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Reel M’ Inn: Portland’s Bar Food Extraordinaire
What could possibly distract you from the embarrassment of your traveling companion knocking over two pints of beer onto the table, floor, and your army jacket while every…one…in…the…room…watches…you? Reel M’ Inn’s fried chicken and jojos is what. Don’t believe it could be that good? Just ask Sean Brock, he proudly states that the

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal Part 8, A Peruvian Flower in the Desert
Flor de Canela The proprietor Mendoza Province, abutting the Andes in west central Argentina, is a big smudge of green amidst a large expanse of merciless aridity. Its verdancy is owed to the enslavement of Andean snow: upon

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal Part 7, Sushi and Hot Dogs in Puerto Montt, Chile
If the latter part of the above title makes the hair on the nape of your neck stand up and your taste buds flee in terror to hide behind your uvula, then you have the good sense to find the presence of hot dogs and sushi on the same menu

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal Part 6, Arequipa’s Frontlawn Restaurant
Clockwise from left: heart, corn, rocoto The flower of Peru’s glory is at its highest peak of florid magnificence when the traveler steps outside the bounds of urban settlements. This can be difficult at times; the central yolk of most Peruvian cities is broken here and there and allowed to

Choosing a cheap-ass wedding venue for under $1,000…
We looked at an insurmountable amount of possibilities for a wedding site. We knew it had to be in Norcal. It had to be in a historic building with character. And preferably in between his bay area and my Sacramento valley rooted families. We settled on six possibilities before we

Organ Grind: A South American Street Food Journal Part 5, Belen Market in Iquitos, Peru
Worms Belen Market is like a big liver planted in the heart of Iquitos, a chaotic, thrumming organ through which an Amazonian torrent of fruits, vegetables, meats, barks, salves and black market sneakers is caught and dealt with in some fashion or another. Iquitos, in case you haven’t heard of

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal Part 4, Beef Heart of Darkness
Grill master working the heat As the latter part of the above title flat-footedly implies, this weeks article has me journeying into savage, humid environs redolent of the morally queasy atmosphere of Joseph Conrad’s most famous novel. Instead of the Belgian Congo, however, I find myself in Peru’s Amazon Basin.