Portland, Ore. pastry shops
Known for: Pastry chef Kim Boyce worked at Campanile and Spago before relocating to the Pacific Northwest. Her creations, which are sold to other restaurants and coffee shops, attest to a thoughtful, sophisticated baker.
Highlights: Shortbread, ginger molasses cookies, chocolate orange pecan scones, chocolate espresso cake.
Info: 5351 N.E. Sandy Blvd.; (503) 946-8884, http://www.bakeshoppdx.com. Open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The Bakeshop counter is relatively small and practically elegant, reflecting what is being sold. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
From left to right, iced oatmeal, ginger molasses and sweet & salty cookies. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Parisian puffs with Italian plums prune. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Known for: Tourists, long lines, doughnuts covered with maple frosting and bacon, arcade games and T-shirt sales. Despite all this (or because of it), Voodoo gets great press. Bon Appetit once proclaimed: “What Dali was to art, Voodoo is to donuts.”
Highlights: Bacon maple bar, the voodoo doll (a doughnut filled with raspberry jelly and topped with chocolate frosting), the Loop (covered with Fruit Loops) and the maple blazer blunt (decorated with red sprinkles).
Info: 22 S.W. 3rd Ave; (503) 241-4704, http://www.voodoodoughnut.com. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The lines at Voodoo Doughnut sometimes stretch out out the door. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A woman samples a variety of doughnuts outside Voodoo Doughnut. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Three-year-old Asher Morell chooses a doughnut from a rotating display case at Voodoo Doughnut. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A bacon maple bar (lower left). (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Known for: Baker-owner Tim Healea’s chewy breads with fine crumbs, Stumptown Coffee, Sally Lunn bread, and a listing in Bon Appetit’s 2010 “10 Best Boutique Coffee Shops.”
Highlights: Drop biscuit with lemon curd, apple cheese Danish, orange brownie, pretzel bread, seeded hoagie roll, baguettes.
Info: 2600 S.E. Division St.; (503) 238-3458, http://www.littletbaker.com. Open 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays. Most pastries $2.50-$3.50. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The nananino, a peppermint chocolate brownie, left, and a red velvet cupcake. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Chocolate praline croissants. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Baguettes. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Known for: Tabor claims to be the first retail bakery in Portland to mill its own flour, and the breads are baked in a wood-fired oven in the middle of the store -- very cozy.
Highlights: Savory bread pudding, oat scones with currants and orange, rye Pullman loaves, light rye bread and baguettes.
Info: 5051 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.; (971) 279-5530, http://www.taborbread.com. Open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Prices vary; scones $3.25. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Breads on display at Tabor Bread. Clockwise, from far left, currant walnut, sesame, four baguettes, fife boule and light rye. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Head baker Cory Mast removes light rye breads out of a brick oven at Tabor Bread. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Known for: Pearl Bakery, on the edge of downtown’s Pearl District, opened in 1997, which makes it one of the more established enterprises on this pastry tour. The breads are sold to local restaurants and grocery stores and to customers who took up every seat in the small storefront during our visit. Most recent accomplishment? A line of artisan chocolates.
Highlights: Ham and Gruyere croissant, cinnamon crowns, apple hazelnut paws, macarons, baguettes, Pugliese bread, roggenbrot (dark rye).
Info: 102 N.W. 9th Ave.; (503) 827-0910, http://www.pearlbakery.com. Open 6:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays, and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays. Most items $1.25-$4.50. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Croissants at Pearl Bakery. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pugliese bread, left. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Cinnamon crowns. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Parisian macarons. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Known for: Ken Forkish opened his bakery more than a decade ago, and his empire has expanded to Ken’s Artisan Pizza and a cookbook titled “Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza.” His bread has inspired a great deal of praise from foodies and others, but it’s the pastry selection that mesmerized customers on a recent morning.
Highlights: Bread pudding, apple galette, macarons, hazelnut butter cookies, brioche, walnut bread, ciabatta.
Info: 338 N.W. 21st Ave.; (503) 248-2202, http://www.kensartisan.com. Open 7 a.m.- 6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays. Most items $2-$4. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A poached pear & cranberry hazeldine. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Breads at Ken’s Artisan Bakery, from left to right, a 1.5 kilo country boule, a three kilo country boule and ciabatta. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Known for: Blue Collar’s slogan is “We’re not afraid of butter!” and the proprietor means it. The year-old business is the most recent step in owner Warren Becker’s evolution from home baker to entrepreneur.
Highlights: Red velvet Bundt cake, wage earner chocolate chip cookies, big rig oatmeal cookies, waitress scones.
Info: 319 S.W. Pine St.; (503) 227-3249, http://www.bluecollarbaking.com. Open 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. All cookies $1. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Blue Collar Baking Co. feels like its name -- blue collar. Clocks are proudly labeled and set to the time in Scranton, Pa., Milwaukee and Cleveland. Industrial-style tables and chairs sit atop a tile floor. Cookies and pastries sit under glass domes on a counter. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Spare tire Bundt cake. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
