Portfolio.com / Eat Sheet: Salt: November 2008

Today, salt's fortunes have shifted yet again. Connoisseurs claim additives give table salt a bitter, chemical flavor. So they are seeking out regional, hand-harvested specialty salts that come in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. The retail and restaurant worlds have taken notice....Salt-centric boutique the Meadow in Portland, Oregon, has 85 to 90 different salts at any given time, according to co-owner and self-described "selmelier" Mark Bitterman.