You remind me of the babe.

What babe?

The babe with the power.



What power?




The power of voodoo.



Who do?



You do.



Do what?



Remind me of the babe.




Okay. Enough lyrical silliness.

Several people told me to check out Voodoo Doughnut while in Portland (even Matthew, though he did not seem to recommend the Tang-encrusted donut). The Voodoo Doughnut location I found (looks like there are two now) is located at 22 SW 3rd Avenue and is, according to the website, open a whole 24 hours. It is a tiny, hole-in-the-wall dive of a donut shop that is really-and-truly-would-I-lie-to-you-about-donuts worth a trip.

Pictured: Butterfinger topping on a devil's food cake donut, an "Old Dirty Bastard" oreo and peanut butter on devil's food, a "Maltnomah" glazed with malted milk balls and very fudgey frosting, and the classic glazed "Voodoo Doughnut" with jelly blood filling and pretzel stake through the heart. All gimmicks aside, the donuts are so delicious that they'd be worth eating without any toppings/fillings - especially the glazed - but since the toppings/fillings are impressively inventive it's worth trying a few. Alas, the bacon-topped maple donut was not available when I was there. And, perhaps less sadly, the Nyquil Glazed and Pepto-Bismol donuts have apparently been put on hold indefinitely.

Also, my Voodoo Donut (in the shape of a gingerbread person made of a jelly-filled glazed donut) was gorgeous and fully-frosted. Then it spent the evening in a bag within a bag at Ground Kontrol (and got just a tad smooshed in a photo booth pile-up) and the rest of the night in Andre's fridge (because I became full eating the Maltnomah donut), which is why a lot of the frosting has come off in these pictures. It was still fabulous the next morning, if somewhat less photogenic.

Not pictured

I didn't take a lot of pictures in Portland, OR which is too bad because in some ways I liked Portland as a city better than Seattle. Don't get mad, Seattle, I like you, too.

So, we stayed with a very hospitable friend in NW Portland (where I was delighted to discover that many of the streets inspired Simpsons characters' names) and wandered around looking for food a lot. One morning found us in Ken's Artisan Bakery on NW 21st Avenue.
I have to say, even without having a picture of it to post, that it was there I ate what might be the best croissant I've ever tasted. It was flaky and tender and fresh-tasting with a real bread flavor - not just the "empty air and butter" of some old pastries. I think Ken's sells bread and pastries all over the city, and if the croissant is any indication of the other items' superiority over competitors' breads, they're probably doing excellent business.

p.s. Planning street names so that they run in alphabetical order is such a good idea. I've seen this in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and in Portland, OR. I imagine other cities have grids like this, too. So much better than naming your streets after states, and then putting them in chronological order depending on when they joined the Union. Lawrence, KS, I'm looking at you!