Inside the Meadow, Now Open on NW 23rd Avenue

Grid View

[Avila, 9/6/13]

Salt aficionado Mark Bitterman has swung the doors open at the second Portland location of his artisan salt/chocolate/flower shop The Meadow, which takes over a former clothing store space on the resurgent NW 23rd Avenue (coming soon three storefronts down: a new outpost of Billy Wilson's artisan coffee shop Barista). The 500-square-foot space is just slightly larger than the Meadow's N. Mississippi location, but feels expansive thanks to a newly installed skylight, 10-foot-tall wall of pink Himalayan salt blocks, and a front-end seating area allowing natural light to filter in.

Though not much larger in square footage, the shelves of Meadow NW are stocked with more product: According to Bitterman, the space houses 200 bitters, 120 varieties of salt, and 500 different bars of chocolate (200 of them new to the Meadow), with four nearly floor-to-ceiling shelves separating bars by category. One case is dedicated to European dark chocolate (like Domori and Amedei), another to North/South American/Asian bars, and one to milk/white/raw/drinking chocolates (including a section for those looking to buy in restaurant-sized bulk). A front chocolate case features flavored chocolates, including most Portland-local brands.

The expanded salt lineup includes rare varieties like a "full moon" salt from Japan — harvesting salt during the full moon creates a different mineral balance, resulting in a "beautiful, delicate" salt, Bitterman says — and an Appalachian salt harvested from a Carolina salt spring. Plans are to add a magazine selection in the front of the shop, focusing on culinary/lifestyle publications with an artisan bent.

The Meadow is now softly open on NW 23rd. Monday marks the official grand opening, with the hours of 10a.m. to 10p.m., daily.
· The Meadow [Official site]
· All Previous Meadow Coverage [Eater PDX]