By Melina Keays
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Portland is the kind of town where everybody might not know your name, but they probably know your friend’s. Some of the clichés are true: bicycles and beards are as universal as tattoos and high-waisted shorts. Mostly, though, it’s the ingrained childlike sense of excitement that makes this town the home of America’s best food. Everyone is here to have fun. And some of them do it best.

[B]Beast[/B]

A tiny open-kitchen room that embraces each of the city’s greatest stylistic hits – chalkboard walls, a supperclub feel, communal tables – and renders them flawless. Naomi Pomeroy and her sous chef Mika Paredes work together with a balletic grace that makes what could be a high-pressure six-courser feel like a leisurely dinner at your favorite friends’ home - if your friends served foie gras bonbons and quail egg toasts.

www.beastpdx.com

[B]Le Pigeon [/B]

Gabriel Rucker’s open-kitchen spot that brings a new level to the word ‘intimate.’ Fighting the myth that expansion is the only way forward, Rucker just brought general manager Andy Fortgang in as partner, lending more stability and longevity to this tiny home of specials like chopped beef heart in a grilled peach or the Proustian nostalgia-inducing sundae. It’s the game hen, though, that’s the must-have: confited, cooked under a brick, with just a few little claws to remind you it once ran.

www.lepigeon.com

[B]Bunk Sandwiches[/B]

Named for a Wire character and as popular as that genre-defying HBO series. The sandwiches here are gargantuan, combinations of meats and cheeses and peppers and confits and salt cod and tongue and snails. They are reinventions without novelty, progress without preciousness. They are also, megalomaniacally, unforgettable.

www.bunksandwiches.com

[B]Viridian Farms[/B]

Run by a husband and wife team who really like Basque cooking and head to Spain for ‘research’ every few months, Viridian Farms is the only place to get Pimientos de Padron (everywhere on late-summer menus), Piment d’Espelette, and the alien-looking glacier lettuce. Not to mention the best and biggest blueberries—the secret is a seaweed fertilizer—around.

www.viridianfarms.com

[B]Beaker & Flask[/B]

A Southeast Portland cocktail lounge and restaurant that opened in the dog days of August. Run by Kevin Ludwig, with the aid of just about every bartender in town, Beaker & Flask is the ultimate collection of Portland superstars, all under one chalkboard-walled roof. The happy hour menu, there to accompany the ambitious cocktails, is sometimes funny—pork rillette tater tots—and sometimes obscene—the mac and cheese doesn’t quite need that square of crumbly blood sausage.

www.beakerandflask.com

[B]Laurelhurst Market[/B]

The latest venture founded by the Simpatica crew. Essentially a fancy bacon sammy, the pork belly sandwich layers slabs of Laurelhurst Butcher Shop’s pork belly with Pimientos de Padron and housemade aioli. It’s dark, earthy, and feels profoundly dangerous.

www.aurelhurstmarket.com

Amangiri resort, Utah

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Bathroom area of Amangiri resort

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Interior view of Amangiri resort

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Bathroom with white bathtub

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View from the room of Amangiri resort

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Room with study table and chair

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Best Made Axes

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Axe in wooden box

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Best Made Axes

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Axe with wooden handle

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Axe with wooden handle

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Axe with wooden handle

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Axe with wooden handle

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Interior view of Blackman Cruz store at Los Angeles

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Inside Blackman Cruz store, LA

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Furniture at Blackman Cruz store

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Black armchair at Blackman Cruz store

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Unique chairs and showpieces at Blackman Cruz store

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Round mirrors at Blackman Cruz store

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Commonwealth Utilities S/S 09 collection

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Commonwealth Utilities S/S 09 collection

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Commonwealth Utilities S/S 09 collection

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A model wearing grey t-shirt and blush pink shorts

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Commonwealth Utilities S/S 09 Collection

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Model wearing white shorts and sky blue shirt

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BlackWhite House in Bethesda, Maryland by David Jameson Architects

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BlackWhite House in Bethesda by David Jameson Architects

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Exterior view of Black White House in Bethesda

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Inside Black White residence

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Methow Cabin, by Eggleston Farkas Architects, Seattle

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Exterior view of Methow Cabin, by Eggleston Farkas Architects

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Exterior view of Methow cabin at daytime

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Hotel Erwin, Venice Beach, California

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Interior view of Hotel Erwin at Venice Beach

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Room view of Hotel Erwin

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Room view of Hotel Erwin at Venice beach

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Illustration from the Monkey Bar by Barry Blitt, New York

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Illustration on the wall of Monkey bar

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Illustration at Monkey bar

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Interior of the Monkey Bar

Monkey bar Illustration

(Image credit: Paul Cox)

My Best Fred, NYC

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My Best Fred, NYC

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Books in wooden shelf

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Office room with chairs and table

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Neal Creek, Hood River by Paul Mckean, Oregon

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Exterior of House Neal Creek

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Exterior view of Neal creek residence

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Beaker & Flask, Portland

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Interior view of Beaker & Flask restaurant

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Food at Beaker & Flask Restaurant, Portland

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Exterior view of Beast Restaurant, Portland

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Chef Naomi Pomeroy at Beast restaurant

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Laurelhurst Market, Portland

Laurelhurst Market, steakhouse and butcher shop

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Interior View Laurelhurst Market, Portland

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Bunks famous sandwiches, Portland

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Bunks famous sandwiches, Portland

Le Pigeon, Portland

Inside Le Pigeon restaurant, Portland

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Desert of Le Pigeon Restaurant, Portland

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A pop up shop of Viridian Farms at Portland

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Viridian Farms, Portland

Installation by Johanna Grawunder in Robert at MAD, NYC

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Light ceiling installation

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Light ceiling installation Robert at MAD, NYC

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Hall with Light ceiling

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Speakeasy - Rye NYC

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Inside Speakeasy Hotel at NYC

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Speakeasy Hotel interior view

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View of a bar counter at Speakeasy Hotel

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View of a bar counter at Speakeasy Hotel

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Speakeasy - Clover Club, NYC

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Interior view of Clover Club, NYC

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Bar counter of Clover club

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Bar counter of Clover club, NYC

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Close up view of a bar

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Speakeasy - The Violet Hour, Chicago

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Bar counter at The Violet Hour, Chicago

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Inside Hotel The Violet Hour at Chicago

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Speakeasy - The Varnish, LA

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Liquor counter at The varnish, LA

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Inside the varnish hotel, Los Angeles

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Speakeasy - Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco

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Bar counter of Hotel Bourbon and branch

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Bar counter of San Francisco's Hotel Bourbon and Branch

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Hotel Bourbon & Branch with bar area

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Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco

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Diamond House, XTEN Architecture, LA

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Exterior view of Diamond House

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Diamond House by XTEN Architecture

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Top view of Diamond House

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Interior of Diamond House

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Diamond House, XTEN Architecture, LA

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Melina Keays

Melina Keays is the entertaining director of Wallpaper*. She has been part of the brand since the magazine’s launch in 1996, and is responsible for entertaining content across the print and digital platforms, and for Wallpaper’s creative agency Bespoke. A native Londoner, Melina takes inspiration from the whole spectrum of art and design – including film, literature, and fashion. Her work for the brand involves curating content, writing, and creative direction – conceiving luxury interior landscapes with a focus on food, drinks, and entertaining in all its forms

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