Portland food news and views
Portland! It’s where I live, work, and play. It’s where the food news happens (at least most of it). This category is one of the real constants on Bridgetown Bites and is probably a part of almost every post on this blog.
Chicken Nanban Rice from Tokyo Sando. Photo credit: Tokyo Sando
Self-billed as “The best Japanese sando in Portland,” the Tokyo Sando cart has really made a splash in Portland’s food scene. And now they are hosting a pop-up starting tomorrow, Wednesday, November 3 as Tokyo Rice, offering “Vol. 1”—Chicken Nanban Rice.
Continue reading “Get Chicken Nanban Rice at Tokyo Sando’s Pop-Up Tomorrow”It’s been one of those weeks—happily flooded with interesting client editing work (this time about forests), so the posting here was a bit light. Still, there was much to observe in Portland food news.
Bing Mi to open a dumpling and noodle bar. Have you been to Bing Mi? Their Jian Bing are seriously good. And they will be expanding their offerings with dumplings and noodles, as per their Instagram: “Bing Mi is gonna have a dumpling and noodle bar in NW near our food cart!” Looks like it will be in the old Industrial Cafe and Saloon space. They are pretty excited. 2572 NW Vaughn Street, Portland
Gartner’s Meats has turkeys for pre-order. No doubt there will be a number of places where you can order your turkey, but Gartner’s wins the first “turkey pre-order” announcement I’ve come across this year. Word on the street is that they are awesome and it’s a good idea to order early. They have both fresh and smoked turkeys available—call 503-252-7801 to order. 7450 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland
The Haunted Tales of Wyrd. Spooky things have gone on at Wyrd Leatherworks and Meadery in SE Portland. Read up on them here, and why not head on over for some mead made from locally-sourced honey. They have snacks, too. 4515 SE 41st Avenue, Portland
Full-service brunch is returning to Coquine. Named to the recent NY Times restaurant list, Coquine continues with its awesomeness by bringing back brunch, starting Friday, November 5. It will be a full-service indoor brunch but you’ll have to show proof of vaccination before interesting. Their latest newsletter also mentions “goose dinners coming soon,” so that’s intriguing. 6839 SE Belmont Street, Portland
Ddukbokki at Chimcking. Photo credit: Chimcking
I’ll admit it—I loved Squid Game. Sure, it’s bloody and violent but so was the original Total Recall, which I also loved. One of my favorite aspects of Squid Game is that it introduced me to a whole bunch of great Korean actors, and now I’m looking forward to watching some of them in the upcoming series on Netflix, The Silent Sea. Anyway, back to Squid Game—it certainly made an impression on a worldwide audience and I was happy to see at least two “hat tips” to the movie here in Portland.
Continue reading “Enjoy Squid Game Eats in Portland”Watch Dune (1984) at Bar Dune tonight. The new Dune movie (directed by Denis Villeneuve) opens at theaters today, but you can catch the David Lynch directed version from 1984 tonight at Bar Dune, where they’ll be looping it between 4pm and 2:30am. While you’re there, get a Melange cocktail and an order of their potato croquettes to snack on. 638 E Burnside Street, Portland
Rift Valley Market coming to east Portland. An OLCC liquor license application was filed back in May 2021 for Rift Valley Market in the Hazelwood neighborhood, and recent city documents indicate work on the space at 11966 NE Glisan: “NEW GROCERY STORE, REMOVE INTERIOR WALL, NEW WALLS FOR MEAT ROOM, SEATING AREA, AND SALES AREA.” My guess is that it will offer Ethiopian/Eritrean foods and groceries. 11966 NE Glisan, Portland
New special sandwich at Grand Central Bakery. I was thrilled to learn that Grand Central Bakery is offering a new special sandwich featuring an ingredient from one of my absolute favorite businesses, Iliamna Fish Company. They offer sockeye salmon shares in late summer/early autumn (plus smaller shares in early winter). I’ve spoken about them in the past and have been a happy customer of theirs for a decade. Anyway, the Bristol Bay Sandwich consists of “wild sockeye from Bristol Bay lightly smoked in house and paired with a crunchy fennel slaw and scallion-caper cream cheese on a toasted Seeded Baguette.” Yum, order here. Various locations
Goodbye Pizza Doughnais, hello Meta Pizza. In Portland’s Brooklyn neighborhood, Pizza Doughnais has closed, with a message on Instagram, “As with all journeys, they take unexpected turns, and for now our pizza journey has come to an end. But fret not, there are some exciting and delicious things coming in our wake very, very soon.” Said exciting and delicious things are wrapped up in Meta Pizza, which opens Tuesday, October 26. From their Instagram, they say, “Chef Anthony Cafiero’s hand-tossed thin-crust pizzas draw on Italian tradition and on the techniques and flavors of the family pizzerias of Brooklyn, NY, but they’re at home only in our own Brooklyn neighborhood in SE Portland.” They’ll offer round pies and square slices, takeout only for now. 3541 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland
Thanks to Randy Philbrick of Veloso’s Filipino Cuisine food cart in Montavilla, I’ve learned that it’s Filipino Eats Week next week! It’s a way to celebrate Filipino-owned restaurants and businesses in the PNW. I’ll focus on restaurants and other eateries here. Filipino Eats Week goes from Sunday, October 24 to Sunday, October 31. It’s organized and promoted by Portland’s Foundation for Philippine Progress.
Continue reading “It’s Filipino Eats Week in Portland Next Week”