My old friend Leigh Vickery, who writes a food column in Tyler Texas interviewed me recently about all things food, including restaurants in Portland, something I don’t often get asked about, so I thought it would be fun to repost it on the blog. Thanks so much, Leigh! Bon Appetit!
Do you cook? If so, what do you enjoy cooking?
I don’t cook for myself very often but I cook for others on occasion. It’s a crime I don’t cook more because I have a terrific kitchen. I bought a condo from a former chef who had a restaurant architect design the layout around the kitchen. Cooking shows have been filmed in my house. But they’ve never filmed me making a peanut-butter and Jelly sandwich. Not sure why.
Did your mom cook when you were growing up? Any childhood memories of dinners, cooking, holidays, etc that would be fun to share here.
I grew up there in Texas and one of our great traditions, I think, is family meals. My favorite “meal tradition” took place on Christmas Eve, where the various families that make up our clan would have a progressive dinner, starting at one persons home and going deep into the night, traveling to all the others, where at each house we would enjoy a part of the meal. This also involved opening presents, which might have added to my love for that tradition.
When you have friends over, what’s the usual menu/plan?
I have a smoker, actually, and I smoke chicken or ribs out on the balcony. I smell up the whole neighborhood. That, mixed with the coffee roaster across the street makes the place smell like heaven. So I usually cook some sort of meat on the grill and then roast potatoes and vegetables. I also have a wood-burning pizza oven in the kitchen and so on special occasions I will fire it up and people come bearing ingredients for pizzas. We make a huge buffet and I cook them in the oven. A couple Superbowl’s ago, I ended up making seventy-five pizzas. I nearly missed the entire game.
Favorite dinner party playlist
I’ve got a few, a classical playlist, an upbeat playlist and then just background music, and they each evolve. Depending on who is coming over and what our plans are, I select the list. But some of the latest music includes: Matthew Perryman Jones, Katie Herzig, Trent Dabbs, Gillian Welch, Woody Guthrie and so on and so on. You could play the new Trent Dabbs record in the background and save yourself from creating a playlist at all. That record is called “Your Side Now.”
I know you just lunched with Anne Lamott recently at Chez Panisse. I cannot imagine a better locale for the two of you to talk. Talk to me a bit about that day, the conversation, food, etc.
I’ll talk about the food first. It was, of course, incredible. Chez Panisse is all it’s cracked up to be. I ordered a beef stew that was cooked in a wood-fire oven and when I blew on the bowl the beef parted. It was that tender. It was Annie’s suggestion, actually. And she was wonderful. We’d met a few times but hadn’t had the chance to talk extensively. She hadn’t taken a lunch with anybody all year until we got together in Berkley, so it was an honor. We talked about her new grandchild, about literature and about the church she has been attending for years. She’s beautiful and winsome and I didn’t want the lunch to end. 
I have found in my work that people can connect over good food when so many other factors seem to divide us. Sharing a table seems to unify different races, cultures, political beliefs, religious beliefs, etc. Why do you think this is so?
Eating is one of the only socially acceptable ways we can share vulnerabilities. We would never get together with strangers and use the bathroom together, but it might have the same affect. No sense putting on airs, we’re just human. So here we are, a group of people putting foods in our mouths because if we don’t eat, we die, because we are not superhuman, we are beholden to our bodies, and our bodies need food and so much more. So I think there’s a humbling aspect to eating together. And then, seated there at the table, we are even. Nobody is taller, nobody is dominating, we are eye to eye. And we have to take our time, because we are also eating, and we have to listen, less we spit soup out of our mouths for talking all the time. And it’s such a pleasurable experience too, that feeling of comfort that we are going to stay alive another few days, that we are secure. It’s a great set up for good, honest conversation.
Bon Appétit named Portland “America’s Foodiest Town.” Why do you think Portland is such the mecca of growing fresh food, committing to local producers and great restaurants?
I can’t say, exactly, but I can testify that it’s true. Portland is committed to community. We are committed to small, thin streets with bike lanes, city blocks that are half the size, and using open lots to plant gardens. And for some reason it’s a town that looks out for the little guy, which when it comes to food means independent farmers. As for restaurants, I know we have a good culinary school, and many graduates start their own shops. There is a strong, anti-chain undercurrent in Portland which makes it possible for independent restaurants to get started. And then, of course, there is the competition. These small restaurants are competing and so the food just gets better and better. It’s all working terrific, as far as I can tell. It’s the kind of city where I can walk out of my house, cross the street and order a meatball sub from a food cart that has been written up in The Oregonian. Terrific.
Favorite Portland restaurants
Lauro, on Division. Their goat-cheese stuffed chicken could be sacrificed by the Inca to spare a virgin. The Gods would have been fine with it.
Favorite eateries you’ve found in your travels
I’ve traveled all over America, in a car and on a bike. Right now I am on a 65-city book tour on a bus. But if you want the best food, I’d take you right back to Portland. I’d get us a morning table at Mothers Bistro, and I’d have them bring out the French toast. Then I’d watch you fall in love.
Three things always in your fridge
Ketchup, Tortillas and Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches. Don’t judge, I travel a lot.
Best Meal Ever
The last meal I have with friends before I leave Portland on one of these many trips I’ve taken. It doesn’t matter what or where we eat. There’s something bitter sweet about leaving Portland. It’s sad, cause I’m leaving, but in that last meal I’m acutely aware of how good life can be. And for that matter, how good food can be!
Any Texas foods you miss up in Portland?
I miss the Mexican food. We have a couple good mission shops in Portland, but not the Tex Mex you can get there in the Promised Land. You people take it for granted. It should honestly be taken away from you for a season. It probably would be if all of you weren’t carrying guns.
Do you have a recipe you could share with us?
My buddy Mike Tucker taught me to marinate a chicken breast in beer and pineapple juice overnight. It seems to work great as a simple marinade. Especially if you cook the chicken on a wood-pellet grill.
Your old friend Leigh Vickery is my friend too! You guys must be close because if I called her old, I don’t know if she’d look at me the same way again. Next time you are in Texas, hit her up for her Dallas Cowboys White Queso. She’s famous for it now!
See you in Tyler!
Skinny Cows ARE the best!
I will swap you Tex Mex for your Fall and your waterfalls. (even though our fall has been beautiful this year…there’s nothing like northeast or northwest Fall!) But only for a season, because Tex-Mex is glorious!
The Promised Land does flow with milk (which makes the queso), honey (for the sopapillas), oh, and refried beans!
I just found out a few days ago that you’re coming to Memphis this Wednesday. I hope I get in to hear you; my son and I are volunteering at a World Vision table that night, so they aren’t promising us seats, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I love your writing style, what you say, and how you think. I love, too, that you are not heavily into “closure,” that you are willing to leave loose ends.
Oh God, Mothers… the Eggs Benedict… the french press coffee… the biscuits & gravy. TO DIE FOR.
This makes me miss Oregon.
Food is grand. It sounds like your kitchen is too, but you shouldn’t cook your friends in the oven, especially when they are nice enough to bring food with them!
I think one of the best things about traveling is all the different food you can eat along the way.
And I also think Texas has the best bar-b-que.
Are Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches the real deal? Or are they “light” ice cream sandwiches? I’m hoping they are the real deal.
All this talk about food is making me think perhaps I should daydream about food. If I daydream about food then I might actually follow through to the reality of learning how to make yorkshire pudding to go with roasted potatoes, roast beef and gravy. I have a friend I can talk to this week about yorkshire pudding. I do have a roast in the freezer. I feel a plan coming on. Saturday is my deadline.
I trust you are having tons of fun on your road trip!
Don,
You have made everything sound so yummy.
Where will you eat in Toledo? My hometown has a lot of good restaurants. However, Portland looks like it could kick Toledo’s butt (in oh so many ways). If you grew up watching MASH, be sure to hit Tony Packo’s for good Hungarian fare.
Looking forward to hearing you and Susan tomorrow evening!
I know the post was all about food, but I was delighted by your musical selection. I really enjoy alot of the artists you had listed and discovered most of them on a tour called ten out of ten! I recommend Andy Davis & Griffin House too.
Just as I was starting to think I need to move to Portland, you mentioned the lack of Tex Mex. Thanks for reminding me why I love living in San Antone…
I think I’ll go have some for lunch in your honor…
I just had a friend make me a whole chicken, herbed, and fried in a cast iron skillet in the oven for about an hour and flipped twice for even cooking. The skin will make you want to die of happiness. It melts in your mouth.
Nice to hear that you’re a foodie, too. Come to Miami and we’ll show you how New World cuisine is done. Just read both Blue Like Jazz and Million Miles in less than a week. You have inspired me to write again and deepen my faith in God. See you in Melbourne on the 14th.
Hahaha oh my gosh the Incan comment made my morning.
Good food with Good people. there is just nothing like it!! We need to bring back the art of hospitality if we want to foster deeper community!!
Skinny Cow and I are in a long-term relationship. I like the chocolate cones.
-Lydia
food is community. My dad taught me that. He is Mexican and food is essential to there interactions. If people stop to visit he WILL find something to feed them. I had some friends stay at my parents house on their way through town. They arrived at about 11. They were not hungry. But my dad made them tacos and talked with them. It’s a great memory. Food opens people up. Why do you think coffee dates are so big in portland? I love it. I love food, i love people and the combo is even better.
Fun to read. An entirely different side of the Donald we usually see.
I was wondering, though. One of the topics I’ve been quite involved in lately, directly related to food, is the issue of fair trade food. It’s an issue discussed more and more & deserves a strong dialogue in the churches. Is this somthing you are in any way trying to be conscious of?
Greetings, Antonie
Since we’re talking food, and you’re heading to Dallas….you must check out the taco stand at Fuel City on Industrial Blvd. The spicy pork tacos are straight from Heaven, and the very best of Texas taste!
Hello Don,
I am looking forward to hearing you speak in Georgetown TX next week. I know that this is a long shot, a very long shot, but I wanted to invite you to lunch when you are in Georgetown. I – lover of writing, world traveler, works-in-full-time-ministry girl – decided several books ago that it would be a wonderful thing to sit down and have a casual conversation with you. I know you don’t know me: I write down memories in avid detail, I’ve been on mission trips to Tanzania, Costa Rica, Peru and Ukraine, and through some painful times God has shown me that my story is interesting and worth-while. Let me know if you would like to take up my long shot offer! If anything, it could be an interesting anecdote for later writing, plus I know some very good restaurants. God bless,
~Sonnet
(real name, no my parents weren’t hippies)
Antonie,
I’ve heard of the fair trade movement, but mostly from people who see it as a social trend or use it as a buzz phrase, but can’t really explain it. Care to explain it for us, and who we can all make better choices? Would love to understand more.
Don
Great blog! Another reason food encourages good conversation: lulls are less awkward because we have something to do with our hands and faces instead of just stare at each other.
Looking forward to seeing you in Tyler in a week or so. Looks like you have lots of friends here. I’m sure you aren’t lacking for invites. But if you need a great home cooked meal, wine from the cellar, and a place to hang, (even a good pipe…) just say it… You can bring all your friends. Heard Iron Mike will be here in Tyler too. Should be fun.
Hi Don, thanks for asking.
Fair Trade seems like quite a fuzzy principle, but in reality it’s actually very concrete.
Basically, at the moment we’re not really paying for what we buy. Fair Trade and other certifiers help us normal people to actually get involved with justice each time we do our shopping.
For example: if you buy a bar of chocolate, almost all of the money goes to big multinational companies, based in the West. The farmers that produce the cocoa get paid a pittance & get squeezed for every penny. Going into the reasons for that would take more than a comment in a blog post has room for. Please just trust me on it, or if you have further questions send me an e-mail, my address is at the bottom of this post.
Suffice to say: the farmer is squeezed, and has to cut costs. These costs are cut on the level of sending his kids to school, care for the environment, safe working conditions, pay for his workers, etc.
Basically, you end up with a system that stimulates slave-like labour, no education for a vast majority of the population and a dangerous degradtion of environment.
Fair Trade and other certifiers such as Rainforest Alliance and UTZ Certified will go to farms & verify wether or not the products have been made in fashion that not only looks at the profit of the big companies, but also at the health of ‘People & Planet’.
But what does that mean for us as Christians? Bono, in a talk at the NAACP said that in the global village everyone is our neighbor. We’re just going to have to love a whole lot more people.
Eventually it’s quite simple: if companies have done their best to ensure that the people that have made their products have been treated properly, they will let you know by putting it on the wrappers of their product. Basically because the default setting is that they’re not.
If we as Christians are our brother’s keepers, it probably wouldn’t hurt us to be more aware of and involved in this issue.
I’ve tried to keep this as short and concise as possible. If anything is unclear and/or raises questions, please do ask! Do it here on this forum, or send me an e-mail: antonie@littlethingsthatkill.me
I second Texas AND Oklahoma having Mexican taken away for a season. I am in New Zealand right now, and I crave Mexican just about everyday. They don’t know how good they have it.
Hey Don,
Posted a book review here of A Million Miles.
http://mdaustin.blogspot.com/2009/11/book-review-million-miles-in-thousand.html
Take Care.
Who knew that Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches were so popular! WOOHOO!!
adding to what Antione wrote…
organizations that are for Fair Trade:
Amnesty International
Oxfam
Catholic Relief Services
Christian Aid
Caritas International
SERRV International
Another (economic) buzzword is sustainability – meaning being able to meet the needs of the present without the cost being the future.
A friend of mine in Guatemala says, when America sneezes, we get the flu.
it’s easy for us here to buy stuff cheap that’s not Fair Trade. But it does cost someone somewhere a lot, and a lot of the times probably even the chance their kids have at a decent life.
I’m glad this came up.
great interview/article. i love food and talking about it. my dad and i share this enjoyment. every time i go out to eat at a great place i always call my dad afterward and describe to him in detail what i ate and he always enjoys it. so great. also, i love how, like you said, food unites people. i love eating meals with others and getting to know people at the dinner table.
p.s. i am infinitely jealous of your kitchen.
If you ever come to Kentucky, let me know. I will take you to Claudia Sanders. It is Colonel Sanders original restaurant before he started the whole thing. It has soul food that will make your heart burn in the better sense of the word. Also, just read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and for what it’s worth, I think it’s your most important piece to date.
I am proud to say, (as a former chef) I make the best chicken enchiladas on the East Coast…got a recipe from a Mexican woman who cooked for a family on a ranch in TX…
How awesome to find Mr. Miller is a foodie! Wow. Excellent taste in music, phenomenal writing, devoted to God, a social conscience, AND a foodie…you’re still single?!
The real question is, can you pair your wine/beer/spirits to what you are cooking?
Thank you, Antonie, for reminding us of a very real responsibility we have as Christians to protect our neighbors, which, as my Pastor recently pointed out, means EVERYONE. Isn’t it sad that the “Christianity” the world sees in the West is synonymous with “prosperity…” Guess we/they missed the point about laying up treasure in heaven.
Food for thought…
Being born and raised in New Orleans, one learns the true social value of food. Man does not live by poboys alone. Gumbo, the african word for okra, has come to define the heart of the culture. A big huge pot of many seasonings and flavors, each one unique, blending them perfectly into one big delicious concoction. The trinity of onions, peppers & celery disappear into one unique flavor~ unmatched individually. Whose yo momma and can she make a roux? This question can make or break a relationship on any level, professional or personal.
My answer is “a jewel and yes she can!”
I’m not a big eater, but gumbo is my weakness. Shrimp and Okra gumbo can make me look better, think clearer, feel richer, not to mention give me whiter teeth and make my clothes smell fresher. ha. 10 out of 9 doctors recommend it will even make your math levels higher. Come to New Orleans. Eat Gumbo.
When you’re in Nashville this month, you should grab a bite at the Loveless Cafe (not far from Hope Park Church where you’ll be speaking). The food definitely ISN’T haute cuisine but the ambience more than makes up for it!
Great interview – have to point out, though, that it was Portland, Maine, that was named America’s Foodiest Small Town in BA: http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/bafoodist/2009/08/americas-foodiest-small-town-2.html
Everything sounds so yummy!
I’d love to have a meal with you (oh, and my husband) next time you’re in Vancouver. We may not cure you of TexMex cravings, but we can introduce you to some awesome Asian cuisine!
dude.
i trained it down to portland last week, went to mothers, got the french toast. then read your blog and laughed.
i fell in love, just as you predicted.
thanks for the blog, as always.
You have a wood-burning pizza oven in your kitchen? That is the coolest thing ever. I am impressed.
i’m making this “my life as of lately” soundtrack for a friend, a folk disc. and after reading what you put on for dinner parties, i thought, “hell, he’d probably dig this stuff.”
so i know i’m not commenting about food, which i should be?, and you might be thinking, “somebody wants to send me a disc? um…”
just, you’d love it. you’ve responded to a few comments, so i figure you might read this. i’m up in vancouver, actively writing and trying to write a good story, both by pen and in life.
e-mail me back if you want and i’ll zip this disc down to america, you’ll pop it in and feel something in your heart shift. it’s good stuff.
hi don. i never do this {stalk authors on their blogs} and who knows if you read these comments or not, but i wanted to say thanks for your book and thanks for everything you said last night at fbc georgetown. am a little unsure why you didn’t make your way down to austin {only city i know of that can give portland a run for its money} but it was a great night nonetheless and i wanted to make sure you knew it since you must be itching to get home after a long tour. i’m pretty sure God gave you those words in a million miles specifically for me and my life right now, so thank you so very, very much. come back to austin and hang out soon. my friends and i will give you and your fighting poodles a run for their money for sure
you’re very gifted and i’m grateful you’ve been brave enough to use it!
I laughed and cried, reading the book, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” It reminded me of the following bit of text that I had already written for NaNoWriMo this month:
The question is not, “Do we know the Lord?” The question is, “Does Jesus know us?”
There are many people who treat Jesus like a movie star. They know his name, they put up pictures of his image, they sing his music, they read his books — They make him a part of their lives. But the real question is not, “Is Jesus is a part of my life;” the real question is, “Am I a part of His life?”
Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” We may be quick to turn to God with a prayer in need, but the real question is not how fast we can send a message to Him; the real question is, “are we on God’s speed-dial?” When an opportunity to do good comes calling, are we quick to answer that call? Or do we let the answering machine filter it out like just another sales call? Do we say, “Let someone else answer it?”
It doesn’t make any difference how much we make the images and symbols of Jesus a part of our lives, what matters is, are we a part of His life? How much are we opening our heart to God? When we go out into the world, and we see the poor, the hungry, the needy, the hurting … We are looking at Jesus.
In the end, these symbols, these images, the stained glass, the song books, the ritualized worship, the rote prayers, the habitual attendance, the beautiful buildings, all of these things are nothing. When we stand before God, all that will matter is, will He know us? Will our name be written down in His little black book of life? Were we a part of His life?
Did we answer the call, when God hit speed-dial? Will he say, “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick and in prison, and you visited me?” Or will He say, “Depart from me … I never knew you?”
Logan
yeah i got it about the portland, maine thing. fixed it before it went to press. thx.
Don, I truly enjoy reading your thoughts, not in a creepy voyeuristic way but a simple appreciation of appreciating simplicity. Your honest confessions and candid chronicles leave me smiling beneath my reading lamp. Write on, my brother.
No mention of the Holy Grail that is Texas barbecue?
I need to get to Portland…. Sounds wonderful.
This is silly, but I can’t get it out of my mind…
I read this post many days ago and keep hearing a whisper…”go back and tell him about the breakfast burritos”…
(I’ve been known to have intuitions about seemingly senseless things that end up leading towards “God appointed meetings”…so maybe that’s why I need to tell you.)
If you get to San Diego on your tour – go to Taco Surf (a little hole in the wall place where all the surfers go to grub after riding the waves) in Pacific Beach (on Mission Ave) (I think) and order a breakfast burrito. Sit and eat it. Enjoy the camaraderie of the locals, then get up, walk across the street to Pacific Beach and walk for several miles. You’ll need to…the burrito’s are filling. I don’t live there anymore and have not been for maybe 5 years…but back then, they were the best I’d ever had.
Don,
Glad you love food as much as I do
Thanks for the thoughts.
-Deb
Thanks for this interview. I needed inspiration for my novel.
Rachel
Hi Don,
I read your blog fairly often but didn’t read this entry. I saw/heard you in Nashville last night and just wanted to say thanks for a fantastic evening! Also, I have a friend who wants to marry you. Are you interested?
了解女性最想要的东西,就到精致美眉!
Hi Don,
Saw you yesterday at Youth Specialties in ATL and I know you were aching to get home after a worldwind tour but I just wanted to say thank you so much for your talk and what you give people by just being who you are. What a gift to fill a place in this world in such a profound and inspiring way. I have such tremendous respect for you and the words you put out there for all of us to read. I have gained such solace in the knowledge that pain and conflict are meaningful and that I will be made whole and fulfill God’s purpose by simply enduring. I have such a high level of admiration for you it’s ridiculous and your words have changed my life. Thank you.