We Make Fondu

[This is a guest post by Maddy Forinash (maddyeff), a Fondu Ambassador in Portland]

Hey foodies! My name is Maddy and I hail from Portland, Oregon. As a college student I appreciate restaurants where my dollar will go a long way, but I never sacrifice quality for quantity. As cities go, Portland—being the place where “young people go to retire”—is a wonderful spot for people who are into trying new foods, drinking delicious coffee, or meeting very interesting people over a local microbrew. I am originally from Seattle, but even the Emerald City seems mainstream in comparison to this hipster paradise.  

You will likely notice some prominent themes in my Fondu reviews and blog posts, but I will highlight them for you here. First, I LOVE brunch. In fact, I have a brunch group that meets every Friday mid-morning to try a different brunch spot throughout Portland. With the exception of school-sanctioned breaks, we haven’t missed a week since September 2011! Second, I LOVE coffee. My family owned a small neighborhood coffee shop in Shoreline, Washington for a few years and I have been a barista since I was sixteen, so I like to think of myself as a bit of a coffee connoisseur. To date, my favorite cup of coffee has been at Tasty & Sons, a hip breakfast spot in NE Portland where they brew their drip coffee using Stumptown’s Espresso roast…yum. And thirdly, I LOVE beer, so Portland is quite an excellent spot to be :)  

One last thing to keep in mind is that, like most foodies, I try my best to stay away from chain restaurants (with the exception of Cha Cha Cha, a Mexican food-lover’s paradise, but I let it slide because it’s native to Portland and incredibly delicious). However, this has never been difficult because there always seem to be new places to try. I look forward to being your Portland Fondu ambassador and telling you more about my great city!