As the end of the year approaches we’ve entered the season when publications and columnists sum up the past and make predictions for the future. First out of the gate this year is Brian Duff from the Portland Phoenix,
A year ago Portland was feeling giddy, food-wise — with Eventide on every national best-of list, many interesting new openings rumored, and several prominent food trends, like pop-ups and food trucks, poised to take root in our town. A year on the excitement has subsided, and Portland’s food scene is basically the same. So be it…
What do you think? Is the Portland food scene “basically the same”, and if not how would describe the growth in 2013?
OK, I don’t want to seem prejudiced towards Brian’s latest, since I have actually come to enjoy his columns’ winding ledes, but why so negative?? We live in a great food city, and this year has seen a lot of positive developments. I know it’s not cool to be seen genuinely enjoying something, but he seems to be reaching for negatives. I love the food trucks that have become well-established, and don’t agree that they’re hard to walk to or find (unless you’re extremely lazy, I suppose). Empire improved the Chinese food scene, Salvage the barbecue. Eventide is still cranking, and Hugo’s is completely transformed. I don’t know, maybe I have my head up my ass because I’m writing a book about all the cool things people are doing and so I’m obviously invested. But I think in this article Brian laid out a lot of (albeit slowly) transformative things and then ended with “but nothing’s changed” just to be contrarian.
I agree with Kate 100%. The column starts by saying “the food scene is basically the same” and the proceeds to list all the changes, many of them positive. The same column could have been turned into a “positive” one simply by replacing the opening and closing paragraphs.
Also – I’m ok with there not being many “pop-ups” and “dinner clubs” around anymore. Those are generally exclusive, underground things that generally aren’t enjoyed by the public at large. Plus, this past year several of them (Vinland, Hunt and Alpine, et al) have become (or almost become) full fledged restaurants/bars.
He also point to 2012 as being great because of “many new openings rumored.” Well, in 2013 a number of those “rumored’ openings became “actual” openings, with more to come.