Category: Four Things

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Four Things I Learned This Week is a regular column published on Fridays, featuring four short entries of brief tidbits on Portland‘s food scene.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (May 27)

Mocktails at Zinc. This week I had dinner at Zinc Bistro & Bar in Multnomah Village and was happy to see that they have three zero-proof cocktails on the menu. I chose the one that was particularly summery sounding, with flavors of cucumber, basil, and mint. Sparkly and very refreshing. 7800 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland

Get your birthday ice cream at Nico’s. Similar to the way Pip’s Original does it, you can stop by Nico’s and get a free ice cream on your birthday or seven days after. This is particularly great for us summer birthday kids! 5713 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Best butcher shops in Portland. PoMo has a great roundup of quality butcher shops around town where you can get your favorite meats for your Memorial Day cookout, or really any time of the year. I’m particularly glad to see Gartner’s in Cully on there, but all the selections are great. Definitely check it out. Various locations

Somebody Feed Phil in Portland. Thanks to The O, I learned that one of the episodes in Season 5 of Somebody Feed Phil takes place in Portland! Actually, now that I think about it, I may have heard Bill Oakley talk about it a while back. Anyway, The Oregonian article has good details—places Phil visited include Fried Egg I’m In Love, Matt’s BBQ, DesiPDX (these three he visited with Michael Russell, The Oregonian’s restaurant critic), Kachka, Han Oak, Ruthie’s food cart, Tov Coffee, and Doe Donuts. Bill Oakley also took Phil to Portland Caphe. It looks like a great episode.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (May 20)

Nico’s Ice Cream celebrates one year in the biz. In honor of Nico’s Ice Cream’s first anniversary, they have collaborated with the amazing Jinju Patisserie (home of one of the best croissants in town, among other delectable items) for a limited-edition (only 150 half-pints produced) flavor: The Brookie. It’s a combo of the brownies, cookies, and vanilla ice cream—and it’s only available this Saturday, May 21 at Nico’s.

Additionally, there will be a party on the 21st! Along with the special half-pint, the first 50 people get free ice cream. Tita’s Kitchen will be making enchiladas, and there will be a merch sale. Sounds like a great way to spend what will likely be a pretty bitchin’ day of sun and warmth in Portland. 5713 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Homemade Lao sausages at Mekong Bistro. Mekong Bistro, Portland’s only (to my knowledge) Cambodian restaurant, has made their famous homemade Lao sausages available for purchase. For a limited time, get packs for five links (frozen) for ten bucks. Pick up at Mekong Bistro. Pro tip: prices will increase in June (inventory cost issues) so get them sooner than later. 8200 NE Siskiyou Street, Portland

Thai Me Drunken Noodle joins Growler’s Taproom. Montavilla News reports that Thai Me Drunken Noodle cart—which has operated in that corner space/pod at NE 28th and Glisan for the past six months—will open a food cart connected to Growler’s Taproom. Erica’s Soul Food was at that location most recently. Thai Me Drunken Noodle’s specialty is “Laotian-style fried chicken served over sticky rice with a sauce made from a family recipe” and other northern Thailand and Laos cuisine. The cart will act as an extension of the taproom: “It’s more of a brick and mortar kind of feel, but we are adjusting it where the kitchen is in the cart,” says Joe Rodgers, who owns Growler’s. Read the Montavilla News article for lots more info. 803 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland

Food businesses grow in East Multnomah County. Head over to the Oregonian for the news about all the new food businesses that have opened in East county. Fairview Food Plaza, Troutdale Station, Rockwood Market Hall—it’s all good news for folks out east. Plus that giant fork is still there, still rad.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (May 13)

CityMaxx indeed filed for bankruptcy. I had heard over the months that one of my favorite stores, CityMaxx, had closed, but I didn’t realize they had filed for bankruptcy. Back in February, the Portland Business Journal reported this: “City Maxx LLC filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Feb. 11, 2022, in the District of Oregon. The debtor listed an address of 3552 SE 122nd Ave., Portland, and is represented in court by attorney Ted A. Troutman. City Maxx LLC listed assets ranging from $100,001 to $500,000 and debts ranging from $1,000,001 to $10,000,000. The filing did not identify a largest creditor.” It’s really too bad—city employees said there were not plans to move to another area to open. There are other places, but CityMax was bright, welcoming, and filled with delicious things. RIP CityMaxx. 3552 SE 122nd Avenue, Portland

Tito’s Taquitos is back! H/T Bill Oakley for this news—one of the highest-regarded food carts in the area is back, and reopened yesterday, May 12. They are in Beaverton these days, offering up their same delicious eats. Look for them in the “76 Station lot.” Check out their menu, here. 3975 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton

Chokladbollar in Portland. When I lived in NYC, I loved stopping by the nearby FIKA (on Park Ave South, now closed along with the other FIKAs in the city) especially during the “3pm slump.” One of the things they offered, among their excellent taste treats, were chokladbollars. So imagine my delight when I saw that Flour Market is making them! They are a wonderful mix of sweet chocolate, oats, and coffee, rolled up and coated in coconut. Absolutely delicious. 5507 NE 30th Avenue, Portland

The Sudra closes their Pearl location. Sad news from The Sudra: “Unfortunately we have made the difficult decision to close our Pearl District location. Staffing issues, lack of business, and sickness has made it overwhelmingly difficult to keep this location open.” Rough, but I hope it relieves some of the stress of the folks behind the restaurant. 100 NW 10th Avenue, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (May 6)

Plants, vegan baked goods, and cats. Tomorrow, Saturday, May 7, is the House of Dreams’ 2022 Spring Plant Sale and Vegan Bake Sale. From 10am to 3pm, head out to get some indoor and outdoor plants, baked vegan yums (held as part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale), an good feelings knowing you are supporting a sale where all proceeds go to care for cats at the House of Dreams shelter. More details on Facebook. Should be a great event! 7634 SE Morrison Street, Portland

Kann update. Gregory Gourdet’s new restaurant, Kann, featuring Hatian food, will open this summer. PoMo has the details: “Kann will open mid-July at 548 SE Ash St, with 80 seats and an eight-foot hearth at the center of a wide-open kitchen that will occupy nearly half of the space.” Read more about it on the Portland Monthly website. 548 SE Ash Street, Portland

Current favorite dry drink. I made it over to Gabbiano’s recently and had their sparkly lemonade with an oregano syrup and a little salt. I loved it so much, I had two of them. Great fresh flavor and the oregano syrup adds something special. Truly delicious. 5411 NE 30th Avenue, Portland.

Daily Fuel opens brick & mortar restaurant. On their Instagram this week they announced their new restaurant: “We officially have the keys & finalized all legal paperwork today. We’ll be working on getting the restaurant ready for open in June for y’all!” They’ve had a cart at the Hawthorne Asylum pod, offering “healthy vegan comfort food” for a while; it will be fun to see what they do with the restaurant. Big congrats to them! 3342 SE Belmont Street, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (April 29)

Update on Upright Brewing. I reached out to Alex Ganum, owner and head brewer at Upright Brewing, to get an update on the Cully location. He says there have been challenges with the speed of city permits, but they are still on target to open. The exact date, though, is unclear, but they are working as fast as they can within the city’s permitting constraints, and would love to be done as soon as possible. They’re committed to Cully. And as Alex says, “We’re all looking forward to having a nice little neighborhood spot!” 7151 NE Prescott Street, Portland

Montavilla Food Co-op + Montavilla Farmers Market. Great news from the Montavilla Food Co-op: “The Montavilla Food Co-op has partnered with the Montavilla Farmer’s Market. We’ll be appearing at the market each week over the summer season to bring staples and other foods starting on May 8th, 2022. We’ll also be there on May 1st, 202 raffling off some sweet MFC swag and tasty treats from the store. If you’d like to enter the raffle, come on down to the market and say hello! We’re looking forward to seeing you all soon!” 7700 SE Stark Street, Portland

Feast Portland’s live events are cancelled. Big news from Feast about their live events, which are no more for 2022: “With all the challenges the hospitality industry is still facing, we want to be mindful of what we can do as a community to be more helpful and impactful and return at a time when we’re all ready to celebrate again.” Feast is not dissolving, though, and the hope is that they will return for live interactions in 2023.

James Beard Awards finalists include Portlanders. Check out who made it to the finals!

  • Outstanding Restauranteur: Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom, Langbaan, Hat Yai, Eem, and others
  • Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA): Carlo Lamagna, Magna Kusina; and Thomas Pisha-Duffly, Oma’s Hideaway

Congrats to these finalists—they are well-earned recognitions. According to the James Beard Foundation website, “Winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 13, 2022, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.”