*Shooting Xico PDX, Southern Mexican cuisine and Mezcal

Xico on Division

With the aroma of freshly made corn tortillas and chile rubbed rotisserie chicken wafting through the warm and inviting space occupied at 3715 SE Division Street in Portland, you may just find yourself transported to a lighter and more festive locale.  Xico (pronounced “Chico”) is a respite from the grey winter gloom reflecting off of the wet Portland sidewalks, there to warm and whet your appetite.  For those who’ve not been fortunate enough to spend time in Mexico, you should go ahead and just take my word for it, it is the next best thing.  For those who have, this restaurant combines elements of traditional homemade southern Mexican dishes with the libations to accompany them providing a great way to relive past travel memories.  I was contacted by Liz Davis, manager of Xico, to shoot some of the authentically inspirational culinary creations that she, chef Kelly Myers, and owner Daniel Thomas have brought to life here.  I’m a self admitted non food photography professional, but with some other recent restaurant type work fit firmly under my belt of late, I was excited by the challenge and after meeting with both Liz and Dan, I knew that their vision was something I wanted to help capture for them, the fact that they fed me and gave me liquor didn’t hurt either.

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*Eat, Taste, Love. Like Summer camp for grownups.

The excitement of leaving home behind, getting to meet new and interesting people all while getting to participate in exciting activities, Summer camp was always a memorable experience.  Flash forward a couple decades and I found myself a married, slower and more experienced version of my childhood self with a much better music collection.  I’d like to think I’ve held onto my sense of wonder and desire for understanding things which I’ve yet to experience, but honestly I think I’ve just become more accustomed to following a certain routine which I’ve garnered a comfortable relationship with.  I’ve learned all that I need to survive, why branch out right?  Well, as I often find when forcing myself out of my self constructed framework, I still enjoy experiencing new things.  Mrs Squeeze and I were fortunate enough to be invited to help document an event that combined all those things I’d enjoyed in years past, but this time it included wine.  Lots of wine.

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*Mr and Mrs Squeeze wine down with a trip to Oregon Wine Country.

Now, I know this is a photography blog, but with the smell of damp earth in my nose and the invitation of blue skies, I felt the need to momentarily transform this into a travel blog, kinda.  Mrs Squeeze and I have been looking forward to our first joint, private overnight outing since the birth of Little Baby What’s-his-face just over 19 months ago.  This last weekend, we achieved our goal and finally severed the cord.  LBWHF did just fine, by the way.  Didn’t miss us one bit, so ends up it was his parents that were challenged by the perceived attachment issue.

Anyway, on to our little adventure and I’ll try to talk a bit about photography along the way just to maintain the greater theme…

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