Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?

Where did POVA get the money to so entirely buy off the New York Times?? I mean, I don't get it. Yeah, Portland's coming around as a food town, but do you have to tell everybody about it?

Let's do a name check, shall we? Andy Ricker, Pok Pok. Vitaly Paley, Paley's Place. Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon. Dave Machado, Lauro Kitchen/Vindalho. Ken Forkish, Ken's Artisan Bakery/Ken's Artisan Pizza. Pascal Sauton, Carafe. Jason Barwikowski, Clyde Common.

(You'll note just slightly over half of these restaurants are on the east side. Hmm, coincidence?)

Still, I gotta appreciate this quote that almost closes this article.

"Portland may be over-hyped in some ways," said Dave Machado, who after 16 years in Portland is a respected old guard chef. "A big city with an international component is always going to have crisper service. We have a regional class of service here."

Damn straight, Mr. Machado, damn straight.