Portland food news and views
Bridgetown is a nickname for Portland because of all the bridges that span the Willamette River – 12 in all (of those, one is dedicated to rail and one prohibits private cars and trucks).
“Pardon our dust.”
I was down in the Hollywood District the other day and noticed a bunch of changes have come to the little shopping center at NE Hancock and 41st Avenue: Portland Pastimes closed; Teal Flamingo moved into that space; and Nectar Cafe is moving into the space Teal Flamingo previously occupied, conveniently right next door. Continue reading “Hollywood District’s Nectar Cafe Is Expanding”
It’s Friday, so it’s time for Four Things I Learned This Week!
Update on Rocky Butte Coffee Roasters. Remember that contest from Business Impact NW that Rocky Butte Coffee Roasters participated in? They did well—here’s a summary of what happened:
“The business competition you all graciously supported us in took us to Seattle for a final round including a live 6-minute pitch about how our business blesses our community and how we’re going to do that even more! The three of us all presented and answered questions from the judges. We came home to Portland with a giant $2,000 check in our pocket! (figuratively) We’ll put that money towards opening our first coffee shop.”
And now on Saturday, October 26, James and his protegé Lily Helms will be competing in the Cascadia Roaster’s Competition at Buckman Coffee Factory.
Congratulations, Pix! Portland’s own Pix Pâtisserie won the award for Best Champagne & Sparkling Wine List (the winner for the sixth year in a row) in the World’s Best Wine List Awards 2019.
The future of Kitchen Share SE. You’ve heard of book libraries, tool libraries, and now there’s the kitchen tool library. Located at 2800 SE Harrison Street, it’s “a library for kitchen, dining and entertaining tools. You can borrow appliances, gadgets, pots, pans, and prep tools for free. Try out a tool before buying, or just borrow when needed.” They’re having an event on Sunday, October 20 fro 3:30-4:30pm to talk about the future of the library and how to sustain it as a visitor, volunteer, or donor. Cider donuts will be involved.
Culture + Food festivals resource. After seeing so much PR cross my desk for various festivals and events produced by the broad number of cultural communities here in Portland, I wanted to put the info in an easy to reference list, which you can find here: Portland Area Cultural + Food Festivals. It’s a Page, not a Post (in WordPress speak), so the URL won’t change from year to year. I will continue to update it, as well as publish an archive of the year prior when the new year starts. If I’m missing any events you think I should include, just shoot me an email.
A clever take on “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 10th Annual Portland Fermentation Festival AKA Stinkfest. Sure, it was aromatic in there (Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center) but not offensively so (at least to my nose). The event started a little after 6pm with a keynote speech by David Zilber of the Noma Fermentation Lab. It was a really inspiring talk and got me fired up again about fermentation (I used to do it a lot). I think his assertion that humans would not have survived, thrived, and progressed as a species without fermentation is spot on. I ended up purchasing his book, The Noma Guide to Fermentation and look forward to spending time fermenting various foods over the next year. Note: I’m pretty much a mediocre fermenter right now but this book will no doubt make me a better one.
Continue reading “A Look Back at the 10th Annual Portland Fermentation Festival”
Photo credit: WokShop Kitchen
Soon after I moved to the Sumner neighborhood I was driving along 82nd Avenue and came across WokShop Kitchen near NE Tillamook. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, to be honest, and the Plaid Pantry next door is undeniably sketch, but this place is worth your time if you are a fan of American-style Asian food.
I’ve had Chinese American food here that totally nails the classic flavors of this cuisine. Recently I had a plate of Kung Pow Chicken that tasted exactly how I think American-style Chinese food should taste, complete with those little baby corns. I also love their General Tso’s Chicken, which is generously covered in a healthy amount of tangy, slightly sweet brown sauce with a little heat. But what I love most there are the salad rolls. Continue reading “Love for WokShop Kitchen’s Salad Rolls”
Welcome to this edition of Four Things I Learned This Week!
New yums at Muji. Oyatsupan, Beaverton’s celebrated Japanese bakery, announced that they have a presence at Muji in downtown Portland: “Guess what?! We’ve starting selling a small amount of our pastries inside the café of #mujiportland! Come see how cute their store is, and stay tuned for more exciting things coming…”
Little Bird flies away. The popular bistro Little Bird will close; Sunday, October 27 is its final day of service. I’ve had some good food there—including some delicious dumplings during Dumpling Week. It’s a lovely spot and I will miss it.
Captain Obvious is writing for WalletHub. No surprise to us that Portland is a top “foodie-friendly” town. Here are some stats (1=Best; 91=Avg):
Progress with Collective Oregon Eateries. The 82nd Ave. Business Association posted a photo on Instagram with this caption: “This development is picking up steam. Nice to see progress on the future food hall and cart pod!” The Farm House Restaurant is gone and the new structure is on its way to completion. Willamette Week reported back in 2017 that CORE food hall “will draw from cuisines across the spectrum. In addition to at least nine indoor mini-restaurants in the an 8,500-square-foot space—a bit similar to the Pine Street Market—the parking lot will house 15 or so outdoor food carts, a covered patio and parking for both bikes and cars.” The location is SE 82nd Ave and SE Lafayette.
