Welcome to Small Bites - Bridgetown Bites

Small bites from last year's Portland Fermentation Festival. — *Small bites from last year’s Portland Fermentation Festival.*

Welcome to a new column on Bridgetown Bites, “Small Bites.” I realized recently that despite living in times that seem restricted, there’s still a lot of food-related news tidbits out there. They cross my desk via press releases or social media or the news—and in random conversations. It’s easy to just let it go, passing into the realm of ephemera, but I’d like to change that. Hence, this column.

I expect I will post these semi-regularly—hopefully at least once a week. But we’ll see how it goes. Feel free to pass on tips, too, on the Contact page. Here’s what’s going on these days:

RIP Matt Choi. Some of the saddest recent news was the death of Matt Choi, of Choi’s Kimchi. It didn’t have to be this way, and it’s just terribly sad and tragic. Violent crime is up in Portland (it’s a fraught discussion as to why), and Matt Choi paid the price. His GoFundMe is here: Matthew Choi’s Memorial.

Pok Pok has closed. The closing of Pok Pok is a heartbreak. 3226 SE Division Street, Portland

Tropicale for brunch. They are starting brunch service on Friday, November 6, and expect to be able to enjoy it Fridays-Sundays from 9am to 2pm those days. 2337 NE Glisan Street, Portland

Burger Stevens is opening in new locations. Find them at Prost, the Marketplace next door, and in Beaverton at BG Cartel. Burger Stevens closed in 2024.

2020 Portland Fill Your Pantry Week. From Slow Food Portland, this event will be on December 5 to 13. It’s “an annual bulk-buying event designed to help local farmers and ranchers sell large quantities of vegetables, fruit, beans, pasture-raised meats, grains, canned goods, and other products.” This year the online pre-order will be open from November 17 to 30 and pickup will be at select farmers markets. More details to come.

Olympia Provisons has the holiday meats. They have arrived at Olympia Provisions: Cotechino, Sweetheart Ham, and Holiday Kielbasa, as per their recent newsletter.

Coquine has launched their Thanksgiving Holiday Shop—“Preorder meal making essentials and a few extra special items to make your Thanksgiving holiday that much more delicious.” Order until until Friday, November 20; pickup is Tuesday, November 24 from noon to 6pm. 6839 SE Belmont Street, Portland

Beast has transformed. They have become Ripe Cooperative, a “sustainable community marketplace.”

Curious about homebrewing? The 22nd annual Learn to Homebrew Day with the American Homebrewers Association, is Saturday, November 7.

Heim updates: The bakery will be open for walk-ups on weekends from 10am to noon; they are adding savory goods to the menu; they are expanding the online shop, “bringing you soup and offering said savory pastries for preorder”; shortbread cookies and chocolate icons are in the works; and keep an eye out for specials for the holidays. Heim now operates in southern Oregon

ICYMI: Cully Central. They are back open. 4579 NE Cully Blvd, Portland

Updated March 27, 2026 with transition to blocks and updates in formatting.