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Portland, as Eaten on TV

Here’s a highlight reel of Portland kitchens in the limelight.

Updated Oct. 28, 2020

Benjamin Tepler

Benjamin Tepler is Portland Monthly magazine's associate editor. Read More

Does Portland’s lauded food scene taste as good as it looks on TV? Just ask Guy Fieri, host of popular Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, who fell in love on camera for the Reggie sandwich at Pine State Biscuits: a stack of the counter-order shop’s scratch-made biscuits, stellar gravy and fried chicken, which come together gloriously in the Reggie sandwich. (The Belmont Street location featured on the show has since closed, but Pine State has several other locations on Alberta, Division and a walk-up window in Lloyd). But that’s not all, Fieri also had the pleasure of digging into other dishes at Southern food darling Yonder and the mouthwatering barbeque joint Matt’s BBQ.

The Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern also filled up in Portland during a visit for his show, Bizarre Foods. Zimmern’s menu included boundary-breaking scoop shop Salt & Straw for melon and cured coppa ice cream, Olympia Provisions to sample their world-class salami and Lincoln for a taste of chef Jenn Louis’s elk ragù gnocchi.

It’s not just Portland restaurants in the spotlight — Portland chefs are also getting national attention on reality competition shows. The Food Network’s Chopped has featured Adam and Jackie Sappington (the husband-and-wife team from The Country Cat), Nong Poonsukwattana (of Nong’s Khao Man Gai), Jose Chesa (of Ataula), Aaron Barnett (of St. Jack) and Han Ly Hwang (of Kim Jong Grillin), among others.

Season 12 of Bravo’s Top Chef was a showcase of Portland talent, with chefs Doug Adams (of Bullard) and Gregory Gourdet (of Departure) making up two of the final three “cheftestants.” Veteran chefs Naomi Pomeroy (of Beast and Expatriate) and Jenn Louis (of Lincoln) have also made appearances on Top Chef Masters.

Food, Food Carts

James Beard Award-winner Gabriel Rucker in the tiny open kitchen at Le Pigeon.

James Beard Award-Winning Chefs

With such a talked-about and delicious food scene, it comes as no surprise that Portland chefs have racked up a few James Beard Awards over the years.