A favorite strawberry shortcake of mine from last year, made by Take Two bar.
Strawberry Shortcake Week 2025 is from June 9 to 15. It’s a week of restaurants offering their version of strawberry shortcake, inspired by James Beard’s strawberry shortcake recipe. Last year’s Strawberry Shortcake week was fantastic—full of taste treats—and I expect this year’s to be, too. Over 40 locations will be participating this year.
Passover 2025 is just around the corner in Portland! Passover, or Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites’ escape and liberation from slavery in Egypt, as told in the book of Exodus. This is the second book of the Old Testament and part of the Torah.
Mayor Millie will be there at this Saturday’s event!
A new cocktail bar from Kachka is coming this summer. The Portland Business Journal reports that Kachka will open a “full bar concept” in what was the Aimsir Distilling space. Aimsir closed in early January; you may be aware of the tension between them and Jade Rabbit, who are now operating on SE Belmont and 23rd.
Anyway, the article indicates that “[Owner Bonnie] Morales had already leased 2,100 square feet in the same building for a production facility. Half of that space was earmarked for distilling Kachka’s horseradish vodka. The vodka production started in the new space in February, Morales said. By taking over the Aimsir lease, Kachka is adding another 1,500 square feet, but more importantly, the space comes with a fully built out kitchen and distilling equipment.” No name for the bar yet, but I’ll keep an eye on it. 2117 NE Oregon Street, Portland
Boke Bowl’s lamb dumplings. Photo credit: The Oregonian
Dumpling Week 2025 is almost here! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now: Dumpling Week is one of the best food weeks in Portland. This is the 11th year that The Oregonian has put it together, and it takes place from Friday, February 7 to Saturday, February 15.
Hanukkah is one of the “big four” holidays in winter, along with Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Yule/Solstice. And this year it starts the evening of December 25, an unusual timing with Christmas. We also know it as the Festival of Lights (read more about its origins), with the menorah that is lit for eight nights, and its accompaniments: the dreidel (on which its four sides is written “a great miracle happened there”), gelt (chocolate money), and foods cooked in oil, like latkes and sufganiyot (jelly donuts).
Here are places where you can enjoy Hanukkah food, drink, and celebration in Portland.