Food and other edibles in Portland, OR
News, analysis, and current topics in the world of food.
Call me naive, but I didn’t expect this—looks like Cafe TBD is closing today. “We’ll, it was fun while it lasted but today’s our last service. Get it while you can, friends.”
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We’ll, it was fun while it lasted but today’s our last service. Get it while you can, friends.
Yesterday PDX Eater published an update related to the Beeswing situation—turns out the owner, Kevin Dorney, shut the location down and opened it up again at Cafe TBD, which I plan on checking out (love supporting food biz in Cully). All the Beeswing staff is there at TBD… except for Marissa Lorette and Ian Watson, the two chefs who launched the Kickstarter (and were part of the original Beeswing).
The opening of Cafe TBD is great news for the tiny world of Cully brunching, and I wish them only the best. But I can’t help but think there’s a whole load of stuff we just don’t know… the rest of the story could be pretty interesting. We (Kickstarter backers) did get an email from Marissa and Ian yesterday clarifying Cafe TBD is a totally separate business from Beeswing, which is helpful, and that they are working hard to find a new space.
I wish everyone involved only the best and look forward to putting all their delicious brunch food in my belly… like this “savory black sesame scallion waffle with sweet fermented chili glazed fried chicken, topped with a sunny egg.”
Full disclosure: I backed Beeswing’s Kickstarter
In my little corner of the Portland food world, my attention was grabbed most intensely over the past few weeks by the Beeswing situation—unfortunate wording in their Kickstarter leading to a number of pledges being canceled (mine was); the impassioned plea to resubmit donations (I did); and then the news that their silent partner would not sell them the business so they had to close.
News was sent out to Beeswing’s Kickstarter supporters this morning that they will indeed reopen, just in a different space. I wonder if that means they will leave Cully (likely); after all, the Country Cat space is open, among others. Here is the message they sent out today:
Hello Beautiful Backers,
Unfortunately our business partner refused to sell us the business. After 2 1/2 years of working towards this goal with him, he decided out of the blue to close the restaurant. We are in shock. Beeswing was our baby, our identity as chefs, our livelihood.
Beeswing will live on. We are currently looking at restaurant spaces (I am seeing 3 today). We have an amazing amount of support from you and our community. We are looking to make this a fast transition. We will honor all the perks at the new restaurant, and keep you updated along the way. Every penny of the money you backed us with will go into creating the new restaurant.
This is what we do. We are excited to get back to cooking beautiful food for our community. Ultimately you will have the honor of empowering us to be the sole owners of our restaurant.
Thank you Thank You Thank You from the bottom of our hearts.
Great news, best of luck to them, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
While perusing the latest liquor license applications, I ran across the intriguingly-named Black Seed Burger Cult; they’ve applied for a limited on-premises license. They’re opening up in the old Verde Cocina space (3746 North Mississippi), which closed last January. Their lighthearted attitude, displayed in their Instagram account, reminds me a lot of Flattops, a burger joint that was open on Ditmars Blvd in my old Astoria neighborhood. This post made me laugh:
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Permits are for nerds! Watch how real pros do it. #comingsoon #whichwiredoicut #wecanfixthatlater
Chefs Michael Williams and Donovyn Collins are putting the place together on the food end, and artists Mike McKennedy and John Black are in charge of the design. Hours will be 9am to 10pm every day and you can start to get liquored up at 4pm. They will also have one vintage arcade game there on site.
There’s not much out there regarding the menu but you can be sure they will serve… burgers. Keep an eye on their Instagram for now; more will no doubt come later.
Last month I wrote about the wonderful pasta we had at Grand Army Tavern and in there was the news about a new restaurant they are putting in the front of the space, serving up Italian pasta dishes made with their wonderful housemade pastas. The Oregonian confirms the news and expands on it with some exciting details, including the name: Campana. Continue reading “Grand Army Tavern’s New Italian Restaurant is Campana”
