award-winning producers, including a href=”http://www.argylewinery.com/” target=”_blank”Argyle Winery/a and a href=”http://eclipticbrewing.com/” target=”_blank”Ecliptic Brewing/a./p
pstrongJuly 24, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.:/strong Counter CulturebrstrongWhere: /stronga href=”https://anneamie.com” target=”_blank” Anne Amie/a Vineyards, 6580 N.E. Mineral Springs Road, Carlton, OregonbrstrongCost:/strong $75/p
pParties beget parties, which is how Anne Amie Vineyards found itself hosting a crazy-popular kickoff to the annual a href=”http://www.ipnc.org/” target=”_blank”International Pinot Noir Celebration/a (see below). For the past four years, it has invited some of Portland’s best chefs and some of the Willamette Valley’s best winemakers to its rollicking outdoor bash complete with DJ, dancing and a giant bonfire. Last year’s participants included big draws a href=”http://lepigeon.com/” target=”_blank”Le Pigeon/a, a href=”http://biwarestaurant.com/” target=”_blank”Biwa /aand a href=”http://www.bollywoodtheaterpdx.com/” target=”_blank”Bollywood Theater/a, and cult-favorites such asa href=”http://www.bigtablefarm.com/” target=”_blank” Big Table Farm /awines./p
pstrongJuly 27, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.:/strong Passport to PinotbrstrongWhere:/strong Oak Grove at Linfield College, 900 S.E. Baker St., McMinnville, OregonbrstrongCost: /strong$125/p
pFor 28 years, thea href=”http://www.ipnc.org/” target=”_blank” International Pinot Noir Celebration/a has drawn some of the world’s most influential winemakers to the Willamette Valley wine country for three days of educational seminars, elaborate tastings, vineyard tours and fabulous dinners. Although it costs $975 to attend it all (fully worth it for serious wine geeks), you can get a taste of the action for a fraction of the price at the a href=”http://www.ipncstore.com/product_p/ipnc-passport.htm” target=”_blank”Passport to Pinot/a. Under the dappled shade of oak trees at McMinnville’sa href=”http://www.linfield.edu/” target=”_blank” Linfield College/a, taste Pinot Noir from more than 70 local and international wineries, meet the winemakers and sample elegant dishes from 15 Northwest chefs. The lineup hasn’t been announced yet, but last year it included such notables as Ben Bettinger of a href=”http://www.imperialpdx.com/” target=”_blank”Imperia/al and Scott Ketterman of a href=”http://crownpaella.com/” target=”_blank”Crown Paella/a./p
pstrongJuly 23-27: /strongThe 27th annual Oregon Brewers FestivalbrstrongWhere:/strong Tom McCall Waterfront Park, PortlandbrstrongCost: /strongAdmission is free; 12-ounce souvenir tasting glass is $7 and tasting tokens are $1 each./p
pSprawled across Portland’s glorious waterfront, the a href=”http://www.oregonbrewfest.com” target=”_blank”Oregon Brewers Festival/a is ground zero for beer lovers, with close to 90 beers in more than 25 styles from more than 80 craft breweries across the country. You’ll find far-flung favorites such as a href=”http://www.dogfish.com/” target=”_blank”Dogfish Head /aand a href=”http://www.stonebrewing.com/” target=”_blank”Stone Brewing/a alongside local heroes a href=”http://www.ninkasibrewing.com/” target=”_blank”Ninkasi /aand Logsdon a href=”http://www.farmhousebeer.com/” target=”_blank”Farmhouse Ales/a. For those into Belgian beers, this year there’s a special tent with 11 Dutch breweries represented. There’s also food, live music and homebrew demos./p
pstrongSeptember 18-21:/stronga href=”https://www.feastportland.com/” target=”_blank” Feast Portland/abrstrongWhere:/strong Various locations near downtown PortlandbrstrongCost:/strong Prices range from $60 to $465/p
pAll of Portland’s food festivals culminate in this stunning four-day celebration of food and drink. Now in its third year (read our past a href=”http://\/\/seattlemag.com.239elwb01.blackmesh.com/dispatch-portland-take-awa…“recaps here/a), Feast just keeps getting better, with top chefs from across the country collaborating with our Northwest favorites to create a feast in every sense of the word. Thought-provoking speakers feed our minds. Hands-on classes from notable cookbook authors feed our creativity. Beer, wine and cocktail tasting panels, hosted by experts in the field, feed our curiosity. Five marquee food events, including the street-food-celebration called Night Market, feed (and fuel) our insatiable cravings. And it feeds our soul to know that the proceeds benefit organizations fighting hunger (last year’s event raised more than $50,000). On May 19, this year’s lineup and ticket sales go live. Check the a href=”https://www.feastportland.com/” target=”_blank”website/a early because the marquee events always sell out fast./p

 

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