Portland late night

(July 5th, 2012) When we last left our hero, he had finished gorging himself at The Heathman Restaurant in downtown Portland.  The night was young, and he was ready to enjoy the town.  What trouble will he find?  What people will he meet?  And, most importantly, what will he ingest and imbibe?  These questions and more will be answered in this episode of...Where in the world...Don't worry, I'm nowhere near as much of a tease as Soap...

The first stop in my evening of decadence was Bailey's Taproom.  It was here that I first appreciated that this was the motherland of the Brothertons. As I stepped into the taproom, I was greeted by a giant computer screen with up-to-date information on each keg.  How long ago it had been tapped, what it contained, how much was left, etc.  In my mind's eye, I could definitely see Chris sitting at the bar exchanging notes with the owners.

Bailey's Taproom.  Note the big beer screen above the 20 taps.

After leaving Bailey's Taproom, I ended up giving my sister a call as Elizabeth had just returned to the states.  By some serendipitous chance, she happened to know the brother of the owner of the bar that I was headed to next.  Small world.  So, I found myself seated at the Teardrop Lounge, enjoying a sazerac in honor of the owner's brother (who lives in New Orleans), and a pina colada (the special recommended by the bartender helping me).  Much like at the Heathman, the Teardrop Lounge was dedicated to using nothing but the best local, seasonal ingredients.  The pina colada, which I would normally shy away from, was made from freshly grated coconuts, topped with fresh, local berries.  After hearing how much effort the bartender put into grating the coconut and after seeing how delicious the berries looked, how could I pass it up?

Here's a Sazerac for you, New Orleans.

Freshly made pina colada...delicious.

Last up for the evening (it was starting to get well past midnight at this point), was Voodoo Doughnuts.  Where to begin?  "Good things come in pink boxes", "The magic is in the hole", or just simply listing the names of the doughnuts themselves...actually, on second thought, an incomplete list as I'd like to keep this blog G or PG rated...Bacon Maple, Dirty Old Bastard, Triple Chocolate Penetration, etc. etc.  Coincidentally, those are the doughnuts that I ended up getting to go...  Even though I found myself in line at 1 in the morning, I still had to wait over an hour with about fifty people in front of me.  By the time I got out, the line had grown even longer...and it still would have been worth the wait.  So decadent, yet so good...

Two dirty old bastards (chocolate and peanut butter), a triple chocolate penetration (coco puffs atop chocolate icing and a chocolate doughnut), and a bacon maple.

Stay tuned for Portland day 2 (the best is yet to come!).  Travel is starting up again for me, so maybe I'll have some time to sit down and update this blog...