Small Bites - Closings, Openings, Dumplings, and More

Çoban Salata at Lokanta

Welcome to a new edition of Small Bites, filled with tidbits and short news items. I’ve felt a little distracted lately, so this post serves, in part, as a place to store recent Portland food news. First, we’ll start with closures.

Closing or Shuttered. It’s hard to say goodbye to quality restaurants in this town, but it happens. Already closed are Grain & Gristle, Rabbits Cafe Killingsworth, and previously reported Rockabilly Cafe. Lokanta is in process of closing.

Grain & Gristle is a place I wish I had eaten at, but boo on me for not taking the opportunity. They closed this past Monday, May 29 … but the chef and owner, Heidi and Jeff Whitney-Schiles, are putting together a new restaurant and event space called L’ecole, “a marriage of Heidi and Jeff’s two favorite things; great local food and wine and learning interesting shit (aka education).” Look for charcuterie, “small bites” (NICE), and wine; brunch on the weekends; classes on cooking, sausage making, and pastry. They hope to open L’ecole by fall 2023. 1473 NE Prescott Street, Portland; L’ecole’s address unknown (ORSOS records list an address that does not look like a commercial property)

Rabbits Cafe on Killingsworth is another one I wish I’d tried. Their downtown location is still up and running. I guess it just wasn’t working for them here in NE, as they quipped, “Well… we gave it our best shot.” I’m sorry they couldn’t survive in NE. 1640 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland

Lokanta, which serves great Turkish food—and apparently was the only Turkish restaurant in Oregon, if you can believe it—will close June 30. You can read their thought process on closing on their Instagram page. Umut Matkap, the chef and owner, opened Lokanta as a meyhane—a traditional bar and restaurant that you’d find in the Balkans and environs. He lamented that he did not receive much in the way of “genuine” media coverage or collaborations, so after a lot of thought he decided to close and “digest this experience with Portland.” He is proud of the work he did with Lokanta but is also looking forward to taking a break. 2601 SE Clinton Street, Portland

Pause and a pivot. I realized I hadn’t heard much about Parkrose Marketplace this year, and learned that they are going to pause the market place for the 2023 season. Reasons cited were “the vagaries of weather; cold to rain to heat to smoke, have made for a too inconsistent experience for vendors and shoppers alike.” They’d like to find an indoor space for the market but that will take some time. 10750 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

As for the pivot, Laurelwood Brewing Co. on NE Sandy in Rose City Park has implemented some changes. Starting Friday, June 9 they will be open 3pm to 9pm daily (until June 7 they will be open 11am to 3pm, and will be closed on June 8). Counter service will be the name of the game, along with a smaller menu. DoorDash and Grubhub are not going to be available, either. They have had to lay off staff, unfortunately. The “rising costs of, well, literally everything” is the main reason for these changes. 5115 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Owner of Ha VL has died. It was announced that Ha Luu, the owner of the pho shop Ha VL, has died. The shop is closed and will be for a couple of weeks at least. My condolences to her family and friends. 2738 SE 82nd Avenue UNIT 102, Portland

Bipartisan Cafe has new owners. The Montavilla News has a great article on the change of ownership at Bipartisan Cafe. “This week, the original owners of the Bipartisan Cafe sold the 18-year-old landmark shop to their former employee Josh Pangelinan. Hobie Bender and Peter Emerson opened the coffee house and pie spot at 7901 SE Stark Street on January 18th, 2005. The corner eatery helped launch the century-old downtown main street’s resurrection, defining Montavilla, and has served as the community’s living room for nearly two decades.” Read more: Change of Ownership at Bipartisan. 7901 SE Stark Street, Portland

Xin Ding Dumpling House has opened. Gary Okazaki, aka Gary the Foodie, posted a photo of cucumbers that really caught my eye, leading to the news about Xin Ding Dumpling House opening in downtown Portland. I love the hot and sour sliced cucumber dish, and soup dumplings are also some of my favorite dumplings. Gary recommends the shrimp and pork xiao long bao (they look legit to my former Queens-denizen eyes). They are open for lunch and dinner six days a week (closed Tuesdays), 11am to 2:30, then 4pm to 9pm. 71 SW 2nd Avenue, Portland

Sandwich Week starts June 5. First of all, Salad Week is on hiatus this June; the wedding + work just took too much out of me as far as time and brain space. It may return later this year or we will wait for next year. But as far as salads go, sandwiches are a nice accompaniment, and the Mercury is doing their Sandwich Week … exactly during the time we would have done Salad Week. Very interesting. Anyway, if you want an $8 sandwich at a variety of spots in Portland, check it out.

Steelport Knife event. This Saturday from 11am to 2pm, you can stop by the Steelport showroom and check out their knives, and get your current knives sharpened. Fresh Edge Sharpening, a mobile knife sharpening company run by Ryan Cheng, will be tending to your blades. And if you buy any knives, Steelport will offer a free carbon steel knife care kit with each purchase (a $45 value). Fresh Edge will sharpen one knife free when you redeem a gift certificate. So head there … after you stop in at the Rocky Butte Farmers Market that morning! 3602 NE Sandy Blvd, Suite B, Portland

Swan Island gets Tito’s Taquitos. But don’t worry—the truck at 3975 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy will remain. But what a win for Swan Island! It opened end of last week. Tito says, “Bonus: Lots of parking, just a short drive for most Portlanders, and the ability to make more tacos and taquitos for everyone including vast members of the workforce in the area. Beer coming soon to this location too! Sorry, no wine at either location.” 3449 N Anchor Street, Suite 200, Portland

Oma’s Hideaway expands service. Oma’s Hideaway is easily one of my favorite restaurants in Portland and it’s a great place to take out-of-town guests for dinner. And now they will serve lunch! 11am all the way to 9:30pm, every day. 3131 SE Division Street, Portland

Can Bar popup in Bar Vivant space. A Bridgetown Bites tipster alerted me to this place, and it looks like it’s a popup there. Their Instagram describes them as “Summertime patio party, FINE WINE, CHAMPAGNE, 50/50 MARTINIS, GIN TONIC, TINNED SEAFOOD & BAR SNACKS.” For now they are open Thursdays through Saturdays, 4pm to 10pm. 2225 E Burnside Street, Portland

Also on my radar for openings. Three places that caught my eye are Munchie Bar in Sellwood; Madda’s Jamaican Kitchen in the Alberta Arts District; and Darling Dear in Kerns. more on them later.