Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 21st Century Table: The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer.. I'm on Facebook and Twitter (see links in sidebar at right).
Friday, April 30, 2010
FOODIE TRIP TO PORTLAND, PART 2: VEGAN BAKERIES
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The Dovetail Bakery front door
When Julie told me that Portland had 3-- count 'em- 3 vegan bakeries, I nearly fell over! I'm jealous, but it's probably for the best! The most well-known bakery is Sweetpea Baking Co., which we didn't get a chance to visit, due to time constraints and logistics. But you can see their stuff on their website/blog. (There is also a talented vegan baker named Lisa Clark who Fran and I met at the Portland Saturday Farmers Market-- more about that in another post. She runs the Petunia's Pies and Pastries stall. Check out her website for mouth-watering photos!)
But we did visit two of the bakeries on Thursday afternoon, and showed remarkable restraint by only sampling a few things! First, we went to the Dovetail Bakery on NE Alberta St..
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It's a very welcoming and kind of peaceful place:
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We chatted with the friendly owner and checked out the bake case, loaded with tempting sweet and savory breads, yummy-looking muffins and cupcakes, sweet loaves and buns:
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In the end we tried an apple-filled cinnamon roll and a Meyer lemon cupcake:
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Very nice texture and flavor-- the cupcake wasn't overly-sweet or gobbed with icing, and the roll wasn't overly-gooey. I'd go back!
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Next we headed over to the Back to Eden Bakery Boutique, also on NE Alberta St.
This shop also had a wonderful atmosphere (as well as good smells!)-- a little more formal than the Dovetail, but homey as well:
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They sell other things besides goodies!
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But the goodies are what we came for! What to choose??
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The Marionberry Coconut Cake?
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Scones or muffins?
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Pumpkin Whoopie Pies or little tarts?
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Cookies or bars?
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A savory quiche or empanada?
In the end we chose a piece of the Berry Cheesecake to share:
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Oh, my!!
What a place Portland is to be able to support so many vegan bakeries!! I am really impressed with that fact AND the quality. More tomorrow!
Cheers!
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4 comments:
You made the best decision, Bryanna! I am addicted to Back to Eden's cheezecake. I just ordered an entire peanut butter and chocolate one to celebrate my bday.
<3
kittee
What fun reading yesterday's and today's posts!! I have heard that Portland is very vegan friendly, and I was so interested reading about the food carts. And the bakeries!! Oh yum ... I would NOT have had as much restraint as you did!!
Sounds like you had a blast!! I can't wait to hear more follow up posts!!
Wish you could have been there, Brenda! And there are lots of gluten-free vegan options around for your DH!
Kittee, there was one piece of that peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake left, and I was sorely tempted, but, after eating lunch at the food carts earlier, I couldn't eat a whole piece! Next time!!
Hi Bryanna,
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for stopping into our shop and for the lovely blog! As the co-owner and head baker I must say it is truly an honor to have had you in our store! I only wish myself or my partner had been there to receive you! You have been an inspiration to me throughout the years and I thank you for being such a pioneer for veganism!
Sincerely,
Garrett Jones
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