Associate Editor

Benjamin Tepler edits Portland Monthly’s Eat & Drink section, manages the Eat Beat blog, and writes across various departments, with a peculiar interest in Oregon-based entrepreneurial success stories, like Jacobsen Salt, Steven Smith Tea, and Kinfolk magazine.

The New York native and Oberlin College graduate joined Portland Monthly in 2010, equipped with a culinary degree and a failed career in marine biology. To counter-balance his high-caloric diet, Benjamin spends his free time running, hiking, and climbing up Oregon’s various peaks.

Get Outside

The Insider's Guide to Camping in the Pacific Northwest

It's finally summer. Here's how to escape the crowds, score secret spots, discover Oregon's wild desert, and camp like royalty.

05/22/2018 Edited by Benjamin Tepler Photography by Isaac Lane Koval

Camping Guide: The Peak Bagger

This Portlander Plans to Climb the Tallest Mountain in All 50 States. In One Summer.

Mountaineer Colin O'Brady has already summited the highest peaks on all seven continents in record time. Now he's chasing a new goal.

05/22/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Camping Guide: Desert Rambles

5 Essential Hikes in the Eastern Oregon Desert

From red-rock spires to aspen-shrouded hot springs, here's where to trek on the other side of the Cascades.

05/22/2018 By ONDA and Benjamin Tepler

Camping Guide: Bring the Heat

5 Delicious Ways to Boost Your Campfire Cooking Game

From forest fondue to an off-the-grid old-fashioned, these recipes bring culinary swagger to the backcountry.

05/22/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Camping Guide: How To

The Ultimate Pacific Northwest Camping Cheat Sheet

Turned around on snowy forest roads? Sick of sold-out campgrounds? Here's how to win the camping game.

05/22/2018 By Benjamin Tepler Research by Catherine Johnson

Camping Guide: Fast & Furious

This Is the Pacific Northwest's Best Lightweight Backpacking Gear

From dehydrated Coava coffee to ultra-packable sleeping bags, here's how to shed those extra ounces.

05/22/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Camping Guide: The Long Haul

Which Pacific Northwest Thru-Hike Is Right for You?

Stargazing and rattlesnakes? Or solitude and grizzlies? Take your pick!

05/22/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Camping Guide: Wild Country

5 Northwest Backpacking Trips to Take Right Now

Lace up those boots—high-alpine lakes, wildflower-lined trails, and hand-operated cable cars are waiting.

05/22/2018 By Rebecca Jacobson and Benjamin Tepler

Camping Guide: Fingers Crossed

10 Northwest Car-Camping Sites That Might Actually Have Room for You

Procrastinators, this is for you.

05/22/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Camping Guide: Free Wheelin'

How to Car-Camp Like Royalty

Here's your deluxe, all-PNW guide.

05/22/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Hometown Pride

Oregon Shut Out at the 2018 James Beard Awards

… but there were well-deserved wins for Seattle’s Edouardo Jordan and for diversity of all sorts.

05/08/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Pour

Kiosko Brings Latin Pride—and Mexican Affogato—to the South Waterfront

Forget your vanilla latte. At this diminutive coffee shop, it's all "cortaditos" and "ahogados."

04/24/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Recipes

A New Italian Market in Lents Makes a Mean 'Grass Pie'

Don't call it a quiche.

04/24/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Recipes

Chickpea Stew Is Usually the Uncool Dad Jeans of Soup. Not This One.

Vivienne's take is warming, spicy, and complex.

03/27/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

First Look

Tails & Trotters Reopens with Plate Lunches, Sandwiches, and Beer

A year after a devastating fire torched its aged pork inventory, NE Portland's artisan butcher shop rises from the ashes.

03/21/2018 By Christine Menges and Benjamin Tepler

James Beard Awards

Portland's 2018 James Beard Finalists Announced

Coquine, Clyde Common, Kachka, and Castagna are in the final running, along with a pair of local cookbooks.

03/14/2018 By Benjamin Tepler

Food News

Portland Cookbook Wins—and Promptly Loses—Coveted Award amid Policy Scandal

Martha Holmberg, local cookbook author and CEO of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, is in hot water over her Six Seasons win.

03/05/2018 By Benjamin Tepler