Do you know Why We Feast at Feast Portland?
Portland is a foodie town, there’s no disputing that fact. Our city attracts some of the best chefs in the country. Eating is our sport! Food is an important, maybe the most important, thread in the fabric of our world.
We could speculate all day long over why food is so important to our local culture. Do you ever wonder if it’s because we live under an oppressive grey cloud that perpetually drizzles for eight months out of the year? Portlanders connect with one another over a hot plate and cold drink in a unique way. If we didn’t break bread together, our existence beneath that constant, almost stifling cloud that thwarts the sun’s efforts for so much of the year would be a truly dreary one.
Sadly, until three years ago, we lacked a big, celebratory event that really honored our food culture– one centered around local ingredients paired with local beers, wines and spirits. It took Carrie Welch, a then recent Portland transplant, to pose the question to resident Mike Thelin, over coffee (another thing we can’t live without),“if we’re such a foodie town, why we don’t have a food and drink festival here?” It was at that moment that Feast Portland was born.
And celebrate food and drink is exactly what Feast Portland does! Since its birth, foodies from near and far have descended onto our fair city, donned Feast badges around their necks and commenced feasting. Some call it gluttony; others might say it’s the Olympics of food.
Almost four days and nights of heaping food fun, Feast Portland is comprised of back-to-back events guaranteed to make any true food-lover’s heart skip a beat. Whether you’re looking to hobnob with well-known chefs, revered for their unique take on food or learn the art of mixology at an outdoor seminar or study home butchery, oyster-shucking, soda and candy-making DIY-style from the experts, Feast Portland offers all that and so much more.
You can try your hand at unconventional food and wine pairings, attend intimate dinners hosted by local winemakers and trendsetting chefs, and enjoy small plates made with a staggering array of locally sourced ingredients. You can even choose to guzzle copious amounts of handcrafted, local beer, be seen engaging in loud conversations at raucous, exclusive after parties or gorge yourself on unlimited amounts of delicious food for an entire weekend. Throw moderation to the wind, we won’t judge you.
And once the deliriously, gluttonous weekend is over, everyone who attends Feast Portland has experienced the celebratory nature of our city’s obsession with food. It is a gastronomic journey that every foodie should add to his or her bucket list. Look for more Feast Portland articles in the coming weeks.
