Travel Rants and Raves: It’s Feast Portland Week: Hold on to Your Napkins!

Culinary luminaries from across the country and the world join forces with their Northwest counterparts at Bon Appétit Presents Feast Portland, held Sept. 14–17 in multiple venues around town. Since its 2012 debut, the food festival has solidified Portland’s reputation as a culinary hotbed, challenging Portland’s chefs to continue innovating their cuisine with local, seasonal fare.

Chef Gregory Gourdet

I’ll be taking a break from Feast this year. It’s been an all-consuming week of tasting and writing for the past several years. Sometimes a writer just needs a break!

So I’m happy to share that Wander With Wonder's Editor in Chief has arranged to keep us in the know about Feast. Susan Lanier-Graham shared, “We at Wander love the Pacific Northwest and wish we could all be Feasting in Portland. To celebrate Feast Portland, follow along on our Instagram as contributor Tracy Beard takes us through some of the highlights at this year's #FeastPDX. And be sure to check out all the other great things to do and eat in PDX on Wander.”

This year, Feast attendees have more than 40 events to choose from, including marquee affairs, jaw-dropping dinners, fun-size experiences, classes and panels.

Chef Jose Chesa

New to the roster of “fun-size” events (read smaller) are Pizza & Burgers, serving back-to-basics comfort food; Because Breakfast, with an assortment of Instagram-worthy pastries, donuts, crepes, cocktails and coffee drinks to start the day; and Vegetables: A Love Story, Featuring Healthyish by Bon Appétit, highlighting vegetable-forward dishes from a host of collaborating chefs.

Portland's Pearl District

Hands-on classes provide insight and techniques for preparing everything from candy and confections to dumplings and steak. Meanwhile, Drink Tank lines up industry-leading distillers, winemakers and brewers to lead panel discussions on developing trends in their fields, such as the new world of American whiskey — beyond bourbon and rye — as presented in Kilts Not Required: American Single Malts.

Feast’s signature crowd-pleasing events will also make a comeback this year. The Sandwich Invitational pits 18 all-star chefs against one another, and the Latin-influenced Night Market brings 20 chefs together under the stars.

Two Grand Tastings threaten to burst out of their one-city-block boundary with food and drink from 80 purveyors, while Smoked! carries on its tradition of an over-the-top backyard cookout, and Brunch Village plies late-morning diners with eye-opening flavors.