Review: Mekong Grill

(updated 7.09 with prices, hours, and one visit) Since the drive to work takes me down SE 13th Avenue every day, and since I love a good bowl of pho, I was delighted to discover this new place, which features beef pho and chicken pho as their daily specials. I’ve had their beef pho several times; the broth lacks the overtones of sweet spice in Pho Van’s version, but makes... [Read more]

Portland Food News for 12.23.06

As Meriwether’s works to restore the reputation once enjoyed by its predecessor, L’Auberge, chef Tommy Habetz has some first-rate, if temporary, help in the kitchen. Tony Demes, late of the lamented Couvron is working with Tommy in the back as he seeks out a owner/operator opportunity to showcase his skills. Meriwether’s is also looking for a top-notch general... [Read more]

Do Restaurants Cheat Patrons with Non-Organic Products?

I was browsing the excellent Food of Salem blog, and found the top story so interesting I had to steal it. With the proliferation of “organic” produce and meats on restaurant menus, I occasionally look around and wonder – who checks this stuff. I could open a burger stand tomorrow and claim I use nothing but Food Dude Organic Isles triple washed greens, and... [Read more]

Top Dining Trends for 2007

The following press-release has been floating around the internet for the last week or so. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? I’d be curious to know what you think. Top Dining Trends for 2007. By Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co. Tuesday, 12th December 2006 Restaurant consultants have forecast ten major dining trends that impact how people will eat in the year ahead. Joseph... [Read more]

Baking Bread Goodness: An Interview with Ken Forkish

Of all the bakers who run successful bakeries here in the Rose City, one of the most well known and highly regarded has to be Ken’s Artisan Bakery. Owner Ken Forkish has a well known story of leaving the high tech workforce to pursue his dream of running a bakery. The success of Ken’s Artisan Bakery has also recently spawned the opening of Ken’s Artisan Pizza, which has... [Read more]

Review: Cricket Cafe

I used to have this friend Bob, from back east. St. Louis, specifically, but in Oregon that’s “back east.” Bob was a Deadhead and a pot head, not generally a guy anyone called “uptight,” but Bob used to go berserk at the slow pace of the service industry in Oregon. We once got tossed out of the Montage because he couldn’t get anybody’s... [Read more]

Portland Food News for December 11, 2006

The Gossip Star of Portland Not lots of real news to speak of, so let’s just throw some rumors out there. I just sit around after a few cocktails, and make them up, so just take them with a grain of salt. Josh Blythe, of Roux is thinking about moving on. He wants to leave and focus on starting his own place, which begs the question, who is going to take the helm at Roux?... [Read more]

Should Restaurants Accept Reservations?

This topic is getting many more comments than I expected, so I’ve copied all related comments from the Pigeon thread to this post. Feel free to continue in the comment section below. (This issue, by the way, will be taken care of soon, when I get around to turning on the much requested forums feature.)   Bigfoot: Mobie, We tried to have the same experience. We arrived... [Read more]

Review: Patanegra

I thought food writing would be easy. I would go to a restaurant three times, write a thoughtful, yet witty review, and be done with it. This has not yet proven to be the case. Sometimes the restaurant makes it hard on me “I want to like it, but due to the food or service issues, I just can’t. However, Patanegra is one of the easy ones. Okay. I admit it. I’m... [Read more]

Morgan Brownlow Not Returning to clarklewis

Morgan has declared his “free agent” status, and will not be returning as chef at clarklewis. It will be interesting to see where he ends up. I broke this story here this afternoon, but now The Oregonian has some more information. During the implosion, Brownlow lost his 50 percent ownership, leading to a growing dispute with David Howitt, the venture capitalist... [Read more]