Portland Plated: Little Food Pieces of Art You Should Put in Your Mouth

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Food is the most immersive artform humans have managed to create–licking a Monet, for example, won’t tell you much and will probably get you arrested, but a big bite of burrata speaks volumes about life and beauty.

While eating engages all senses, nothing primes the palate better than a presentation that pops with color, texture, and design. Like sculpture and watercolor, plating is an art.

There are countless gorgeous dishes in Portland, especially in fine dining. With all due respect to microfoam, we wanted to highlight some indulgences that even a starving artist could afford.

If “kawaii” (cute in Japanese) had a picture next to it in the dictionary, this little cheesecake from East Burnside’s Soro Soro Coffee & Dessert would be it. The little gluten free personal-sized cake features an adorable orange cat (or hamster? I dunno, but it’s adorbs) smiling up at you. It’s almost too cute to eat, except that once you plunge your spoon in, the not-too-sweet cheesecake compels you to demolish the whole thing in one go. (2050 E Burnside, sorosoropdx.com)

A single piece of sushi from Kaede

Watching Kaede’s sushi chef and co-owner Shinji Uehara work—his hands methodically forming perfect pats of sushi rice, moving in one motion with a sharp blade to slice fresh fish from Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo—is like watching a master painter put brush to canvas.

The tasting menu rotates with the seasons—not just the vegetables but the fish as well. The kinme dai, or golden eye snapper, is cut on a bias to reveal a brilliant pink skin against soft pearly meat and sliced so fine it’s translucent at one end. (8268 SE 13th, kaedepdx.com)

Tres Moles Enchiladas at Mole Mole

The most visually appealing configuration of sauces in our city is undoubtedly the tres moles enchiladas at Mole Mole. This Northeast Alberta cart specializes in Oaxacan flavors, particularly the many moles of the Southern Mexican state.

The tres moles allows you to sample the floral pink mole, the bright verde mole and the rich, deep brown mole. This is optimal, as they’re all very different and very delicious. Fuck Skittles, this is what tasting the rainbow is really all about. (2231 NE Alberta, molemolepdx.com)

A year from now, Chef Althea Grey Potter will be a Portland household name. She’s long been your favorite food writer’s favorite chef, and she’s getting ready to open her first solo venture, Bar Nouveau, in St. John’s. Formerly of Ned Ludd and Oui, Grey Potter’s tiny, electric-only kitchen inside the former Southeast Wine Collective location, is poised to put out plates maximalist enough to make still life painters salivate.

The permanent Bar Nouveaux space is set to open on September 18, but at a spring pop up in Gracie’s Apizza, bright orange early season carrots formed a crown around green garlic zhoug dollops—so
green the plate looked like the month of May personified. Crispy pita chips, green onion, and herbs rounded out the dish. Grey Potter described her style to Portland Monthly better than even the finest writer could: “It’s like if Julia Child did acid and lived on a commune for a while. A technicolor awakening.” (Scheduled to open on Sept. 18, 7415 N Leavitt, @barnouveaupdx)

Pineapple Express at Janken

Janken knows what it’s doing when it comes to looking good. The restaurant is dominated by a life-like blooming cherry tree, its pink blossom laden branches arching over the main dining room. Gold leaf makes several appearances across the menu, and the towering Korean shaved ice bingsu desserts are truly a sight to behold.

Almost anything you order is going to be a looker, but if you want a quick hit with a big visual impact, grab a seat at the bar and order the Pineapple Express. The drink itself is a great riff on a tiki drink: grilled pineapple infused mezcal, cointreau, cane syrup, cardamom bitters, and lemon juice blend together with just the right amount of sweet and acidic. But the real clincher unfolds as it’s served with major flourish, arriving at your seat under a cloche filled with smoke that dissipates dramatically, and your drink appears before you. Voila. (250 NW 13th, jankenrestaurant.com)

Burrata at Arden

Arden’s chef Erik Van Kley is one of our city’s undersung heroes for the incredible work he does. Seasonal cooking can have its limitations, with some cooks leaning on repeats or well-trodden combos each year. However, Van Kley delivers both dynamic taste and stunning visuals. Always look to his burrata, which right now has pleasing pops of red heirloom tomato, bright orange heirloom melon, vermilion calabrian chili vinaigrette, and ample verdant green herbs. (417 NW 10th, ardenpdx.com)

Butterfly tom yum noodle soup at Nakhon Sawan

A good noodle soup is already a thing of beauty, but Thai restaurant Nakhon Sawan on Southeast Division said “hold my broth.” They took tom yum noodle soup, already a perennial favorite, and turned the noodles purple, steaming them in purple butterfly pea flower broth. The violet noodles are served with a painter’s palette of accompaniments: jammy boiled egg, red roasted BBQ chicken, Chinese broccoli, cilantro, onion, garlic, ground peanuts, minced pork, AND crispy wontons. It’s a soup that looks as good as it tastes. (4147 SE Division, nakhonsawanpdx.com)

Coconut cold brew with Ube Whip at Kalesa Coffee

Filipino-owned coffee shop Kalesa Coffee has you covered for all your matcha, pandan, and ube needs, but there’s a reason the coconut cold brew with ube whip is a permanent signature drink. The coffee takes on a milky tan color, denoting the sweet coconut flavors within, and the bright purple ube whipped cream on top makes it the cheeriest morning pick-me-up, even when it’s actually cold and grey outside. (722 N Page, kalesacoffee.com)

Most pizza looks good—you’re going to want to eat gooey cheese and red sauce. However, not many pizzas are truly gorgeous. Enter the heirloom tomato pizza at Double Mountain Brewery. This baby has gained a cult following, with the seasonal pie getting an official launch date each year on the brewery’s Instagram page. (This year, they kicked off on August 15.)

Huge slices of orange, green, purple, and red tomatoes dominate the crust, laid over a fresh basil walnut pesto on their New Haven-style thin crust. It’s just the thing to celebrate late summer, with an ice cold Jiro Japanese style lager to wash it down. (1700 N Killingsworth, 4336 SE Woodstock, 8 4th St in Hood River, doublemountainbrewery.com)