Four Things I Learned This Week (January 7)

Merry Christmas to my Orthodox friends today! Here are some things I ran across this week in Portland food.

Futura Coffee Roasters coming to Montavilla. The folks over at Montavilla News reported that Futura Coffee Roasters are opening in the old Fillmore Coffee space. Fillmore Coffee closed last fall to become an online merchant only. Sustainability is the name of the game at Futura, and regenerative agriculture is very important to them.

You might ask, “aren’t regenerative agriculture and biodynamic agriculture the same?” They are close but not identical. Read more about regenerative vs. biodynamic, here. Futura’s cafe space has also been created with sustainable materials in mind. Check them out later this month; they’ll be open daily from 7am to 5pm. 7201 NE Glisan Street, Portland.

Vegan all the way at Salt & Straw this month. Check out the five new flavors at Salt & Straw this month—all vegan, presumably for Veganuary. There’s Petunia’s Rainbow Sprinkled Babycakes (coconut, oat); Carrot Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting (coconut, oat); Coconut Cream Pie Cupcake w/ Lemon Curd (coconut); Renewal Mill’s Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcake (oat, soy pulp); Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcake (coconut); Interesting factoid: Oregon produces 99% of the nation’s hazelnuts. Various locations, Portland

Foie gras on next week’s City Council agenda. The agenda for the Wednesday, January 12 Portland City Council meeting (9:30am) has been published online and thus the topic of foie gras has popped up again. Three people will address the Council that morning: Alex Cerussi (Mercy For Animals), Rosalind McCallard (Snackrilege), and Belinda Davis (Animal Outlook). Regardless of your stance on this issue, you are free to view the Council meeting on their Youtube channel (eGov PDX), among other access points. If you want to submit written testimony on this or any other agenda topic, send an email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov.

Ken Forkish is leaving Portland. Ken Forkish, the owner of Ken’s Artisan Bakery and Ken’s Artisan Pizza, is retiring. His aforementioned two businesses have been sold to long-time employees. In an interview with Portland Food & Drink he said, “I’m just getting tired. I’m in my 60’s and it is time for me to retire. This change has been three years in the making and I feel really good about the future of the restaurant and bakery. They are both in very good hands.” You can read more of this interview on the Portland Food & Drink website. 338 NW 21st Avenue (Bakery) and 304 SE 28th Avenue (Pizza), Portland

The 4th Annual Steamie Awards Have Dropped

Bing Mi’s delicious jianbing, one of 22 winners in the 4th Annual Steamie Award.

Have you heard of the Steamie Awards? I only became aware of them this year, so if you feel a bit of FOMO about it, you’re not alone. Bill Oakley, the mastermind behind the Steamies, published the awards on Monday, December 6, over on his Instagram account. He also did some Instagram Stories on each winner, and I hope he treats them like he did in 2020 and puts together a highlight reel for 2021.

Continue reading “The 4th Annual Steamie Awards Have Dropped”

Small Bites – No Saint Pizza, Baon Kainan’s Arrival, Bee’s Cakes at Steeplejack, and More

cicoria-pizza-party-cut-portland-oregon

Cicoria’s pizza in their fave party cut. Photo Credit: Cicoria

It’s been a while! I’ve been working hard to improve some health issues, which have really been a buzzkill for this blog. But my curiosity about Portland food got the better of me, and I took a review of my regular sources for things that interest me. Here’s what I found.

Filipino (food) popup at the Side Yard Farm Friday. An enticing-sounding popup at the Side Yard Farm in Cully featuring Filipino businesses is happening this Friday, August 6. Among others, vegan bakery Kumare will be participating and offering “our mini ube ensaymada as well as NEW all plant-based Filipino goodies such as Biko (coconut rice cake), Turon (fried banana rolls), and Cantaloupe Juice.” No pre-order necessary. 5-9pm. 4800 NE Simpson Street, Portland

Continue reading “Small Bites – No Saint Pizza, Baon Kainan’s Arrival, Bee’s Cakes at Steeplejack, and More”

Four Things I Learned This Week (March 6)

Client needs trumped my little blog for a few weeks and paying attention to food news took a back seat. Not this week! Here are four things I learned this week.

It’s Portland Dining Month. An annual month-long event in March in Portland lots of outlets have written about it (try here, here, here, and here for lots of info). Organized by Travel Portland, you can check out over 100 restaurants all over Portland and enjoy prix fixe three-course meals for just $33.

Check out this Taco Crawl map. Reddit user u/savethisplant posted a map to a taco crawl they did in Portland with friends and it’s a decent selection of spots. Personally, I’d add Taco Pedaler, La Osita, and El Gallo to the list; no doubt there are others worth an inclusion.

East Portland (and Gresham) eats. My pal Krista Garcia put together a helpful map of eats east of 205 for Eater Portland. As someone who lives east of 82nd, I love having resources on this side of town and further east. The aforementioned La Osita made the list, thanks in part to their fab breakfast tacos. Check it out.

More Pizza Coming Soon to FoPo. Looks like the Foster-Powell area is getting more pizza—Humdinger Pizza at 9201 SE Foster Road. They submitted a liquor license recently (a Brewery Public House/Full-On Premises license) and my interest is definitely piqued. Looks like developer Chad Rennaker is involved, who has been active in that part of Portland. I look forward to see how it compares to the other pizzerias along and near Foster that have opened relatively recently (Char, Atlas, Otto).