Oregon is home to a lot of restaurants, bars, wineries, and breweries, but there are tons of hidden gems that the majority of Portlanders aren't unearthing. To help guide us to these potential discoveries, we've enlisted some of our city's many food players to share their recommendations for a weekly feature dubbed Dining Confidential.
Image of BrunchBox courtesy What's For Lunch BC
After receiving his degree from the CIA in Hyde Park, Matt Christianson worked under Bradley Ogden at his Lark Creek Restaurant Group, soon becoming executive chef at the group's Lark Creek Inn, and later at One Market in San Francisco. Christianson has since settled in Portland, where he is currently the executive chef at downtown's Urban Farmer. Through trained in New American farm-to-table cuisine, Christianson also has a taste for gut-busting guilty pleasure: Enter BrunchBox's notorious YouCanHasCheeseburger.
There is a break in the rain just long enough to not be soaked while eating on the street corner, watching the world go by. Where to go? My escape is not far from Urban Farmer and if the rain does start before my return to work, I know my insides will be warmed. After a short walk and a bit over $5 escapes my wallet, I am holding a warm perfectly wrapped paper package of goodness: The "YouCanHasCheeseburger" at BrunchBox, two Texas toast grilled cheese sandwiches wrapped around a beef patty, grilled onions and all the fixin's. Mmmm. One of these days I'll try something else, but it would just feel like I was cheating on the "YouCanHas." Maybe this isn't a secret to most Portlanders, but my colleagues always wonder where I was and why I am smiling so big.
· BrunchBox [Official site]
· All Previous Dining Confidentials [Eater PDX]
