Hannah Wallace

Travel + Leisure's It List/ The Hoxton Portland

I was happy to contribute a hotel review for Travel + Leisure's 2019 It List, the magazine's favorite new and radically redone hotels of the year.

A room at the Hoxton in Portland, Oregon 

Walk into the Hoxton in Portland’s Chinatown and you’ll feel like you’ve entered a stylish co-working space. Creatives are tapping away at laptops or taking meetings in oversized lounge chairs. The Portland property, like all Hoxtons, has an open lobby — you’re welcome to hang out even if you’re not staying here. Other famed Hoxton policies are in place here, too: free wi-fi, street pricing for the mini bar, and a complimentary breakfast bag hung on your door each morning. Rooms have a Northwest-chic vibe with wood paneling, vintage furniture from local shops, and art from Portland’s Upfor Gallery. Best of all are the trio of in-house restaurants, all managed by renowned chef Joshua McFadden’s company Submarine Hospitality (known for Ava Gene’s and Tusk). On the ground floor is La Neta, a superb vegetable-forward Mexican restaurant helmed by chef Johnny Leach, who turns out unusual dishes like acorn squash with mole, roasted Brussels sprouts with pomegranate, sunflower seeds, and aged cotija, and kale enchiladas. Ascend to the rooftop for Mexican street food at Tope, a lively taqueria with agave-infused cocktails, a rooftop deck, and — for those cold, rainy evenings — a communal fireplace. In the basement is a sultry Chinese speakeasy that features Soju-and-Baiju-based cocktails mixed with teas and Asian ingredients (pickled ginger, yuzu, wasabi, etc.) and Chinese-American fare like beef and broccoli and chop suey. Doubles from $95.

 

My new favorite Brussels sprouts dish in all of Portland! 

The nifty floor in the lobby coffee bar, an outpost of Aussie café Proud Mary. 

An Insider's Guide to Portland, Oregon

Friends always ask me where they should eat when they visit Portland. I have my personal shortlist: Ned Ludd, Nostrana, Navarre (why do they all start with N???), Davenport, Ox, Pizza Maria, Ava Gene's. 

But recently I was assigned the enviable task of checking out the newest arrivals in the Central Eastside, an up-and-coming neighborhood near our house. My write-up for Travel + Leisure, which accompanied Sarah Jaffe's wonderful article, covers everything from the latest music venues to new restaurants and hotels. My favorite new discoveries? The multi-course tasting menu at Holdfast Dining and the cheese-stuffed scarpinocc at Renata. 

spot prawn, peas, horseradish at Holdfast

Here's what I had to say about Holdfast:

Dining here is like joining an intimate dinner party where your 30-something hosts—Will Preisch and Joel Stocks—are two of the most talented modernist chefs around. No nine-course meal is the same, but expect startling combinations like kimchi panna cotta with sea beans and sea purslane or fried sweetbreads—“The Chicken McNugget of the offal world,” says Stocks—with pickled shimeji mushrooms, roasted maitake, and artful drizzles of XO sauce. The wine pairings are orchestrated by a new guest sommelier each weekend. holdfastdining.com; prix fixe $90, including wine.

I also got to interview chocolatier and style maven Sarah Hart about her favorite Portland boutiques.

Sarah Hart, owner of Alma Chocolate

The stylish artisan tells us exactly where she buys the vintage and contemporary pieces that make up her enviable wardrobe.

In the decade since Sarah Hart opened Alma Chocolates, a visit to taste her beguiling treats—bittersweet chocolate–dunked pistachio brittle, gold-leafed chocolate icons, rich cups of hot chocolate—has become a requisite stop on Portland’s food map. Hart is also known for her stylish wardrobe—a mix of vintage finds and timeless pieces from local designers. Here she tells us which of the city’s boutiques are her favorites.

Sevens Sisters has some local designers but it is mostly super-curated vintage. I can’t go in there because I always end up buying something!

At Six/Seven jewelry designer Emily Bixler (BOET) and dressmaker Liza Rietz have combined forces. Bixler has done a lot of hand-woven metal—it almost looks like macramé—and they’re working some of that into the dresses.

Portland designer Holly Stalder at Haunt had a place on NW 23rd called Seaplane back in the day. I bought this cool oversized flannel dress here that’s been dip-dyed. It has modern cuts but it’s very comfortable.

And then there’s Una. Giovanna Parolari’s jewelry collection is one of the most amazing in town. She also sells clothing lines by slightly more obscure European and New York designers.

My other favorite place is the Grand Marketplace. Most antique malls have something good and then lots of junk, but everything in here is good because the owner, Andrea Jones, is so careful about what she lets in. We just bought a big workbench that’s going to be the counter at the new Alma. It was somebody’s garage workbench: super beat-up and cool. I also bought a mechanic’s jumpsuit for $24.

There’s an amazing new vintage clothing shop called Workshop over on Williams. They also have some new jewelry and then really good, curated vintage stuff. And they have furniture and housewares too. I got a really cool fake fur jacket there, and my friend Jessica got a fake leopard coat.

We deliver to Cacao so I’ll drop into Odessa, which is next door. I got an amazing dress there recently. It’s a floor-length, black lace gown by French designer Isabel Marant.

 

Iron Springs Resort

This story was published in the July 2014 issue of Travel + Leisure.  

Download TravelplusLeisure7_10_2014

When Iron Springs Resort re-opened three summers ago, it was cause for celebration. The storied resort, on a remote and windswept section of the Washington Coast, had been a popular retreat for Seattle and Portland families for decades, but had fallen into disrepair. Rather than see it crumble from neglect, longtime regulars Doug and Bill True and their spouses Janet and Ruth bought the property and renovated it from head to toe. (Brothers Doug and Bill had been coming since they were boys in the 1960's.)

The 25 rustic cabins, most of which sit atop a steep bluff, were rebuilt and re-appointed with pillow-top beds, Pendleton blankets, wood stoves, and new dining tables—some made from felled spruce trees found on-site. Each cabin has floor-to-ceiling windows that frame expansive views of the Pacific. They have fully-equipped kitchens; all you need is food, which can be found at the resort’s well-curated general store. (Or at Voss Acres market in nearby Copalis Crossing.) Judging by the comments in 10B’s guest book, return customers are thrilled. "I almost cried when I saw 10B's beautiful new look,” reads one entry. “It's like an alternate reality where everything at Iron Springs is as it should be."

An Organic Farm in Cabo: Flora Farm

Fresh organic vegetables for sale at Flora Farm

When I was in Mexico this past May reporting a story on Todos Santos, I kept hearing about this organic farm outside of San José del Cabo. Intrigued (local, organic produce can still be a challenge to find in Baja) I asked my folks if we could take a little drive out to Flora Farm.

Expat American owners Gloria and Patrick Greene have been tending this organic farm for a decade now, but they recently opened a restaurant with an adjoining bar. (Unlike most farm-to-table restaurants, which plant a garden out back, this is a farm first. The on-site restaurant came later.) After a long, dusty trek—Flora Farm is way out by the marina and down a bumpy, pot-hole-riddled road—we finally drove up a steep switchback dirt drive that goes on just a little too far. Finally, below us, amidst an unforgiving, barren desert, we saw what looked like a mirage: ten acres of vegetables and mango trees.

That morning, we breakfasted on marigold-yolked poached eggs atop a bed of sautéed kale, with whole wheat toast (baked on the premises) and a side of bacon. (The pigs and chickens, raised on a nearby ranch, are hormone & antibiotic free.) The coffee was dark and strong. If that wasn't enough, there was even a cute grocery store where locavore travelers can pick up homemade granola, local honey, baguettes, pastries, and just-picked veggies. At Flora's Farm Bar, musicians play each night as diners tuck into plates of organic fried chicken or wood-fired Margarita pizza.

I write about Flora Farm in the February issue of Travel + Leisure. 

Download 02_RADR_FloraFarm_lo

Travel as an Engine of Change

One of my favorite features at Travel + Leisure is the magazine's annual Global Vision Awards, where a team of illustrious judges (this year they included Dr. Joseph Stiglitz and documentary filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, who is also the executive director of the Oceanic Preservation Society) choose from a shortlist of companies and organizations that protect the environment, preserve cultures, and give back to the communities in which they're based.

This year, I signed on to report it—scouring the globe for travel companies and projects in the categories of Cultural Preservation and Community Development. The recommendation I'm most proud of? Accor hotels' work to combat child sex tourism, which won the Human Rights award in the Leadership category. Since 2000, in partnership with the NGO ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), Accor has taken an active stand against exploitation of children, training over 13,000 staff worldwide last year and raising customer awareness about this disquieting reality.

A few other winners that I put forth: the Cambodian Living Arts organization, which provides space, equipment, and a living wage to master practitioners of Cambodian folk dance; adventure travel company Myths & Mountains, which launched a nonprofit to construct libraries in impoverished areas of Nepal, India, and Bhutan; and Feynan Ecolodge, an ultra-sustainable lodge in Jordan's Dana Biosphere Reserve.

Read more here or see the November issue.

MADRE: Contemporary Art in Naples

When we were in Naples, Italy last October, Michael supervised the installation of a Bruce Nauman retrospective at the new Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina (MADRE). I spent many hours at this intimate yet expansive museum—it covers a lot of (recent) art historical ground in a small space. Like the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice or the Hallen für Neue Kunst in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, it's the kind of museum that can be done in an hour or less—but gets more interesting on your 2nd and 3rd visits.

My article on MADRE is in the August issue of Travel + Leisure. And here's an extra tidbit (it was cut for space) about a 4th artwork in the collection that I found extremely moving: Posthum Meiner Mutter (1999) by Hanne Darboven. Darboven, a German conceptual artist whose formally graphic works chronicle the passing of time, made this large-scale piece in the first year after her mother’s death. Twelve rows (representing those twelve months) each begin with a photograph of the artist, cigarette in hand, head cocked to one side, with her elderly mother, hands clasped modestly behind her back. The title of the work, the date of her mother’s death, and a series of numbers—a personal system for counting the passing of days and months—re-appear in the first column. In each cell of the remaining 15 columns, she repeats this system and the word Heute (today), which she characteristically scratches out to denote finished days. Darboven successfully captures both the nonvisual phenomenon of time and the pathos of grief.

Behavioral Profiling at Airports

My article, from the January issue of Travel + Leisure, on the TSA's new psychological profiling program: http://travelandleisure.com/articles/airport-profiling

Zurich on $250 a day

Don't let the 'World's Eighth Most Expensive City' tag deter you: Zurich's restaurants and shops are affordable without a Swiss bank account—and some of its coolest cultural spots are free (if you know where to look). Here's an affordable guide to the city that I wrote for Travel + Leisure.

Slovenian Rhapsody

With its award-winning wines, Adriatic coastline, and thermal spas, Slovenia, the richest of the former Yugoslav republics, is coming into its own. I wrote this article for Travel + Leisure a few years ago, after my second trip to Slovenia. Download 2005_9_travel_leisure 

Andros, Greece

Ándros Far Away, So Close

[this short article appeared as part of "Temptation Islands of Greece" from the August 2004 issue of Travel + Leisure]

My boyfriend, Michael, and I are standing in a field of wildflowers, surrounded by a mountainous landscape that reminds me of England's Lake District. But we're not in the land of Wordsworth and Coleridge; we're on Ándros, the northern-most and most fertile of the Cyclades. Our hosts, my stepcousin Tomas and his wife, Ornella, are initiating us in a local custom: a strenuous afternoon hike. We start 20 miles south of the island's capital, Ándros town (otherwise known as Hora). Stone steps called kalderimia lead us down a steep ravine to an old, abandoned water mill that was used as a bakery until the 1950's. Then it's a vigorous climb uphill, where our reward is a view of the Aegean. Although we speed up for the last 45 minutes of our journey, we navigate the treacherous descent on uneven kalderimia in near darkness, the only light provided by the stars and nearby houses. By the time we reach the edge of town, it's pitch black.

We have come to Ándros for three reasons: its proximity to Athens (just three hours away by bus and ferry), because I have family on the island's eastern coast, and—perhaps most important—its refreshing lack of hype. Tomas, a figurative painter with a London dealer, and Ornella, a cosmopolitan Italian, live just north of Hora in the prosperous village of Stenies, which was built by Greek shipping magnates in the 19th century. They moved here two years ago from the more remote volcanic island of Nísiros, so that Tomas would be closer to Athens and art openings in London, and because Ornella missed her family back in Rome.

The town's jasmine-scented streets are inaccessible by car and therefore ideal for walking. My cousins have invited us for dinner, but Tomas, knowing we'll need help navigating the town's mazelike sidewalks—most of which go either straight up or straight down—meets us halfway between our bungalow and Stenies. We scramble up steep public paths, feeling like voyeurs as we peer past backyards into stately houses. By the time we reach their stately house—a stone structure that dates back almost 100 years—we're famished.

Ornella has prepared a selection of savory mezes—garlicky skordalia, cool tzatziki—and fresh fish with tomatoes and olives. As we eat, we trade stories of island life: Manhattan versus Ándros. One of the advantages of living in such a town, Tomas says, is that he's able to work on his art all afternoon, without interruptions (Andros is practically deserted in the off-season). "Do you ever feel isolated?" "Do you miss 'culture?'" we want to know. No problem, says Tomas. He orders new books from Amazon.com (address: Stenies, Ándros) and keeps up with current events on-line. His description of a typical Ándros day, however—the beach in the morning, a leisurely lunch, then painting and reading in the afternoon—trumps anything we New Yorkers can offer.

The next day, in Hora, Michael and I are surprised to find paintings by Picasso on the walls of the diminutive Museum of Contemporary Art. The so-called New Town, with its shops and restaurants, is lovely, but we linger in the Old Town, with its grand villas and marble streets. At the end of a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a narrow stony bridge, is an islet on which the crumbling remains of a Venetian fortress lie. Behind us, beckoning at the sea as if he longed to return to it, is a bronze statue: the unknown sailor of Ándros. He may wish he were back out there, sailing the Aegean, but I think he's rather lucky to have washed up on these shores.

Maastricht: Holland's Secret City

There's more to Maastricht than European treaties and cobblestone streets. Hannah Wallace discovers the cosmopolitan side of this southern Dutch town

From the February 2004 issue of Travel + Leisure.

Americans think of Maastricht (if at all) as the less-sophisticated sister of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. But Europeans have long known Maastricht's civilized charms: Michelin-starred restaurants, castle hotels, and boutiques and galleries that offer everything from old masters to high fashion. In March, international art collectors and dealers arrive at this border town—located minutes from Belgium and Germany—for the annual European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF). Here they can find such diverse items as the world's largest flawless octagonal step-cut diamond, 15th-century illuminated manuscripts, and a Damien Hirst butterfly painting, all for sale under one roof. Second string never looked this good.

WHERE TO STAY La Bergère (40 Stationstraat; 31-43/328-2525; www.la-bergere.com; doubles from $201) is Maastricht's only boutique hotel. Its 67 rooms are pleasantly minimalist: white walls, oak floors, and recessed lighting. What the guest quarters lack in amenities (there are no closets or desks), the hotel makes up for with a rooftop gym, afternoon tapas, and a groovy lounge. • Hotelier Camille Oostwegel bought the ruins of Château St. Gerlach (1 Joseph Corneli Allée, Valkenburg aan de Geul; 31-43/608-8888; www.chateauhotels.nl; doubles from $288) for one Dutch gulden and then spent $26 millionmaking the 18th-century castle into the most luxurious hotel in the region. In addition to two excellent restaurants, the château has a Roman-style swimming pool and a Kneipp spa. • Fresh flowers welcome guests at Hôtel Les Charmes (18 Lenculenstraat; 31-43/321-7400; www.hotellescharmes.nl; doubles from $116), a 15-room inn in the historic Jeker quarter. Owner Marco Immers restored two adjoining 1725 town houses, retaining the original Italian terrazzos, Dutch tiles, and creaky wooden floors, and filled rooms with gilded mirrors, vintage wardrobes, even claw-foot tubs. • The year-old Hôtel au Quartier Petit Bonheur (32 Kapoenstraat; 31-43/321-5109; www.auquartier.nl; doubles from $116), at the end of a quiet cobblestoned street, is an understated gem. All 14 rooms are furnished with 18th-century desks and wardrobes. • Though Kasteel Wittem (3 Wittemer Allée, Wittem; 31-43/450-1208; ; doubles from $189) has 12bedrooms, its regal restaurant (part of the Alliance Gastronomique Néerlandaise since 1976) is the main draw (dinner for two $152). "It's a restaurant with rooms, not a hotel with a restaurant," says owner Peter Ritzen. The 18th-century castle—complete with a moat—is just 20 minutes east of town by car, in the Geul Valley.

WHERE TO EAT When a town of only 122,000 has four Michelin-starred restaurants, it obviously has a lively food scene. Don't be fooled by the hip look of Restaurant Beluga (12 Centre Céramique, Plein 1992; 31-43/321-3364; dinner for two $164), located in the Céramique complex. Behind its glass-and-steel exterior, Beluga is resolutely old-fashioned. Only the men are offered menus listing prices, and dishes tend toward the lavish: sweetbreads covered in foie gras, for example. • The open kitchen at Ca' del Biro (66-68 Hoogbrugstraat; 31-43/326-4152; dinner for two $116) allows diners to watch as the chef prepares sautéed scallops on artichokes with Parmesan sabayon or grilled veal entrecôte over risotto. An intimate dining room—outfitted with high-backed red-and-yellow-striped chairs—is the perfect spot to pick up art-world gossip. • Before you've selected a cocktail, the attentive waiters at Toine Hermsen (2 St. Bernardusstraat; 31-43/325-8400; dinner for two $208) will present you with anamuse-bouche. Another arrives moments after you've ordered your main course, which might be filet mignon in truffle sauce, served with warm spinach salad, or poached turbot with black salsify, Roseval potatoes, and champagne sauce. • At Tout à Fait (16-18 St. Bernardusstraat; 31-43/350-0405; dinner for two $128), chef and owner Bart Ausems turns out inventive dishes such as tenderloin carpaccio with foie gras and red-onion marmalade. The wine list includes unusual wines—dry Australian whites, Cabernets from Chile, and hard-to-find French Merlots.

BROWN CAFÉS Not to be confused with those other, notorious Dutch cafés—Amsterdam's coffee shops—brown cafés are tiny wood-paneled pubs that serve hearty, inexpensive meals. Pilgrims have refilled their pints at In den Ouden Vogelstruys (15 Vrijthof; 31-43/321-4888), Maastricht's oldest brown café, since the 14th century. The menu is written not in Dutch but in the local dialect. • Not brave enough to sample specialties like Bloedworst (blood sausage) or Zoervleis (minced beef with sweet-and-sour sauce, applesauce, and mayonnaise)? Chef Robin Berben of Café Sjiek (13 St. Pieterstraat; 31-43/321-0158) also makes delicious global dishes like Thai salad, linguine al pesto, and fried trout with almonds. • De Bóbbel (32 Wolfstraat; 31-43/321-7413) is a smoky hole-in-the-wall just off Onze Lieve Vrouweplein full of shoppers refueling on goulash and quiche lorraine. Try a nip of the Bóbbelke, a strong Dutch gin, or a bottle of the locally brewed Imperator beer.

WHERE TO SHOP Maastricht's most famous shopping street—Stokstraat—was saved from reconstruction and modernizationafter World War II because the town lacked funds. As a result, high-end fashion designers inhabit buildings dating from the Middle Ages. A word of caution: most shops close at 6 p.m., andare shuttered from Saturday evening to Monday afternoon. Local design diva Kiki Niesten (28-32 Stokstraat; 31-43/321-6432) keeps the women of Maastricht on the cutting edge with suede patchwork Marni coats and flirty twill skirts by Marc Jacobs. • Christian Lagerwaard, who spent a season in Paris working for Emanuel Ungaro, designs luxuriously feminine ensembles. Schedule a fitting at his atelier (64 Wilhelminasingel; 31-43/326-4440; open Saturdays; weekdays by appointment only). The silk suits and cashmere jackets in his new ready-to-wear collection, Future, are sold at Château Gronsveld (Gronsveld; 31-43/408-5504), five minutes outside of town. • Jules & Co. (3 Platielstraat; 31-43/358-1708) stocks inventive kitchen gadgets by Koziol (Germany's answer to Alessi) and colorful felt "hangbags" by Amsterdam design duo Gewoon. • Interior decorator Gay Jongen (59 Rechtstraat; 31-43/321-6824) displays the latest in European home wares—from Bisazza tiles to SMEG appliances—in his 3,800-square-footshowroom. • Among the rare pieces on display at Philippe Kersten's Zenith Oriental Art (29 Lenculenstraat, 31-43/321-4961; 2 St. Pieterstraat; same phone) are an elm medicine chest from the 1800's ($4,900) and a marble Buddha torso from the Tang dynasty ($43,000). Many of his finds are restored by skilled craftsmen in China's Guangdong province. • Though old masters dealer Robert Noortman has a booth at tefaf (he was a founding member of the fair), it's worth ducking into his gallery, Noortman Master Paintings (49 Vrijthof; 31-43/321-6745), to catch a glimpse of paintings by Rembrandt, Brueghel, and French artists such as Monet and Corot.

ESSENTIAL CULTURE The striking, torpedo-shaped Bonnefanten Museum (250 Ave.Céramique; 31-43/329-0190; www.bonnefanten.nl), designed by Italian architect Aldo Rossi in 1995, houses old masters on the first floor and contemporary art on the second. Highlights include numerous Rymans, Rubenses, and Van Dycks, Robert Mangold's Red with Green Ellipses, and a minimalist steel sculpture by Richard Serra. Visit the gift shop to peruse ceramic plates designed for the museum by Sol LeWitt. Expert Advice Christian Lagerwaard, MAASTRICHT'S STAR COUTURIER WELL SUITED "I buy my Canali suits at van Overeem van Wissen (25 Stationstraat; 31-43/325-5039), near the train station. They are handmade in Italy and fit like a glove!"

HISTORY LESSON "When I'm on the Rechtstraat, I always peer in the window of Dr. M de Bruijn's Kunsthistorisch Kabinet (66 Rechtstraat; 31-43/325-0623). They have beautiful hand-drawn antique maps of the city."

BEST-KEPT SECRET "The ambience at Restaurant Château Neercanne (800 Cannerweg; 31-43/325-1359; lunch for two $70), a mile from town, is hard to beat. There's a calm that you don't find in Maastricht."

COCKTAIL HOUR "The new lounge-bar at the Hôtel Derlon (6 OLV-Plein; 31-43/321-6770) is superb. The design is very modern, with mirrors everywhere, and the restaurant has this red light in the center that's surrounded by a curtain of glass."

Quick Stops: Five Local Favorites

1. There's always a line at Olivier Bonbons (55 Kesselskade; 31-43/321-5526), where the handmade chocolates come in every shape and flavor: liquor-filled, topped with nuts, or just plain and delicious.

2. Most brown cafés serve vlaai, the region's version of pie. Try apple or cherry.

3. The strongest cup of coffee in town can be found at Blanche Dael CoffeeLovers (2 Ruiterij; 31-43/356-1944). Buy some freshly roasted to take home at the Maison Blanche Dael shop (28 Wolfstraat; 31-43/321-3475).

4. Dutch women adore the creams and scrubs made by Kruidvat (32-36 Wycker Brugstraat; 31-43/325-8206), a drugstore chain. Stock up on the "anti-rimpel" vitamin E eye cream ($3.50) and the abrikozen scrub ($3).

5. 't Bassin harbor is an up-and-coming neighborhood north of the city, where brasseries, cafés, and shops spill from the 19th-century warehouses. Art Market The European Fine Art Fair, which has been held in Maastricht under various names since 1975, is considered the most important art and antiques fair in the world. "It's like the Metropolitan Museum with red dots," according to one New York collector. Dealers save their best work for TEFAF, where it is vetted for quality, authenticity, and provenance by a committee of 130 international experts. And thanks to London gallery owner Leslie Waddington, who spearheaded the fair's modern-art section in 1993, 35 contemporary galleries now show at TEFAF, occupying 25 percent of the total floor space at the Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Center (100 Forum; www.tefaf.com; 888/388-2427; admission $37), where the fair is held. This year's fair (March 5-14) will include 203 dealers from 14 countries.

FAST FACT 40 Number of people who arrived at last year's TEFAF in private jets

FAST FACT 365 Number of pubs in Maastricht (one for each day of the year) 

Insider: Basel, Switzerland