I moved to Hawthorne just a few blocks away from the Daily Grind in March of 2007. One of the big advantages of the neighborhood was the ability to walk to everything: restaurants, Powells, groceries, bubble tea, coffee shops, and … an awesome health food store with a deli. I loved the vegan deli food, desserts, and the convenience of running out to pick up missing ingredients. Then, sigh, the Daily Grind closed. I was back to driving to New Seasons on Division to buy my health food.
We speculated about what might replace it, but we feared the worst. What if they put in yet another Starbucks? or Subway? or *shudder* McDonalds. Even worst, would they turn it into another condo building? Then yesterday, I got some amazing news.
New Seasons, another locally owned health food store, announced yesterday that they would be moving into the old Daily Grind location. Rejoice! I’ll have to wait until 2009, but then I will be able to walk to a great, local health food store with a deli. Awesome.
Every time I swing by Culinate, I find something mouthwatering or brain-stretching or just plain yummy. And that’s usually just me looking at the pictures. Then I start reading the brilliant prose and my mind is doing somersaults all over again.
Beautiful, exceptionally well written, and just downright interesting, Culinate is one of the best forward-thinking food blogs anywhere. Which is why it’s extra cool that it’s from Portland.
Next time you’re looking for a recipe, curious about food, or simply just looking for examples of beautiful preparation—be that food preparation or blog preparation—swing by Culinate, an awesome Portland blog.
There’s something about the hot, muddy water brew in Portland. It attracts even non-coffee drinkers. What is so magnetic about the many cafes and coffee shops around town?
It may be about our love of the drink, sure. Seattle is considered the coffee capital, but we have held our own. Legendary Stumptown Coffee had seven Portland locations before expanding to Seattle. And what city other than Portland could produce a Rails-powered, award-winning coffee tasting site?
There are plenty of cocoa and tea orders to show it goes beyond the love of coffee. It gets to the core of what makes Portland: community. We go to our neighborhood coffee shop because it’s our neighborhood coffee shop. We see friends, we enjoy the company of strangers, and we remember that we live in a city where people are valued.
So, yes, there is something in the muddy water, whether it’s from the Columbia to the north, the Willamette down the middle, or the brew from the shop around the corner. Whatever it is that keeps us coming together, I hope it never goes away, because when it comes to community, there’s no place like Portland.
Maybe I eat a little too much salt, but I have a big weakness for fancy salts, which are ridiculously easy to find here in Portland. I’ve always loved salt, but until a few years ago, I ate mostly run of the mill table salt. About 7 years ago, I bought a salt grinder and switched to sea salt, which seemed so exotic to me at the time. A few years later, Todd introduced me to coarse kosher salt, which is great on so many things.
It wasn’t until a few months ago that my first dinner at Nutshell changed the way I looked at salt. Nutshell has a bread, olive oil and salt menu where you select a type of bread along with one or more high-quality olive oils and fancy salts as an appetizer. I tried Turkish Black Pyramid salt, which is just as the name describes: black in color and naturally shaped like little pyramids.
We decided to go online and buy a few cool types of salt to have at home, and a google search for Turkish Black Pyramid salt led me to a site called The Meadow where I ordered a “starter set” of salts to try. The day after placing the order, I went back to the site to see where The Meadow was located (to help gauge when my awesome salt would arrive). I was surprised to find out that they are located at 3731 N. Mississippi Avenue in Portland! Oops. I could have just visited the store to pick out my salt, which I have done several times since that first order. They also have a huge selection of chocolates, so even if you aren’t as much of a salt fan as I am, it is well worth the trip.
I will never think of salt the same way again!
There is a trend across America, perhaps the Western world, in returning to artisanal values. This is nothing new; it started happening years ago. But in Portland, artisanal values are part of the city’s DNA and have flourished, along with self-expression and creativity. Look at all the hand designed and sewn fashion boutiques, crafted bikes, microbrews, distilleries, and farmer’s markets to cite just a few examples
Take this pizza. Just a few years ago it was impossible to find a decent pizza almost anywhere in the U.S. in my view. Today, with wood fired ovens sprouting up on Portland’s east side, such as Ken’s Artisan Pizza and the Tastebud food cart (soon to be a sit down eatery near the Aladdin), no one has to opt for the ersatz any longer. It has become unthinkable to open up a new restaurant that is not locally, seasonally and sustainably sourced. As far as artisanal values authentic appeal, you could say they also support the local start up culture, with its emphasis on community, grass roots organizing and love of all things open source (transparency = authenticity). Perhaps open source developers harken back to ancient guilds, the era in which craft and micro enterprises spread
And in craft, the making of things of value, lies another Portland attribute. Richard Sennett in his new book “The Craftsman” writes about the role of craft in creating mental space, in fine tuning the ability to be thoughtful and to solve engineering problems. As some people have noted, being in Portland, surrounded by lots of busy and creative anthills, there is less herd-like thinking. My theory is that this is reason people in Portland are so nice. They have that weightless happiness that comes from doing your own thing with pride and passion.
When the weather gets hot, it’s time to start thinking about a visit to one of Portland’s awesome fountains that you can play in.
My favorite is Jamison Square, where the waterfalls burble and then suddenly shut off and all the water goes away only to come back minutes later.
Nearby Sip & Kranz provides drinks, snacks and beer and wine for the grownups. Check out Jamison Square on Bastille Day on July 12 for the annual race of the waiters.
I am a bit of a bubble tea fanatic, and Fat Straw has the best bubble tea in Portland. Their secret … Coconut milk! They have a huge selection of flavors, hot or cold bubble tea, and even smoothies with tapioca! My favorites are probably coconut, almond, and pineapple. If you are feeling a little adventurous, try the taro: it’s blue and has a really interesting flavor.
It isn’t just about the bubble tea, either. They have a really solid wireless connection, comfy couches, power strips, a quiet back room, and plenty of tables where you can hang out and enjoy your tea. They also have espresso, great pots of tea, and plenty of vegan (and non-vegan) bagel sandwiches if you get hungry. It’s well worth the trip to Hawthorne and 43rd to check it out.
Fat Straw
4258 SE Hawthorne Blvd
(503) 233-3369
I’ve been a fan of Hawthorne for a long time: loads of vegan food options, bubble tea with coconut milk, shops for almost anything I might need, a Powells branch, and so much more. A year ago, I was lucky enough to find a great house to buy just 2 blocks off of Hawthorne.
I’ve been really surprised by the changes happening on Hawthorne in just the past year. Some of the changes have been good, while others are disappointing.
The disappointing:
- The Daily Grind went out of business after 20+ years on Hawthorne. I miss being able to walk there for my groceries.
- Pho Green Papaya opened on Hawthorne and closed less than 2 months later due to lease issues.
- Pix Patisserie closed.
- Hawthorne Coffee Merchant moved to a location just off of Hawthorne.
The encouraging:
- The Cup & Saucer is expanding into the space left by the Hawthorne Coffee Merchant
- Pastaworks is moving into the space left by Pix
- Albina Press opened a new coffee shop on upper Hawthorne
These are a just a few examples, and there are plenty more. At this point, I’m not sure whether the end result will be better or worse, but I worry about it a little. All of the cool, independent shops are what gives Hawthorne it’s charm. I hope that we are able to keep them during these changes to avoid ending up with too many chain restaurants and big corporate businesses.
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