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It is an overcast, cool Saturday morning in early May as I embark on my voyage into a land of NPR tote bags. Raindrops on automobile windshields reveal a predawn shower or two. It is hard to say if more rain is on the way, though forecasters are proclaiming a beautiful spring weekend ahead. Real Portlanders tend to be skeptical of such seasonal optimism.
Rain or shine, the mission ahead is simple: rendezvous with Mariah and Thomas Pisha-Duffly, owners of Gado Gado and Oma’s Hideaway restaurants, at the world-class downtown Portland Farmers Market for a little shopping trip. The Pisha-Dufflys’ mission is to spend $100 of Willamette Week’s vast fortune on market goodies for a hypothetical picnic while a writer and photographer in tow document their purchases.
The idea originated with a WW editor who wanted to see what James Beard Award finalists would buy at the market with $100 in hand. The Pisha-Dufflys arrived in Portland in 2016, running a series of pop-ups and then opening Gado Gado, their Indonesian fusion restaurant, in 2019 as a bright pink storefront in a Hollywood strip mall. (Oma’s Hideaway, launched as a pop-up in April 2020, opened on Southeast Division Street later the same year in a spot longtime diners will recall was part of the Andy Ricker empire.) By 2020, Gado Gado was nominated in the Best New Restaurant category of the James Beard Awards. This spring, Thomas is again a Beard finalist, this time for Best Chef Northwest and Pacific, and later this month the Pisha-Dufflys are also leading the culinary takeover of the Portland Art Museum’s Cinema Unbound Awards.
The timing is serendipitous. Next week, WW will debut its Pantry Companion, a new magazine dedicated to the many groceries and markets that make cooking in this city such a delight. That publication will focus on brick-and-mortar institutions, but it arrives just as Portlanders begin planning their weekends around the nearest produce stand.
This Saturday morning, Portland Farmers Market will be in full swing, as it is year-round. In coming weeks, seasonal markets will sprout across the city, and produce shopping will kick into another gear. Damp early spring days like this are a grand time to visit the market: Early season produce is popping out everywhere and gray skies tend to keep the dilettantes away. So, it should not be too crowded as it tends to be in high summer.
For those new to town (or who have been dwelling in caves for the past 30 years), the market is one of the truly world-class amenities highlighting Portland life, growing from humble beginnings in 1992. Since 1998, the market has occupied portions of the South Park Blocks on Saturday mornings, dominating the Portland State University campus with which it shares space. The Portland Art Museum is a stone’s throw away. (For their part, the Pisha-Dufflys used to frequent this market but can now be found more regularly at the Hollywood Farmers Market, which is less crowded and has a “good vibe.”)
At 10 am sharp, the Pisha-Dufflys, WW’s photographer, and this writer meet up at the corner of Southwest Market Street and Park Avenue. Tom and Mariah decided to bring reinforcements, namely their 6-year-old daughter Loretta, to help with the shopping. As the cash handoff takes places, the picnic purchase strategy begins to take shape.
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Foglight
Goose eggs and fruit leather | $18
We stopped here first so Tom and Mariah could chat with their friend, Prentice Omayemi, who was staffing the booth. Located in Hillsboro, Foglight is a BIPOC-owned and -operated enterprise, according to its website, that seems to have its fingers in just about every farm-related activity one can imagine. Their market menu offers eggs, baked goods, produce, and more, including at least five varieties of fruit leather. The giant goose eggs were a sight to behold (and a gift to the Pisha-Duffys, who say Omayemi is a great supporter of theirs; goose eggs normally cost $7 at the stand, but are the size of three chicken eggs). Tom and Mariah ended up purchasing some fruit leather for Loretta.
“Prentice has been a big supporter of us. His eggs are beautiful and delicious. He’s probably the person I most look forward to visiting when we go to the market.” —Mariah
“Our kid’s crazy about cherries. It’s sort of in between a savory treat and a sweet treat. It was fantastic.” —Tom
Nexgarden Farms
“Wild Spicy” microgreens | $8
After our first stop, it was pretty much a free-form wander based on what looked good for a picnic in the moment. The Nexgarden Farms booth was a short stroll from where we started. Multiple mixes of microgreens caught the Gado Gado bosses’ eyes. They went with the “Wild Spicy” variety that included radish, arugula, mustard and mizuna greens as a salad base. Fun fact: This 6-year-old market vendor raises its greens in old shipping containers down in South Waterfront on the old Zidell Yards property.
“A little good butter and salt and radishes is a perfect picnic snack.” —Mariah
“Crazily enough, Loretta really liked them. We did an open faced kind of sandwich thing, with the cheese and sausage and the radish and those greens.” —Tom
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Maxine’s Bakery
Sesame anadama bread | $11
Displaying no signage, but with a table full of beautiful baked temptations, Maxine’s is a bakery run by Jeremy Ballen and named after his aunt Maxine. Every good picnic needs bread, whether for sandwiches or to pair with cheese, so Tom and Mariah chose a lovely loaf of molasses-infused sesame anadama bread to add to their spread. (Maxine’s bread is priced on a sliding scale; the sesame anadama bread can cost anywhere from $9 to $11.)
“We’re from New England, which I think is where Anadama bread is from, and there is literally nothing better for a picnic than freshly baked bread that is crusty.” —Mariah
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Groundwork
Strawberries and radishes | $10
It is impossible to supply a picnic from the farmers market without going a little heavy on amazing seasonal produce. Groundwork has been bringing the goods to the Saturday Portland Farmers Market for more than 20 years (though no one seemed sure just how many more). Groundwork had some beautiful early season Albion strawberries for sale ($6 per pint). With the lavish WW budget already beginning to dwindle by half, Mariah and Tom selected a single pint of these long-season beauties along with a nice bunch of radishes ($4).
“You got to get Oregon strawberries when you get them in at the market. They’re so perfect.” —Mariah
Olympia Provisions
Saucisson sec salami | $10
There are few more compelling Portland small business success stories than the creation and growth of Olympia Provisions. Started by a former chef, Elias Cairo, along with his sister, Michelle, Olympia are makers of a broad line of salamis, sausages, and whole muscle cuts cured in their mammoth warehouse in Southeast Portland. Turns out that the Pisha-Dufflys also turned out some charcuterie in their spare time when they were living in Portland, Maine. What better way, then, to enhance our picnic than with some simply sliceable salami? After a brief debate between the saucisson sec and fennel-seed enhanced finocchiona, the former prevailed and we moved on.
“It’s nice to have an ingredient for a picnic that you don’t have to do anything to. It’s kind of ready to go.” —Mariah
Quiche Me If You Can
Petite quiche | $14
How can one possibly skip over a booth perfectly channeling a pop culture icon, especially when their namesake petite quiches go perfectly as handheld picnic nosh? Tom picked one from this longtime market vendor that incorporated shiitake mushrooms, leek, and roasted garlic with goat cheese and Gruyère. We also grabbed one of the chocolate chip cookies for the road (meaning it was never going to last for the picnic photos).
“Mariah loves quiche. It’s great picnic food. You can eat it warm, you can eat it room temperature. It just sounded really yummy.” —Tom
Helvetia Creamery
Raclare | $6–$10
There is plenty of cheese at the market, but we managed our circuit without grabbing some until near the very end. Helvetia is a market newcomer offering moderately aged alpine-style cheeses. Tom selected a chunk of an 8-month-old raclette-type cheese Helvetia is calling “Raclare.” Now, the bread won’t feel lonely.
“We tasted a few cheese and it just hit what we were wanting. It was super mellow, funky, soft and buttery. It was perfect with that bread.” —Tom
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Cloudforest
Chocolate bars | $9
Our final stop (more or less) was at the standard bearer for Portland-made chocolate. Cloudforest is the chocolate-making business started in Portland by Ecuadorean-born Sebastian Cisneros. It is clearly superior to any other chocolate made in Portland, though some of his other products (including his hazelnut-chocolate Magic Spread) may be even better than the plain chocolate. Mariah and Tom, nevertheless, kept things simple, purchasing $3 portions of the day’s three offerings, including maple-sweetened Valentina, a food writer favorite.
Sun Gold Farm
KETTLE CORN | $10
As the weather began to shift, the Pisha-Duffys hit one last stand: Sun Gold Farm, where they picked up a bag of kettle corn. According to Tom, Sun Gold uses a type of popcorn kernel that makes for especially soft, fluffy kettle corn—and a perfect picnic snack for Loretta.
“I think the reason we bought kettle corn is that we have a 6-year-old who was in the wagon while we were shopping.” —Mariah
By the time photographer Nathaniel began to lay out the Pisha-Dufflys’ market spread, it was nearing noon. The damp overcast was quickly dissipating in favor of afternoon blue sky and sunshine. A perfect day for a picnic, as it turns out.
