Portland food news and views
Portland’s grocery stores compete fiercely for deli dominance, but which makes the best of the Portland deli salads? When Meg Cotner of Bridgetown Bites reached out about participating in Portland Salad Week, I jumped at the chance to settle this with an old-fashioned taste test.
Continue reading “The Battle of the Portland Deli Salads: 9 Enter, With a Surprising Clear Winner”
Mother’s Day 2025 is almost upon us! From brunch to take-home meal kits to locally-made syrups, here are a variety of food-focused activities for the day this year. And a great way to celebrate mom this year.
This year is their second annual Mother’s Day Brunch. It’s a buffet and costs $76 for adults and $39 for children 12 and under. Look for classic breakfast items, savory treats, desserts, coffee, and assorted teas. They will also be a custom Bloody-Mary bar, Mimosas, and Amaterra’s wines, available for additional purchase. Reserve here.
8150 SW Swede Hl Drive, Portland. Amaterra website
Continue reading “Mother’s Day 2025 in Portland”
While over at Providore last weekend (they have finger limes!), I noticed a new sign up on the old Tails & Trotters space: Sincerely, Bagel. My first thought was, “Whoa, something new here!” And then it was, “Awww, so cute!” The logo is adorable. Note 12/28/24: we have updated this post significantly since it was originally published.
Continue reading “Sincerely Bagel Is Setting Up Shop in Portland”
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
Continue reading “Small Bites: FIKA Pastry PopUp, BLTs, Melon Ball, Ikoi No Kai, and More”New mural at Denizens Cafe. Artist Alex Chiu painted a mural on the eastern wall at Denizens Cafe and it looks great! You may remember him from our article on Mill Park Stories, the Instagram he started to highlight community in that little corner of SE PDX. He has moved on to another Instagram account, Art by Alex Chiu, where he featured his work at Denizens.
His concept here, “was to highlight some landmarks of the neighborhood’s past and also create a warm and welcoming atmosphere inside of the space,” He continues, “I’ve included some photo reference that I used to create some of the images in the mural including old pictures from George’s Grocery Store and the Roseway Theater. I painted a house inspired by the cute homes in the neighborhood. I painted food from Denizens Cafe’s menu and a mug of coffee from Rocky Butte Roasters, run by the same owners. Mt. Hood is in there as well!” Check it out, for sure, and pick up something tasty while you’re at it. 6912 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Chocotaco returns today. Head to Salt & Straw today, Friday 2/9 at 1pm, for the return of the chocotaco. And if you miss that, don’t miss this month’s special flavors, five of them in “The Chocolatiers Series.” I stopped by earlier this week and had a chance to try three of them: Fran’s Chocolate Almond Gold Bar, Cloudforest’s Cocoa Hazelnut Magic Sauce, and Compartés Cake Batter Chocolate Fudge. They were all very good, but I think the Almond Gold Bar was my favorite, thanks to the caramely bits. But I’d eat them all again. Various locations
Don’t miss Citrus Fest this weekend. Rubinette Produce and the rest of the folks at Providore are celebrating 8 years together in a market-wide party and citrus festival. The centerpiece of the event will be the Celebration Trifle: Panettone and layers of whipped cream and Seville + blood orange, served at noon. You’ll also be able to sample specialty citrus varieties, fresh squeezed juice, a lemon and olive oil tart from Pastaworks, kumquat tea cake from Little T Bakery, and other citrus-centric items throughout the market. 2340 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Lan Su Chinese Garden’s tea house has reopened. They reopened the teahouse on February 7—this is good news, as the teahouse at Lan Su is one of the highlights of spending time there (access comes with garden admission). Lunar New Year starts tomorrow, and the Chinese Garden is the place to be. At the teahouse you can choose from over 20 Chinese and Taiwanese-style teas; along with that, they are offering a tea service (three kinds); traditional dishes, snacks, and pastries; and beer and wine. Note that during Dragon + Lantern Viewing evenings, they “will offer an abbreviated menu of teas and tea service to accommodate as many visitors as possible during this busy time.” Also, they are going to give the teahouse a new name—stay tuned for that. 239 NW Everett Street, Portland
