Portland food news and views
One of my favorite food weeks is almost here, Portland Pizza Week, brought to you buy the Portland Mercury. This year Pizza Week starts Monday, April 18 to Sunday, April 24. Slices are $3 this year, with pies for 20 bucks. 28 different places are participating!
Continue reading “Portland Pizza Week 2022 Is Coming”Din Tai Fung is coming to Pioneer Place. I first caught wind of this yesterday from the Portland Business Journal and yesterday morning The Oregonian confirmed it. A second Portland Biz Journal article confirmed it, too: “A representative for Brookfield Properties and Pioneer Place confirmed Thursday that a world renowned Taiwanese restaurant is coming to Pioneer Place shopping center.” This is a win for soup dumpling lovers in Portland. Look for a 2023 opening. 700 SW 5th Avenue, Portland
Two 82nd Ave wings recommendations. This week I picked up on two solid recommendations of places to get tasty quality wings in Portland—Utopia Lounge and Mekong Bistro. Utopia Lounge is in the northern section of Montavilla, and according to Yelp they’ve done some recent renovation inside (there’s karaoke, too). Their fish sauce wings (these are the style of wings made famous at Pok Pok) with a cold beer is the perfect pairing; pepper salted squid and shaking beef also come recommended. Then there’s the “Crazy Wings” at Mekong Bistro in Madison South, a Cambodian restaurant. A “thick fish garlic sauce” enrobes the wings, accompanied by crispy onions. 1125 NE 82nd Avenue and 8200 NE Siskiyou Street, Portland
Food Fight! vegan grocery has new owners. Beth and Adam are the new owners of Food Fight! and posted about it over on the FF! Facebook page. They wrote, “We are best friends that have been married 25 years. Some of you may already know Beth from the store, she’s been working here the last few months. Adam is a Master Mechanic who loves to share his knowledge with anyone that needs help. Portland has been our home for a few years now and we love this vegan paradise.” Read more over on the post. 11155 NE Halsey Street, Portland
Flour Market cafe featured on GoodStuffNW. Kathleen Bauer, who writes the excellent blog GoodStuffNW, stopped in at Flour Market, a bakery/cafe that opened up recently on 30th Avenue and Killingsworth and wrote about her time there. I liked this part especially:
“I myself am particularly fond of the pastelitos, squared layers of shatteringly crisp, flaked croissant dough that Matt, the croissant savant at the market’s production bakery, whose family has roots in Puerto Rico, made and filled with cream cheese and a guava paste that an aunt sent in a care package.”
Guava and cheese, one of my favorite combinations. I look forward to stopping in soon. 5507 NE 30th Avenue, Portland
What a week—I almost had Grand Jury Duty, but wasn’t randomly picked, so Bridgetown Bites will continue to publish this month, when it was at risk of taking a month-long hiatus (Grand Jury Duty is a month-long commitment). Have a good weekend!
A reminder about Ukranian perogies. Every Saturday at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Sellwood sells Ukrainian-style perogies, cabbage rolls, and garlic sausages. This is just one way to support the Ukrainian community in Portland. 8014 SE 16th Avenue, Portland
Kachka is raising funds to help Ukraine. 100% of proceeds of their Chervona Wine cocktail will be donated to Red Cross Ukraine to support the people experiencing the war in Ukraine. 960 SE 11th Avenue, Portland
Pho Kim reopens. They’ve been in the midst of a soft opening this past week, and this 82nd Avenue Vietnamese restaurant will have their grand opening on Sunday, March 6. Back in 2020 a fire shut them down and they’ve been working on repairs since then. Along with enjoying delicious food there will be a White Lotus Lion Dance performance around noon to celebrated the re-opening. Check out the Montavilla News article for more info. 2204 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland
Vtopia Restaurant & Cheese Shop is now Fru Fru Terra. This vegan cheese shop in SW Portland has changed their name and currently operates as a vegan cheese and wine bar. They have set their sights on moving to SE Portland from their current Goose Hollow location, likely in fall 2022. Now, why did they change their name to Fru Fru Terra? Here’s their explanation:
“It is in abbreviation of the Latin words, Frui Fruges Terrae, which means to ‘enjoy fruits of the earth,’ which is precisely the experience we want you to have when entering our new space and elevated concept.” 1628 SW Jefferson Street, Portland
Today is World Cancer Day. If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I want to emphasize that early detection really does save lives (as a cancer survivor, I can personally attest to that). Please take care of yourselves! Thanks for allowing me this PSA; now, on to the news.
Beaverton Farmers Market returns tomorrow. The Beaverton Farmers Market Winter Market begins on Saturday, February 5 from 10am to 1:30pm. One important thing they want you to remember is that because they don’t close off the streets, the layout is different and that means your favorite vendors may be in a different place compared to the summer market. There’s an Info booth with folks that can help you find the vendors you seek. Read more in the market’s newsletter. 12375 SW 5th Street, Beaverton
Sundaes at Red Sauce. Shar posted about the upcoming caramel cake sundaes they are putting together at the pizzeria and the whole thing looks pretty delicious. Check it out on their Facebook page. 4641 NE Fremont Street, Portland
Next Level expansion. The news came out this week that plant-based burger spot Next Level is preparing for a major expansion: “Next Level Burger, a plant-based burger joint from Bend that serves up vegan burgers, fries, shakes and other offerings, just announced plans to open 18 new storefronts by the end of 2025 — including one on West Burnside this year.” This is a nationwide plan, with new restaurants planned for the west coast, in the southwest and northeast, plus more menu options at all locations. Currently, you can find Next Level in Portland on SE Hawthorne and in Lake Oswego. Portland Business Journal has more.
Russian food in Portland featured on PBS. The Migrant Kitchen, the Emmy-winning documentary series produced by KCET in association with with life&thyme (a storytelling content space), featured Bonnie Morales and Kachka on February 1. You can view it on YouTube, life&thyme’s website, or below.
Photo credit: Homegrown Smoker
Homegrown Smoker, the beloved and trailblazing vegan barbecue spot in St. Johns, may have new life after all. It closed back in December; it was for sale; hopes were high for its return. Now, according to publicly-accessible city documents, it looks like a new person is involved, and is getting ready to re-open the restaurant at its most recent location in St. Johns.
Continue reading “New Life for Homegrown Smoker”