One need only visit the Portland Farmers Market to know right away that this is a serious food town. A happy, hungry weekend crowd mingles around the stalls, framed by the stately brick buildings of Portland State University. Live bluegrass music wafts from between the neat stacks of organic red peppers, tomatoes and fresh-picked kale. As I line up for an apricot-walnut scone, begin to regret that, as a visitor, can’t fill a basket and go home to my kitchen to cook. Fortunately, Portland is brimming with restaurants where talented chefs prepare these fresh, seasonal ingredients for you—all accompanied by local Pinot Noirs and batch-brewed beers. And, unlike other great food cities, it’s refreshingly free of attitude—and surprisingly affordable.

My friend Clay and (he’s the wine connoisseur, I’m the foodie) are here for a few days to whet our appetites on as many of these artisanal delicacies as we can. We both hail from great culinary towns—Seattle and San Francisco, respectively—so we’re unconvinced, at first, that Portland can impress us. We begin our trip downtown with a smooth hand-pulled espresso from Spella Caffè, one of the 400+ food carts that grace Portland’s plazas and parking lots. From the first sip of their fragrant brew, we’re addicted for the duration of our stay. And, as it turns out, the unpretentious cart is a perfect microcosm of Portland cuisine: small, independent and inexpensive, with a passion for quality.

That first day, when we checkin to the Hotel Vintage Plaza, it’s clear we’ve landed in the middle of a serious wine culture. The hotel's lovely rooms are named after local wineries and there’s a nightly tasting in the lobby for guests. Dining downstairs at Pazzo Ristorante, the hotel’s restaurant, we realize that the food in this town also means business; the dishes are authentically Italian, artfully prepared with fresh local ingredients. And of course, they’re also perfectly paired; Pazzo even offers a tasting flight of Oregon indie wines, produced in small batches by local winemakers.

“Portland has evolved into a leading destination for its artisanal food and drink scene,” says Lisa Donoughe, Founder of the Portland Indie Wine Festival an annual gathering uniting hundreds of painstakingly curated craft wines. “Winemakers, brewers, chefs, distillers, chocolatiers—they’re all here.”

Clay and I vow to do our best, in just four days, to dive into the local food scene and see if it really can rival other great culinary destinations.

Bounty on a Budget

Our first day, for lunch, we end up at Ten 01, a chic restaurant near the city’s massive and much-loved independent bookstore, Powell’s Books. Ten 01 offers a two-course “power lunch” with a choice of beverage for 15 bucks; after a celeriac cocktail, parmesan pork brodo and a fava bean risotto, feel like I’ve stolen someone else’s much more expensive meal. We like the restaurant so much—its casual-but-smart ambiance, not to mention its creative mixology—that Clay insists we come back to close it down after dinner.

And so it goes for several days of pure culinary indulgence: we walk into a sophisticated restaurant with a creative menu featuring local ingredients, sample some area wines and walk out having paid about half of what we might spend in San Francisco or New York. Choosing where to dine was our biggest challenge each day, since the town is jam-packed with affordable restaurants run by dedicated epicureans, many of whom arrive at the Farmers Market at the crack of dawn for the best ingredients. Lunching at Davis Street Tavern, for example, we had perfect pan-crisped calamari, a marinated flank steak salad and a barbecued pulled pork sandwich—and still wondered whether we should come back for a three-course $25 prix-fixe dinner.

But alas, there were too many other temptations. We did try a $24, three-course dinner at Tabla Mediterranean Bistro, where we shared duck lardon and lentil salad, tuna ricotta fritters with arugula pesto, house-made rabbit ragu pappardelle, lamb ravioli, duck confit and razor clams. The town is full of little shopping and eating districts to explore and in the Montavilla neighborhood we unearthed an unexpected gem: The Country Cat, a modern roadhouse with great cocktails and down-home cooking. The fried chicken was light and crispy, and divine alongside dirty martinis made with local Aviation Gin. As with so many restaurants in town, everything on the menu was locally sourced, including the sweet ending: summer berry buttermilk pudding with late-harvest raspberries and blackberries.

A Passion for Pinots

After a couple of days in town, we ventured into the Willamette Valley to taste some wines first-hand. Clay tells me that Oregon is most famous for its Pinot Noirs, which account for almost 75 percent of its vineyard land. We drive an hour on a rare clear day with a view of Mt. Hood, ending up among the rolling green hills near the town of Dundee. To orient ourselves, we start at the Ponzi Wine Bar, which pours a flight of not only its superb Pinots—Blanc, Gris, and Noir—but offers tastes of other local wines as well. Proprietor Andrew Turner sends us deeper into the valley, suggesting other great wineries to try. We roll up a quiet, private drive to taste small batches of Pinot Noirs on Mohamad Ayoub’s deck overlooking the valley and vines; the wine is so light, complex and affordable—and the company so friendly—that we leave with two cases.

Next, we try a larger winery, Domaine Drouhin Oregon in the hills above Dundee. The winery produces classic Burgundy-style Pinots, and the owners are fourth-generation French winemakers; Robert Drouhin pioneered Pinot Noirs in Oregon in the 1960s when they were first being introduced in California. After tasting a flight of these award-winning Pinots, we tour the barrels in the cellar to see how it’s made today. Our last winery visit is to Penner-ash Wine Cellars, a sustainable winery with spacious modern architecture, blooming gardens and award-winning small-batch Pinots.

By the time we reach our bed and breakfast, the Brookside Inn, we are anxious to pair some food with our Pinots. The inn occupies 22 tranquil, park-like acres—with a pond, trails, waterfalls, and a profusion of flowers throughout the property. it’s calm and relaxing here and the owners, Bruce and susan Bandstra, are also dedicated foodies. We happen to arrive on a night when they’re holding one of their popular multi-course “culinary palindrome” dinners, pairing local winemakers with culinary artisans. Working in tandem with local chefs Quinn Corbett and Sam Jackson, Ray Walsh of Capitello Wines starts us off with his sparkling wine (paired with caviar-topped buckwheat and red onion waffles), through courses with Dolcino (foie gras on brioche), sauvignon Blanc (oysters), Pinot gris (pasta with rabbit and wild mushrooms), Pinot noir (short ribs, duck confit and elk sausage) and back to the bubbles for dessert. We’re completely sated—and very glad to be staying within staggering distance.

The State of Beervana: Thanks to its profusion of malting facilities, hop vineyards and crystal-clear water, Oregonians have declared their state “beervana.” Portland has more brewpubs than any other city in the world, with breweries in just about every neighborhood. As with the restaurants, many of the brewpubs focus on natural ingredients, such as the Roots Organic Brewing Company and Hopworks Urban Brewery. Both offer organic seasonals, including fun beers like Jalapeño Stout, as well as a variety of classic hoppy Northwest IPAs. One of Portland’s best-known breweries, Rogue Distillery & Public House has 36 beers on tap; when in doubt, choose the Hazelnut Brown Ale.

Parting: Such Sweet Sorrow

The next day, we head back to Portland for a final night at the Hotel Monaco Portland, a whimsical hotel in the heart of downtown, which loans us bicycles for our stay. Portland is very bicycle-friendly and easy to navigate, which (thankfully) enables us to pedal off some of our sumptuous meals. On our last morning, we hop on our bikes and while we can hardly even think about eating breakfast, we do have one last coffee at the spella cart. Then we head over a bridge to ride the Willamette river bike path, enjoying the sun on our backs as we pass through Portland's picturesque cityscapes.

“It’s settled,” says Clay a bit later, as we pedal toward Bunk Sandwiches for one last nosh, “I’m moving to Portland.” Of course, like everything we’ve experienced here, our meal is much, much better than bunk. Our sandwiches of salt cod with chorizo and black olives (accompanied by sides of roasted butternut squash agro dolce) are indeed proverbial slices of heaven—reasonably priced heaven, served with a smile. Apparently, that's how it works here in Portland. Works for me, too.