Small Bites - Bui Tofu, Davenport's Cheeseburger, Paccasassi, and More

Bui Tofu’s delicious pandan cake.

Fridays are often reserved for my “Four Things I Learned This Week” column, but I have collected so many tidbits this week, I’m opting instead for a Small Bites post this week. Let’s see what’s up.

Love letter to Bui Tofu. This place is wonderful and it was nice to read of Katherine Chew Hamilton’s love of the place. Her PoMo review highlights one of my favorite items there, the pandan cake; love the sesame balls, too. 520 NE 76th Avenue, Portland

MidCity SmashBurger will open a restaurant. On their Instagram they announced, “Now, I have the keys to my FIRST RESTAURANT!!! HOLY SHIT YA’LL!!!” They’ll be opening up in St. John’s. The Oregonian has more details, including the location (original location of Bernstein Bagels); the addition of hot dogs and chili dogs to the menu; and a large patio that will be turned into a deck and covered, turning that space essentially into a dining room, with live music options in the back. 8408 N Lombard, Portland

Lots of love for Davenport’s cheeseburger. I first saw the raves for this burger on Gary the Foodie’s Instagram in late July and since then it’s continued to be lauded by Portlanders. PoMo published their thoughts on it, which I found very helpful, including this key detail: “it’s only available twice a week, for lunch, Wednesday and Thursday.” 2115 E Burnside Street, Portland

PS Honey Mama’s. I love the chocolate bars from Honey Mama’s, especially the Original Dutch and Ginger Cardamom bars, after running across them at a holiday market years ago. But did you know they now make a Pumpkin Spice flavor? As of this writing, it’s their newest flavor and it the ingredient flavors sound like fall: sprouted pumpkin seeds + cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and orange. Most of it is organic, too.

It’s khachapuri time. Love that you can get a fresh Georgian Ajarian Khachapuri everyday at CityMaxx. Have you been by lately? It’s a great store. Have a plum piroshki for me (my favorite!) and pick up some locally-made kvass while you’re at it, too. 3552 SE 122nd Avenue, Portland

Convenience stores and their good eats. When I lived in Astoria, Queens, I used to head to this Mexican convenience store, La Cabana, for their excellent tacos. You’d order at the window/counter inside, get your tacos and then go sit in the tiny dining area that was more or less a table or two and a few chairs. I have a lot of happy memories about this kind of eating. So I was glad to read this Eater article on the tacos etc—including the famous birria de chivo—at J & T Market on Glisan, just up the street from the hospital. I perused various photos elsewhere of this place and was also delighted to see they serve machaca as one of the meat options, as there is one in my household who loves it. Looking forward to checking it out. 4438 NE Glisan Street, Portland

Get your paccasassi at Montelupo. In the “new to me” category, you can find pickled sea fennel, or, paccasassi at Montelupo Market. It sounds delicious and I’m seriously intrigued. It is “a coastal succulent traditionally eaten in the Marche region of Italy. During May and June, the tender shoots of the plant are hand-harvested. Only the most perfect leaves are selected to be blanched in water and then jarred with extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegar. The finished product has a soft yet crunchy texture and unique marine flavor, with hints of fennel, lemon, and carrot.”

It’s traditionally eaten with mortadella on a panini. Sounds like something work trying—you can watch this review to get a better idea of this tasty sounding product. 344 NE 28th Avenue, Portland

Here are some upcoming events that caught my eye:

Pour nights at Stem Wines
Thursdays in September
Stem Wines started these tasting nights yesterday evening and will continue on Thursdays for complimentary tastes of wines featured from their local distributors. Events will run 5:30-7:30pm each night or until supplies last. Guests will be required to be masked during the event unless seated. 3920 N Mississippi Avenue, Portland

Learn about dry-farmed tomatoes
Saturday, September 11
Wellspent Market will host the Culinary Breeding Network for a pop-up event in their parking lot, featuring two new-to-Oregon varieties of dry-farmed tomatoes. These are produced via a drought-tolerant farming technique. You can learn what makes dry-farmed tomatoes so special, get to know the tomatoes from a few of their favorite farmers, check out their tomato tasting kits and, “with any luck, a tasty tomato treat from one of our chef friends.” Timing of the event to come. 935 NE Couch Street, Portland

Coffee around the world—international coffee tasting
Saturday, September 19, 11am to 5pm
Head to the Portland Mercado for a small tour of coffee from around the world.. “We will host Local Coffee Vendors who represent different parts of the world and the coffee they drink/make. Whether is the ingredients, roasting, prepping, or serving styles, each vendor is unique and we want Coffee lovers to come to experience the diversity of coffee that can be found in our city.” 7238 SE Foster Road, Portland