Category: Four Things

four

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.

Posted on

Four Things I Learned This Week (January 31)

Welcome to the end of what has seemed like a very long January. Here are the four things I learned this week in world of Portland food.

Beewing reopens tomorrow (Feb 1). After many months, Beeswing will reopen in their new space in Sellwood. I won’t deny it—I was really hoping they’d stay in Cully, but I’m sure there’s a “rest of the story” as to what went into them relocating so far away. I’m a Kickstarter backer, so I look forward to cashing in on my pledge for brunch. Observations TK. Here’s their latest update:

To all of our lovely backers,
Thank you so much for your generosity in supporting the reopening of Beeswing! We have finished our build-out and are excited to be ready to serve you again. We are so humbled by the support we have received, we cannot begin to express the gratitude and excitement we feel right now! We will be reopening on FEBRUARY 1st in Sellwood when you come in to eat make sure to say hello, you are all a part of the Beeswing family now!

Pearl Bakery will reopen, too. Good news about this beloved Portland bakery. In a comment on their Instagram they said this, “Pearl Bakery is undergoing reorganization…” You can sign up on their website to get updated on their impending reopening.

Ezell’s Famous Chicken is coming to Tigard. Apparently it’s Oprah’s favorite. It will open on Tuesday, February 4 near the Washington Square Mall, 10218 SW Washington Square Road in Tigard.

Sicilian food is coming to Montavilla. New Sicilian deli Sebastiano’s is opening in the old Heartbreaker Neighborhood Kitchen space (411 SE 81st Avenue). The Sicilian pizza they will offer will no doubt be worth checking out, but I’m excited about the possibility of cassata, a traditional Sicilian cake that involves sponge cake, sweetened ricotta, marzipan, and candied fruit. I may be eschewing added sugars these days but I’ll take a break from that to try this wonderful traditional sweet that I miss so much.

Posted on

Four Things I Learned This Week (January 17)

Well, it was a busy, intense week filled with interesting work and home improvements, leaving the blog a little dry this week. But I’ve got you my Friday list of four things I learned this week in Portland food. Good stuff, no lie.

BYOM(ilk) at Movie Madness. Light on the food news but heavy on the awesomeness, I’ve learned that Movie Madness is showing Saturday morning cartoons: “You’re never too old for cartoons! Indulge your inner child with beloved classics from the 60s through the 90s. Any 5th Saturday of the month will be a special movie edition. Cereal selection available at concessions. B.Y.O.M.”

Ben & Esther’s expands. For a “side gig” it’s pretty successful (Twitter was a side gig once, too)—Roseway’s favorite bagel spot is expanding up to St John’s. Boy are they in for a treat. P.S. They have some pretty good looking gefilte fish, too.

“Follow the white rabbit.” More than simply a Matrix quote, Montavilla’s Hungry Heart bakery is launching a new project called White Rabbit. It will open up in the old Townsend’s space (RIP). More from their Instagram account:

“White Rabbit will be a café and bakery featuring a daily breakfast/brunch/lunch menu alongside the coffee & pastries you know and love, as well as expanded bread offerings. We’re hard at work on the menu; the new, much larger kitchen gives us a lot more room to play, so while you can expect to see some familiar items from both Heartbreaker and Hungry Heart, we’re also excited to be dreaming up your new favorite brunch dish. Our projected opening date is mid-spring, and we promise to keep you posted!”

Burmese noodles coming soon in NW. Very exciting news about more Burmese food coming to town. It’s a cuisine that we could all use more of; when I lived in Queens it was challenging to find. Kyay Oh is the name of the new restaurant, named after the Burmese noodle dish. You’ll find them at 833 NW 16th Ave, the location of Top Burmese’s original space. Read more in PoMo’s interview with the owners. Check them out on Thursday, January 23.

Posted on

Four Things I Learned This Week (January 10)

No big introduction, let’s just get to the news!

Bing Mi has new digs. One of my favorite food trucks in Portland is the Bing Mi truck—they make the delicious Chinese jianbing street snack. It’s all things savory, spicy, sweet, and eggy. I love them. This week I learned that they have found a new location, since they were part of the group of trucks in the Alder Street pod forced out because of the impending Ritz Carlton hotel development. Details on their move:

“Good news friends: We signed the lease to move our food cart into @nobhillfoodcarts_pdx pod. Yep, Bing Mi is moving to Nob Hill Food Cart pod which is located at NW 23rd Place and Thurman St hopefully open late January or early February 2020. After struggling for a long time since our cart at 10th&Alder closed, we’re excited that we will be reopening our food cart in the NW. We can’t wait to make more delicious jianbings and potentially some other authentic Chinese street foods. We’ll update again once we’re sure about the opening date.”

Delish knish news. Ben & Esther’s Bagels keeps adding the hits to their menu—this time it’s knishes! Cheese and potato right now, with kasha (buckwheat) to come. That is a real-deal Jewish deli delight. They look fantastic from what I can tell. Also treat yourself to one of their black & white cookies while you’re there.

The churros are returning… the churros are returning!! Portland Monthly shared the news that Jose Chesa is bringing back a scaled-down version of 180 Xurros and Xocalata inside the lobby of the impending Hyatt Centric hotel at SW Alder and 11th, likely in February. More details:

“The new iteration of 180 Xurros and Xocalata will serve grab-and-go Spanish flauta sandwiches, smoky pimenton lattes, and hot xurros to order at its long tile and stone counter. It will stand as a super casual companion piece to the Chesa’s next project, Masia (pronounced “mah-seeya”), the hotel’s anchor restaurant (read our October 2019 news story here). Those xurros will make an appearance at Masia, too, during the rustic-refined Spanish breakfast and brunch.”

New businesses at Providore. I love this market with its fun selection of high-quality products and the excellent Arrosto connected on the side of the building. Good Stuff NW shared news of some new businesses coming to the market, including Revel Meat, a new venture by Old Salt’s Ben Meyer and James Serlin; and Kenny Belov’s Two X Sea (Two By Sea), which will set up in the space vacated by Flying Fish Company. Sounds like two fantastic additions to an already excellent market.

Posted on

Four Things I Learned This Week (January 3)

Happy New Year, everyone! I took much of the holidays off from the blog, and am glad to be back. I hope everyone had a good time during the holidays. I don’t know about you, but the fact that Christmas and New Years both fell on a Wednesday caused time to feel a little wonky, so there’s a chance I heard some of these things last week, too. So it goes.

Year End Roundups, Roundups, Roundups. The Oregonian put together a several restaurant roundups—one for 2019 and one for the decade, painful restaurant closures, and new dishes for 2019. Karen Brooks at PoMo tells us about “the year’s best dishes you never heard of.” 2019’s Best Bites from the Merc. Best food neighborhoods from Eater. No doubt there will be people who disagree with these compiled articles.

Doe Donuts is Open! Yes, they are finally open in their new space by the Hollywood Theatre. Plus they have softserve and scooped ice cream in addition to their vegan donuts.

New Seasons’ Central Kitchen closed… just temporarily? What a mess. Workers showed up to find out they couldn’t clock in. Then they were told it was only temporary. From my vantage point, there was a lot of back tracking from management. I hope things improve for the folks who need it.

Closings: Bar Avignon and Russell Street BBQ felt abrupt and we will miss them.

Posted on

Four Things I Learned This Week (December 20)

Back on track and here with the news—here’s four things I learned this week.

Portland, Prince of Barbecue. Texas Monthly magazine proclaims it: Portland has the best Texas Barbecue scene outside of Texas. That’s pretty high praise. The article gives shout outs to Holy Trinity Barbecue, Matt’s BBQ, Podnah’s Pit Barbecue, Bark City BBQ, Botto’s BBQ, and Bullard.

The Rock scoops Portland. This week we learned that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has purchased a stake in Salt & Straw, and has put together a couple new flavors for the holiday season “based on Johnson’s “Dwanta Claus” character.” Here are the descriptions from Salt & Straw:

I Saw Mommy Kissing Dwanta Claus: We upgraded the classic kiss cookie with peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough and a milk chocolate caramel fudge swirl. Then we brought the naughty with rich whiskey ice cream.

The Rock’n Around the Christmas Tree: We hid one of Dwanta’s favorite “cheat day” gifts under the tree—gooey brownies made extra indulgent with buttery frosting. Pacific Northwest spruce ice cream gets decorated with raspberry jam and glacé cherries, just like you’d find in fruitcake.

Peppermint Cocoa, Cinnamon Chai Spiced Eggnog (v), and Chocolate Gooey Brownie round out the holiday flavors this year.

Guide to Fish & Chips on the coast. Not really about Portland, but awesome just the same if you like fish & chips as much as I do (Bennett’s Fish Shack in WA is my overall fave in the PNW region), this is an exciting map of 14 fish & chips spots on the Oregon Coast from Jennifer Burns Bright. I know what I’ll be doing on the coast when I’m out there.

Masía’s Instagram woke up. New Spanish restaurant from Jose Chesa, Masía, published their first post on Instagram yesterday.

“Hello, friends! We’re building and testing and cooking and getting ready to open very soon! In Spain a Masía is a rural home away from home, and we’re building our space in downtown Portland in that spirit: your Spanish home away from home here in Portland. A cozy and welcoming place to escape and enjoy all the very best flavors of Catalan cuisine with family and friends. Stay tuned!”

They’ll open on the ground floor of the upcoming Hyatt Centric hotel on SW Adler and 11th, hopefully in January 2020.