Foodies Favorite Finds: Carrie Welch, Co-Founder of Feast Portland

Monday, September 14, 2015

GolocalPDX Lifestyle Team

Carrie Welch is President of Little Green Pickle and Co-Founder of Bon Appetit Presents Feast Portland: A Celebration of Oregon Bounty in Portland, Oregon.

Carrie Welch is President of Little Green Pickle and Co-Founder of Bon Appetit Presents Feast Portland: A Celebration of Oregon Bounty in Portland, Oregon. Little Green Pickle provides public relations, marketing, social media and web services for over 20 of the most electric restaurants and artisans in the Portland food and drink scene, as well as national chefs and brands.

When Carrie moved to Portland, OR in 2010 with wife Jannie to work in its creative, ingenious food industry, Little Green Pickle originally began as a support to their dream restaurant. Four years later, the restaurant and artisan public relations firm promotes talented chefs, restaurants, beverages and artisans in the fun and fast-changing food scene in Portland and across the nation.

Since its first year in 2012, Feast Portland celebrates the bounty of the Pacific Northwest through a dynamic and fun spirited, multi-day food and drink festival. Encompassing over 80 chefs, 30 events and tens of thousands of attendees, the festival has raised over $100,000 for Share Our Strength and Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon. Feast Portland received Travel Portland’s “Portland” award, which honors the top contribution to the region’s reputation, and has been named as one of North America’s 15 Best Food Festivals by Fodors and The Best Food Festival in the Country by Thrillist.

For Carrie, the foundation of both Feast Portland and Little Green Pickle draws on her 10-year career at Food Network as Vice President of Public Relations, overseeing all consumer press, talent relations, digital PR, social media, charitable efforts, and launching successful shows for now ubiquitous celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, Ina Garten, Alton Brown, and Duff Goldman.

In 2008, Carrie helped create the New York City Wine & Food Festival with Share Our Strength, The Food Bank for NYC and Southern Wines & Spirits, which continues to raise over $1 million to help end childhood hunger each year. She also co-initiated Food Network's first public affairs program, "Good Food Gardens," that brought teaching gardens to underprivileged kids and families in schools and community centers. She has studied wine and spirits extensively, completing the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Intermediate and Advanced Certificates.

Despite Carrie's obviously busy schedule, she was kind enough to let GoLocalPDX in on her favorite spot to grab bite. Carrie's "favorite foodie find" is a bakery in the back of Pho Oregon.

"It's hard to find good bahn mi in Portland. I know everyone has their favorite spots, but my wife Jannie and I were spoiled by a great place in Brooklyn we used to go to every weekend. We were afraid we would never find a bahn mi sandwich as good as that one in Portland, and then we found Levain Bakery. This is a tiny little bakery in the back of Pho Oregon off of 82nd Avenue in our Rose City neighborhood. It's within walking distance to our house, and I stroll #superwhitebaby over there every other weekend for a Grilled Pork Chop sandwich that's got juicy, smoky pork with perfectly vinegary vegetables and just the right amount (not too much!) cilantro and jalapenos. I add a little sriracha for a bit more heat. When I was pregnant, I lived off of their chocolate eclairs - light pastry, but super creamy custard inside. Now, I'm just there for the bahn mi and a good walk with the baby," said Carrie Welch.

If you’d like to purchase tickets for Feast Portland 2015, please click HERE.

Bon Appetit Presents Feast Portland: A Celebration of Oregon Bounty in Portland, Oregon held September 17 - 20, Friday - Sunday.

Homepage Photo Credit: Feast Portland's Facebook