Oregon Cheese is Number One!
This just in, Oregon Cheeses won over 22 awards at the annual American Cheese Society Conference held last week in Burlington, Vermont, including 7 first place prizes in various categories. Woo-Hoo! We can’t possibly do this story justice, so for more information just check out the comprehensive on-the-scene reporting over at The Pacific NW Cheese Project.
In A Nutshell
No way. A vegan restaurant in Portland that doesn’t suck? Word is Nutshell, owned by the Tabla folks and located on N. Williams (near Pix), is good. Very good. I have no more information yet, such as a menu or hours of operation, but Alt Portland does. If anyone else has eaten there, let us know what you think.
Je T’aime Poutine! SOMETIMES Available in Portland at Clyde Common. 
So bad for your health, you know it just has to taste good. Oui, oui, Poutine (pronounced a little like peu-tin, at least most of the time) is simply French fries, brown (chicken) gravy and fresh cheese curds thrown together in one bowl of heart attack inducing grease, fat, and salt. Mostly available in French speaking Canada (and a few other places) Poutine has inspired whole fast food restaurants that specialize in the dish, websites, and even poetry and songs. It has even become a less than nice slang term. First the NY Times wrote about the Poutine trend starting to pop up in New York restaurants. Then Scott Moore at the Portland Mercury wondered if anyone here had ever tried some. Now the unofficial dish of shame and pride of the Québécois people has finally arrived in the Rose City at the Florida Room on N. Killingsworth. Of course Clyde Common serves served theirs with foie gras, in the style of some of the more upscale Montreal restaurants, but we won’t complain about that.
Science Says Coffee is Bad For You. No Wait, Science Says Coffee is Good For You.
Speaking of unhealthy foods, I can’t keep up anymore with the drama of the conflicting pseudo scientific information on coffee. Good thing I just ignore it anyway. So what if my 4 cup a day habit might have destroyed my nerves. At least my liver is in good shape and my skin is glowing: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice.
Alberta Street News
Lots of stuff happening on this increasingly busy food street. First off, construction is blazing away on a new bar opening soon on NE 10th and Alberta. No word yet on what it will be or when it will open, and there is no OLCC license in the window. I took a peek in earlier this week and it looks promising – large, open, and airy with a nice seclude beer garden in the back. Stay tuned…Lolo, the soon to be open Tapas bar on 30th and Alberta states they are opening this month with soft openings to begin in two weeks. Walking by and seeing how much more work they have left to do, I’m a little skeptical about this. We’ll see…Bento Bois, a casual bento station is set up next to the bar The Nest at 18th and Alberta. Haven’t tried it yet, but it will be nice to have some cheap options on Alberta besides burritos and pizza.Finally, unsubstantiated rumor alert. We’ve heard that the bar/restaurant Zatoons at 22nd and Alberta is sweating over lack of business (and cash flow) and may only have a couple of months left…They also might be entertaining buy-out offers if anyone is interested…
Pizzeria and a Café on NE Ainsworth and 30th?
Another great tip from Joanna:
An Americian café (name unknown) and a separate pizza joint called Pizza Momizza are moving in. The Café will be open all day and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. I asked what kind of food and the guy out front (in broken English) told me what I just told you plus he said “American food”. When I said, “you mean like burgers” he said “no – café food. American. Putting in bar. Open in 2 months, maybe.”
Little Red Bike Café. Are You Open Yet?
Is it possible to fall in love with something that doesn’t yet exist? Check out their blog and you’ll see what I mean. Because if the food at their café is even half as good as what is presented on their website, then how lucky those close to N. Lombard will be…So, give us the word. When is the Little Red Bike Cafe opening?
Food and Wine Wiki
Emailed to me last week and paraphrased:
Food & Wine Magazine has launched the Food & Wine across America wiki. The goal of this site is to celebrate the amazing food to be found in every corner of America-not just the big cities….Since Food & Wine Across America is a Wetpaint wiki, you can share your favorite spots (restaurants, markets, bakeries, wine stores and more) and invite others to do the same. We want to give these destinations a place of honor on our national food map. To participate on the site, sign-up and create a user profile. You’ll be able to browse the site, as well as post comments, upload photos, embed videos, create new pages and edit pages that already exist.
http://wiki.foodandwine.com Link bad now
Fresh Fried Plantains
Has anyone else seen the lady with the bicycle cart peddlin’ around town (mostly in NE) selling traditional fried plantains? She sometimes sets up shop in the parking lot of the Alberta Street Coop at NE 15th, but I haven’t seen her in about a week. Her plantains are delicious. Freshly cut and fried to order, 2 dollars gets you a heaping box of either salty and savory or sugared sweet chips perfect for snacking and strolling. If you see her, let me know.
According to the Pearl Insider, the location formerly known as Graze and Nina’s Place will soon have a new identity: Leonardo’s on Lovejoy.Owner Leonard Whitecotton and his wife Deborah plan to serve up traditional southern Italian cuisine with the help of chef Michael McGary (formerly of Pazzo). You can read more over at their website. (link no longer good)
Thanks for the link luv, CBF! Nutshell is open 7 days a week,11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. They take cash only but have an ATM onsite. And, they have wifi. Nick Zukin’s put up a copy of the menu at Portland Food: portlandfood.org/very_long_url_here
Finally, poutine in Portland! . . . I hear it’s also available at the Florida Room on Killingsworth . . .
I don’t know about Nutshell, but Proper Eats is amazing. I’ve never had anything to beat it.
My inner cannuck is salivating. Thanks for finding that.
~n
Wow, I can’t believe the ‘toon may close. That’s the suck.
I’ll have to drowned my sorrows across town in some poutine if that happens. Fact is, for all the bars on Alberta there are only a few that can mix drinks worth a damn. Bernie’s, Alberta Street Oyster Bar, and Zaytoon. Yup. That about covers it.
Thank you so much for the update. I’ll try Nutshell for lunch this week.
oh, also, try Mississippi Ave. during lunch hours for the plantain lady.
i’ve heard the 10th & alberta place will be called something like alberta arts neighborhood bar & grill, which sounds like pub grub is the plan, which would be great if its good. also you missed the latest news that a french bakery is going into the Baraka space at 18th & alberta. has anyone tried the Local Beet yet (24th & alberta)? would love to know how that one is.
re: The Local Beet, the most worthwhile item on their menu is the vegan Caesar (I’m not a vegan). They have a provincial plate that is pretty healthy and under ten bucks. It’s really best for those nights where you want to go lean.
They do make their own limeade and ginger ale. Both are pretty good. The Hwy 97 is the cocktail I usually order. Tasty.
Frankly, I don’t really get this place. It seems funny that it’s owned by Cup and Saucer because it seems a little halfway there. The service is actually great. I think because it’s the hand-picked recruits from the other locations.
The menu for nutshell looks pretty good for not having delicious meat. I have a question: If most restaurants get slammed when they don’t have at least two veggie options, shouldn’t a veggie restaurant have at least two meat options? Seems only fair to me.
Cheers!
Nutshell sounds very promising – wow. I’m excited and I’m not even a vegetarian, much less vegan. Brown sugar sherbet! I must find out if it’s as much of a stroke of genius as it sounds on paper.
But why do they have to perpetuate the horrible, cringe-inducing Rachael Ray EVOO acronym (see menu)? WHY? That is seriously almost enough to keep me away. It hurts my eyes and ears. Seriously.
I cannot agree with you more, Jo, on the extra virgin olive oil acronym. On paper it’s not so bad, but it does really grate when I hear it.
Like nails on chalkboard
Sounds like an acronym for really c”"”py” olive oil to me.
Nutshell maybe treading on trademarked property. I saw a bottle of “Rachel Ray ‘EVOO’” on the New Seasons’ shelves the other day.
I went to Clyde Common last night: no more poutine :-(
They’ve changed the menu. We asked if maybe they could throw some together for us, and the waiter did go check with the kitchen, but they couldn’t accommodate the request.
The chicken fried chicken livers and service were excellent though!
50.00 gift certificates for 25.00 for Pasha going on sale today:
http://katu.mediawebconnect.com/
Much thanks to CBF and The Dude for the electronic “shout-out.” We’ve been huge PFD-heads for the last few years and we blushed reading about ourselves on the site. We’re working hard to ensure that an early Septmenber opening will be possible. Please feel free to contact us with any idea, suggestion, and/or potential ice cream flavors you’d like us to churn up. We will surely submit our menu to The Dude upon our opening.
Thanks again,
Ali & Evan
Little Red BIke Cafe
1. Poutine. Thanks for the update. Note updated post. Clyde Common – put Poutine back on the menu! At least late night si vous plat.
2. Ali and Evan. Thanks for letting us (me!) know when you are opening. Ice Cream Flavors. Yes. I have many ideas. I read about Caramel Corn Ice Cream last month somewhere and have been dreaming about it ever since.
Just because the poutine was off the menu last night at Clyde Common doesn’t mean it won’t be back on again soon, I suspect. Based on my handful of visits there, the restaurant seems to constantly be updating its menu — taking things off, putting them back on, tweaking recipes — much more than any other restaurant in town. (I don’t know why — I just assumed it had to do with availability of ingredients or something — but it’s among Clyde Common’s many charms.) I think most Portlanders just haven’t caught on to that fact yet.
Papaki, so true. It is the charm and annoyance of Clyde. The charm being the surprise factor of you never know what wonderful, new, and delicious thing might appear. The annoyance is perhaps let’s say one might have gone to a Timber’s game earlier and drank a whole bunch of Portland’s finest microbrews. Alas, nothing is better after a night of soccer and beer than something like French fries with gravy and cheese. After the 15 minute walk from PGE park, dreaming and salivating of said Poutine, Clyde Commons appears like a beacon of hope. Alas, no Poutine to be had. Bummer.
Catch my drift?
Perhaps I should just update the post to be: Poutine, maybe it’s available at Clyde Common, maybe not.
A bacon of hope?
I had never heard of
Poutine prior to this,
but I think this places
with E=MC2
or H2O hops barley
We gathered a group of wannabe-Canadians to get Poutine last night at the Florida Room. Unfortunately we were told that there was none to be had. :-(
We’re still hoping that we just went at the wrong time and that maybe the folks working that shift were just unaware of this special delight. Clearly more investigation is needed before we give up on poutine in Porland. If anyone has additional info, please share it here.
Oh good lord, how hard can it be to find Poutine in Portland? Apparently harder than finding a good slice of pizza in Paris, or a panna cotta in Phnom Penh.
Well, all you Portland restaurants out there. Clearly there is a demand for Poutine, so hop to it and let us know when you get it on the menu. We are available for tasting consults if you need it…
Updating food news now.
can’t you just order it Five-Easy-Pieces style?
–Do you have chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy?
Okay, i want that without the chicken and i’ll have fries instead of mash potatoes. With a side of cheese, please.
Or wet fries with whiz, if you are in PA
perhaps Cuisine you should saunter past LOLO again, looks like they are about to open, paper down, tables set, folks sitting at the bar last night…pretty eminent I do believe.
Glad to hear that. They must have had a 24 hour team of elves working hard the past couple of weeks.
Do you know when they open?
I’m told the official opening is Friday of this week.
We were told Friday of this week as well. After breakfast last Saturday my husband and I took a peek through the open door. There were indeed several elves working away. We were told the opening would be this Friday. The space looks impressive. We can’t wait to check it out.
We were told Friday of this week as well. After breakfast last Saturday my husband and I took a peek through the open door. There were indeed several elves working away. We were told the opening would be this Friday. The space looks impressive. We can’t wait to check it out.