First New York, Now London?

A couple of months ago it seemed like the New York Times couldn't get enough of Portland. For awhile you couldn't open the paper without seeing an article on our food, our wine or the local sights. It was like they'd sent their feature folks out here on a staff retreat and they all caught the same virus.

Well, now the Guardian of London seems to have picked up the same bug that infected the NYT folk. In a piece in yesterday's issue, Guardian writer Laura Barton lists her ten favorite spots to nosh. What's interesting is that she eschews the usual hot spots for the more approachable fare of close-in eastside haunts like Navarre, The Farm and Montage, and even made it out to FoPo's Cava, about which she writes:

"A relatively new addition to the Portland scene, Cava sits in the rapidly-evolving south east of the city, and its a smallish, simple-ish menu concentrates on perfectly-prepared dishes made with the best local ingredients — consider butternut squash soup with brown butter and fried sage or Moroccan spiced roast chicken with stewed onions, saffron and olives on cous cous, for example. The staff are super-friendly, and the desserts — classic pecan pie with chantilly cream, espresso brûlée with cocoa nib shortbread — are magnificent."

I mean, that's really swell, but then in today's issue there's more. An essay by writer Beth Ditto (right) referring to our fair city as "the US's coolest city." She lists her top spots for finding vintage duds (Red Light), lunch under ten bucks (Thai Noon), best place for live music (Wonder Ballroom) and more.

So what's next? Paris Match dumping New York and declaring PDX the country's new fashion HQ? Pravda touting our distiller's spirits as non pareil? I can't wait to hear!