I wish Portland had a good Belgian restaurant. Did I say Belgian? Yes. No, not Belgian waffles, although those are good too. I mean Belgian, generally. When I was in Toronto a couple of years ago, my friend Joel and I happened upon a great Belgian restaurant as we were considering lunch. It was called: La Petit Dejeuner, and I strongly recommend it if you're ever in Toronto. I discovered at that restaurant that I actually can enjoy beer. I mean, I like beer, and Portland has a huge beer culture, but I realized recently why Portland beer just isn't my style: way too hoppy (Thank you Derek's friend Joel (different Joel) for articulating this). There's Potato Champion, one of the 12th and Hawthorne food carts, but honestly, it sucks. On NW 21st and Glisan, there's 45 North, whose specialty is beers of the world and mussels, which I heartily endorse. Great place. But that's it. I'm not sure what, exactly, I'm looking for, but it doesn't seem to exist here anymore. There used to be an awesome place called Apotheke, but that was generally Nordic, not Belgian. Still, it was an interesting concept. Über-modern, all white, no mixed drinks, just straight up or on the rocks, but a drink menu like a novel. It was amazing. Good food too. I really miss Apotheke.
