Samantha Brown's Places to Love

Portland, Oregon

The City of Roses surrounds Samantha in beautiful blooms as she begins her tour of Portland's International Rose Test Garden and learns from Curator Rachel Burlington how the city earned its nickname. Samantha finds Portland to be a place where creators of all types flourish when she meets the chefs and entrepreneurs behind the Dame Collective of restaurants--Lauro Romero and Jane Smith. Samantha samples food from Chef Lauro's eatery, Clandestino. Delving further into Portland's food scene, Samantha meets Hector Zamora, an immigrant whose dream of bringing the best in Guatemalan coffee to America resulted in founding his coffee shop, Cafe Zamora, which has become a highlight of the Portland coffee scene. Samantha then visits Freeland Distillery where Master Distiller Molly Troupe guides her through a tasting of the unique gin flavors, she creates that make Freeland a local standout--including cherry blossom and forest. Sam finds delicious offerings at her next stop, too--the L'il America food pod, a cluster of food trucks owned and operated by a rainbow coalition of Portland's best food entrepreneurs whose offerings represent their heritage, proclivities, and the best Portland has to offer. Then it's on to Steelport where Samantha learns from owner and knife-maker, Eytan Zias, the fine art of sharpening knives forged and hand-crafted in Portland using all American-made materials. While making knives in his shop, Eytan wears an all-leather apron hand-made at Samantha's next stop--Orox Leather. Here, Samantha speaks with father and son team Jose and Levi Martinez about their own immigrant experience and how they established a successful business handcrafting everything from leather aprons to purses, backpacks, wallets, and even hats. Next, Samantha ventures outside the city for an inspiring trip down the Tualatin River with the team from Adventures Without Limits, an outdoor adventure company serving people whose physical and mental limitations might otherwise keep them from experiencing the great outdoors. Samantha wraps up her trip at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and gets a hands-on lesson in what it took to be a successful pioneer from Interpreter John Jarvie.