Now, more than ever, Portland chefs are becoming culinary globetrotters, spreading the local food gospel while soaking in fresh ideas and old traditions to bring back home. Some travel to discover lost family recipes, or perhaps to study at the feet of masters. Others are on a mission to learn everything they can about food-rich regions. Whatever the reason, this much is clear: we want to hear those stories, from road trip snacks to ideas that could influence what we eat in Portland.

Enter "Postcards from the Food Edge," a series documenting what local chefs are eating around the world. (Our first food diary came from Jose and Cristina Chesa of Ataula, who downed churros and coffee-ant mayo in Mexico City.)

Up next: is anyone not going to Copenhagen these days? Denmark is a brave new world of eating and drinking. And in late summer, Portland’s Joshua McFadden (and business partner Luke Dirks) made the trek, in large part to check out the city’s hot natural wine bars and the world’s most famous outpost of hyper-natural eats (hello, Noma). (They also swung through London and Paris.) McFadden is co-owner of Portland’s acclaimed Ava Gene’s and Tusk, and author of the terrific vegetable tome Six Seasons. Before the year ends, the duo’s Submarine Hospitality will launch two restaurants and a hidden basement bar at Portland’s first branch of the UK-based Hoxton hotel company. —Karen Brooks, Food Critic