Vida Vegan Con - Pre Con/Chillin' in Portland

We arrived in Portland a few days early. I wanted to savour as much of this city as possible (little did I know our flight would be cancelled due to Hurricane Irene and we'd be having an extended stay!) While walking from the train station to our hotel we made our first stop at Stumptown Coffee. (Coffee break, self explanatory, yes?)

We settled into the room, and went out exploring. The first thing on my mind was getting food. Not just any food, but a burrito from Homegrown Smoker.

Homegrown is one of many food carts in Portland, and as you can see, they are 100% vegan. There isn't a day that goes by that I wish I had this food cart in my neighborhood and this burrito in my hands...

Macnocheeto

This was easily my favorite thing we ate the entire time in Portland. Meet the Macnocheeto. Mac-NoCheese, baked beans, grilled peppers and onions, soy curls with BBQ and No-Cheese sauces in a giant flour tortilla. I have never been a fan of BBQ sauce or anything with a BBQ flavor, however... Homegrown Smoker has changed that for me, forever. If the world was ending tomorrow and I had to choose a last meal it would be the Macnocheeto. If I were stranded on an island and I could only have one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it would be the Macnocheeto. I think you get my point here... 

The best way I can describe this beautiful creation is, foodgasm. 

SloSmoMofo

I should mention we also tried the SloSmoMofo, smoked soy curls, BBQ sauce and chipotle slaw, with a side of Mac-NoCheese. Later in the week we went back for another Macnocheeto as well as the Portorrito (smoked portobello slices, Mac-NoCheese, smoked soy curls, grilled peppers and onions, chipotle aioli and two cheeses in a flour tortilla) and the Tye Dye Chili Cheese Fryz.  

Next up on the agenda was a bus ride to the vegan mini mall, which consists of Sweetpea Baking Co, Herbivore Clothing Co, Food Fight! Grocery and Scapegoat Tattoo (where I got my tattoo done at the end of the week). 

Vegan mini mall!

A peek into Herbivore where I purchased 2 shirts that I've had my eye on for some time (no sales tax in Oregon, hooray!) and then into Food Fight! where we picked up a bag of soy curls (because I've been looking for them for years and can't find them anywhere!) some Tofurkey jerky to try and most importantly, Queso and chips to snack on. Literally as we stepped outside, the Queso was opened ad devoured.

So yummy. So spicy. 

Places to visit in Portland:

• Stumptown Coffee (downtown) - 128 Southwest 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR (503) 295-6144
• Homegrown Smoker - SW 4th & College Portland, OR (Facebook page here)
• Sweetpea Baking Co - 1205 SE Stark Street, Portland, OR (503) 477-5916
• Herbivore Clothing Co - 1211 SE Stark Street, Portland, OR (503) 281-8638
• Food Fight! Grocery - 1217 Southeast Stark Street, Portland, OR (503) 233-3910
• Scapegoat Tattoo - 1223 Southeast Stark Street, Portland, OR (503) 232-4628