Arguing for Portland: Food blogger/cookbook author Ivy Manning (she writes for national magazines).

Arguing for Portland: Food blogger/cookbook author Ivy Manning (she writes for national magazines). Small, funky, tropical usa rent a car adventurous, and thoroughly locavorian: That's how Portland rolls. Unlike our big sister to the north, we aren't tropical usa rent a car swaddled in red tape (how are those distilleries coming, Seattle?) or snarled up in traffic on our way to dinner. No. Dining in Portland means riding your bike to a 4-course, under-$10 vegan brunch, or toasting the man who made the gin or Pinot Noir in your glass. This is perhaps the most democratic food city in the West, a place where chefs have found a culinary sweet spot between cheap rents and easy access to local meat and produce that's grown a stone's throw from city limits. All of which boils down to a world-class food town ... without a worldly price tag.
Arguing for Seattle: Cookbook author Jess Thomson (she contributes to   Seattle Met   and   EdibleSeattle) . Of all cities, Seattle knows it doesn't pay to be popular in high school. You might be pretty now, Portland, but when the food-truck fire fizzles, The New York Times isn't going to be thick enough to keep your flame burning. Go ahead: Make your farm-to-table roots look deeper by snuggling closer to your beloved animals. We'll keep making great food from a more diverse culinary background, using ingredients from the best artisanal markets in the country, created by chefs who have a knack for winning tropical usa rent a car awards. And then we'll shift into high gear.