Portland: A Food History notes: вЂњAs DelmonicoвЂ™s is to New York so is AliskyвЂ™s to Portland,вЂќ the Oregonian assures readers about the German immigrant and former ice cream slinger Charles AliskyвЂ™s First Avenue fine dining room, one of the cityвЂ™s earliest restaurants on a вЂњhigh plane.вЂќ вЂњIt was the big, hot-shit spot back then,вЂќ explains Portland author Arndt Anderson. MWДescendants: Farm Spirit, Harlow, Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ вЂњItвЂ™s really funny to me how a lot of that early vegetarian meat analog stuff was all gluten-based, and it was considered to be the pinnacle of healthy food.вЂќ That is, of course, until Gresham restaurateur Paul Wenner created the revolutionary Gardenburger in 1982вЂ¦. вЂњTheyвЂ™re these brown nuggets in emulsified, nebulous gravy,вЂќ explains Heather Arndt Anderson, author of Portland: A Food Biography. Located on SE 60th and Belmont, the Seventh Day AdventistвЂ“owned Portland Sanitarium Food Company cafГ© touted dishes like protose, a then-popular wheat-and-peanut-based meat substitute developed by notorious healthy living guru John Harvey Kellogg (yes, the corn flakes guy). Portland now makes a fair bid for vegan capital of the world but the roots of our meatless culture go deeper than you might expect: the cityвЂ™s first vegetarian restaurant opened way back in the 1890s. вЂњBack then, imagine them like your favorite neighborhood bar. Nowadays theyвЂ™re coming back as the new hotness,вЂќ confirms Arndt Anderson. (ThatвЂ™s a.m., mind you.) The trend had legs: вЂњ Oyster parlours were all over downtown 100 years ago. 1850sВ Oyster FeverДЄccording to West Coast Cookbook author Helen Evans Brown, downtownвЂ™s hugely popular KeithвЂ™s Oyster House is where вЂњthe gay bladesвЂќ ate oyster rarebit, вЂњdrank wine, and made whoopee and goodness knows all until 3 oвЂ™clock. Yep, Lewis & Clark: the OG Jacobsen Salt Co. They use the briny bounty to cure elk and other wild game for charcuterie to nibble alongside wild onions, licorice root, and berries they trade with local tribes during their journey home. The explorers promptly order their men to start evaporating Pacific Ocean seawater to extract their own вЂњexcellent, fine, strong and whiteвЂќ sea salt. вЂњThis time of year theyвЂ™d be harvesting, drying, and pounding salmon gathering huckleberries to dry and mash with venison suet into big cakes to store for winter.вЂќ 1805В Sodium Ho!Д«y the time Lewis & ClarkвЂ™s expedition make it to Fort Clatsop, their salt cache is gone.

вЂњThose families were also eating waterfowl, as well as camas lily bulbs and wapato cooked in earth ovens, roasted until sweet,вЂќ says food historian Heather Arndt Anderson, author of Portland: A Food History.

Sustained by river salmon and huckleberries plucked from the slopes of WyвЂ™East (Mount Hood), Chinook tribes living around the area that would become Portland are the original locavores. 2000s Or, browse our timeline slideshow for a whirlwindВ tour of Portland food history.Just want to skim the century?В Jump right to the era that interests you. Along the way, look out for вЂњHot Plate Time MachineвЂќ pitstops that note where and what locals ate through the decades. But how did our city actually ripen into the food destination it is today? We dig into the wild spots, rule breakers, lost treasures, and unforgettable dishes that forged our food culture through the past century. PortlandвЂ™s eaters are always hungry for the next great bite, from xurros to modernist pop-up feasts.

Chef chen mill creek