Four Things I Learned This Week (March 9)

Inspired by the podcast, No Such Thing As a Fish, I am here to tell you about four new-to-me things I learned this week in the world of Portland food.

Vegan cheese can be delicious. Vegan cheese has come a long way from the “Tofutti as an only option” days. I’ve decided to decrease my dairy intake, and these days I’m enjoying Treeline’s soft spreadable cashew cheese with scallions on top of crispy rice crackers (purchased at the Hollywood Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, respectively). Plus, did you know Portland is home to a dedicated vegan cheese shop?

Red Sauce’s Shardell Dues‘ kickass pizza lyfe. She spent a number of years making pizza and managing the kitchen at Apizza Scholls and has worked mostly at pizzerias during her career. Learn more about Shar’s fantastic pizza work and fascinating career on this episode of Portland food podcast, Right at the Fork. Plus, be sure to hit up Red Sauce next Tuesday for their fundraiser for Portland Animal Welfare (PAW)—15% of all sales that day will go towards PAW.

Gravy is opening its second location not far from Bridgetown Bites HQ. Another bit of news I missed while sick—Gravy is comin’ to NE Sandy, just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Hollywood District. I love their veg gravy and biscuits and have personally stood in those seemingly interminable lines up on Mississippi Avenue, so a second location will be a welcome addition to Portland brunching.

On a personal note, I did not get the job. I was a finalist for the Eater Portland editor job. I hadn’t heard from them about their decision, so I took a look and and saw the updated masthead this week. The new editor is Brooke Jackson-Glidden from Salem and I wish her the very best as she takes on this position, and look forward to reading the site under her editorial direction. The application process was a positive experience and I got a lot out of it. I love my freelance career so all is good in the end.

Saima Thai & Sushi Portland Opening Update

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As I walk to and from the gym, or Trader Joes, or the Hollywood Theatre, I always check out the progress at Saima Thai & Sushi, opening up at 4118 NE Sandy Blvd. All papers are down from the windows, hours are posted, menus are up and the interior—which looks quite a bit like the old Pono Soul Farm Kitchen’s decor—is looking RTG (ready to go). If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say they are ready to open this coming week.

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Wholesome Blends Has Closed, The Whole Bowl Trailer Has Moved (Twice!)

After having breakfast at Jim and Patty’s and searching for an elusive geocache in Rose City Park, I headed home down Sandy Blvd and was startled to see that Wholesome Blends (4615 NE Sandy Blvd) had closed! The Whole Bowl trailer that was on the property was also gone, moving further into the Hollywood District, but is now back on Sandy.

The end of Wholesome Blends

The message says “Open till 1pm Christmas, then it is the end for Wholesome Blends.” You can see below that the whole place is cleared out.

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Something’s Happening in the Old Pono Soul Farm Kitchen Space in Portland

Over the past several days, I’ve noticed some activity in the space that used to be home to Pono Soul Farm Kitchen (4118 Sandy Blvd). As you can see, the windows are papered over (that usually means something new is coming); myriad people have been coming and going; also, there was a little box on the side of the building parallel to Sandy Blvd (it used to hold Pono Soul Farm Kitchen’s menu for the day) that contained an ad for the space, and that ad is also gone.

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