Good News From Beeswing in Portland: They Will Reopen

Full disclosure: I backed Beeswing’s Kickstarter

In my little corner of the Portland food world, my attention was grabbed most intensely over the past few weeks by the Beeswing situation—unfortunate wording in their Kickstarter leading to a number of pledges being canceled (mine was); the impassioned plea to resubmit donations (I did); and then the news that their silent partner would not sell them the business so they had to close.

News was sent out to Beeswing’s Kickstarter supporters this morning that they will indeed reopen, just in a different space. I wonder if that means they will leave Cully (likely); after all, the Country Cat space is open, among others. Here is the message they sent out today:

Hello Beautiful Backers,

Unfortunately our business partner refused to sell us the business. After 2 1/2 years of working towards this goal with him, he decided out of the blue to close the restaurant. We are in shock. Beeswing was our baby, our identity as chefs, our livelihood.

Beeswing will live on. We are currently looking at restaurant spaces (I am seeing 3 today). We have an amazing amount of support from you and our community. We are looking to make this a fast transition. We will honor all the perks at the new restaurant, and keep you updated along the way. Every penny of the money you backed us with will go into creating the new restaurant.

This is what we do. We are excited to get back to cooking beautiful food for our community. Ultimately you will have the honor of empowering us to be the sole owners of our restaurant.

Thank you Thank You Thank You from the bottom of our hearts.

Great news, best of luck to them, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

First Tastes: Sweet, Savory, Salad in Portland

Portland is full of delicious food, so here are some first impressions on the latest tasty things I’ve eaten recently in town.

Dahi Papri Chaat | Bollywood Theatre. I ate lunch there a while back and really enjoyed the meal, but the dish that has really stuck with me is their Dahi Papri Chaat. It starts with a base of housemade garbanzo bean flour crackers, then topped with small dark chickpeas, little cubes of potatoes, yogurt, cilantro, tamarind chutney, all dusted with chili powder and topped with sev, a kind of crunchy noodle made from chickpea flour paste. I had something like this at Dosa Hutt in Flushing a few years ago, and have been hoping to encounter a similar dish since. It’s quite saucy and very flavorful; a true flavor bomb. I love the contrasts of cooling yogurt and spicy chili powder, earthy chickpeas and tart chutney. I could eat this every day. 2039 NE Alberta Street, Portland. Bollywood Theater website

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