Focus on Filipino Food With Filipino Food Oregon

Chicken adobo from Baon Kainan

From June 23 to July 1, 2023, Filipino food will be the focus in our state through Filipino Food Oregon, with notable events in Salem and Portland. In Salem, there’s the World Beat Festival in particular, and here in Portland head to the city’s great Filipino restaurants and food carts during Filipino Food Week. Filipino Food Oregon, a “culinary heritage celebration highlighting Filipino cuisine,” is hosted by Philippine Department of Tourism SF.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (June 9)

Some openings of note. Tonight, head to Bar Mame for their opening; The Heist will open tomorrow, June 10; and Arrosto re-opened this week with a new ordering system—the outdoor walk-up window is a thing of the past. As a bi fan of Arrosto (especially their salad), here’s some tips from them I found useful: order inside Providore at the self-service Arrosto kiosk; food is served from 4pm to 7pm; they’ll start out with a simple menu of favorites (though more options are coming); and the Arrosto chicken salad and sandwich can be had at the deli case if you want it for lunch. 3279 SE Hawthorne Blvd (Bar Mame), 4727 SE Woodstock Blvd (The Heist), and 2340 NE Sandy Blvd (Arrosto), Portland

Yelp’s top donuts in Portland. Four donut shops in the Portland area made it on to the Yelp Top 100 list of donut shops around the U.S.:

  • 15—Pip’s Original, 4759 NE Fremont Street, Portland (and in July, 12400 SW Broadway Street, Beaverton)
  • 73—Donut Day, 18955 SW Tualatin Valley Hwy, Aloha
  • 78—Doe Donuts, 4110 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
  • 94—Mikiko Mochi Donuts, 300 NE 28th Avenue, Portland

    2023 James Beard Awards winners. It was great to see Kann (which I recently ate at—the hype is real) and Berlu do well at the 2023 James Beard Awards. Kann won Best New Restaurant, and Vince Nguyen was named Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA). Congrats to both! 548 SE Ash Street (Kann) and 605 SE Belmont Street (Berlu), Portland

    Happy one year anniversary, Fresh Love! Yesterday, Fresh Love celebrated one year in business. This little Roseway spot has become a dependable, lovely place to get delicious food (salad, sandwiches, bowls, smoothies, fresh juices, a few baked goods); pick up some produce and locally made artisan products (edible and not); and see local art. I was in there yesterday and got their seasonal chopped salad, which gets a thumbs up from me. They also stock my favorite Honey Mama’s bar, Tangerine Tahini. I wish them many more years in business! 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland

    Four Things I Learned This Week (June 2)

    Update on The Heist. Back in February I told you about The Heist, a new food cart pod opening in the old US Bank location in Woodstock. It looks like they moved in the first set of carts this week and are aiming for a Saturday, June 10 opening. I hope they can make it, though sometimes things happen beyond one’s control. They are doing their best. Looking forward to checking it out! 4727 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland

    Expanded hours and more coming to Nico’s Cantina. This week Nico wrote about a bunch of changes coming to the Cantina, which all sound good but he is understandably feeling a mix of excitement and trepidation. Things to look forward to: open 7 days a week; “Mezcal Monday’s,” where every bottle of Mezcal behind the bar will be 50% off; and “Taco Tuesday,” where every taco will be $1 off. These changes should be in place by Monday, June 12. 4318 NE Cully Blvd, Portland

    Zuckercreme’s Strawberry Museum returns. In Montavilla, the adorable Zuckercreme is bringing back their Strawberry Museum again this year, starting tomorrow, June 3. It will last all summer. In fact, they anticipate having so much “strawberry content” (something I can get behind) that they started up the Museum’s own Instagram at @pdxstrawberrymuseum. Along with all the yums, Zuckercreme’s Brittany Sigal is looking to expand into fashion—strawberry fashion, that is, in a show on Sunday, June 25. Stop on by the shop for lots of strawberry fun. 414 SE 81st Avenue, Portland

    Chaat Wallah has new hours. Looks like Chaat Wallah has settled on some new hours for their cart in the Upright/Junior’s parking lot in Cully/Roseway: Monday to Friday 3pm to 9pm and Saturday and Sunday noon to 9pm. 7 days a week! Over on Facebook, Deepak Saxena said about the turnout, “we’ve been blown away by the support and it’s been way beyond what we expected.” All good news. 7157 NE Prescott Street, Portland