Four Things I Learned This Week (August 27)

Brokedown Palace burger pop-up at Bar Norman on Saturday. You can look forward to burgers and market vegetables from Brokedown Palace tomorrow, Saturday August 28, at Bar Norman. “They’ll be popping up at the bar with delicious food and fun vibes (think street DJ, skate videos, and lots of chilled red wines)…the perfect way to say byyyyyyeeee to August.” The fun goes from 6pm to 9pm or until sold out. You can still hang out after that, though.

Hit the Spot to Open a Restaurant in Vancouver. Hit the Spot, the popular burger cart that sits in the Human Bean coffee shop parking lot on Sandy Blvd, will open a future restaurant at 2420 Main Street in Vancouver, Wa. “We’ve worked so hard to get to this point. Can’t tell you how great it feels to start with a pop up tent and a bbq in 2014 at the farmers market on the weekends, to going full time late 2018 in a food cart, to finally achieving a restaurant space in 2021.” From what I can tell, this means the cart will close eventually. CORRECTION: They are not closing the cart! The Columbian also reports on their dreams of further expansion. “The goal is to open hit the spot! restaurants in other parts of Vancouver, as well as suburbs such as Gresham and Beaverton.”

Asian vegetables grown in Gresham. Loved this PoMo article on Catherine Nguyen, who started Mora Mora Farm, where she grows bok choy, mizuna,  yu choy, and kabu turnips, among other things. She has an annual CSA (currently there’s wait list) and she provides the veg for Cully’s Matta food cart. Personally, I love farms that grow produce common to diverse cultures, but I’m also the person that was drawn to the mysterious-to-me veg in the unmarked box at Berkeley’s Monterey Market years ago.

Join Wellspent Market’s olive oil CSA. Have you heard of this? It’s really a variant on the CSA model, but beneficial nontheless. Here’s how they describe the olive oil CSA as their way of helping to support their small farm partners:  “It works like this: Early in the year you buy a CSA share for $100. We use the cash to pay the farmers, and when the season’s olive oil arrives here, that share is worth $120. It’s good for anything we sell at Wellspent Market, not just olive oil. Money well spent indeed!”

Four Things I Learned This Week (February 12)

Best Donuts in Oregon: Delicious Donuts. According to Food & Wine’s February 2021 roundup of the best donuts in each U.S. state, Delicious Donuts is the winner in Oregon:

“Founded in 2005 just over the Burnside Bridge from the original Voodoo, Delicious Donuts looks like any of the other classic hangs gracing lucky neighborhoods up and down the West Coast, and like so many of them, this one’s family owned, too. But not everybody works as carefully and attentively as Boun Saribout, who owns the shop with wife Penny Nguyen. Their cinnamon roll doughnuts, crunchy fritters, and apple-filled bear claws are famously good, the blueberry cake is like some gorgeous, deep-fried muffin, but don’t get too comfortable, because unless you time it right, you’ll typically take what you can get. Good news, however—you’ll be totally fine with this, because it’s all good.”

The single-location indie donut shop is what I think of whenever someone mentions a donuts shop, and my love for a blueberry cake donut knows no bounds (I miss you, Angel Donuts in Fillmore, CA). Glad to hear of their recognition. 12 SE Grand Avenuea, Portland

Kaleifornia Dreaming. Portland Redditor u/scoobycoup put together a pretty good set of parody lyrics to the song, “California Dreaming,” the title renamed to “Kaleifornia Dreaming.”

“All the Kale is gone.  / And the sky is gray.  / I drove into a tree.  / On a winter’s day.  / I’d be safe and warm. / If I was in L.A.  / Kaleifornia Dreaming.  / On such a winters day.”

Pączki watch. I’ve seen a couple of places where you can find these Polish Fat Tuesday treats—the Gateway Fred Meyer and Popioł (a Polish dinner pop-up in Portland) via Cafe Reina: “Pre-order a box of 4 (pick 4!) and swing by the shop to claim them. We will also have individual pączki for sale at La Reina while supplies last.” 1111 NE 102nd Avenue (Fred Meyer) and 4943 NE MLK Jr Blvd, Suite 101 (Cafe Reina), Portland

Singles For Singles. One of my favorite burger joints in Portland is Bless Your Heart Burgers (love their location on NE 33rd Ave and Killingsworth) and they are offering a Valentine’s Day special that is a little different than a lot of them around town—it focuses on the single (not the couple). “You get a single burger, single fry, and a sparkly beverage of your choosing for $12. We all deserve some ❤️. Singles For Singles will be available 2/12 – 2/15.” Unfortunately (but understandably) they are closed today (Friday) because of the snow. 5410 NE 33rd Avenue, Portland

Dick’s Primal Burger Opens in Old Beeswing Space in Cully

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Image source: Dick’s Primal Burger

What a year it’s been. 2020 has been full of hard times, what with the pandemic, a major economic downturn, and a high-anxiety election—not to mention murder hornets (it’s on the news as I write this). Good news seems hard to come by, but I have some for you: the old Beeswing Restaurant space in Cully has a new tenant, and they are Dick’s Primal Burger. Continue reading “Dick’s Primal Burger Opens in Old Beeswing Space in Cully”

Shake Shack is Coming to Portland

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Shake Shack in leafy Madison Square Park back in 2008

The news broke earlier this week by the Daily Journal of Commerce (DJC), and the local food media followed; Portland Monthly‘s article was the first one that caught my eye. I’m pretty chuffed that Shake Shack is coming to Portland—1016 W Burnside Street—and am so curious to see how it will fare in what is a pretty solid burger town, having known their delicious consistency during my time living in NYC.

To be honest, I don’t spend a lot of time downtown, but when I am there, I will seek out this impending Shake Shack—opening in what I think is a great location, just across the street from Powell’s (which I hope will make it through this virus crisis). Continue reading “Shake Shack is Coming to Portland”

Top 5 Posts On Bridgetown Bites, October 2019

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I love reviewing the previous month’s posts to see what readers are drawn to. For October it was restaurant news all the way—from burgers to bagels to bars. As always, thanks for reading!

5. Black Seed Burger Cult Does Not Take Itself Too Seriously

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While perusing the latest liquor license applications, I ran across the intriguingly-named Black Seed Burger Cult; they’ve applied for a limited on-premises license. They’re opening up in the old Verde Cocina space (3746 North Mississippi), which closed last January.

Continue reading “Top 5 Posts On Bridgetown Bites, October 2019”