Tag: vegan

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

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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

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Hollywood District’s Nectar Cafe Is Expanding

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“Pardon our dust.”

I was down in the Hollywood District the other day and noticed a bunch of changes have come to the little shopping center at NE Hancock and 41st Avenue: Portland Pastimes closed; Teal Flamingo moved into that space; and Nectar Cafe is moving into the space Teal Flamingo previously occupied, conveniently right next door. Continue reading “Hollywood District’s Nectar Cafe Is Expanding”

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A Look Back at the 10th Annual Portland Fermentation Festival

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A clever take on “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 10th Annual Portland Fermentation Festival AKA Stinkfest. Sure, it was aromatic in there (Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center) but not offensively so (at least to my nose). The event started a little after 6pm with a keynote speech by David Zilber of the Noma Fermentation Lab. It was a really inspiring talk and got me fired up again about fermentation (I used to do it a lot). I think his assertion that humans would not have survived, thrived, and progressed as a species without fermentation is spot on. I ended up purchasing his book, The Noma Guide to Fermentation and look forward to spending time fermenting various foods over the next year. Note: I’m pretty much a mediocre fermenter right now but this book will no doubt make me a better one.

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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).