The 6th Annual Tomato Fest is Saturday in Portland

Tomatoes from the Bridgetown Bites garden.
My own personal tomato haul earlier this summer.

Though we’ve had some rain recently, it’s still summer—and still peak tomato season. So Saturday, September 12 is an apt time to celebrate that queen of summer, the tomato. The 6th annual Tomato Fest is four hours of tomatoey goodness on a blocked off street in Southeast Portland—and buckwheat will be joining the chat this year. More details below.

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The Quince Fest 2025 Celebrates This Glorious Fruit in Portland

A container of quinces.
Photo credit: Shaun Linehan.

Quince Fest 2025 will be here soon—just two and a half weeks at the writing of this article. Last year I heard about this festival after the fact and was really disappointed that I missed it. I don’t want to make that same mistake again, so I am here to tell you about next month’s celebration of this ancient fruit.

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Small Bites: FIKA Pastry PopUp, BLTs, Melon Ball, Ikoi No Kai, and More

An example of FIKA Pastry’s delicious sweet things.

It’s another Small Bites Friday—let’s go!

Fire at Caffe and BARba Mingo forces them to close. Terrible news this week: these popular Italian restaurants “sustained major damage” in a fire on early Monday morning. Thankfully, nobody was injured, but the restaurants will be closed indefinitely. “The Mingo family is eternally grateful for your love and support in this most difficult time. Finché c’è vita c’è speranza – As long as there is life there is hope. Grazie mille.” A Gofundme has been set up to raise money for the staff; as of this writing over $32K has been raised. 807 NW 21st Avenue, Portland

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