Four Things I Learned This Week (May 13)

CityMaxx indeed filed for bankruptcy. I had heard over the months that one of my favorite stores, CityMaxx, had closed, but I didn’t realize they had filed for bankruptcy. Back in February, the Portland Business Journal reported this: “City Maxx LLC filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Feb. 11, 2022, in the District of Oregon. The debtor listed an address of 3552 SE 122nd Ave., Portland, and is represented in court by attorney Ted A. Troutman. City Maxx LLC listed assets ranging from $100,001 to $500,000 and debts ranging from $1,000,001 to $10,000,000. The filing did not identify a largest creditor.” It’s really too bad—city employees said there were not plans to move to another area to open. There are other places, but CityMax was bright, welcoming, and filled with delicious things. RIP CityMaxx. 3552 SE 122nd Avenue, Portland

Tito’s Taquitos is back! H/T Bill Oakley for this news—one of the highest-regarded food carts in the area is back, and reopened yesterday, May 12. They are in Beaverton these days, offering up their same delicious eats. Look for them in the “76 Station lot.” Check out their menu, here. 3975 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton

Chokladbollar in Portland. When I lived in NYC, I loved stopping by the nearby FIKA (on Park Ave South, now closed along with the other FIKAs in the city) especially during the “3pm slump.” One of the things they offered, among their excellent taste treats, were chokladbollars. So imagine my delight when I saw that Flour Market is making them! They are a wonderful mix of sweet chocolate, oats, and coffee, rolled up and coated in coconut. Absolutely delicious. 5507 NE 30th Avenue, Portland

The Sudra closes their Pearl location. Sad news from The Sudra: “Unfortunately we have made the difficult decision to close our Pearl District location. Staffing issues, lack of business, and sickness has made it overwhelmingly difficult to keep this location open.” Rough, but I hope it relieves some of the stress of the folks behind the restaurant. 100 NW 10th Avenue, Portland

Portland Strawberry Museum Returns to Zuckercreme This Year

Image credit: Zuckercreme

Last year I remember coming across something called the “Portland Strawberry Museum” and wondering, “what the heck was that?” I mean, what a great name! Is there some kind of museum dedicated to strawberries in Portland? Turns out it was a month of Saturdays in June of celebrating the strawberry, from Brittany Sigal’s Zuckercreme (then a popup). It is back this year for the entire month of June at her space in Montavilla.

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Bar Cala Is Coming to NE Alberta Street This Summer

Glasses at Bar Cala in Portland, Oregon.
Photo credit: Bar Cala

Bar Cala, a “Latin inspired Bar and Kitchen,” will open on NE Alberta and 27th Avenue. Projected opening is summer 2022. This is the original location of the former Pacific Power & Light substation, a historic building on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also the former location of Station Pizza Pub, which closed in February 2020.

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The Inaugural Portland Salad Week Arrives June 2022

You’ve heard of Dumpling Week, Pizza Week, Burger Week and all the others—now get ready for Salad Week! From June 6 to 10, Bridgetown Bites will spend that week celebrating the salad in Portland—and our fair city is chock full of great ones. During Salad Week, I’ll also be joined here by my friend and colleague Judith, who also loves salad and Portland’s great food world.

We’d also love to hear from you about your favorite salads in the area. Fill out this form, and we’ll share some of your responses during Salad Week.

So stay tuned—we can’t wait to share our love of PDX salad with you!

Salad Week
Monday, June 6 to Friday, June 10, 2022
bridgetownbites.com

Four Things I Learned This Week (May 6)

Plants, vegan baked goods, and cats. Tomorrow, Saturday, May 7, is the House of Dreams’ 2022 Spring Plant Sale and Vegan Bake Sale. From 10am to 3pm, head out to get some indoor and outdoor plants, baked vegan yums (held as part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale), an good feelings knowing you are supporting a sale where all proceeds go to care for cats at the House of Dreams shelter. More details on Facebook. Should be a great event! 7634 SE Morrison Street, Portland

Kann update. Gregory Gourdet’s new restaurant, Kann, featuring Hatian food, will open this summer. PoMo has the details: “Kann will open mid-July at 548 SE Ash St, with 80 seats and an eight-foot hearth at the center of a wide-open kitchen that will occupy nearly half of the space.” Read more about it on the Portland Monthly website. 548 SE Ash Street, Portland

Current favorite dry drink. I made it over to Gabbiano’s recently and had their sparkly lemonade with an oregano syrup and a little salt. I loved it so much, I had two of them. Great fresh flavor and the oregano syrup adds something special. Truly delicious. 5411 NE 30th Avenue, Portland.

Daily Fuel opens brick & mortar restaurant. On their Instagram this week they announced their new restaurant: “We officially have the keys & finalized all legal paperwork today. We’ll be working on getting the restaurant ready for open in June for y’all!” They’ve had a cart at the Hawthorne Asylum pod, offering “healthy vegan comfort food” for a while; it will be fun to see what they do with the restaurant. Big congrats to them! 3342 SE Belmont Street, Portland