Ecliptic Brewery’s Food

Ecliptic Brewery‘s is one of my top recommendations for where to have great beer and food in Portland along with my other top picks like La Moule, Higgins (which I’ve highlighted before in a blog post), Saraveza (which I’ve written about before), and Ex Novo. When founding Ecliptic, experienced brewer John Harris specifically wanted to make sure that the food he served wasn’t just around because it’s the law to have food available – he wanted to make sure it matched well with the beer to provide good complimentary and contrasting flavors. The menu of beer and food proves that with its variety of beer available and food available. Everything I’ve had at Ecliptic has always been good, which makes me confident in recommending Ecliptic Brewery’s Food and Beer as among my top 5 in Portland. In particular, they have the best selection of food options if you are vegetarian.
Ecliptic Brewery's vegetarian/vegan option to their burgers - this Farro Burger with a wheat-garlic patty, tahini, arugula, spicy pickled carrots
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Travel Tuesday: Visiting the Portland Japanese Garden

The Portland Japanese Garden finished a more then $30 million dollar expansion that now includes a Cultural Crossing Village, “castle” wall, and the new Umami cafe offering Japanese tea and snacks. Located in the West Hills of Portland, you can easily combine a visit to the Japanese Garden ($14.95 admission) with a visit to the free International Rose Test Garden as well. Parking is extremely limited and the best bet is to take public transit via the Red or Blue line MAX train to the Washington Park stop (aka, the Zoo) and then take a free Explore Washington Park shuttle to both gardens.

The new Cultural Crossing Village you can see while visiting the Portland Japanese Garden

Here’s a little Travel Tuesday Portland Japanese Garden photo trip to give you a glimpse of what a visit could include.

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Bite of Oregon 2017

This year, the Bite of Oregon 2017 food festival, which usually tastes place at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in August, has shifted to this weekend – Labor Day weekend September 1, 2, 3, and 4 – so it can be 4 days and has moved away from the dusty grounds of the park to the Rose Quarter.  The festival is still outside so you are still dining al fresco, but now boasts lots of shade, more tables, and it still benefits the worthy cause of the Special Olympics Oregon. Bite of Oregon  is a huge fundraiser for the Special Olympics Oregon which can help sustain the activities they offer of Special Olympics Athletes all year round.
Entrance of Bite of Oregon 2017 Entrance of Bite of Oregon 2017

As every year, expect to be able to progressively eat through various vendors who offer sample sizes ($4ish) and whole sizes of food you can purchase at Bite of Oregon 2017. With the more compact Rose Quarter location there is now a central area where you can imbibe at the Oregon Wine Pavilion with 7 wineries, 4 distilleries, or 28 beers from 14 different featured local breweries the Craft Beer Garden to enjoy along with your food.
Chicagoland Chicago style deep dish pizza

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Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2

I still go to Nodoguro every couple months, but I don’t always post recaps anymore since I know it is difficult to get into some of the dinners if you don’t follow Nodoguro’s mailing list and social media so you know the exact night tickets for the next month get released (most ticket/reservations sell out within 24 hours). One tip is if you are lucky and are able to be flexible, look for Cancellation Tickets from those who purchased that month by checking their website daily – they will put them back up for sale. I’ve written about Nodoguro so many times it almost felt a little unfair to other dining establishments, but I decided to make an exception for this recent theme for July up to August 4 – which is a return to Twin Peaks!
Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2 Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2

This Twin Peaks dinner is a revisit to the cult favorite show that made TV Guide’s 50 Greatest Shows of All Time list. Nodoguro previously did a Twin Peaks theme in 2015 which I also recapped. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the new third season on Showtime yet: neither have I (I don’t have Showtime) and this dinner still seemed more based on the initial two seasons.
Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2 place settings Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2 place setting

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Travel Tuesday: Canon Seattle

A visual visit with me to enjoy cocktails at Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium, “The western hemisphere’s largest spirit collection at 3500 labels and counting.” Located in the trendy Capital Hill neighborhood in Seattle, WA, they have been on my wishlist for a while especially when a few years ago they made the World’s Best 50 Bars (they ranked #6 in 2014, #15 in 2015, and currently they are not on the 2016 list, 2017 list to be announced this fall) and in 2016 they were nominated by Tales of the Cocktail for Best American Cocktail Bar, in 2017 they recently won The World’s Best Spirits Selection.

Behind an unassuming door is a one of the best libraries of liquors you’ll ever see.
Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium
Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium

If you come during the summer or good weather you may even get a chance to sit on their back patio for al fresco dining, but without the cool atmosphere above with all those bottles although there are still some bottles on display:
Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium

You can even find bottles as decor in the restroom, and as a soap dispenser! A radio show with old timey music entertained you as you went about your bio business.
Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium

They do serve some food here – about two 1/3 page worth, but meanwhile you will notice there are almost a dozen pages of beverages by the glass/large format for a few, and additional almost a 200 page liquor listing book. So no surprise that this is an establishment with a focus on beverages. In the cocktail section you will notice illustrations of the antique glassware or special serving ware they will use to present the drink.
Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium
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