Heard today that starting March 2, Toast will be open on Mondays from 8 to 2.
They are also doing a March Madness deal: Every Monday in March, get 10% off your meal. It can even be combined with other offers like Chinook Book.
Toast is at SE 52nd and Steele and at toastpdx.com.
This week on “Breakfast in Bridgetown,” I am joined by Doug Zanger, host of several shows on PDX.FM, including The Life Portlandic and Exceptional Women NW. As for the topic this week, well, let’s call it a rambling discussion of breakfast and other things that make Portland so cool.
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I somehow missed this, but last the Oregonian reviewed Hash down in Sellwood. Made me want to go back and check it out. Here’s the link.
I just saw on PortlandFood.org that Accanto, a “casual enoteca with a strong emphasis on local, seasonal ingredients and soulful Italian cooking,” is starting up a brunch this weekend. This is confirmed on their website, where they say they will offer “a different brunch inspired menu both Saturdays and Sundays” from 9 to 3. There’s a menu in the original post where I saw this.
Since the owners are the same folks re-opening Genoa, I suspect they know what they are doing, and I’ll have to get over there and check it out. (Read the Oregonian’s review of the new Genoa here.)
It’s at 2838 SE Belmont. (503) 235-4900. info@accantopdx.com
I was sitting at the counter at Toast the other day, watching something really cool unfolding: a restaurant kitchen that works well in a small space, produces good food, and everybody seems to get along. My days in the restaurant business were marked mostly by shouting, chaos and mediocre food — but I am lazy and incompetent.
Still, this was something different, and hearing the owner’s story made me realize how it came about: he’s a life-long restaurant guy! He told stories about following his dad to the old neighborhood bakery and coffee shop on Long Island and realizing he wanted to do it for a living. He came out here and worked for local kitchen kingpin David Machado (whom I interviewed here), and then opened his own place. Specifically, he opened a local place, with local food, in his own neighborhood. An admirable — and popular — idea.
So I thought I’d share what I wrote about the place for the book.
PDX.FM, the internet radio network where I do my breakfast show, was featured in The Oregonian the other day. I didn’t even know about it for a couple of days, which should tell you how much I pay attention to the paper — and I worked in that business for years!
The story is here, and what’s funny is that they referred to my show as “way-serious food talk.” Really? I told Mindie that and she said, “Have they listened to it?” Nonetheless, I think I’ll make that my new slogan.
Me and an abbreviated Breakfast Crew made it over to Jade Lounge today for their new weekend brunch. We were abbreviated because I waited until about 4 p.m. Friday to announce the outing. And I started this paragraph with the wrong pronoun because I don’t care.
It reminded us quite a bit of the Sapphire Hotel, with the one difference being, as Kerry put it, “we’ve gone from the brothel to the opium den.” The theme here is Asian, with an emphasis on jade green, and like the Sapphire, it seems better suited for evening light. Not that it’s unattractive or unclean, but the vibe they’re after is much more “late night romance” than “weekend brunch.” Sunlight seemed to throw it off a little. They share owners as Il Piatto next door, and I think that place gets high marks for romantic date meals.
It feels like maybe brunch is an afterthought at the moment, but I guess if you own a kitchen around here, there’s a temptation to do brunch. Seems like everybody else is, and they mostly do well. And being just a few blocks from Screen Door with its epic lines must really whet the appetite. Considering we were the only people in the place at 11 a.m., I told the waitress they should go give out fliers to the folks in line over there. Eh, maybe not.
They just started serving December 5, and clearly the word is not out yet. She told me they always have seating, and of course that’s a good news / bad news thing — as in, Maybe it’s because nobody knows what they are up to, and maybe it’s because everybody knows what they’re up to.
The menu is available through a goofy “click and drag to open” feature on their website — and, fair warning, there’s music on the site that (A) can’t be turned off and (B) gets annoying quickly.
They have six griddle options, two of them vegan; Debi had the house cured bacon waffle with thyme and Maple syrup ($8.50), and we gave it credit for remaining crisp. The bacon was just a couple slices laying in the waffle, not bits like we would have preferred. And it was chewy. Maria (my Tea Consultant who was bummed by the Stash tea on the table) got the basic buttermilk pancakes ($7) with house-made lavender syrup, which I must say was a revelation of sorts. It was almost like a childhood dream of mine: a whole bottle of the stuff that comes out of the honeysuckle bloom. It was awesome. And the pancake was light and fluffy, probably the best thing we had.
Of the three scrambles, what caught my eye was the Foret (“foray”), which had sauteed, freshly-picked chanterelle mushrooms, pancetta, garlic, and fresh milk mozzarella ($9). The taste was pretty good, but the mushrooms required some effort to cut or chew. As for being “freshly picked,” I don’t know where one would find fresh chanterelles in February, but I think maybe they were picked when fresh, then stored somewhere for a long while. That part needed some work.
Kerry had the Benedict ($9) , which also had a couple of interesting twists: the eggs poached in white wine with pickled onions, and the sauce infused with rosemary. He liked it so much he didn’t let any of us taste it.
The place has great promise, because they have a vibe all set, and they are obviously trying to do some interesting stuff with their food. When they get it all together — if they can stay open until people find them — it’ll be a good, cozy, short-line option in SE. And as we all know, there aren’t a lot of those around.
Jade Lounge, 2342 SE Ankeny. Saturday and Sunday 9 to 2:30. 503-236-4998.. Prices around $9 for entrees. Espresso, Stash Tea. Lots of stuff organic and house-made, some even grown organically out back. Check jadeloungepdx.com for a 20% off brunch coupon.
Waffles, carts, Alberta … it all makes sense.
Parkers Waffles now has a second location at 1805 NE Alberta, and they were giving away free waffles for their opening today. Sorry, not exactly the “breaking news” department here.
To keep up better than I do, check ‘em out on Facebook or Twitter. And read their profile on FoodCartsPortland.com.
This week on “Breakfast in Bridgetown,” Meetup Mindie joins me for a somewhat random show. I have been frantically working on other stuff for the last week or so, and this was kind of a catch-up week.
Mindie and I discuss Cafe Nell and many other places, plus she reads the winning entry from the Breakfast Writing Contest. And we ask our readers such questions as “What do you think of the Berlin Inn?” and “Where should our listeners go to eat breakfast in Seattle?”
It’s all in good fun. And you can download it right here.
Some relevant links from this week’s show:
Mindie’s coaching site: KnissCoaching.com.
Meetup.com’s PDX Breakfast Club
Tillikum Place Cafe in Seattle
Berlin Inn in Portland
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This week on the radio show, I talk with a walking encyclopedia of food knowledge, Nick Zukin of Kenny and Zuke’s and PortlandFood.org. (He’s also @extramsg on Twitter). Nick has travelled extensively in Mexico and Asia, and much of what we talk about on the show is the breakfast traditions in those countries and how they are represented here in Portland.
Seriously, you will want a pen and paper while you listen to this one. Nick probably mentions 25 breakfast places around town, a lot of them Asian and Mexican. Enjoy — and I’ll see you out on SE 82nd Ave., or in Beaverton, for breakfast!
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