Four Things I Learned This Week (January 13)

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

Participate in Chocolate for Congo in Portland in February 2022

I only recent became aware of the campaign, Chocolate for Congo, a month-long benefit for Action Kivu and Eastern Congo Initiative. These are two organizations that work to repair the harm done by years of violence and neglect in Eastern Congo by investing in the women, children and communities in the region. You can read about the Kivu conflict on Wikipedia for more background.

The benefit works like this: you enjoy chocolate at restaurants and bakeries in Portland throughout February and $1 from each dessert will benefit these organizations. You still have about half a month to participate!

Continue reading “Participate in Chocolate for Congo in Portland in February 2022”

Four Things I Learned This Week (January 28)

Pranom -Threshold combo is coming to Montavilla. LA-based Thai street food pop-up Pranom is coming to Threshold Brewing. “Pranom is the passion project of chef Dream Kasestatad who comes from 4 generations of family-owned Thai restaurants.” There will be one meat option and one vegan option. It’s all happening on Wednesday, February 2 starting at 4pm and going until it’s all sold out. You can read more about it on this Facebook event post. 403 SE 79th Avenue, Portland

Lemon tart is back at Ken’s Artisan Bakery. It’s been off the menu for a couple of years, and they are really happy to have it back. Check out a photo of its gorgeousness, here. 338 NW 21st Avenue, Portland

Matt’s BBQ Tacos headed to the Hinterland. This past week Matt’s BBQ Tacos moved to the new food cart pod, Hinterland, on SE 50th near Division. Looks like a great lineup—Eater has the details. 2216 SE 50th Avenue, Portland

Oyster Hour at Coquine. Coquine has been running an “oyster hour” special event series at their market since January 20. “Whether you’re standing at the tall copper-topped tables, or seated at one of a few café seats inside Coquine Market, come enjoy a delicious menu of snacks, and lots of delicious things to drink!” It is offered each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until Thursday, March 10. 5-8pm. No reservations are taken and it’s first come-first served. 6839 SE Belmont Street, Portland

Four Things I Learned This Week (October 29)

It’s been one of those weeks—happily flooded with interesting client editing work (this time about forests), so the posting here was a bit light. Still, there was much to observe in Portland food news.

Bing Mi to open a dumpling and noodle bar. Have you been to Bing Mi? Their Jian Bing are seriously good. And they will be expanding their offerings with dumplings and noodles, as per their Instagram: “Bing Mi is gonna have a dumpling and noodle bar in NW near our food cart!” Looks like it will be in the old Industrial Cafe and Saloon space. They are pretty excited. 2572 NW Vaughn Street, Portland

Gartner’s Meats has turkeys for pre-order. No doubt there will be a number of places where you can order your turkey, but Gartner’s wins the first “turkey pre-order” announcement I’ve come across this year. Word on the street is that they are awesome and it’s a good idea to order early. They have both fresh and smoked turkeys available—call 503-252-7801 to order. 7450 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland

The Haunted Tales of Wyrd. Spooky things have gone on at Wyrd Leatherworks and Meadery in SE Portland. Read up on them here, and why not head on over for some mead made from locally-sourced honey. They have snacks, too. 4515 SE 41st Avenue, Portland

Full-service brunch is returning to Coquine. Named to the recent NY Times restaurant list, Coquine continues with its awesomeness by bringing back brunch, starting Friday, November 5. It will be a full-service indoor brunch but you’ll have to show proof of vaccination before interesting. Their latest newsletter also mentions “goose dinners coming soon,” so that’s intriguing. 6839 SE Belmont Street, Portland

Congrats EEM, Coquine on the NY Times 2021 Restaurant List

coquine-eem-collage-portland-oregonSome of the delicious things I’ve eaten at Coquine (top) and EEM (bottom).

It’s all over social media today—the NY Times’ 2021 Restaurant List—and I’m thrilled for EEM and Coquine for being chosen for the list, the focus of which is “the 50 places in America we’re most excited about right now.” I love both of these places—the food is delicious and memorable, the space is comfortable, and the hospitality is excellent. Continue reading “Congrats EEM, Coquine on the NY Times 2021 Restaurant List”