Portland food news and views
News, analysis, and current topics in the world of food.
Over the weekend the news came out—two new food carts have joined the Upright Brewing/Junior’s Coffee location. Niños Birrieria arrived last last week and Pine State Biscuits opened Saturday.
Continue reading “Pine State Biscuits and Niños Birrieria Food Carts Join Upright/Juinor’s on NE Prescott”New mural at Denizens Cafe. Artist Alex Chiu painted a mural on the eastern wall at Denizens Cafe and it looks great! You may remember him from our article on Mill Park Stories, the Instagram he started to highlight community in that little corner of SE PDX. He has moved on to another Instagram account, Art by Alex Chiu, where he featured his work at Denizens.
His concept here, “was to highlight some landmarks of the neighborhood’s past and also create a warm and welcoming atmosphere inside of the space,” He continues, “I’ve included some photo reference that I used to create some of the images in the mural including old pictures from George’s Grocery Store and the Roseway Theater. I painted a house inspired by the cute homes in the neighborhood. I painted food from Denizens Cafe’s menu and a mug of coffee from Rocky Butte Roasters, run by the same owners. Mt. Hood is in there as well!” Check it out, for sure, and pick up something tasty while you’re at it. 6912 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Chocotaco returns today. Head to Salt & Straw today, Friday 2/9 at 1pm, for the return of the chocotaco. And if you miss that, don’t miss this month’s special flavors, five of them in “The Chocolatiers Series.” I stopped by earlier this week and had a chance to try three of them: Fran’s Chocolate Almond Gold Bar, Cloudforest’s Cocoa Hazelnut Magic Sauce, and Compartés Cake Batter Chocolate Fudge. They were all very good, but I think the Almond Gold Bar was my favorite, thanks to the caramely bits. But I’d eat them all again. Various locations
Don’t miss Citrus Fest this weekend. Rubinette Produce and the rest of the folks at Providore are celebrating 8 years together in a market-wide party and citrus festival. The centerpiece of the event will be the Celebration Trifle: Panettone and layers of whipped cream and Seville + blood orange, served at noon. You’ll also be able to sample specialty citrus varieties, fresh squeezed juice, a lemon and olive oil tart from Pastaworks, kumquat tea cake from Little T Bakery, and other citrus-centric items throughout the market. 2340 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Lan Su Chinese Garden’s tea house has reopened. They reopened the teahouse on February 7—this is good news, as the teahouse at Lan Su is one of the highlights of spending time there (access comes with garden admission). Lunar New Year starts tomorrow, and the Chinese Garden is the place to be. At the teahouse you can choose from over 20 Chinese and Taiwanese-style teas; along with that, they are offering a tea service (three kinds); traditional dishes, snacks, and pastries; and beer and wine. Note that during Dragon + Lantern Viewing evenings, they “will offer an abbreviated menu of teas and tea service to accommodate as many visitors as possible during this busy time.” Also, they are going to give the teahouse a new name—stay tuned for that. 239 NW Everett Street, Portland
The Roll Up, where the action happens. Photo credit: Colours PDX
While I was over at Colours PDX, an art gallery participating in the Portland Winter Light Festival, I learned that Honey Latte Cafe is opening a new location in the shared space also hosting the gallery, The Roll Up. One of the things that will set them apart from many others is that they want to offer coffee later into the evening—something that is not as common in Portland (we have a thriving daytime cafe scene).
Continue reading “Honey Latte Cafe Opening Second Location in The Roll Up”
Photo credits: Tokyo Sando and Bing Mi
A while back I wrote about the arrival of the Midtown Beer Garden in the “midtown” section of downtown Portland. I also wrote about Tokyo Sando closing, with the uncertainty of a return to Portland. And Bing Mi has gone through some changes, opening a brick & mortar spot in NW Portland, with the future of the original cart in unknown territory, too. Well, the good news is that they are returning to downtown Portland!
Continue reading “Tokyo Sando Returns! Bing Mi, Too! Both at the Midtown Beer Garden”Happy Groundhog Day! Good news: Stumptown Fil predicts an early spring. And have you had your pancakes and/or sausages yet? (I had both this morning at Cameo Cafe.)
The 10th Annual Dumpling Week starts Sunday. From Sunday, February 4 to Saturday, February 10, Portland celebrates dumplings. I’ve written about this yearly food event since the start of this blog, and it remains one of my favorites in any given year. There’s a nice variety this year, too: from the classic wontons in chili oil from Bamboo House (4005 SE Hawthorne Blvd), to the Buffalo chicken pelmeni with blue cheese smetana and celery at Kachka (960 SE 11th Avenue), to Gruyere and potato perogi with caraway kraut, chive crème fraiche, and beet horseradish at Mayrose Restaurant (545 SW Taylor Avenue). There’s even a dumpling for dogs at Bring! Treats for Dogs: “For participating canines, our signature treat dough folded into a purse shape and filled with apple and carrot puree.” Various locations.
You know what to eat on Fat Tuesday. Here’s what to eat on Fat Thursday. King Cakes are a well known Mardi Gras season delight, but in Poland they celebrate “Fat Thursday” (Tłusty Czwartek aka Greasy Thursday), the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, which is when Lent begins. You can partake by eating Pączki (a kind of filled donut) and Faworki (Angel wings), and one place to get them is at Grandpa’s Cafe in North Portland. They will be baking them there. Pickup is Saturday, February 3 from 1pm to 4pm and Sunday, February 4 from 10am to 2pm; they do not deliver. 3832 N Intersate Avenue, Portland
Sumner’s Namaste Indian Buffet gets some love. Portland’s own Korean Mama recently visited the Namaste Indian food buffet and it was fun to see this spot get some attention. I love stopping in from time to time for an AYCE kind of affair and the clientele is very diverse, though its the love of Indian food brings us all together. Regarding her appreciation for the mango soft serve, I am a kheer kinda gal, though now I’m wondering … what would it be like to put a little mango soft serve in my kheer! Bonus: Korean Mama also had a meal at nearby Gebeta. When asked by her son how she liked Ethiopian food, she said, “it’s fun!” 7620 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland
The Cha Sui Croissant returns. This special item for the Lunar New Year has arrived at Twisted Croissant and it sounds super tasty: “3 day marinated Cantonese style BBQ pork is filled in our traditional croissant dough, topped with sesame seeds and oil fried scallions.” And while Lunar New Year is on February 10 (later than last year, which was on January 22), you can get it at all their locations and markets throughout the month of February. Various locations
