Oregon is home to a lot of restaurants, bars, wineries, and breweries, but there are tons of hidden gems that some 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 Tula Gluten Free Baking Co. courtesy Facebook
Atop the Nines Hotel, Departure's Gregory Gourdet shows off his well-honed skill set with exceptional Asian-inspired cuisine, but, away from work, Portland's Hottest Chef 2012 is mad for the sweet stuff. Although the running/biking/vegan-obsessed chef says he mostly works with healthy ingredients, he still admits to having a huge sweet tooth. "Sometimes I will base whole meals on desserts, like a couple cupcakes, a cookie and a milkshake," Gourdet says. "I gave up dairy and gluten awhile back to make it harder to eat the really bad stuff, and since then, I've sought out every alternative bakery wherever I am."
Tula is one of my favs. The entire café is gluten-free and lifestyle sensitive. I have ridden by this place so many times since it's between yoga and work, but it has always looked closed. I made a point to try it one day and literally ate everything in my box before I left the store and I returned the next day. Tula makes really pretty and delicious pastries, many of which are based off old European sweets. All allergens are listed on the pastry cards like, "dairy, eggs, corn" so you know what you are eating and can pick and choose accordingly. There is something for everyone, even if you are on a special diet or not. Everything is amazing and has really great textures like their chewy, salty, chocolate chip cookie made from nut flour, and a moist and tender crumbed orange and olive oil cake. The seasonal berry streusel cake is excellent as well. All the cupcakes are filled with gooey centers, like lemon curd. So good! The pastries are very consistent here and the service is friendly. Mieka the owner is always super bubbly and helpful with questions. The best part is that none of these pastries weigh you down or make you feel heavy after so you can indulge with less guilt. Tula also turns out really tasty baked veggie hand pies and a few pizzas and paninies. Tula will be selling at Local Choice the new produce market opening in the Pearl soon. Dessert for breakfast? Why not?
· Tula Gluten-Free Baking Co. [Official site]
· All Previous Dining Confidentials [Eater PDX]
