Tag: Fresh Love

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Four Things I Learned This Week (November 15)

Sortis Holdings in the news again. The Oregonian reports “Four creditors for Sortis Holdings, who claim they’re owed a combined $8.3 million, are petitioning to force the company into bankruptcy and liquidate its collection of Northwest brands.” This includes Bamboo Sushi and Sizzle Pie; Water Avenue (acquired by Harder Day over the summer) and See See Motor (now One Moto) dodged that bullet. Various locations

Morning deals at Fresh Love. This Roseway-based cafe and grocery has three morning deals for you during the start of the week. On Monday, purchase a 16 oz juice or smoothie and get a complimentary chocolate chip-sea salt cookie; on Tuesday, buy a breakfast sandwich and get a free 12 oz drip coffee; and on Wednesday, order an avocado toast and receive an 8oz apple or orange juice. 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Renovated indoor space at The Heist is now open. The Heist, a popular food cart pod in the Woodstock neighborhood, is now “home to the largest indoor seating area of any food cart pod in Portland.” It’s located inside the building on the property that used to be a bank. They are doing a grand opening celebration this weekend, where you can check out the new features: “a new coffee shop, craft cocktail bar, arcade room, and vault.”

Celebrate with them on Saturday, November 16, 6:30pm to 9:30pm. All ages welcome. 4727 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland

Tierra del Sol consolidates their work in Montavilla. Because the Mercado is still kinda stuck (reconstruction starts in January 2025) Tierra del Sol has chosen to close its location there and focus on their space at Montavilla’s Rocket Empire Machine food court. From Amalia, the owner: “This is a good opportunity for you to get to know our second location, if you haven’t already. Here, we have a more extended menu with breakfast, indoor seating, and you can get a beer from Gigantic Brewing Company, which goes perfect with our food!” They will resume their cart operations at the Mercado on January 2, 2025. 6935 NE Glisan Street, Portland

Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

3 Doors Down Cafe Has Closed
Meet the Benson Hotel’s 2024 Gingerbread Masterpiece on December 3
Updates To Off-Site Odor Impacts Regulations in Portland
Domingo’s Will Open in the Old Pollo Norte Space

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Four Things I Learned This Week (October 18)

The NYT Portland 25. The New York Times published a list called “The 25 Best Restaurants in Portland, Ore., Right Now.” Here’s a gift article in case you haven’t been able to access it. It’s part of the Times’ Where to Eat: 25 Best series, which will take place in various cities around the U.S. It’s a pretty solid list but of course, Portlanders have already remarked on restaurants that didn’t make it on the list but should have. For me, the one I am most curious about is Pasar, so I need to add that to my own eating list. Various locations

Fresh Love: What’s coming? Ben Cutler, one of the owners of Fresh Love (one of my favorite food places in town) shared news about a few new things coming to this sweet little eatery and small grocery store in the Roseway neighborhood. They include bulk items (they are working what exactly they will carry); half pints of Pronto Gelato; some local frozen meat options; and more. If you haven’t been by any time soon, definitely head over for a sandwich, salad, smoothie, and some of the best avocados in town. 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland

ICYMI, break-ins at Rose City Food Park. I often mention how empty storefronts are no bueno, but break-ins plain piss me off. This past week there were three carts in the Rose City Food Park pod that were broken into: Momo House, Ocean Sushi, and J Vein Caffe. Like most cowards, they did it in the middle of the night, around 3am. What was stolen? Tools, spare parts, and tablets, which means online ordering systems are negatively affected. The sushi cart had just moved to the pod within the last week. As its owner, Nai Tun, says, “It feels so bad.” 5235 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Trimet talks coffee. I recently discovered that Trimet publishes a blog. It’s mostly about transit-centric stuff, like safety on Trimet, but this week they published a post called “10 unique Portland-area coffee shops you can visit by TriMet.” I was familiar with most of the Portland-proper cafes, but many of the ones in the suburbs are new to me, and I look forward to checking them out. Also, I would add Case Study to both downtown and NE Portland, as the one downtown is right on the MAX line, and the NE one is right on the 12 line. Various locations.

Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

NYC Pizzeria To Open a Second Location in Portland
Second Annual Bread Fest Is October 20
TAPTAP Cuisine Will Open a Restaurant on Sandy Blvd

Also: Bridgetown Bites is on Flipboard! If you use this platform—I do with a personal account, and love the “flipping” UI, so satisfying—feel free to follow us over there.

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Supermarket Alternatives in Portland

Safeway
There are other places to shop than Safeway

Many of you shop at Safeway, Albertsons, and QFC and are concerned about these stores’ futures in the wake of the recent merger talk. In the tradition of “plan for the worst, hope for the best,” I went ahead and looked at what my supermarket alternatives and options are in town, and have shared my research with you in this article.

Continue reading “Supermarket Alternatives in Portland”
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Four Things I Learned This Week (July 19)

Apologies for the lack of posting this week—I had emergency eye stuff to attend to and it really threw me for a loop. Take care of your eyes, friends; your vision health is not something to neglect.

Chef Naomi Pomeroy has died. On this past Monday I was scrolling Instagram and saw this post from Portland Monthly. I was stunned—surely it was not true. But it was, it is, and it is a huge loss for her friends and family, loved ones, fans, and Portland’s restaurant and food world. Countless tributes have been posted, and much sadness and shock has been expressed.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office reports that she “drowned shortly before 8:30pm on July 13 near river mile 132 in Corvallis about 100 yards upstream from the Mary’s River.” KATU reports that she was “pulled under the water and held by the paddle board leash. She was not wearing a life jacket and, unable to resurface, drowned.” Her body has been recovered.

I hope anyone who is reading this takes this awful tragedy to heart and chooses to wear a life jacket next time they’re floating on the river.

Read more about Naomi Pomeroy’s remarkable work, career, and influence in the world of food in this NY Times article (unlocked). I never met her, so I can’t speak personally about her, but I know she essentially changed the world—and many lives—with her work.

Indian food is coming to Argay. A Bridgetown Bites tipster alerted me to a new Indian restaurant opening up in that shopping center on NE Sandy Blvd and 139th Avenue (same center where the P-Town Pizza is opening). It’s called Best of India, and from what I can tell from when I peeked in the other day (I did not ask questions, as they were moving heavy things around), they are currently revamping the interior. Research as of today has not yielded much; I’ll look into it more next week. 13882 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Look at this cool map of Roseway. Illustrator Sunny Eckerle put together this sweet map of the Roseway neighborhood (she lives nearby), featuring some of the great eats you can find along NE Sandy Blvd and 82nd Ave, including Junior’s Roasted Coffee/Upright Beer Station, Denizens Cafe, the Sandy Jug, Fresh Love (who has a new vegetarian Muffuletta sandwich on the menu), Reeva and Pizzeria Otto, and the Mom & Pop Wine Shop. She also included Madison South’s The People’s Courts and Sumner’s My-O-My (she and I have a lighthearted agreement for joint custody of My-O-My and Roseway’s Cameo Cafe). Various

Belle Époque Pies opens in August. Pizza pop-up Belle Époque Pies will open their doors on Saturday, August 3 at 5pm at the 23rd and Alberta Food Cart Pod. “Join us for an afternoon of pizza and music with a wonderful acoustic performance by @caicedo_decia and a DJ set by mi hermano @_muertitos_.” They offer Sicilian/Detroit-style pies. 2231 NE Alberta Street, Portland

Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

A Few Updates: Bobacat Teahouse, Pizza, and Greek Food

I thought I’d also tell you what festivals are coming up soon, listed on our Portland Area Cultural + Food Festivals page:

Fuji to Hood, Saturday, July 20, 2024 (Portland)
Portland Highland Games, Saturday, July 20, 2024 (Portland)
Four Days of Aloha Hawaiian Festival: Welcome Pāʻina, Thursday July 25, 2024 (Vancouver)

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Four Things I Learned This Week (June 14)

Don’t forget—Strawberry Shortcake Week continues to the end of the weekend!

Cicoria is closing. The final day of service will be Saturday, June 29. From their Instagram: “This decision has been monumentally difficult, but given the rough and unforgiving market conditions Portland is currently experiencing, we feel there’s no other choice.” (This is reminiscent of what JaCiva’s recently said.) And there’s this, a tiny bit of hope of their return: “Please stay tuned for updates on what may lie ahead in the near future, as we hope to welcome you back, but don’t forget to mark your calendar for Summertime Scoops on Thursday of next week, June 20th.” 3377 SE Division Street, Portland

Hungry Dumpling House will open on SE Hawthorne. This location was home to Hawthorne Hophouse (closed in 2020) and Poke Qube (closed in 2023), and now will be a dumpling (and more, likely) spot. The folks behind Hungry Dumpling House (also known as Happy Dumpling Inc) appear to the be the same ones behind Sichuan City in Happy Valley, much lauded by Katherine Chew Hamilton in Portland Magazine. I’m excited about this and seeing what they bring to the neighborhood. 4111 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

Bill Oakley on snacks. This week Bill Oakley, local food enthusiast and former showrunner (among other roles) for The Simpsons, appeared on KATU to show off some international snacks. Love seeing the reactions from the TV host on the segment. Watch here.

New salad at Fresh Love. I think these guys make some of the best salads in Portland, so I’m always happy to tell you about their newest one. It’s called “Taco ‘Bout a Summer Salad,” (thanks for the clarification, Fresh Love!) made with Urban Acre Homestead salad greens, Hot Mama tortilla chips, pineapple, cucumber, sugar snap peas, sharp cheddar, pickled red onions, avocado, and housemade vegan cilantro jalapeño dressing. Many of the ingredients are certified organic. 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

Screaming Sammies Ice Cream Sandwiches Pops Up in Sellwood
A Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe Looks To Open in Portland
Janken: Everything Is Better Together (Review)

Updated June 15, 2024.