Lunar New Year 2022 in the Portland Metro

Happy Year of the Tiger!

The Year of the Tiger is almost upon us. Lunar New Year lands on Tuesday, February 1 and ends January 21, 2023. This particular year of the Tiger is a Water Tiger year. I am no expert on the Chinese zodiac, so I can’t speak authoritatively about what “Year of the Tiger” means on a deeper level, so check out what the folks at The Woks of Life have to say. Here in the Portland area there are plenty of ways to celebrate with parades, crafts, dancing—and food.

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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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Four Things I Learned This Week (January 17)

Well, it was a busy, intense week filled with interesting work and home improvements, leaving the blog a little dry this week. But I’ve got you my Friday list of four things I learned this week in Portland food. Good stuff, no lie.

BYOM(ilk) at Movie Madness. Light on the food news but heavy on the awesomeness, I’ve learned that Movie Madness is showing Saturday morning cartoons: “You’re never too old for cartoons! Indulge your inner child with beloved classics from the 60s through the 90s. Any 5th Saturday of the month will be a special movie edition. Cereal selection available at concessions. B.Y.O.M.”

Ben & Esther’s expands. For a “side gig” it’s pretty successful (Twitter was a side gig once, too)—Roseway’s favorite bagel spot is expanding up to St John’s. Boy are they in for a treat. P.S. They have some pretty good looking gefilte fish, too.

“Follow the white rabbit.” More than simply a Matrix quote, Montavilla’s Hungry Heart bakery is launching a new project called White Rabbit. It will open up in the old Townsend’s space (RIP). More from their Instagram account:

“White Rabbit will be a café and bakery featuring a daily breakfast/brunch/lunch menu alongside the coffee & pastries you know and love, as well as expanded bread offerings. We’re hard at work on the menu; the new, much larger kitchen gives us a lot more room to play, so while you can expect to see some familiar items from both Heartbreaker and Hungry Heart, we’re also excited to be dreaming up your new favorite brunch dish. Our projected opening date is mid-spring, and we promise to keep you posted!”

Burmese noodles coming soon in NW. Very exciting news about more Burmese food coming to town. It’s a cuisine that we could all use more of; when I lived in Queens it was challenging to find. Kyay Oh is the name of the new restaurant, named after the Burmese noodle dish. You’ll find them at 833 NW 16th Ave, the location of Top Burmese’s original space. Read more in PoMo’s interview with the owners. Check them out on Thursday, January 23.