Pok Pok’s Andy Ricker to Open Chinatown Eatery
From OregonLive,
Pok Pok owner Andy Ricker is teaming with John C. Jay, Weiden+Kennedy’s branding guru, and his fashion-designer wife Janet Jay to open Ping, a restaurant in Chinatown slated for winter 2008-2009.
…Ping will be a casual hub for Asian snacking and drinking in the (now vacant) bottom floor of the Hung Far Low Building at 102-106 N.W. Fourth Ave. Unlike Pok Pok, Ricker says Ping will be a cross between a izakaya (Japanese pub) and a Southeast Asian cafe and coffeehouse.
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And how is this Chinese? ..you know, Chinatown, Chinese…? Am I weird, or should Chinatown be Chinese? I long for San Francisco and real Chinese food.
I for one am tired of that area being relegated as “Chinatown” and for all things exclusively Chinese, according to the uninformed minds of some. MANY groups have extensively inhabited or conducted business there in a major way over the years and they are forgotten as if they had never existed there. Blacks, Japanese (was JAPANTOWN until the detention camps), many other immigrants, gangsters, and prostitutes to name but a few. It didn’t become “Chinatown” until after WWII. Why should a gate and a garden dictate some kind of ethnic purity? Sheesh. It has always been a richly diverse hood.
An edible place to eat in “Chinatown” would be a welcome departure, as everything there sucks bigtime.
Best restaurant in Vancouver’s Chinatown is Phnom Penh, which is Cambodian/Viet. Perhaps the business association should drive them out. Best Chinese is in Richmond BC.
Best Chinese places in SF are in Richmond neighborhood not Chinatown.
yogi,
All that history is interesting, but why is it being called “Chinatown”? This is 2008, not 1946. I’m not interested in SE Asian food. I want Chinese. Why don’t they just change the name of the area adorned with Chinese facades to “Asia Town”? As for the others you mentioned as being a presence in that area, – they’re still there! I would never take my family there. Shootings, robberies, drugs, aggressive panhandlers – far too diverse for my family.
Pat,it’s a big, frightening world out there.
the ‘asia town’ you might like exsists.
it’s at disneyland, right between
the land of tommorrow (people movers!)
and frontier land (injuns!)
full of friendly s.e. asians
and no scary ‘others’
you can ask for the bread basket and get one…
with margarine.
good eating, after your own fashion…
is this area so frightening? anyone else remember it even 10 or 12 yeas ago?
strange, wierd, filthy, and very diverse sure,
but genuinley scary?
The pearl scares the heck outa me,
it’s SO clean, upscale, and stepford.
yet loud, boorish and fratgirly.
the pearl scares me because is is seen as an ideal,
a goal, something to strive for.
dine and whine,
work, buy, consume, die.
Good on you Sidemeat. You got it exactly right. I’ve visited other cities, so I’m not too skeered in Chinatown. And there are some very nice places to eat.
PING?! oh, man, you can’t buy this kind of branding…
oh, wait, you can.
make check to ‘john c jay’
DANG! THAT’S a good name too!
Janet Jay?
well, THAT explains why i’m wearing $100 flip flops
pardon me, i gotta take this call;
(yeah dog! where you at?
huh? nothing, just bloggin’,
yeah, yeah, ol’ tick tak and all of that…
uh huh, well, don’t let those fools get you down…
listen, gotta go. gonna make a point here maybe…)
as the pearl swallows old towne/asia towne
remember sidemeat llc, your source for discount branding
‘PONG’ just sayin,
will work for booze…
You want to know why Chinatown died? No Chinese live downtown. 82nd is booming. Why? It’s where they live and it’s convenient. Who can afford to live downtown? The Pearl as far as I’m concerned has become CondoTown. HipsterTown! Hipsters will love a new hangout to drink overpriced cocktails and shop at an “Asian” grocery. Might not be distinctly Chinese – but hey it will certainly stop the bleeding that has been going on in China Town the past 10 years…
I live at the Pearl and I love it.Your reflexive dismiss of the Pearl is too predictable.I could never live in the East side, it’s mostly ugly (frequently unkempt) houses, not compact enough to walk, public transport is poor etc.. I love quite a few restaurants there, so I will drive there occasionally…Portland needs to develop its Naito Parkway frontage more (I would love a condo or townhouse facing the parkway and the waterfront park) as well as the Old Town and Chinatown area (I agree, no one needs a fake Chinatown, let it go already)
Nikos, dont hate on “unlucky boy” he is just jealous that he doesnt live in the Pearl or SW. Because of us “hipsters” the Pearl creates another 125 million in surplus tax dollars that the city of Portland spends foolishly ( thank you Mayor Potter and Mayo elect Adams ) . I for one am THRILLED that there will hopefully be a quality Asian cuisine in our Chinatown. If its anything like Pok Pok the Portland dining scene will improve even more. BTW I am not a hipster, I work 50 plus hours a week in the restaurant industry as a manager. My wife and I work hard for the finer things in life ( a condo in the Pearl, and Grand Cru Burgundy ). We choose to live in the Pearl for the convience, safety, and life style.
I also live in the Pearl and I’m far from a hipster or yuppy or whatever stereotype people want to use these days. I also work long hours in the restaurant industry and I would love to have another dining option within walking distance. We live in the Pearl mostly for convenience…my wife and I can walk to work. Although, unlike Amoureuse, I prefer Clos St Jacques and my bottles of Grand Cru Burgundy are too young to fully appreciate!
Also, on another subject ( Bluehour ) . I cant seem to register on that forum, but I heard Scott Shampine is still there, but he had a terrible accident two Saturday nights ago. On his way home from work, someone hit him in the head with a baseball bat and stole his bike. Scott recieved 40 plus stiches/staples to his head and lost three teeth from the impact of the blow to the heaad. I am sure with that much damage he also got a concussion. Good cook, but boy he has either bad luck, or no luck at all. Too bad things have gone down hill at Bluehour. I used to love bruch at bluehour, and lunch. Too many “cougars” around for dinner though. My new schedule has me working week-ends and off on Monday and Tuesday so brunch isnt an option for now. Maybe Bruce and Joe have too much going on right now with two kids and all. Everyone knows they expect alot in their managers, but the pay is terrible. I guess you pay for what you get.
Jesus, that’s just horrible Amoureuse. I hope Mr. Shampine is recuperating and is well, relatively speaking.
Call the neighborhood whatever you may, I’ll be more than pleased to be within walking distance to one of Mr. Ricker’s restaurants. Neighborhoods change constantly, and that’s what makes cities exciting. I hope more Portland restauranteurs follow Ping into what’s likely to become one of Portland’s most dynamic hoods. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for Uwajimaya.
and, for what its worth, the stats show that homeownership in the Pearl is dominated by the over 60 crowd….. very hip over 60′s.
I can see the headlines after neighborhood collapse…”broken hip”…
Yeah enough with the haters. The Pearl also adds diversity to beloved grungy Portland. Funny how NW 23rd suddenly seems so provincial.
Nikos, you are welcome to continue visiting us on the East Side, but it seems like you might need to polish your glasses.
Oooh, I can’t WAIT!
Why live in Brooklyn, if you can afford to live in Manhattan? I mean, the pizza is great at Grimaldi’s and all, but I’d rather come back to the Upper West Side when it’s over…
why live in portland if you want manhatten?
Fresh Air!
Times Square!
you might think you’re moving on up,
to a delux apartment in the sky,
but really you’e stuck in pixley.
good thing is
the $24 cocktails are only $12.
don’t get caught in the sidewalks when they roll up at 1:00 am
Sidemeat, your last line betrays your Surrealist tendencies. Here’s something you would appreciate from Andre Breton: “It is living and ceasing to live which are imaginary solutions. Existence is elsewhere”