Category: Portland

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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.

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Oysters Galore at the Third Annual Shuck Portland

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Photo credit: Shuck Portland

I was recently reminded that Shuck Portland is almost upon us! It starts Saturday, February 1 and continues for a week beyond that, from Sunday, February 2 to Saturday, February 8—classes, dinners and more. Here are some of the things you can look forward to.

Kickoff Party and a Dinner

Portland in a Half-Shell. Saturday, February 1, 6-10pm.
This festival kickoff event is an oyster party featuring  thousands of the best oysters sourced from over a dozen oyster farms. You’ll eat—oysters and a non-oyster food buffet, courtesy of The Nightwood—and drink—scotch, cocktails, and local beer—to the sounds of DJ Maxx Bass. There will be oysters for sale, too. Tickets are $25 and include six oysters of your choice, one welcome drink, and light food buffet. Buy tickets here (first clickable event module). Redd On Salmon, 831 SE Salmon Street, Portland Continue reading “Oysters Galore at the Third Annual Shuck Portland”

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The Nordic Home Is Closing

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Photo credit: The Nordic Home

We were very sorry to read the news of The Nordic Home closing. They are a sweet little shop tucked into a corner space in the 42nd Street Station shopping center on 42nd Avenue in the Hollywood District. It was a nice place to get Swedish candy and other tasty foods and products originating in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland). Continue reading “The Nordic Home Is Closing”

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Get Bagels, Help Australia

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Image credit: Ben & Esther’s Bagels

Over the weekend I spied a campaign from Ben & Esther’s Bagels in service of supporting those fighting the terrifying Australian brushfires. Bottom line: spend money at Ben & Esther’s this Tuesday, January 7, and all of it (not just profit but ALL of it) will go to support the Australian Red Cross. More from Ben & Esther’s on Facebook:

Continue reading “Get Bagels, Help Australia”
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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.

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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.