Breakfast in Bridgetown

Has the Detour Cafe really been around for seven years? I swear I thought it was newer than that — probably because it’s practically hidden behind the vegetation on its porch. Anyway, ate there today and loved it. I had a frittata (more on that in a bit), potatoes and a great cheddar muffin (with scallions and sweet corn) for $8.75, plus a cup of Stumptown for $1.25. A darn fine meal for $12 with tip.

Anyway, their trademark is the build-your-own three-egg frittata, choosing two ingredients from a list of two dozen herbs, meats and cheeses. And they throw in roasted onions for nothing! Mine had smoked salmon and goat cheese and was cooked perfectly. C had the French Toast (cardamom bread, custard-tipped and topped with cherry compote and toasted almonds) and T had a breakfast sandwich on focaccia.

We all agreed that the ingredients were fresh and cooked well, the tastes were distinct and right-on, and the portions were quite good. Check it out — but it’s pretty small, so I suspect weekend lines are long.

Anyway, I’m gonna write it up this weekend, and maybe I’ll share that here. Also, I’ve got an outing on tap for Sunday — leave a comment or email me if you want in on it!

So I had my first (to my knowledge) vegan donuts this morning, and I have to say they were darn good — and I never would have known they involved no critter at all.

I went to the new Sweetpea Baking location at 1205 SE Stark, which is a little short on scenery — a lot of concrete and empty space, a few tables, an easy-to miss coffee fixin’s counter — but long on options. Today, for donuts, they had glazed, chocolate covered, chocolate-coconut, and Boston cream. The case was filled with many other treasures, though.

I got a glazed and a Boston, and I’d say their main characteristic was that they seemed a little sturdier than your average donut. Maybe there’s something in the critter that makes them lighter? Also, they were less over-the-top sweet, which I was also okay with. I’ve been eating a little less sugar lately, and a couple of, say, Krispy Kremes would have sent me into a coma.

They said they’re working on their breakfast taco recipes and have them sometimes, but it’s basically a tofu scramble with some soy cheese. They’re also thinking of adding some more breakfast options, but I got no sense this is happening anytime soon.

Elsewhere in VeganLand, Jam on Hawthorne got some serious love from VeganFabulous.com this morning. Speaking of over the top, their headline was “Thank Jesus for Jam.” Seriously! They were mostly excited about the build-your-own vegan scrambles, but I’ll take their lemon-ricotta pancakes any day. I’d even thank God Himself for those!

… a $20,000 cup of coffee? “a texture so light it’s almost moussey”? Good gosh.

Once again, though, the New York Times gives some love to Portland, specifically good ol’ Stumptown Roasters. A fascinating story, actually.

So I’m going out to eat in SE Thursday morning — anybody want to come along?

My friend Amy K has been telling me for years now that we need to eat breakfast at Laurelthirst, a place I associate with old, smoky, beer-filled memories of countryfied music and super-crowded Thursday happy hours. I kept thinking, they serve breakfast?

Well, now I have been, and it’s just what you think: a bar that serves decent breakfast. Not great, but solid, and cheap — and we walked in at 10:15 Sunday morning to find it practically empty. From now on, if somebody asks where to go on a weekend to avoid a line, I’ll say the Laurelthirst. Amy K says it fills up later, but we left after 11 and there were plenty of tables empty.

Decent food, good prices, super-casual atmosphere. I had a scramble, grits and biscuit for $7.50. It wasn’t that big or that great, but I’ve had worse and paid more. (I hear the breakfast burrito is humongous; I’ll have to check that out.). And there’s a lot to be said for casual, cheap, and barely lit.

I resist the temptation to say a place is good for hangovers because (A) everybody makes that tired old reference and (B) I quit drinking years ago and try to pretend that hangovers never happened in my life. Still, if I was going to recommend a hungover friend to a breakfast place, I’d probably go with the Laurelthirst. They serve until 3 p.m. every day, and I suppose when you’re done with breakfast you could order a beer and start all over!

I need to go back and try the burrito and the vegan pancakes, which folks rave about but are only served on weekdays (!?!?!). The French Toast was alright: two gigantic pieces for $4.50, and that was the half order.

Anyway, more to come on this: anybody else got an opinion?

Laurelthirst Public House Website with their breakfast menu.

VegPortland.com liked it.

So did The Mercury.

I came across this positive take on the Paradox over at Stumptown Vegans, and it makes me wonder if I really am a pig or a “backward-thinking Tennessee hillbilly.” That’s what I said in my chapter on the Paradox, which I submitted as a review over at PortlandFoodAndDrink.com.

I couldn’t find anybody that was too fired up about the place – any opinions out there?

Several folks have mentioned this article on non-breakfast waffles in the Oregonian’s FOODday, so I thought I’d link to it. Apparently, waffles are “a terrific medium for savory flavors, and in the hands of creative chefs they can be suppertime stars.”

Whatever. I’m much more excited about is this piece of news: There’s a new waffle cart on North Mississippi! Apparently FlavourSpot already had a location on Lombard, but I had never heard of it. (some “Breakfast Guy, huh?”)

So, anybody been to this waffle place? Anybody want to go?? They’re open 9 to 3 on weekends. Here’s their menu, courtesy of pfmenus.com, which in turn is courtesy of the ever-amazing PortlandFoodandDrink.com.

… but it’s still pretty yummy. I wrote about it for LivePDX.com. (I also write a hike of the month for them every month; this month it’s the Clackamas River.)

There’s also an interesting story about the owner on ashaland.com.

Anybody else been to Juniors lately? I used to go all the time, and for a while I could tell something was different, but I wasn’t sure what it was. But as it turns out, I might not have known what I was talking about, anyway. I wrote about this for the article: the idea that sometimes changes happen and we don’t realize it, or we think there have been changes and there haven’t.

In other words, like so many other diners, I don’t know what I’m talking about!

I came across this essay, which is actually a year old, by famous food writer Michael Pollan. Worth a read, even though it’s 20 freaking pages. He starts out simple enough: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Man, this town has gone goofy for waffles. First I read the story in the Oregonian and about FlavourSpot adding a second location, and today I was cruising through some of the countless Portland food blogs and read a review of the new Waffle Window at the Bread and Ink Cafe.

A little more Internet searching turned up an Oregonian story, a writeup on on Good Stuff NW, and a discussion on PortlandFood.org, where I saw that the hours are weekends 9 to 5 and offerings include pumpkin pie, apple pie, and banana nutella.

Goodness! Anybody reading been to this place?