Welcome to Portland and
Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion!
Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion website is a curated guide for locals and visitors and is designed around what is good and working in and around our town. Everything that makes Portland and the Pacific Northwest a special place to live in. The Companion explores our food, drink & arts culture, neighborhoods & small towns, farmers markets & local producers, indigenous culture and small businesses.
The website compliments Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion eBook and provides updates, reviews, current news, photos, interviews, and ways to get involved with our neighborhoods and the city.
The website is refreshed monthly, and the latest news added at the beginning of each topic and marked with an asterisk.
JUNE IN PORTLAND
(A Curated Guide)
©Stuart MacLean Ramsay 2026
FOODVILLE
Restaurants, farmers markets, producers, and everything that contributes to Portland and the region’s food culture.
Congratulations to Ryan Roadhouse, chef at the Portland Japanese restaurant, Nodoguru. Ryan won ‘Best Chef, Northwest & Pacific Region’ in the recent James Beard Awards. Local writer, Erica Berry, took home a Media Award for her personal essay, “Intuitive Eating: Poison, Pleasure and Trust,” in Orion Magazine. https://orionmagazine.org/article/intuitive-eating/
Meet your farmer: The month of June is blessed with a proliferation of farmers markets, offering the opportunity to meet the people who put real food on our tables. And meet the local baker or a start-up food cart looking to launch their brick & mortar dream.
Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University downtown is a true Portland treasure, with around 100 vendors and 9,000 customers in the peak summer months. It’s best to go early (8:30 am opening time). Portlandfarmersmarket.org
A mellower and more edited choice is Wednesday morning’s Shemanski Park market (30 vendors), also downtown at 1010 SW Park Avenue. Neighborhood farmers markets have their own local vibe and wonderful energy. Some favorites are Cully, Hollywood, Milwaukie, King, Kenton, Lents, the year-round Wednesday market at People’s Food Co-op, and a bit further: Oregon City and Salmon StreetMarket in downtown Vancouver. Bring a basket or two.
Companion Shoutout: Srma Turkish BBQ. Food booth at the Vancouver Farmers Market by Esther Short Park. Chef Ayten’s parents ran a restaurant in Türkiye, and she was inspired by the Turkish barbecue culture to launch this food booth and catering business. Classy, clean and tasty. Try the grilled meatball Kofta and the lentil kofta. srmafood.com
In Memoriam (alas): Bar Casa Vale; Libre: Aalto Lounge (with new & respectful owners, though.
DRINKING
All the news that’s fit to drink.
Congratulations to my friend and fellow Whisky Hunter, Tommy Klus, and his team at Scotch Lodge in the Buckman neighborhood. The bar was voted ‘Best Outstanding Bar’ in the recent James Beard Awards. Well deserved, Tommy!
June 12-21. Pdx Beer Week: Actually, 10 days celebrating Portland’s beer culture at breweries and pubs around the city. Limited edition beers, brewer’s dinners, beer specials and events. Highlights include Breakside Brewing’s 16th anniversary Block Party at their taproom in the Woodlawn neighborhood. (Saturday, June 13th, from Noon - 9pm.) pdxbeerweek.com
:June 20th, New School’s New Brewery & Cidery Showcase. From 3 - 10pm. Imperial Bottleshop & Taproom, 3090 SE Division Street. Beers and ciders from over ten start-up breweries and cideries from Oregon and Washington, and an opportunity to meet the brewers and cider makers. pdxbeerweek.com
June 20. Oregon Cider Fest. @ The Black Wine Market, 14559 Westlake Drive, Lake Oswego. 4 - 8pm. $20 for a souvenir glass and 16 cider samples from the likes of the estimable Kristof Farms, Terroir Incognito and Heartland Ciderworks.
June 20. Pedalpalooza & Threshhold Brewing bike ride. From 12:30 - 6pm. Starts at Threshhold, 403 SE 79th Ave., then meanders 12-13 miles to a variety of breweries. Expect to spend around 30-45 minutes at each brewery.
Companion Shoutout: Threshold Brewing, 403 SE 79th Ave., Montevilla. Brewer Jarek, born and raised in Poland, and partner Sara co-own this down home & friendly neighborhood craft brewery. There’s a Polish influence in the food (Zapiekankas) and their beer (Baltic Porters) and, always a sign of a serious brewery, two cask beers on tap. Family and dog friendly, there’s often live music (bluegrass/gypsy jazz) and a fun event at least once a week. The World Cup is currently on tap, with the sound on. threshold.beer
ARTS & CULTURE
June 18-21. Delta Park Powwow & Encampment. Delta Park, exit 307. The 56th annual Powwow, with Native American traditional dances, drumming, arts & crafts vendors, traditional games and food vendors. Free entry.
Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave. (Central Eastside/Buckman.) Nonprofit bookstore dedicated to building community through literature. Readings, events and writing classes. In-house café serving coffee and pastries. 503-227-2583. Literary-arts.org
Mike Bennett Studios. Illustrator, cartoonist and Public Joy Creator, Mike has created a myriad ‘experiences’ and artwork around Portland. His latest Experience is the Portland Aquarium at 603 SW Broadway, featuring no live (or dead) sea creatures, but lots of fun for kids and grown-ups. Check out Wonderwood, Dinolandia, Snow Day Village, A to Zoo, A,B, Sea and Crypto-Zoo. Mikebennettstudios.com
Companion Shoutout: Portland Chinatown Museum, 127 NW Third Ave. Old Town Chinatown. Always interesting permanent and new exhibitions in this wee museum, and always enlightening. They also have frequent webinars that explore the history of the vibrant Chinese community in Portland and Oregon. portlandchinatownmuseum.org
Bonus: it’s next door to the Geekeasy Anime Cafe, 310 NW Davis, a great Chinatown joint that serves inexpensive, quality wraps, ramen, small bites & drinks. And lots of plushies.
KNOW YOUR PLACE! BUY STUART RAMSAY’S PORTLAND COMPANION eBOOK
The Portland Companion website is designed to complement Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion eBook. The website’s goal is to fill in the travel gaps in the book: restaurant & bar openings and closures, current cultural events, etc. It’s also a vehicle for more in-depth reviews and profiles of places and people in Portland, the North Coast, Columbia Gorge and the North Willamette Valley. Visit Companion eBook in the menu bar at the top for more info and how to buy it.
DAY TRIPPING
North Willamette Valley, North Coast and Columbia Gorge.
Willamette Valley:
June 28. Queer Wine Fest. Hosted by Remy Wines, 17495 NE McDougall Road, Dayton. Queer-owned, made and grown wines from across the country. queerwinefest.com
June 19,20, 21. Oregon Brews & BBQ Father’s Day Bash. Yamhill County Fairgrounds. Beer, bbq & wrestling! orbrewsandbbq.com
June 26-28. World Beat Festival, Riverfront Park, Salem. Multicultural event highlighting Pacific Islander culture. salemmulticultural.com
North Coast:
June 19, 20, 21. Scandinavian Midsummer Festival. Clatsop County Fairgrounds, Astoria. Nordic folk dancing, music, food & crafts. astoriascanfest.com
June 27. Tillamook Dairy Parade. Downtown Tillamook. Begins at 11am. “Stars, Stripes & Dairy Delights.”
Astoria Sunday Market, 10am -3pm every Sunday till Mid-October. 12th Street, downtown. 150 vendors: produce, local crafts, music & food. astoriafarmersmarket.com
Columbia Gorge:
Hood River Farmers Market, Saturdays from May - November. 9am - 1pm. 501 Columbia Street. gorge grown.com
BREAK-IN NEWS
It’s tough owning and operating a small business in Portland.
Smashed windows, broken doors, graffiti and seemingly no accountability towards the low lifes who do it. Insurance companies increase coverage rates or drop the business entirely, so the business is left paying out of pocket. Break-In News is not asking to donate money to the businesses affected - just support them by buying a drink or a meal, whatever it is they’re making, selling or doing. Tell them the Companion sent you. Thank you.
The following businesses have recently been vandalized:
Midtowners Market, 1736 SE Hawthorne Blvd. New and vintage boutique and furniture shop. Broken windows, break-n, theft. midtownersmarket.com
Citizen Ruth, 1416 NE Alberta St. Pop culture and jewelry gift shop. Break-in and jewelry theft. citizenruth.com
Darcelle XV Showplace, 208 NW 3rd Ave. Iconic Old Town Chinatown drag club. Historic plaque defaced with homophobic hate speech. darcellexv.com
Alberta Head Start. NE Alberta St. Non-profit helping low income Portland kids. Windows repeatedly broken. albinahs.org
CELEBRATE PORTLAND
Neighborhoods:
Foster Summer Soiree, Saturday, June 13. Laurelwood Park and SE 58th - SE 72nd on Foster Rd. From Noon - 5pm. FOPO the people in one of the city’s earthiest & cool neighborhoods. fosterarea.com
Juneteenth Oregon Parade & Festival, June 20. Celebrating the end of slavery and promoting and cultivating knowledge and appreciation of African American history & culture. The Clara People’s Freedom Trail Parade begins at 11 am at King Elementary School and rolls down MLK Blvd., culminating at Lillis-Albina Park on N. Russell & N. Flint, with the public festival to follow at the park. Music, vendors, speakers . Free. juneteenthor.com
Scandinavian Midsummer Festival, June 26 + 27. Nordic Northwest Campus, 8800 SW Oleson Rd. 5-9pm on the 26th; 10-5pm on the 27th. A plethora of Nordic traditions, including live music, games, crafts vendors and the Midsummer pole.
PDX MISC.
The World Cup: Portland’s a futbol town, and there’s a smorgasbord of venues serving beer to wash the games (from 6/11 - 7/19) down.
The estimable Gol soccer pub on Hawthorne Blvd. is showing all the games, and there’s a lot of them. It gets busy, though. Away Days, the Brooklyn cask beer pub, has transformed the financially formidable U.S. Bank building (downtown) into a 6 week fan festival with their beer, food and DJ’s. $10 a game and around $250 for a table of 8 per game. Dingo’s, an Aussie pub in Montavilla, has meat pies and an antipodean vibe (and a hella big screen) for the games; the cricket & rugby pub, Sticky Wicket, is doing it in North Portland. T.C. O’Leary’s, Nick’s Coney Island, Prost, North 45, Beermonger’s, Baerlic Brewing and Gigantic Brewing are other options for all the games.
Pedalpalooza ! Community -led bike rides (over 100) through June, July and August. Get on your bike!
Come Thru Black & Indigenous Market, June 15, 3 - 7pm. Redd East Event Space, 831 SE Salmon St. Incubator market centered on Black & Indigenous farmers and makers.
Wildflowers. There’s still time in June to wander lonely as a cloud among the wildflowers. Some local suggestions: Forest Park Forestparkconservancy.org); Powell Butte Nature park (Friendsofpowellbutte.org); and Tryon Creek State Natural Area (tryonfriendsp.org). And William L. Sullivan’s book, ‘Exploring Oregon’s Wild Areas’ can take you to magical places.
THE COMPANION SPOTLIGHT
Akâdi, the West African restaurant on Division Street in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, derives its name from the Bambara language spoken in West Africa’s Côte d’Ivoire. Akâdi means ‘tasty”, and appropriately describes the large servings of wings, stews, fish dishes and samosas overseen by Chef Fatou Quattara, a native of Bouake in the Côte d”Ivoire. The restaurant space has an industrial look, but the vibe is warm with good, bustling energy, and the service friendly and knowledgable. They’ll recommend, correctly, sampling the menu family-style. There’s a full bar, too, and you can buy Akâdi’s mild or spicy sauce, a versatile dipping sauce or marinade with African spices. 1001 SE Division St. (Hosford-Abernethy.) Open Wednesday - Sunday 4 -9pm. 971-271-7072 akadipdx.com. Price point: $$$
A Local Resource: oregonblackpioneers.org
In Memoriam: The Skanner. Founded in 1975, an African-American newspaper and website covering Black culture and politics in the Pacific Northwest. The Skanner newspaper shut down earlier this year.E
Stuart MacLean Ramsay was born and raised in the Highlands of Scotland and arrived in Portland in 1985 to create and manage Portland’s first brewpub at the BridgePort Brewery. Writer, craft brewer and educator, he is a leading expert on whisky, spirits and craft beer. He was American correspondent & contributing editor for Britain’s Whisky Magazine and craft beer columnist for the Portland Oregonian. His most recent book project was contributing editor for the award –winning ‘Whisky: The Definitive World Guide.’ Stuart was the Curator for Portland’s Multnomah Whiskey Library when it opened, overseeing the multitude of spirits and the education & events program. He operates and hosts America’s oldest whisky school: Ramsay’s Dram Academy of Whisky, and seven years ago launched WhiskyBack Brewing, a family of craft beers designed to pair with different whisky categories. (Extinguished by the covid pandemic, alas.)
He is owner and host of The John Barleycorn Home, a guest house celebrating Portland’s food & drink culture and Oregon’s history, people and places. It was the catalyst for this book: airbnb.com/h/johnbarleycornhome-portland
Stuart’s whisky classes & events: https://www.ramsaysdram.com
WhiskyBack Brewing Company: https://whisky-back.weebly.com
