And Now, Meet Your Makers

Oregon’s microdistilling scene followed the microbrewery boom of two decades ago. Now, five of eight local craft distilleries are located in Portland’s city center, near SE Seventh Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard, an area that is already becoming known as the Distillery District. Most distilleries open up regularly for tours, tastings, and retail. Here’s a guide to who’s making what.

By Randy Gragg, Paige Williams, Kasey Cordell, and Kaitlin JohnsonWith contribution from Brian Barker

A Year in Drinks

Drink your way through Portland’s bars this year with your very own cocktail-of-the-month guide.

By Kaitlin Johnson

Time in a Bottle

Hood River Distillers is the Northwest’s oldest and largest liquor company. One of the last regional distilleries in the country, Hood River Distillers sold off most of its stills in the late sixties and hasn’t really used one since, though this might soon change.

By Tom Colligan

Hell & High Water

The mouth of the Columbia River is one of the most unpredictable and dangerous stretches of navigable water on the planet. Since 1792, at least two thousand ships have sunk here in the “graveyard of the Pacific”; Kevin Dooney is among only sixteen men and women licensed to take the big commercial vessels of the world through it. They belong to the Columbia River Bar Pilots, a company that dates back to 1846.

By Randy Gragg

Rosie Sizer

Rosie Sizer became Portland’s police chief in 2006. Lately, gang violence and a budget crisis have demanded her attention. We sat down with her in late March for a check-in.

By Ted Katauskas

Terry's Gift

The late Terry Toedtemeier was the Portland Art Museum’s curator of photography. Toedtemeier shaped the Portland art scene during his twenty-three years as a curator and nature photographer and by co-authoring a book, Wild Beauty: Photographs of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867–1957. We remember him through his photographs.

By Tim Appelo

The Bounceback

Earlier this year Oregon became ground zero for economists Joel Kotkin and Richard Florida’s bickering. Forbes columnist, Kotkin, and Florida, his longtime adversary in regional-economics punditry, hash out what will save Portland’s economy.

By Camela Raymond

PDX Index: Barbecue

The skinny on Portland’s BBQ scene.

By Kaitlin Johnson

How To...Make Your Own Beef Jerky

Our own Oregon cowboy gives us the recipe for successful beef jerky.

By Kasey Cordell

Period Piece

The Governor Hotel—a famous Portland destination—turns one hundred this year, and to celebrate we unlock its secrets.

By Isaac Darnall

Five Reasons...Why Portland Kicks Seattle's Ass

After Seattle magazine printed the reasons not to move to Portland, we couldn’t help but fight back. Here’s why Portland—not Seattle—is the Northwest’s best city.

By Randy Gragg

Blind Pilot

Inside Portland’s music and entertainment scene with Blind Pilot’s bandmembers.

Earth and Money

Dan Weldon, Portland’s first ecobanker, can help you save the earth and your money with the GreenStreet Lending Initiative.

Chemical Reaction

Portland State University scientist, Tammi Lasseter Clare, believes her new Laboratory for the Science of Art and Conservation can save some of the Northwest’s precious art.

By Lynette Sanchez

The Perfect Party

Celebs we’d most like at our Portland dinner table this month.

Brighten Up!

In Portland, bold color brings spring style into bloom.

By Melissa Tessitor

Parallel

Parallel aligns itself with Portland’s shopping hot spots.

By Jill Spitznass

H20000000h!

At Great Washington’s Great Wolf Lodge, families howl over epic waterslides. Last year, Grand Mound, Washington—equidistant between Portland and Seattle—joined eleven other locations across North America as a destination for the Great Wolf Resorts chain where thrilling waterslides, bunk beds shaped like wolf caves, and marshmallows dipped in chocolate are all a part of the fun.

By Kathryn Robinson

Life as Story

A passion for possessions with purpose shaped the style of design-savvy couple Bryce Dugan and Charles Froelick (owner of the Pearl’s Froelick Gallery), and turned their Portland bungalow into a work of art.

By Anna Sachse

Stumble Zone

We stumble through the Portland bar scene and show you how to do a pub crawl of your own.

By John Chandler

Indish

Portland’s newest Indian restaurant, Indish, offers authentic Indian home-cooking.

By Isaac Darnall

Fair Catch

Bamboo Sushi offers Portland restaurant goers a taste of sustainability. Founded on the philosophy of promoting sustainable fishing practices, Bamboo is now famously certified by the Green Restaurant Association as the first “green” sushi restaurant in the United States.

By Martha Calhoon

Tall Tales

With 150 years of history to dig through, Richard H. Engeman provides an easy-to-follow guide chock-full of cross-references in his book, The Oregon Companion.

By Isaac Darnall

Rainy-Day Requiem

Viva Voce’s latest album, Rose City, reveals itself to be a sublimely sweet love letter to Portland.

By Randy Gragg