That Travel Meal :: Best-in-Show Burrata at Ava Gene's

[trip style = food + wine]

Last month we started a series called "That Travel Meal," a taste of the delicioso dishes I savor while trip styling and tasting around the globe. The plates that make it into this series are the cream of the crop, the ones I must recreate—either through the acquired recipe or hours of  trial and error—and share with you as the travel souvenir that keeps on giving. 

That Travel Meal dishes won't keep you in the kitchen {or driving all over town to source ingredients} for hours; they're pretty easy to recreate. For example, I'm OB-sessed with Parisienne croissants, but that's something I'll leave to Le Cordon Bleu alumni.  

The latest fare I'm adding to the TS menu is a burrata appetizer I ordered last month from Ava Gene's, one of my go-to restaurants in Portland. As a burrata lover, I've tested a lot of the melt-in-your-mouth mozza, but this rendition is the best—ideal for a petite dinner paired with rosé, or as a dinner party starter.  

Ava Gene's Burrata {serves 2}
- 6" square of focaccia, sliced into 6 fingers
- 4 oz burrata 
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp jalapeno, minced
- 1 tsp shallot, minced
- 3 tbsp fresh corn 
- 2 tomatillos, sliced
- 7 gooseberries,  halved {or nectarine if gooseberries are hard to find}
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
- 6 mint leaves, slapped {to release flavor} and sliced
- salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Warm and crisp sliced focaccia in the oven at 200 F for 12 minutes. Mix 1 tbsp of olive oil with jalapeno, shallot, corn, tomatillos, gooseberries, walnuts and mint in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take burrata out of the fridge, place on your serving dish and top with contents from your mixing bowl. Pour remaining olive oil over the burrata and mint mixture. Remove focaccia from the oven, place on your plate and serve. 

Trip Styler Tip: Ava Gene's changes their burrata weekly depending on what's in season. Use this recipe as a guide, but feel free to take a cue from Portland's obsession with local bounty and add or subtract what's currently growing in your backyard.

Related
That Travel Meal :: Goat Cheese-Prociutto-Pear-Arugula Pizza

[photos by @tripstyler]

Oregon Travel Diary :: Feasting on Portland

[trip style = food + drink + urban]

Editor's Note: While TS Sis was recently investigating Scandinavia, I was exploring the Oregon Coast's Northern beaches and tasting what's new in Portland's food scene. Here's the first of a few dispatches from that late-August city-to-beach jaunt.

I chose to write about the restaurants I frequent and drool over in Portland's food scene today for a buffet of reasons: 

1/ This weekend is Feast Portland, one of North America's prime-cut food festivals, and something I've reported on for Trip Styler and Fodor's for the past two years. Sadly, I'm not able to make it this year, but pl-ease go in my absence, K?  
2/ When I visited The City of Roses {which I'd like to rename "The Center of Taste"} in August, a bunch of restaurants had just been named by Bon Appétit Magazine to their prestigious list of 50 Best New Restaurants in America. Not surprisingly, one little luncheonette made the Hot 10 {more on this below}. 
3/ I make a point to visit Portland a few times a year to keep up with the latest dish and drink, so here's the complete menu of TS musts.

Eat
MÅURICE - I dined at MÅURICE, a pastry luncheonette, a few hours before they found out they'd been crowned one of the Hot 10 new restaurants in America by Bon Appétit Magazine. From the first bite of my current-rosemary scone, I knew they were a strong contender. As I ordered more, it was settled; this French-forward pastry kitchen was catapulted into the "always visit" realm in my Portland restaurant repertoire.

Ava Gene's - Pair rustic Italian fare sourced from the surrounding foothills, a brasserie-style setting {and Grappa}, and you've got Portland's Italian stallion of restaurants. Don't visit without trying the burrata, topped with an eclectic mix of what's in season {in late-August: corn, jalapeño, mint, fig, walnuts and olive oil}.

Olympic Provisions - Aside from the word "bounty," which would be a weird name for a restaurant, there are two buzzwords which accurately describe Portland's obsession with local and meat, combine them and you've got Olympic Provisions, the embodiment of Oregon cuisine in the form of fresh food and local wine.  

Luce - If Luce's black and white vinyl floor, wood tables topped with tiny vases of in-season flowers or shelves stocked with Italian cooking basics aren't enough to entice you to try everything on the menu, then the collection US$2 appetizers or US$5 tumblers of house wine should do the trick. From there you'll transition into the pasta and more tumblers of wine until you lose track of time and the stars light your way home.

*There are a bazillion restaurants I could write love letters to in PDX. Other not-to-miss picks include: St. Jack, The Woodsman Tavern, Ned Ludd, Grüner, Pok Pok 

Drink
Pépé Le Moko - One of the most anticipated speakeasy openings in the past few years, Pépé Le Moko is a throwback to the drinks your parents would have sipped at happy hour—hello Amaretto Sour and Grasshopper Milkshake—in a subterranean space rimmed by black vinyl booths and lit by vintage task lights.   

Clyde Common - ...Because I don't visit Portland without stopping by this Euro-meets-West-Coast food gem. Plus, they employ one of the best bartenders in the USA, and their happy hour is my happy place. 

Driftwood Room - I first discovered the Driftwood Room when I was writing the Jetsetter hotel review for the Hotel deLuxe, and immediately fell in love with the retro landmark that's remained frozen in time since 1954.

Breakfast
Tasty n Sons - A neighborhood bistro with a menu that's anything but. Think breakfast tapas like griddled bacon-wrapped dates with maple syrup and almond, or sweet biscuits with warm blueberry compote and crème anglaise.

Broder -  Where Nordic and PNW cuisine harmonize in a pitch-perfect breakfast. Whatever you do, make sure you sample a potato pancake.

Blue Star Donuts - In case you're still basking in 2010's trends, know this: Blue Star is the new Voodoo, so stop by to satisfy your carb craving with flavah-flavs such as Hard Apple Cider Fritter or Blueberry Bourbon Basil. And in case there was ever a feel-good donut, it's from Blue Star where the scratch and locally-sourced dough is made from certified sustainable bread flour, cage-free eggs, whole milk and European-style butter. Bonus: They serve dog donuts for US$0.25.  

Coffee
Stumptown Coffee Roasters - As the West Coast's most popular indie roaster and bar, Stumptown takes coffee as seriously as Portland takes food—see the website's detailed brewing guides as evidence. Find five locations in Portland, plus a bevy of others in buzzed cities like Seattle, LA and New York. 

Heart Coffee Roasters - When I go into Heart, I long to linger and be that coffee devotee who stays for two-hour stints while listening to a self-made mix of ambient beats and planning their next terrarium design. With two locations in Portland and a number of shops around the US who carry Heart's brew, this sip is to coffee as craft is to cocktail. 

Coava - For serious java aficionados with a proclivity for minimalism—both in design and coffee culture—Coava's craftsmen are dedicated to making balanced and sweet espresso, perfect milk drinks and brewed coffee so good, nothing needs to be added. 

Treat
Salt & Straw - Raised in Portland and now expanding to LA, Salt & Straw is an ice cream institution {in the summer, line-ups can run 150 people long; in this case, buy a pint to skip the line] made famous by its farm-to-cone connection, creamy texture and inventive flavors (think: Bone Marrow Cherry or Black Olive Brittle and Goat Cheese). While I love to try these haute takes on crème glacée, it's Salt & Straw's classic tastes such as Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons or Salted, Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough that make my eyes flutter when I scoop them from my cup to my mouth.  

Trip Styler Tip: Not all of Portland's restaurants congregate downtown. Be prepared to drive or bike to most of these hot-to-trot eateries. 

[photos: a mix of my own and restaurant website snaps]

Spotlight :: Copenhagen {Part 2}

[trip style = urban]

As soon as I arrived in Copenhagen, I noticed the bicycles—hundreds of them leaned up against fences, seemingly free from cumbersome locks. I wondered: does no one lock their bike because of the sheer volume of bikes in the city? Have I stumbled upon the safest and friendliest city in the world, where people don't just greet you with a single "Hi" but with a twice-as-nice "Hi hi"?

Upon closer inspection, I noticed a small round lock built into the frame above the rear wheel. This genius device allows Copenhageners to park their bikes anywhere, so it's not uncommon to constantly step around bikes perched on the sidewalk in front of shops.

All their cycling must make the healthy, beautiful and fashion-forward locals hungry, so it's a good thing they live in a city known for its food. Last week I covered where to drink and shop and today I'll recommend what to eat and do. I already can't wait to go back for more than a weekend; perhaps in the winter if only to verify that the Danes really do ride their bikes in the snow like they say they do.

Eat

Copenhagen is the epicenter of New Nordic cuisine, and their most hallowed ground is Noma, recently named the best restaurant in the world for the third consecutive year. At this prix-fixe restaurant, fine dining meets foraging and you have to call months ahead to get a table. If you haven't planned ahead, or reindeer moss and sea urchin toast isn't your thing, try one of the city's other adventurous restaurants—Radio, Relae, Geist, Host—whose chefs often come from Noma.

Trip Styler Tip: Copenhageners eat on the early side, so expect most restaurants to stop serving food between 9-10pm.

Torvehallerne
Try traditional Danish foods like smørrebrød {open-faced sandwiches}, pickled herring and rye bread, or go for modern options like cold-pressed juice, pour-over coffee and a Paleo omelette wrap at Torvehallerne, Copenhagen's vibrant market hall. More than 60 shops and food stands crowd the upscale market complex, made up of modern glass sheds on a cobblestone square. Prefer organic food? You're in the right place; Copenhagen is Europe's largest consumer of organic produce.

Trip Styler Tip: Expect everything to cost 1.5-2x as much as you're accustomed to at home.

Grød
Porridge probably isn't the first food that comes to mind when you think about eating out. But this porridge is less Orange is the New Black and more gourmet comfort food. Their goal is to redefine the concept of porridge and prove that it can be delicious, healthy and cheap. Porridge options include oatmeal with dulce de leche, apple and toasted almond for breakfast; risotto with tomato, parmesan and basil for lunch; and congee with chicken, ginger, peanuts and scallions for dinner. This is the type of restaurant I wish I had in my own neighborhood. Get ready New York—Grød is coming for you in 2015.

Do

Superkilen
A kilometer-long park in Copenhagen's Nørrebro neighbourhood, Superkilen's design was a collaboration between Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group, art group Superflex and Berlin landscape architects Topotek1. Three zones—red, black and green {shown above}—form the urban park, which was created to unify a socially and ethnically diverse community. This park was the most pleasant surprise of my trip {and only a 10-minute walk from Jaegersborggade, one of the hippest streets in Copenhagen and home to Grød and The Coffee Collective}.

Christianshavn on two wheels
If you're brave enough to ride alongside the locals, rent a bike and cross the bridge from Copenhagen K {downtown} to Christianshavn and begin your cycle tour in "freetown" Christiania, founded in the early 70s as an alternative society with its own set of rules. In an episode of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, he called it a "well-established enclave of hippie anarchist squatters [which] sounds about as attractive as being sentenced to life at a Phish concert." Ride past creative ramshackle homes, galleries and world-famous Pusher Street a.k.a. the green light district.

From Christiania, ride along the water to the Copenhagen Opera House, a striking glass and steel building that locals—and apparently architect Henning Larsen himself—call the toaster. Stop at nearby Paper Island for coffee or lunch before finishing at Church of Our Saviour, where for a small fee you can climb 400 steps to its corkscrew spire for the best view in town.

On my next visit, I plan to visit Tivoli, the second-oldest amusement park in the world, which is said to have inspired Walt Disney's vision for Disneyland, as well as Ordrupgaard Museum and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Related
Spotlight :: Copenhagen {Part 1}
Jetset Style :: Scandinavia-Inspired Jackets

[images by @heatherlovesit & @graceyvr except top-right torvehallerne images via food republic and bottom-left superkilen image via superflex]

Spotlight :: Copenhagen {Part 1}

[trip style = urban]

Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen / Friendly old girl of a town
'Neath her tavern light / On this merry night
Let us clink and drink one down
– "Wonderful Copenhagen"

Cocktails and coffee in Copenhagen almost sums up my two-day trip to the Danish capital, where as the lyrics go, I clinked and drank one down. While I'd recommend a few more days to explore, two days were just enough to get a taste and know I'd be back for seconds.

Today I'll cover where to drink and shop and next week I'll recommend what to eat and do. And yes, it involves bicycling, because when in Rome {except in this case Rome feels more like Amsterdam of the North}. In a city of 570,000 people and 650,000 bikes, I wonder if their biking habits contribute to their nation's ranking as the happiest country on earth? It could be the fresh air and exercise, but it could be the cocktails and coffee.
 

Drink

The Union Bar
Head towards the charming yet touristy Nyhavn Street, turn right down a side street and look for an unmarked black door, ring the golden bell above the sign that says "Nordic Fitting Models" and wait to be buzzed in. In this dark, dimly lit speakeasy, innovative and approachable bartenders serve killer cocktails. The prices are steep—about $25 cad—but the drinks are strong and the experience is unforgettable. That is, if you can find it. {Neighborhood: Nyhavn}

Mikkeller Bar
If you like boys with beards or girls with topknots, you will like this bar. If you like neighborhoods formerly known as red light or meatpacking districts, you will like this bar. If you like communal picnic tables and cozy industrial-styled basements, you will like this bar. And if you like imaginative beer dreamed up by a gypsy brewer, you will like this bar. {Neighborhood: Vesterbro or Nørrebro}

The Coffee Collective
My morning coffee fix was satisfied at The Coffee Collective in Nørrebro, on a street occupied by small boutiques, progressive restaurants and cool dads out with their kids. If the sun is shining, sit at a long table outside this compact coffee bar and roaster and enjoy a cortado and vibrant street scene view. {Neighborhood: Nørrebro, Torvehallerne or Frederiksberg}

Den Plettede Gris
You don't have to ask me twice to visit the tiny cafe attached to the workshop of my favorite Danish designer—especially one as eccentrically appealing as Henrik Vibskov. A three-minute bike ride from the Opera House, on an island that's home to a science museum, a food truck hall and several design businesses, Den Plettede Gris is an ideal escape for coffee and a peek into the designer's creative center. {Neighborhood: Paper Island}

Shop

The city's main shopping area centers around Strøget, one of the longest pedestrian streets in the world at over 1 km. Look for department stores, high street chains and design shops on the main drag, and specialty and high end shops on the side streets.

Every good shopper knows you start in the sale section. Don't miss the deals at the Acne Archive outlet store, where I spotted an impressive selection of denim, and the Wood Wood Museum outlet, where I spotted stylish Japanese sneaker collaborations and discounted Common Projects sneakers.

More shops worth your time are the flagships of Danish womenswear brand Ganni and Danish menswear brand Norse Projects, as well as lifestyle concept stores Storm and Normann. Keep an eye out for Danish brands like Rains and Ilse Jacobsen, whose rain jackets and boots will keep you dry in style.

Finally, mentally furnish your dream home with contemporary Danish designs from Hay House. Even if you can't fly home with a sofa, you can pick up a neon geometric tea towel or brass kitchen tool from the gorgeous shop on Strøget. And set aside time to browse the massive Illums Bolighus, purveyor to the Royal Danish Court and temple of modern Scandinavian design.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Jetset Style :: Scandinavia-Inspired Jackets
Spotlight :: Copenhagen {Part 2}
Spotlight :: Amsterdam

[images by @heatherlovesit & @graceyvr except union bar via stirred.dk, mikkeller bar via their website, hay house via joelix.com]

Introducing: The Trip Styler Store

[trip style = any]

Over the past couple years I've been working on a secret project that has finally come to fruition today: the Trip Styler Store, a collection of global finds I procure with the help of local guides as I wander.

Enamoured and inspired by the artisans I spot while traveling, I started collecting their wares in small batches with the idea that I'd be able to share a trip styled slice of the world—beyond writing and photography—with you.  

The Trip Styler Store focuses on small-batch, trip-styled goods I can transport home in my suitcase from the places my travels take me; think: textiles and beach bags from Mexico, camel leather poufs and beach throws from Morocco, kimono-blazers from Japan, beaded necklaces from Bali and hill tribe purses and skirts from Thailand. Coming soon: Cashmere scarves from Dubai and lamb's wool toques from Morocco. Here's a tiny taste of what's "in store":

Finds are directly tied to TS trips and updated regularly, so check in frequently—especially when you need a fill of the far flung. And remember, we only source on the spot in small quantities, so if you see something you like, snatch it while you can!

Trip Styler Store hints: Search all inventory via Finds, or view specific products by country or by category {accessories, clothing, home goods}. 

[photos via @tripstyler]