Breakfast in Bridgetown

Ironically, I’ve been doing so much eating and writing lately that I haven’t had the time or energy to blog.

Two quick reports:

Skyline Restaurant is a total blast from the past. It’s an old roadside joint, former drive-in, mostly surrounded by Forest Park, and I doubt the place, menu or surroundings have changed much. I had a nice pile of cinnamon-drenched French toast and surprisingly thick and tasty bacon. The place has been there since the 30s and has all the decorations to show for it, along with some cute kiddie drawings on the walls and menu. Cash only, 1313 NW Skyline.

I also ate this week at Bertie and Lou’s, which I wrote up for LivePDX.com. Still a fun little place with a goofy attitude and decent food, and their new menu looks to have expanded somewhat. 8051 SE 17th in Sellwood.

Otherwise, as I dash off for a snowy weekend in the hills, I found two things online of some interest. Portland’s own Simpatica made it onto Style Magazine’s list of the 10 best breakfasts in America (what a crock), and a local blogger at Je Mange la Ville found some good-looking breakfast in Astoria. I bet it’s not as good or as fun as the Columbia Cafe!

Have a great weekend, everybody.

In fact, the Portland Farmers Market institution is apparently already open. I’m seeing posts at PortlandFood.org saying they have already had a “soft opening.” Officially, they open this Friday, Feb. 29. Updates may be posted at their website.

Address is 3640 SE Belmont, hours 7 to 2 Tuesday through Sunday.

In researching this book about places to eat breakfast in Portland (see link to the left), one thing that I have experienced is the shattering of the myth that “every place in town has crazy lines on the weekend.”

Generally, I have found two things to be true, instead: most places don’t get a line going until about 9:30, and there are plenty of good places that don’t get much of line at all.

Consider, from this past weekend:

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In my persona as “The Portland Breakfast Guy” over at LivePDX.com, I have written up another place-of-the-month: The Hands On Cafe up at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. I’d heard about it for years and finally made it up there — and loved it.

For a simple little place with pretty good food, Toast sure is getting a lot of press. I even participated, writing up a piece about it for LivePDX.com a couple months ago.

The reason is that it’s a neat place with good food, and a good story. And it’s part of a big change happening in Woodstock. Such is the story of a big piece in the Oregonian today called First the restaurant, then the neighborhood. Personally, I think the food is a little better at the Arleta Library Bakery Cafe nearby, but God bless Toast for opening where it is and doing as well as it has been. Donald is a nice guy, and I wish him the best.

So for today I thought I would toss out a draft chapter from my book, Breakfast in Bridgetown. Just wrote this one last night and did a quick fact-check this morning, but if you see something that is sideways (or just want to tell me I’m full of it . . . or a genius) let me know.

For more about the book, click the link to the left.

Daily Cafe

Category: New/Hip/Weekend
Intro/feel: Possibly the perfect Pearl place
902 NW 13th Ave. (Pearl)
503-242-1916

Also locations at:
1100 SE Grand Ave. (SE/Inner) 503-234-8189
3355 SW Bond Ave. (Downtown) 503-224-9691

Breakfast served at all locations weekdays 7 to 11 a.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday brunch at Pearl location only, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
dailycafe.net
$7–12 Monday through Saturday, $16-20 on Sundays (All major cards)

Whatever your feelings about the Pearl District, I bet they hit fever pitch when you eat at the Daily Cafe.

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Well, maybe I should say “holy crab legs and oysters,” because that’s what our trip to Salty’s was all about. I went there Sunday with my valentine, and when I called to make the reservation (virtually required, by the way), they asked if we were celebrating anything. I said Valentine’s Day, they said great, and when we arrived we were taken straight to an upstairs corner table with a view of the Columbia River and two balloons on our table. Well!

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Came across this bit of happiness in the blogosphere: The owners of Moxie RX, the lovely little cart on N Mississippi with the finest cheddar biscuits around, are “working on getting the trailer ready to reopen on March 1st.”

Between that piece of news, the amazing photos on their blog, and all this sunshine, I’m getting an early case of spring fever!

Man, has Alberta come a long way. I just spoke to someone at Le Petite Provence on SE Division, and she confirmed a report that this summer they’ll be opening a second location at 18th and Alberta. Remember when Chez What was the big news up there?

Elsewhere, I found another (apparently defunct) restaurant blog online today when I was looking for info on Petite Provence: Audrey’s Kitchen loved it, as did the Breakfast Crew and I when we had a big time there one weekend.

I added Audrey and another one, Vegan Shizzle, to my blog list to the left, which I sank an hour into yesterday.

Meanwhile, after some more Internet poking around, the list of places I’m aware of serving breakfast has expanded yet again. I guess the Country Cat has branched into our favorite meal (thanks to Good Stuff NW for letting me know), and I also found out that some version of breakfast (or weekend brunch) is served at Porto Terra, Park Bistro, Anne Hughes Kitchen Table, and the German place, Berlin Inn.

That brings the total list to, give or take a few, 192 places. Good gosh.

Okay, since I was hassling my breakfast invite group all week to get folks to come eat with me this weekend — and since nobody showed up, making me feel like quite the loser — I figured I’d offer some quick impressions of the two places I ate this weekend: Flavourspot, the waffle cart on N Mississippi, and the Daily Cafe down in the Pearl.

Flavourspot is just too cool: I got a yummy, crunchy waffle with sweetened cream and raspberry jam, folded over like a sandwich and wrapped in foil, plus a cup of coffee for $4.50. I sat on a lawn chair in the sun and contemplated the changing Mississippi Ave. There’s a Sons of Haiti Masonic Lodge across the street and a big vacant lot with a tire hanging from a tree and obvious signs of recent camping. The waffle guy told me the lot had been recently bought (what took so long???) and will probably become condos or something. I wonder how much longer places like Flavourspot will be able to open in that neighborhood, and how long the Sons of Haiti can stick around.

Speaking of changing neighborhoods, the Pearl is, of course, so far removed from what it was just 10 years ago that most people don’t even realize the name “The Pearl” is only about that old. But I love the Pearl and everything it stands for, especially the Euro-style high density housing (fight the sprawl!) and the cool, young crowds. And they love the Daily Cafe, which has limited, counter-ordered breakfast options during the week but a $12.95 three-course brunch on Sunday with all-out table service. I had whipped mascarpone with dried black fruits, a basket of excellent pastries, a side of crispy bacon, and a stack of orange marmalade-ricotta pancakes that I can’t imagine any single human eating. The waitress said it’s only accomplished by skinny women who run marathons and 13-year-old boys. To which I would add stoned college students.

Anyway, two fine meals on the opposite end of the cultural spectrum, yet two meals that both speak to the wonderful dining city that is Portland.

Now, who wants to go eat next weekend, hmmmmm?