Tamales Festival at Portland Mercado February 25-27

I’m going to tell you something that’s a little embarrassing—last month was the very first time I ever visited the Portland Mercado. I’ve lived in Portland for a number of years now, and it took me all this time to make it there. So, please—don’t make my mistake. Go soon—and why not for the upcoming Tamales Festival?

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Kobe + Portland Yakisoba Project: Year Three

Kobe + Portland Yakisoba Project’s Umi Kobe Combo grid/map for year three. Illustration by Jillian Barthold. Image credit: Umi Organics

I want to tell you about the Kobe + Portland Yakisoba Project, now in its third year. So what is it? A two-week festival of sorts, celebrating “cross-Pacific collaborations around food” that both Kobe, Japan and Portland, Oregon share. And it means a lot of tasty times for us all.

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Dumpling Week 2022 – the Offerings

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Danwei Canting’s dumplings from 2019’s Dumpling Week.

Last month I wrote up a post that Portland’s Dumpling Week is returning in 2022 and how restaurants could participate. I have been eagerly waiting to learn more about the participating spots—and they are finally here! I think this may be my favorite Dumpling Week I’ve seen, yet. Here are the participants and their offerings.

Remember: Dumpling Week is from Saturday, January 30 to Sunday, February 5, 2022. Each plate of dumplings is 12 bucks.

Arden. Potato and leek pierogi w/ chive crème fraîche, habanero carrot hot sauce and black Burgundy truffles. 417 NW 10th Avenue, Portland ardenpdx.com

Afuri Izakaya. Caramelized onion broth, mushroom medley, sweet potato, ginger, and scallion. 923 SE 7th Avenue Portland and 12555 SW 1st Street, Beaverton. afuri.us

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Dumpling Week Returns in 2022

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One of my favorite Dumpling Week options, potato and cheese pierogis with onions and bacon from Delores (RIP) from 2019.

Portland has a number of “food weeks” that center around some of the most popular dishes that represent, for all intents and purposes, American comfort food: pizza, burgers, tacos, wings. Dumpling Week, from The Oregonian, usually starts the year off, and looking at the Bridgetown Bites archives, I’ve been happy to blog about it in 2019, 2020, and 2021 (which was a big takeout year). This year, Dumpling Week goes from Sunday, January 30 to Saturday, February 5, 2022.

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The Winter Wedge 2021 – Virtual Cheese Fun

Similar but not exact contents of the 2021 Winter Wedge. Photo source: The Wedge.

One of the best cheese festivals in our region, if not the country, is The Wedge from the Oregon Cheese Guild. Billed as a “Farmers Market-style event,” it was a time where you could go and try a bunch of regional cheeses in one place, as well as purchase cheese and other specialty food and drinks. Since we’ve been in a pandemic, it’s been a virtual event—and the same goes for this year. How do you participate? Here’s how.

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