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Pet Peeves in Dining Service and Catching Up on News

Lots of things have been going on that I haven’t had time to post about, so I’m just going to bring everyone up to date. The Pix on Hawthorne has closed. After many years on NW Glisan, The Brazen Bean has lost their lease, and will closing on April 5th. Another good date place that I will miss. The porch
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Biwa

It’s hard to be terribly impressed with Japanese restaurants in Portland. Aside from a couple of outstanding examples, Japanese restaurants here are fairly mediocre and formulaic. Sloppy mayo-filled sushi rolls, pasty overcooked udon noodles in packaged broths, and sugary sweet teriyakis are Portland’s curse. This is most apparent in our lack of good noodle shops and absence of the wonderful
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City of Portland Food Carts Study and Survey

Food Cartology – City of Portland Studies Local Food Carts What Impact are Food Carts having on our Community? The Portland Bureau of Planning in partnership with a group of Masters of Urban and Regional Planning students from Portland State University are conducting an analysis of food carts in Portland, including a short online survey. As paraphrased from the City’s
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How Should You Signal To Your Waiter You Are Finished Eating

After giving it lots of thought (untold nights tossing and turning), I have decided I fall firmly into the “cross knife and fork” camp when it comes to removing empty plates. Here’s my logic: I tend to eat fast, though I have slowed down as I’ve entered my er… waning years. Most of my dining companions eat much more slowly.
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Starbucks Buys Clover

Starbucks Coffee announced today that they had acquired Coffee Equipment Company, maker of the much vaunted Clover coffee brewing machine. You may remember that they were the trendy single cup brewer that all the cool kids were putting in their shops in 2007 (for somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 apiece). Stumptown put four in its Stark Street location; be
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Review: Pine State Biscuits

Witness the humble American biscuit. It’s not very big, it doesn’t store well, and it’s not particularly attractive. I think it’s safe to say that you won’t see biscuits at your local Boulangerie any time soon. Biscuits just don’t get that kind of respect. Enter Pine State Biscuits, who have come to Portland on a mission. Any discussion of the
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Restaurant of the Year, 2007 – My Candidates

It wasn’t difficult to come up with candidates for Restaurant of the Year. Many terrific new ones have opened, and others have matured. I didn’t have any trouble sitting down and dashing off a list of ten. I started revisiting all the restaurants, and quickly narrowed it down to three. In making my decision, I took into account ambiance, value,
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