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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Four Things I Learned This Week (October 22)

Watch Dune (1984) at Bar Dune tonight. The new Dune movie (directed by Denis Villeneuve) opens at theaters today, but you can catch the David Lynch directed version from 1984 tonight at Bar Dune, where they’ll be looping it between 4pm and 2:30am. While you’re there, get a Melange cocktail and an order of their potato croquettes to snack on. 638 E Burnside Street, Portland

Rift Valley Market coming to east Portland. An OLCC liquor license application was filed back in May 2021 for Rift Valley Market in the Hazelwood neighborhood, and recent city documents indicate work on the space at 11966 NE Glisan: “NEW GROCERY STORE, REMOVE INTERIOR WALL, NEW WALLS FOR MEAT ROOM, SEATING AREA, AND SALES AREA.” My guess is that it will offer Ethiopian/Eritrean foods and groceries. 11966 NE Glisan, Portland

New special sandwich at Grand Central Bakery. I was thrilled to learn that Grand Central Bakery is offering a new special sandwich featuring an ingredient from one of my absolute favorite businesses, Iliamna Fish Company. They offer sockeye salmon shares in late summer/early autumn (plus smaller shares in early winter). I’ve spoken about them in the past and have been a happy customer of theirs for a decade. Anyway, the Bristol Bay Sandwich consists of “wild sockeye from Bristol Bay lightly smoked in house and paired with a crunchy fennel slaw and scallion-caper cream cheese on a toasted Seeded Baguette.” Yum, order here. Various locations

Goodbye Pizza Doughnais, hello Meta Pizza. In Portland’s Brooklyn neighborhood, Pizza Doughnais has closed, with a message on Instagram, “As with all journeys, they take unexpected turns, and for now our pizza journey has come to an end. But fret not, there are some exciting and delicious things coming in our wake very, very soon.” Said exciting and delicious things are wrapped up in Meta Pizza, which opens Tuesday, October 26. From their Instagram, they say, “Chef Anthony Cafiero’s hand-tossed thin-crust pizzas draw on Italian tradition and on the techniques and flavors of the family pizzerias of Brooklyn, NY, but they’re at home only in our own Brooklyn neighborhood in SE Portland.” They’ll offer round pies and square slices, takeout only for now. 3541 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland

Grand Central’s BLT Is Seasonal Deliciousness

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When I was at the Fremont Fest this past weekend, I saw a sign out in front of Grand Central Baking Company about a BLT. I love BLTs.

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At first I thought it might have been a Fremont Fest special, but upon closer look on their ordering website, I learned it was a regular seasonal thing—meaning available for a limited time but not just for the one day of the Fest.

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