Breakfast in Bridgetown

As reported by Food Dude, Ladybug Organic Cafe on Lombard has closed. It was a nice little place, and I’ll miss it. On the other hand, that’s one less place I have to figure a way to write about for the second edition.

I didn’t even know that had happened until I read today it will re-open as Bar Bar, according to PDX Eater. Too bad — I kind of liked that place.

I’ve been gone for a couple of weeks, so I am a little behind on the news. Still, this is sad: Belly Timber is closed. They said so on their website, and I give credit to PDXEater as where I heard about it.

It was a fine brunch, and I’ll miss it. It never even had a chance to make it into the book, but the Crew and I did get over there once, and we had this to say.

In fact, according to a sign in their window, they are only doing breakfast for three hours on Saturdays and Sundays. I was just talking this morning about how to decide who makes the second edition. Well, I think Skyline won’t.

UPDATE: Per a comment from them below, they open for dinner Friday April 9 and will do brunch Sundays, 10 to 2.

Pitxi (say it like “peachy”) is a weird place, and I’ve never even been there. For one thing, it used to be in Sandy, which strikes me as odd for a restaurant trying to be fancy or creative. And yes, I just outed myself as a big-city snob. Second, the dishes in this Mercury piece look bizarre, even if they sound tasty. And they apparently have this “cult” following.

Well, now they are setting up shop on N Lombard, and will be doing brunch next weekend. So we can all go solve this goofy little mystery for ourselves.

Just talked to the folks at the very fancy-looking Aquariva today. There’s nothing about it on their website, but they do have Sunday brunch now, from 10 to 2. They say they’re sending a menu, and I’ll share it when I get it.

This is down on the waterfront next to the Avion Hotel. And they sure seem to have some attractive customers! I mean, I look at this photo gallery, and it’s almost like they brought in some models or something. They wouldn’t do that, would they?

They also just announced, in a press release on PDXFoodPress, that they have a new executive chef. Stay tuned for a brunch report from the Breakfast Crew.

Okay, so this isn’t really new new, but I just noticed it on the FoodCartsPortland website. There’s another waffle cart in North Portland, at a pod on Killingsworth and Greely. They’re calling the pod the Refueling Station, which I think is silly and should be immediately changed to NoPoPod. And for now, NewNoPoPod.

Anyway, Wicked Waffles sounds pretty good. For example, today’s special, according to their Twitter feed, is the Monkey Business: banana nut waffle filled with bananas and whipped cream. And they have heated outdoor seating!

Over at FoodCartsPortland.com, there’s news of a new cart that is interesting in two ways. For one thing, bloop is the first cart in town to share with another cart. They are open 7 to 10 a.m., and then somebody else comes in for lunch. Makes sense, right?

Also, they are the first in town to do oatmeal — or, at least, to focus on it. My friend Mindie, always a proponent of oatmeal on my radio show, will be thrilled.

Here is what dieselboi — himself once a guest on my show — had to say about a meal at bloop:

The rolled oats are made on the spot with ingredients like nuts, fruit, agave syrup, and different spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The dish I enjoyed included oats, almond milk, banana, almonds, agave drizzle and cinnamon mix (cinnamon, brown sugar and finely chopped nuts.) All of that is served hot, so you get that great hearty feeling of eating a hot breakfast on a cool winter morning. I really enjoyed the warm bananas and chopped almonds mixed in with the oats and it sated me until lunchtime.

Read the whole thing here.

I ate a fine breakfast at Bakery Bar this morning, and am happy that my house- and dog-sitting gig next week is just a few blocks away. They had a sign saying that table service (aka wait staff) would start tomorrow, March 20.

I also got an email from a cook at Pitxi, which used to be in Sandy but is moving to Portland. As of April 9, they will be at 5225 N Lombard, which looks from this map to be the old Encanto space. They don’t seem to have a website — do not put a .com after their name if you’re easily offended — but I found a 2009 review from The Oregonian that made it sound pretty good.

Is it sill a “soft” opening if the local daily newspaper announces it? Who knows. Anyway, Tasty & Sons is the place I mentioned here last week, opening up for brunch service in the old Nutshell space on N Williams. This story from Oregonian even has some menu items, almost all to be priced under $10, and including chocolate potato donuts. Mmmm.