Portland food news and views
For a couple of years on this blog (2022, 2019) I’ve written about Groundhog Day, aka Ground Hog Day—and you know, that play on words never fails to delight me. After doing a little research, I’ve gotten a better hold on where to find the ground hogs in Portland, better known as sausages. So here is oure roundup of some reputable places for sausages—even early enough so you can consider which ones to access on February 2.
Continue reading “Groundhog/Ground Hog Day 2023 in Portland”I know it’s Groundhog Day today (RIP Milltown Mel), but thanks to a couple of old friends, I also think of it as Ground Hog Day (I mentioned this in early days of the blog). I love sausages and other ground meat preparations (e.g., kabobs, meatballs, burgers). So here’s a shoutout today to a couple of my favorite sausage makers here in Portland.
True confession: two places I haven’t been to but want to visit are Gartner’s Meat Market and the Eidelweiss Deli, both of which have excellent reputations. I will be making a point to stop in this year. As for my ground hog consumption, I was able to enjoy some pork and leek dumplings from Chin’s Kitchen last night in honor of Lunar New Year and Dumpling Week; I have some leftovers, which I’ll eat for lunch, satisfying the consumption of ground hog today.
Happy Groundhog/Ground Hog Day, everyone! BTW, Stumptown Fil at the Oregon Zoo says we are going to have an early spring. Sounds good to me.
If you can believe it, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner—three weeks from today. A number of places in Portland are offering special prix fixe dinners, some are preparing to-go meal boxes, and pre-order sweets are being prepared by bakeries around town.
Unless otherwise specified, these meals are available only on February 14, and getting your reservation set sooner that later is recommended. Unfortunately, weather (see: 2021) and COVID can thwart things, so please double check the place you want to celebrate at before you head out.
Menu details are included where available. We will update this list as new information becomes available.
Bar Casa Vale
Four-course prix-fixe menu—three courses of tapas plus dessert. $75 per person.
Reservations via OpenTable. 215 SE 9th Avenue, Ste 109, Portland
Portland area food artisans did well this year in the Good Food Awards, a project of the SF-based Good Food Foundation, with a strong showing in the West region (there are five regions total). According to the Foundation, “crafters from 42 states and D.C. rose to the top across 17 categories after a Blind Tasting of 1,966 products. They then passed a rigorous vetting to confirm meeting Good Food Awards sustainability standards.”
Continue reading “Portland’s 2022 Good Food Awards Finalists”
I’ve always delighted in the play-on-words for Groundhog Day: Ground Hog Day. For me, it’s a perfectly good opportunity to enjoy delicious ground meats of any kind. Sure, a purist’s approach is to only chow down on pork, but I’m flexible and happy to entertain more meats than that. Here are some spots I’d be happy to spend time eating ground hog etc.
Scratch Meats. I love these guys, who offer their delicious sausages at various farmers markets every week. I get mine at the Hollywood Farmers Market and I’ll be stopping by on Groundhog Day to pick up my favorite—Chicken Parmigiano. It’s ground chicken thigh mixed with sun dried tomatoes, a variety of hard cheeses and spices. We are big fans at our house. They also offer a number of other sausages made with pork, beef, lamb, and even a Paleo-friendly sausage that includes variety cuts (organ meats). Continue reading “Saturday is Groundhog Day… and Ground Hog Day in Portland”
