That paradigm is leading to a more favorable real-estate climate for restaurant owners and helps explain the Portland miniboom in hotel restaurants owned by local chefs.

This past September, thousands of people from around Oregon, the country and the world descended on the Rose City for Feast Portland, an international culinary festival celebrating “Oregon bounty.” It was another feather in the cap for a metropolis Knowlton says is one of the three “most exciting food cities” in the country right now. The ranking is based on new restaurant openings, “buzz” and eagerness on the part of top chefs to visit Portland.

Echoing the assessment of many local chefs and critics, Knowlton says the food in Portland restaurants isn’t better than in other cities, and that the city suffers from a lack of high-end, avant-garde options. There is also “a bit of a cookie-cutter mentality” in the replication of dishes and atmosphere, he says.

Food criticism notwithstanding, Portland dining stands out for its “complete package,” Knowlton says, from the independent chef/owners to the spirits, coffee, beer, “cool neighborhoods” — and the bicycles. “It’s a zeitgeist. It’s the Brooklynization of America.”

Fueled by a disparate collection of regulations, urban development policies, real-estate trends and that amazing bounty, Portland restaurants have become an international sensation. All that attention will raise the bar for the cuisine, says Boyce, whose wife, baker Kim Boyce, has opened up her own shop. “People came here because of the scene, and now the scene will expand and grow because of that,” he says.

Mike Thelin, co-founder of Feast Portland, gets to the root ingredient of why Portland is a restaurant leader. “Societally, right now food is the hottest thing,” he says. “And Portland is the hottest city.” 

Linda Baker is the managing editor of Oregon Business. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .