Portland food news and views
Malka’s Bellflower Salad. Photo credit: Mike Novak via Portland Monthly
The sad news of Malka closing hit my inbox this morning. This special place was much beloved by Portlanders and their absence will be a hard one, but will provide fond memories for years to come. Their service will be Sunday, February 26.
Continue reading “Malka Is Closing”Preorders from Shop Halo Halo for Lunar New Year are open. Lunar New Year is right around the corner (January 22) and among all the holiday offerings that are showing up, consider the Filipino treats from Shop Halo Halo for your celebration. Mooncakes and variety boxes are available. Orders will be accepted by 5pm, Sunday, January 15 (or when items are sold out).
The variety box includes two of each: taro buns, ube mochi (GF), back sesame mooncakes or two ube mooncakes (vegan), matcha sugar cookies (vegan), lavender calamansi shortbread (vegan). They’ll be setting up a pick-up station at their shop where you can pick-up your pre-orders on your choice of Saturday, January 21 between 10am and 2pm or Sunday, January 22 between 10am and 2pm. Preorder here. 4981 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland
Cooking With Whey book launch party. Claudia Lucero of Portland’s Urban Cheesecraft is celebrating the launch of her newest book, “Cooking With Whey.” It will take place on Thursday, January 19, from 6pm-8pm at Vivienne Culinary Bookstore in the Hollywood District. Your $20 ticket includes the panel discussion and a signed book. Claudia will also make the book’s whey cornbread for you. Get your tickets here. 4128 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
A la carte dining returns to Coquine. After weeks of abiding by a prix fixe menu at Coquine, they are now “offering a more casual option for full service dining titled, ‘A la Carte Coquine’.” It started up this past Wednesday and the hours will be 5pm to 8:30pm
Wednesdays through Saturdays. Here’s what you can expect:
“Featuring a menu of new and classic Coquine dishes, offered with full service dining in the restaurant. Cocktails, beer, zero-proof, options will all be available along with wine by the glass and by the bottle from our list of 450+ selections.”
Reservations are recommended, but if you’re lucky you could get a walk-in space (but really, reservation is best). You can reserve a table via Tock. 6839 SE Belmont Street, Portland
Challenges at Cloudforest. Over on their Instagram it sounds like they are meeting unexpected challenges in 2023: “We ran into a roadblock forcing us to pause our popular hot chocolate, marshmallow, and espresso service. The retail shop will continue to be open Friday-Sunday from 12-5pm offering chocolate bars, pantry items, confections, self-serve Ecuadorian brewed coffee, self-serve silky vegan Ecuadorian drinking chocolate, Ecuadorian vanilla, and packaged cookies. Our apologies for the inconvenience.”
Please consider stopping by and picking something up—their Magic Spread is one of my favorite things I put in my mouth, and their packaged bars are some of the best in Portland. Supporting them with sales helps support them. Their neighbors Mattino’s will also be open and offering tasty sustenance. I wish Cloudforest all the best as they navigate these current choppy seas. 935 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland
Yesterday I wrote about Toshi Yokoo’s new spot, Yokohama Skyline Eatery, and it looks like his wife has a new project as well—Churn Cafe over on N Mississippi. Suratda Yokoo, who also runs the Oh My Crepe cart in Beaverton, seems to be behind this new business.
I ran across Churn Cafe’s Instagram while research Yokohama Skyline Eatery. At this point they describe it as a “Cafe and Crêperie in the Mississippi neighborhood.” Linda Sengouthai, who is also involved with Oh My Crepe, is also part of the Churn Cafe project.
The cafe will be located at 3928 N Mississippi Avenue, in a pretty hip stretch of that street. The space was host to a variety of places over the years, including Yara Lebanese Cuisine, South x Northwest, and No Bones Beach Club.
I do not know the opening plans (yet) but I’ll keep an eye on it ,and pass on anything I come across related to Churn Cafe.
Photo credit: summer Blr via Google
An eagle eye’d Bridgetown Bites reader alerted me to the opening of Yokohama Skyline Eatery that is now open (soft opening phase) in the Yard building there by the Burnside Bridge. This is ramen shop (ramen-ya) offering a small but well-curated menu. The space was formerly home to BKK Thai.
Continue reading “Yokohama Skyline Eatery Opens in NE Portland’s Yard Building”El Yucateco is still in business, they’ve just moved. Over the past month or so when I’d drive east on Sandy Blvd, I noticed the El Yucateco food truck wasn’t where it has been for quite some time (the gravel lot at NE Sandy and 131st Place). Turns out the’ve moved just a couple of minutes west on Sandy, next to the motorcycle bar on the north side of the street. I love their panuchos and the folks who run the cart are so nice and friendly. Check it out if you haven’t already. 11807 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Prince Coffee’s new location is open. Their NW Portland location is now in soft open mode! Stop on over for a high-quality coffee—for now they are open from 7am to 4pm daily until their liquor license for their upcoming wine program is approved. 915 NW 19th Avenue, Portland
NOLA Doughnuts has closed all locations. Sad news, courtesy of the COVID era (and, frankly, IMO not enough support from the City of Portland). From their Instagram:
“It is with heavy hearts that we are announcing that as of today (1/5), NOLA Doughnuts has closed all locations. The slow rebound from the pandemic and the current economic conditions have led us to make this difficult decision. We have enjoyed serving everyone our delicious New Orleans inspired treats over the years and we want to thank our amazing team members and our customers for being a part of this journey. While we are sad it has come to an end, we are grateful that we had the opportunity to share our doughnuts and beignets with so many incredible people. Thank you all for your support, and we wish you all the best in 2023 and beyond.”
New things coming to Sebastiano’s. Their new year’s email arrived this week and it is chock full of cool things coming to this great Sicilian-American shop in Montavilla. As for good eats, look for a newTangerine-Blood Orange Marmellata, a Blood Orange curd, and hoagie rolls for grinders and meatball subs. On the operations side of things, they hope to open for a fifth day of the week, likely Tuesday.
They also bought a 20-year old Dodge Cargo Sprinter Van to turn into a mobile kitchen for catering and pop-ups (“picture Arancini Pop-Ups, or Sicilian Donuts & Cannoli Towers at weddings, parties, and elsewhere around town”). I send good wishes to Dan, Elise, and all at Sebastiano’s—see you soon. 411 SE 81st Avenue, Portland
