Tag: Viking Soul Food

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Four Things I Learned This Week (March 15)

Work for Ota Tofu. Over on Craigslist there’s a posting about a job in the early morning, making tofu. That means “operating our soy milk machines and cleaning machines after use” and “scooping and pressing tofu.” Starts at $17/hour. Ota Tofu is the oldest tofu companies in the U.S. and it is excellent. 812 SE Stark Street, Portland

Viking Soul Food is selling their cart at The Bite on Belmont. They’ll be keeping their restaurant in Woodstock, but the cart is for sale. Asking price: $20K. Their goal is to “focus on other opportunities” now that they have a brick and mortar, plus they are looking to do farmers markets, perhaps. As for when they are leaving Belmont, they said on Instagram, “Not entirely sure yet when the last day will be as that will be dependent on when the buyer wants to take over.” 4255 SE Belmont Street, Portland

Cow Bell Cheese Shop is helping the kids. Starting today and going until Sunday, March 17, head to Cow Bell Cheese Shop to participate in a fundraiser for Sunnyside Environmental School’s 8th grade Marine Biology trip to Catalina Island. I have to say, I love the Channel Islands and have great memories of visiting there in my youth—in fact, I played my first ever game of mini golf there on Catalina Island. I remember the water being incredibly clear just off-shore. Anyway, here’s more on the fundraiser:

“We will be donating 20% off our sales from those dates to the program—but more importantly, we are using this as an opportunity to “cheesify” the next generation of potential cheesemongers … We’ll be putting them to work every day of the fundraiser: cutting and wrapping cheese, handing out samples, making and serving fondue. If you enjoy discovering new cheeses at Cow Bell, but you’ve always been slightly disappointed by how tall the cheesemongers are, this is finally our chance to rectify that issue for you.” 231 SE Alder Street, Portland

Brains. BRAINS! Le Clown, which is “celebrating the modern bistronomy of France” there in the Dame Collective, is now offering cervelle: that’s poached brain, beurre citron, fried caper, and fine herbs. “Due to popular demand we’ve done it! We will be offering cervelle in limited quantities on Tuesdays only. Off menu, by request only. Come and get it!” If you like brains, this is a not-miss for you. 5425 NE 30th Avenue, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (October 21)

Jerry found a new home for Jerry’s Tavern, he but needs your help. After searching for months, Jerry Benedetto of what was known as Jerry’s Pizza, has found a location for his new pizza tavern (offering Midwest thin crust pizza). It is the old Night Light Lounge on 21st and Clinton in SE Portland (the neighborhood where Jerry’s Pizza began) but as you might know, it can be rather competitive when it comes to vying for commercial restaurant space in Portland. If you like what Jerry does and want to support him, you can sign his petition to help him nab this space.

In his words, “Your signature will help strengthen our letter of intent to the landlord and hopefully give our small, family-owned business a chance of bringing cracker crust to Portland. Thank you!”

Prescott Cafe has potentially sold. According to a recent OPB article, the Prescott Cafe, which closed for good at the end of September, got itself a buyer. From the article: “There’s a chance [it] could undergo another change. Owner Rose Funk says shortly after she closed the cafe’s doors for good, someone made a cash offer, seemingly with the intention of keeping it as a restaurant.” A Coldwell Banker sale page says “sale pending,” too. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Viking Soul Food is opening a brick & mortar. Good news for Viking Soul Food fans, past, present, and future. Their announcement on social media this week indicates they’ll be expanding (meaning the original truck will remain where it is on Belmont) into the Woodstock neighborhood:

“We are so excited to officially announce a new brick and mortar location coming to the Woodstock neighborhood in November! From an expanded menu, to potential deli offerings, to all the VSF classics, we can’t wait to welcome you in to our new space that’s filled with the love, warmth, values and flavors that have brought this community together for 12 beautiful years. We’re so thankful for your support and hope you’ll come see us!”

Café Zamora has a new location. I’ve always enjoyed my time spent at Café Zamora, which serves coffee from beans grown in Guatemala, and was sorry to learn they had to close. Good news, though: they have a new space on Powell near SE 36th, just three blocks away from the original location on Gladstone. They started a GoFundMe campaign and it met its goal within a few weeks, so the necessary work that needs to be done can start. In his words:

“We are waiting on plumbing permits for the landlord to start working on the water lines and sewer system, and as soon as that is done I will be able to install the sinks, grease trap, counter and do the set up for the working area to get an inspection for our licenses to operate.”

Good luck to the Café Zamora folks and I look forward to stopping by when they are back open.