Food+Drink

Nordia House of Southwest Portland

Inside the Nordia House of Southwest Portland, a cultural center, showcasing all things Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish. written by Cathy Carroll | photography by Carly Diaz Chefs who strive to create the authentic cuisine of faraway places must frequently rely on what they’ve learned from family, travels and research. At Broder Söder, however, chef James Drinkward works in a microcosm inside the Nordia House of Southwest Portland, a cultural center which opened in 2015. Here, he’s merely a Thor’s hammer throw from experts on all things Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish. “The people at Nordia House are influential,” said Drinkward, who grew up in Southwest Portland. “I get lots of interesting feedback, such as, ‘My grandma made it this way.’ Scandinavians tend to be pretty direct, so they’ll tell you what they think.” Not your grandfather’s Sons of Norway lodge, Nordia House exemplifies contemporary Nordic design inspired…

Home + Design

A Modest and Chic Portland Home

Modest chic Portland home with texture and bright pops of color written by Melissa Dalton | photos by Built Photo Not all kitchens need the pomp and circumstance of showy stoves and flashy range hoods. Take the one in this custom home in Southeast Portland—it’s all about the subtle details. Sunlight pours through a full-height window which is perfectly aligned to brighten the center aisle on the city’s grayest days. White quartz counters wrap white oak cabinet fronts, revealing a neat shadow gap where the stone and wood meet. Yet behind those cabinet doors are boxes from IKEA’s Sektion line. Such an unfussy approach was deliberate on the homeowners’ part. “They wanted a fairly modest and compact house,” said architect Jeff Stern of In Situ Architecture, who worked with JRA Green Building to complete the home in 2017. “They weren’t looking for anything very formal.” Stern started the design process…

Business

Baseballism Is Creating Baseball For All

Oregon may not have a baseball team (yet), but it has a successful baseball company written by Beau Eastes | photography by Brian Holstein Baseballism has retail shops in baseball hot spots around the country—Cooperstown, New York; Scottsdale, Arizona; Boston; and San Francisco to highlight a few—but its flagship store is in a beautifully renovated warehouse on Northwest 22nd and Quimby in Portland, just seven blocks from the Portland Beavers’ original stadium, Vaughn Street Park. What started out as a youth baseball camp put on by four former University of Oregon club baseball players is now a $10 million a year lifestyle brand built around America’s pastime. That means you can purchase everything from T-shirts adorned with baseball terms like “Southpaw” and “Live Life Like a 3-1 Count” to $85 leather toiletry bags. The company doesn’t have a licensing agreement with Major League Baseball, instead creating products from sayings and slogans…

Home + Design

Two Portland Bathroom Luxury Remodels

Two mid-century Portland bathroom remodels pack a lot of luxury with light tile and charm written by Melissa Dalton A Modern Take on a West Hills Mid-century When a couple bought this rambler in Portland’s West Hills, it still held much of its Mid-century charm, which the new owners loved. Soaring ceilings clad in cedar in the living room? Check. Original kitchen cabinets in excellent shape? Yes, please. Unfortunately, their swooning stopped upon seeing the master bathroom. “ The house was built in 1954, and I don’t think the bathrooms had ever been touched,” said Stewart Horner, principal designer at Penny Black Interiors, who worked with the homeowners on a refresh. “It was pretty much as it had been for fifty-plus years, and it wasn’t pleasant.” First, there was the room’s unappealing Jack-and-Jill layout. A popular treatment during the Mid-century era, it meant the bathroom was shared between the parents’…

History

Inside the Lives of Portland’s bridge tenders

All along the watchtowers: Inside the lives of Portland’s bridge tenders written by Scott Latta / photography by Shauna Intelisano Even by the dreary standards of Portland winters, 2017 was especially bleak. At one point, five storms slammed Portland in five weeks. The Weather Channel, stating what everyone in the city was thinking, dubbed it “America’s most winter-fatigued city.”When a foot of snow fell in one twenty-four-hour period in January, the nation gawked as hapless Portlanders abandoned their cars along impossibly glassy hills. But the real trouble started two months later, when the sun came out. Federal guidelines maintain that when the Willamette River rises above 12 feet, all Portland bridges must be staffed twenty-four hours a day. Under normal circumstances, it’s not a problem for the county’s eight full-time bridge operators. But as the snow melted in the Cascades—141 percent of its normal depth—it collected in reservoirs within the…

Food+Drink

OK Omens Wine Bar and Bistro

OK Omens is a superb wine bar with an elevated bistro menu that’s worth checking out written by Jen Stevenson | photos by Alan Weiner Photography No longer Café Castagna, but still Castagna’s café, this lively new Ladd’s Addition wine bar retains the same sleek look (and beloved patio) as its predecessor, while debuting a playfully scholarly natural-wine-centric list to pair with James Beard Award-nominated Castagna chef Justin Woodward’s simple but superlative new bistro menu. Settle in for a late summer evening at one of the garden-side tables, inches from fragrant plumes of fresh mint and lemon verbena, and enlist the help of spirited sommelier Brent Braun, who won’t steer you wrong on the perfect bottle to go with Woodward’s burnt-beet-topped steak tartare, grilled squid with chicory and Thai basil, and buttermilk fried chicken with spicy greens and hot sour cream. Like the savory offerings, desserts are often twists on…

Business

The Portland Spoon Company

Russell Clark of the Portland Spoon Company uses tree waste for spoons written by Katrina Emery The Portland Spoon Company was born out of an excess of wood and a little hobby. Russell Clark, a carver, works by day as an arborist in the Portland Metro area. From tending to the dead and downed trees, he saw so much wood go through the chipper that when he picked up spoon carving he found himself with a glut of material. He taught himself from books, videos and fellow carvers, online or in person. “The first few were terrible,” he laughed, but he now sells the beautiful spoons, ladles and spatulas online and in a handful of shops around Portland, like the Hoyt Arboretum gift shop. With all the tips and tricks in his arsenal, and so much passion for the craft, he’s partnered with Wildcraft Studio School to teach spoon carving…

Recreation

Jupiter NEXT Edgy Style Meets Luxury

Jupiter NEXT, a sleek six-story stunner that embraces that same edgy local style, but with luxurious touches written by Jen Stevenson Jupiter NEXT is the latest Jupiter team project. Since 2004, the Jupiter Hotel has been the inner eastside’s main boutique hotel squeeze, providing a uniquely Portland experience with its eclectic design, wildly popular basement music venue and lively Doug Fir Lounge (hence the earplugs on every nightstand). This summer, the Jupiter team debuts its latest project, Jupiter NEXT is a six-story hotel in Portland with lots of modern amenities like 60-inch flat screens, glass-cube bathrooms and in-room digital concierges. The 67-room, Works Progress Architecture-designed hotel’s location couldn’t be more prime. Portland’s inner eastside is hotter than ever, and while it’s easy to hop on a downtown-bound bus or the Portland streetcar, there’s really no reason to leave the neighborhood. After dinner, grab a rummy nightcap at the jungle-themed hotel…

Food+Drink

A New Kind Of Jello Shot from Hell-O Jello in Portland

Just because you’ve outgrown Flip Cup and Edward Forty Hands (you have, haven’t you?) doesn’t mean you have to step away from Jell-O shots. Lizzy Spanbauer opened her food cart, Hell-O Jello, this spring in Portland. The cart serves up the alcohol-filled treats with air—saucy names, silly flavors and all sorts of designs and toppings.