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.
Jason Pastega is the founder of Skout Natural Foods, which he was inspired to launch after being unable to find healthy organic energy bars to take along on his outdoor adventures. In 2008, Pastega put his favorite organic ingredients into a kitchen mixer and spread his first bars with a rolling pin. Six months later, Skout Organic Trailbars were born. Today, Pastega is responsible for product development, manufacturing management, and ingredient procurement, but he still likes to scout for food — sometimes, it's for gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches in Multnomah Village.
One of my best friends introduced me to Journeys a few years ago and I was a bit surprised I had never heard of it before, since it's only a couple blocks away from where I was living at the time in Multnomah Village. It is a very low-key, unassuming place with great food and drink. My favorite items are the unique line of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, especially the one with sharp cheddar and a BBQ dipping sauce. The staff is extremely friendly, knowledgeable and engaging. It's a great neighborhood spot comfortably located in a classic Portland home.
· Journeys [Official site]
· All Previous Dining Confidentials [Eater PDX]
Photo of Journeys courtesy official site
