In this economy it's all about local, and Portland has developed a beautifully creative and bountiful food and drink ecosystem. This book is the indispensable access guide to it all. Portland, the little foodie town that could, is quickly becoming the national capital for all things edible and artisan. For cooks, tourists, people who love to eat, localtarians, wine lovers, cheese freaks, Parisian ex-pats in search of a decent baguette, cocktail hounds on a 100-mile diet — this is the guide to the goods. Portland is all about the producers and purveyors — the folks who create, produce, bake, distill, gather, and sell the things that make good eating and drinking possible. Essays range from pickling to following a forager. Whether you've lived in Portland your entire life, are visiting for business or pleasure, or are a hungry transplant — this book helps you find all that is delicious in Portland.

From Spice and Salt:

The Meadow 3731 N Mississippi Ave., 288.4633 or toll free 888.388.4633. www.atthemeadow.com. Mon.-Fri. 11am-6pm; Sat.-Sun. 10am-6pm.

The first time I heard of The Meadow was when a friend's girlfriend gave him a set of the shop's rare specialty salts for his birthday. The tiny glass jars held small corral-colored gems, grey shimmering flakes and even black fractal-looking pieces of salt. These finishing salts were perfect for sprinkling on tomatoes and cured meats, or dusting olive oil dipped bread with. A few months later during a barbecue when our friend ran out of salt he reluctantly handed over some of these jarred gems to season the meat with. We just couldn't bring ourselves to do it -- that salt was too precious to throw on the grill.

Mark and Jennifer Turner Bitterman opened The Meadow in the summer of 2006 as a small floral shop with a decent section of specialty salts in the corner that they'd acquired during years of travel. The small North Mississippi shop is now home to more than 90 specialty salts, a wall of hard-to-find wines, ciders, bitters and vermouths, more than 300 types of chocolate bars, edible flowers such as acacia, apple blossoms, hibiscus and more. It's the kind of place where you crouch down to see what's on a low shelf and discover what Mark Bitterman deems, "A game changing soy sauce." Then you turn 90 degrees and discover a tin of the couple's favorite anchovies.

The wooden table toward the back of the shop nestled in the wine section is usually topped with a taster or two for you to nibble or sip on -- a local hard cider that they can't get enough of, a just-in deep sea salt from Kona reminiscent of champagne, some rare Icelandic sea salt slowly evaporated and chock full of minerals and flavor. The Meadow regularly hosts classes in the evenings on everything from Himalayan salt block cooking, to an introduction to artisan salt or salted caramels. These small classes usually cost $15-$20 and fill up fast. Go to their web site to sign up or for more information and to check out their growing online selection of 600-plus salt products and more.

From Bakeries, Boulangeries, and Patisseries:

Ken's Artisan Bakery338 NW 21st Ave., 248.2202. www.kensartisan.com. Mon.-Fri. 7am-6pm; Sat. 7am-5pm; Sun. 8am-5pm.
It's been about a decade now that Ken Forkish and his bakery crew has been slow fermenting, hand mixing, dividing and shaping some of Portland's best French loaves. Ken's Artisan Bakery is a go-to spot for anyone seeking slow Euro-style dough.

The space is small, loud and almost always packed. Standing in line for your country brown, raisin pecan or multigrain bread you can see the action in the small exposed back-of-the-house bakery. This is where Forkish's 20-plus staff work round the clock doing everything from slow feeding the levain, to mixing up to 250 pounds of dough at a time made from local, cooperatively owned Shepherd's Grain, to slow proofing the bread. At Ken's there aren't proof boxes. Since Forkish wants a long slow flavorful 78-to-80 degree proof, which is usually the ambient temperature of the bakery, loaves are simply left out on racks to proof.

On any given day there aren't a huge amount of loaves, baguettes and boules to choose from. The bakery's four daily doughs are on rotation to make about seven to eight types of daily day. Some breads you can choose from include ciabatta (Le Pigeon uses their ciabatta exlusively for burgers), twice-daily-baked baguettes, pain rustique and French rye (Saturdays only). There are also a wide assortment of pastries, tarts and sandwiches as well as hot and cold drinks -- all available in house (table and bar seating) or to-go.

Although Forkish opened his wildly successful Ken's Artisan Pizzeria on Portland's East side in 2006 he spends more at the bakery which he considers a more complex business -- they're baking bread 12 hours a day, seven days a week after all. When asked what Forkish considers to be the bakery's strongest suits he quickly answers, "Consistency and a great staff." I'd say crust and crumb. Ken's loaves are roasty toasy on the outside and delciously sweet, sour, salty and porous on the inside.