Kobe + Portland Yakisoba Project: Year Three

Kobe + Portland Yakisoba Project’s Umi Kobe Combo grid/map for year three. Illustration by Jillian Barthold. Image credit: Umi Organics

I want to tell you about the Kobe + Portland Yakisoba Project, now in its third year. So what is it? A two-week festival of sorts, celebrating “cross-Pacific collaborations around food” that both Kobe, Japan and Portland, Oregon share. And it means a lot of tasty times for us all.

Continue reading “Kobe + Portland Yakisoba Project: Year Three”

Galette des Rois in Portland

Photo credit: La Provence/Petite Provence

It’s almost Epiphany (January 6 on the Gregorian calendar), and that means king cake time … but more specifically for the purposes of this post, Galette des Rois time. Yes, “galette des rois” means “king cake” too, but this is different from the yeasted, multicolored cake made popular in New Orleans, as well as the Rosca de Reyes cake popular in Mexican culture—this cake is far simpler, and delicious in its own way. And La Provence/Petite Provence is where you can find it in Portland this year.

Continue reading “Galette des Rois in Portland”

Beaverton Restaurant Week is Back!

beaverton-restaurant-week-2019

I’m so pleased that Beaverton Restaurant Week is back!  Produced by the Beaverton Downtown Association and the City of Beaverton, it starts tomorrow, Thursday, September 26 and lasts through Sunday, October 6, 2019. Close to a week and a half, but who’s counting? 44 restaurants around downtown Beaverton are participating, which means the ability to get to these places via transit is even easier than in past years.

Continue reading “Beaverton Restaurant Week is Back!”

Four Things I Learned This Week (September 6)

We’re back with four new-to-me things I learned this week in the world of Portland food (week ending Friday, September 6, 2019).

Third time’s a sad charm. This week we got the bad news that Smallwares will close; her Zipper Building spot, Wares, was put on the market this past summer. And, of course, the original Smallwares—which I first became aware of all the way in NYC back in 2016 when I was the editor of Northeast Neighbors magazine—on NE Fremont has been gone for a few years. Johanna Wares has made some seriously tasty “inauthentic Asian” food, and her work will be missed. You have until Saturday, September 28 to eat at Smallwares, and then it will be gone, gone, gone.

More than a michelada. Portland gets a new bar that sells craft beer and hot sauce, Alefire.

Beaverton’s best for food. Thrillist claims Beaverton as one of “the country’s best suburbs for people who love food.” Highlighted eateries are Duh Kuh Bee for noodles, dumplings and kbbq; Yuzu for izakaya; Oyatsupan Bakers for Japanese baked goods; Decarli for Italian food; Best Baguette for banh mi; and Beaverton Sub Station for… well… subs.

Portland Mercado suffers jagoff behavior. We got the bad news this week that someone broke the front door at the Portland Mercado—and so close to their biggest event of the year, Taste of Latinoamérica – Sabor de Latinoamérica, this Saturday, September 7, from noon to 7pm. Property damage sucks.