Tag: vegan

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Four Things I Learned This Week (March 23)

Here are another four things I learned this week in Portland food.

Columbia River Brewing Co. is making their barbecue more of a hook. Several months ago (truthfully, it might be more) Columbia River Brewing Co. in the Hollywood District (1728 NE 40th Avenue) started putting out a sandwich board in front of their entrance listing a wide variety of barbecued meat options. I asked them about it early on and they said they got a smoker and were taking advantage of it. This past weekend I noticed they had a new sign up on the northeast corner of Sandy and 40th Avenue with the words “Craft Beer & BBQ.”

You can get a great latte at Blend Coffee Lounge. On Sunday I was wandering around the Overlook neighborhood (with the aim of seeing the western end of N Kilingsworth Street; spoiler: it overlooks—get it?—the railroad tracks and what looks like the ports) and stopped in to Blend Coffee Lounge (2710 N Killingsworth Street) They made a gorgeous latte that tasted smooth and rich, with plenty of depth. The lounge part is super cute and stylish. What a gem in NoPo!

Gawd, she’s talking about those vegan cheeses again. This time it’s about what I wasn’t able to find—I was in New Seasons on 33rd Street in Concordia and looked for the two brands of vegan cheeses I’ve enjoyed—Miyoko’s and Treeline—and neither were to be found! For me, they are at the highest level of taste. There was plenty of Daiya and Chao but these spreadable cheeses I mention above are many levels of deliciousness above them. For now, I’ll do my supermarket vegan cheese shopping at WholeFoods until New Seasons ups their game. Also, where the heck do you buy a nut milk bag in this town?

Toum is magic sauce. This week, on the advice of a friend, I had dinner at Nicholas Restaurant (3223 NE Broadway) and ordered some kebabs, which were served with toum. Toum is a garlic sauce from the Middle East made with garlic, salt, olive oil and lemon juice. I’d had it once before in Queens but it was quite spicy and harsh in a way I don’t like, but the toum I had this week was smooth, garlicky, savory and fairly addictive. I was sad to when I got to the end of it. Looking forward to eating it again (and trying it at other spots around town).

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First Impressions: The Impossible Burger in Troutdale

impossible-burger-memenamis-edgefield
My first time with an Impossible Burger was a pleasant stroll through the uncanny valley.

Over the weekend we decided to take advantage of the sunny day with mild temperatures and head to McMenamins Edgefield out in Troutdale. After an easy bus ride we did a fair amount of exploring of the grounds, and decided to get something to eat at the Black Rabbit Bar. And what did I see on the menu? The Impossible Burger. I had been wanting to try it for some time, and this seemed like as good as any an opportunity to do so.

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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.

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Thank You, Vegans and Portland

It’s been nearing two weeks since I posted last and apart from general work business that is sometimes disruptive, I got sick with a virus. It was probably a cold—definitely not the flu—but unpleasant just the same because of fatigue and congestion. However, this time around there were two things that were undeniably different—A) I was constantly hungry (I wanted to eat all the time), and B) I didn’t consume dairy.

Now, I don’t have philosophical issues with dairy—I was once a raw milk drinker for many years. I love cheese (raw and pasteurized), yogurt, butter, ice cream, and I drink full fat lattes. I only really use non-dairy milk (coconut) when I prepare a chia breakfast bowl in the mornings. My unplanned abstinence from dairy confirmed something to be true that I’d been told over the years—cut out dairy to cut down on mucus. I know it is there for a reason but it’s also a real killjoy.

To go without dairy here in Portland was a breeze, and a lot of credit goes to our vegan friends who have worked hard for years to bring animal-free products into the true commercial mainstream. I was able to enjoy creamy salad dressings (tahini), coffee with milk (coconut milk), soft dark chocolate (also raw with no refined sugar—hats off to you, Honey Mamas), and yogurt (coconut milk). I’d actually like to try my hand at making coconut milk yogurt after this experience.

As an aside, I also plan to work on a ginger bug to make naturally fermented ginger ale, another good thing to drink when you’re sick (it’s also good any time).

As I continue to get over this virus, I plan to keep dairy out of my diet, and will take this opportunity to eat more dairy-free food. I don’t expect to eliminate it completely in the long run, but for now I’m content to explore the world sans dairy.