Not a whole lot of interesting things are going on in the Portland food scene this week, but here are a few items that caught my eye.
Fratelli Chef/Owner Willem Paul Klitsie has announced he is opening a new restaurant in downtown Vancouver Washington.
Located at 907 Main Street in downtown Vancouver, Willem’s on Main is slated to open on October 24th. Serving lunch on Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays, and dinner and Happy Hour Thursdays through Mondays, Klitsie’s vision is to offer Northwest cuisine with strong Italian and French influences, matched with a modern technique. His goal is to work with as much product, produce and protein as possible from the state of Washington, with Ridgefield, Washington’s Millennium Farms being one of his many purveyors. Purchasing from local artisans and wineries across Washington state, the main dining room will seat 49 and the bar will offer standing room only at this time. – See more information here.
Fratelli is a well known pearl district Italian restaurant.
¿Por Qué No’s Mississippi branch is closed for a remodel for at least another 5 weeks.
Don’t worry, we aren’t doing anything that will make the pqn experience any different. In fact, you will probably come back after we reopen and wonder why the heck we even closed because it won’t look a whole lot different in the dining room. We will end up with a few more inside tables, which will make the colder months so much easier on customers…and we will have a second bathroom, which will be so luxurious! The bulk of the work will be unseen by customers, but will make operations so much smoother, which in turn will make life so much easier on all of the employees and improve the quality of experience for our customers. We are putting a prep kitchen and office in the house that is above pqn. Our kitchen employees have somehow been able to pull off 8 full years of kitchen gymnastics, making incredibly delicious and fresh food in a kitchen smaller than most people’s bedrooms….it’s time for us to get a bit more space!
They hope to reopen around Thanksgiving.
Travel and Leisure magazine has named Little Bird to their list of the top 25 places to get mac and cheese in America.
Known for its local produce and artisanal foods, Portland’s foodie scene doesn’t mess around. And neither does Little Bird’s mac and cheese. Gabriel Rucker, a 2011 James Beard Rising Star Chef, combines Tillamook cheddar and Emmi Gruyère with one rotating cheese to make the restaurant’s “macaroni gratin” worth coming back for repeatedly. Chives add a note of freshness.
Bunk Bar has now opened in the space last occupied by Trigger under the Wonder Ballroom on NE Russell St.
There seems to be a big interest in the Fourth Estate Coffeehouse opening in St. Johns. This press release received an extra few thousand hits than the average:
Rick Weber, a veteran of the Portland restaurant scene, is taking his love of caffeine and the St. Johns neighborhood and opening Fourth Estate Coffeehouse, brewing pots of Stumptown coffee and delicate pastries from local favorite Fleur De Lis. An extended breakfast and lunch menu will be offered, serving up waffles for those with a sweet tooth and character-driven sandwich specials like ‘The Bosley’ for meat-loving locals. Tapping into his years of front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house experience at restaurants such as Tasty N Alder and Grüner, Weber is elated to now call St. Johns his home and his workplace. “I moved into the neighborhood a couple years ago, buying my first home on Fessenden. St. Johns is cool because it has a lot of long time residents who are fiercely loyal to the neighborhood, something that I think is unique compared to other neighborhoods in the city.” Fourth Estate glows from within, thanks to the natural light emitting from the tall windows that surround the vestibule and impressive skylight that assumes most of the ceiling. The combination of abundant light and wall-to-wall seating make for a perfect place to get some work done or catch up with an old friend.
The Fourth Estate opens October 21st at 7373 N. Burlington Ave in Portland.
Speaking of PR, I’ve updated the information page with hints for those who are new to the business – things like search engine optimization, formats, etc. For the most views, those of you who send items to me (or anyone else), should take a moment to read them. They can make the difference of an extra thousand reads or more.
The private dining room listings have been pouring in. If you are looking for a space to hold a private holiday event, check out all the new additions here.
MJC says
I’m happy to see that Trigger is no more. Their version of Tex-Mex was an insult to anyone who ever enjoyed the real deal, and everyone else besides. The Bunksters are good at what they do – Bunk Sandwiches – and the fact that their foray into regional cuisine is no more shows that even the worst mistakes can occasionally be made into tabula rasa.