Breakfast in Bridgetown

The Upper West Side, that is — of Manhattan. I’ve always said that my career as “the breakfast guy” started as a travel writer for the Memphis Flyer. I still hold that position, and I still occasionally write about a place by describing a meal there — in this case, breakfast at Sarabeth’s on West Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan.

If a 10-day tour of Tuscany, focusing on food and wine and hiking and culture and history, sounds good to you, click here.

If I wanted to be lazy, I’d just go with … “What he said.”

But here’s a better effort.

When I set out to write Breakfast in Bridgetown, it was because it brought together four of my favorite things: food, people, stories and writing. It started as just a cool idea, then became a business idea, and now what I like to call a Vast Breakfast Empire.

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I always get a kick out of seeing my book mentioned in the paper. In this case, Oregonian food writer Grant Butler was nice enough to call Breakfast in Bridgetown “indispensable.” Thanks! Read his full preview of the PBS breakfast show here.

Yes, “Breakfast Special” will air this Wednesday, July 14, on OPB at 8 p.m. The featured restaurants in Portland are Helser’s and Tin Shed. And here is the story of the taping, from my perspective.

I confess I can’t wait to see it — although my enthusiasm is dulled a bit by the thought of my face appearing on high-definition TV sets all over the country. I am also bummed that I am out of books. I can already hear myself telling publishers the cautionary tale entitled, “Don’t let yourself run out of books right before you appear in a national television documentary on the subject of your work!” Egads.

If you’re looking for books: There was one left at Amazon.com on Monday; same at Powells.com. I’ve also seen them in stores at Powell’s and at New Seasons. And some of these places might still have them, as well. Otherwise, we all might have to hang on for the second edition, due in October.

Enjoy the show!

The “we love Tasty n Sons” media train has officially left the station. First the Mercury last week, and now the Oregonian. Willamette Week can’t be far behind. And neither can my radio show, for that matter.

Seems like everybody loves Tasty N Sons — myself included, based on one visit. Now the Mercury has called it “the most exciting brunch spot in Portland.”

Rick Sebak is the TV producer who came to town a while back working on a show about breakfast. As part of this, I spent a couple mornings with him, at Helser’s and Tin Shed. Rick’s account of the day at Helser’s is here.

Well, now the nice folks at Rick’s home office (WQED in Pittsburgh) have put up a little video “taste” of the show, Breakfast Special. It’s about a minute of footage from Helser’s, focusing on the Scotch Egg, and featuring a shot of some goofball and his lovely friend being served their breakfast — which wasn’t a Scotch Egg, as I recall, but still.

Check it out!

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.

Fun interview with the three North Carolinians behind Pine State Biscuits. We’re all still waiting for that NE Alberta location! Read the interview here.

While we’re at it, here’s a review from the same site, back in 2008.

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!