Geographically, you can’t get much farther from Latin America within the contiguous United States than Portland. Gastronomically, however, Portland Mercado is doing a whole lot to bridge that gap. On paper, the Mercado is a business incubator for Portland’s Latin American entrepreneurs, who can apply for affordable retail and commercial kitchen space within the indoor-outdoor market (one manager referred to it as a “mini Shark Tank”). On the ground, however, Portland’s first public Latino market is a celebration of the Central and South American foodscape. Over a dozen grocers, vendors,…
