Happy Hour at Normandie

Have you checked out Normandie yet? Opened by alumnae of Portland classic Veritable Quandry, and the 2/3 of the co-wonders (one of who is the chef) are women. The food menu has been changing a bit as they tweaked it, but some favorites that were out of the gate when they opened in October last year still have remained. Several of them you can find on the happy hour at Normandie, which runs from 4-6 PM and again 10 PM -12 AM daily. except Sunday and Monday where happy hour is offered all night.

Happy hour at Normandie PDX Happy hour at Normandie PDX

Still on the menu is the Chicken Liver Mousse served with Duck Fat Madeleines, Port Poached Plums, Piment d’ Espelette Honey. These are perfect to a creamy start, or also do perfect well as an end of your meal savory dessert

Duck Fat Madeleines, Port Poached Plums, Piment d’ Espelette Honey available at dinner and happy hour at Normandie PDX Duck Fat Madeleines, Port Poached Plums, Piment d’ Espelette Honey available at dinner and happy hour at Normandie PDX

A round of perfect bites comes in the form of Croque Madame Beignets with Fig Jam and Chive Aioli. It manages to be crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, and I admit I’m more partial to that chive aioli.

Croque Madame Beignets with Fig Jam and Chive Aioli available at dinner and happy hour at Normandie PDX Duck Fat Madeleines, Port Poached Plums, Piment d’ Espelette Honey available at dinner and happy hour at Normandie PDX

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New Providence Park After Renovation

There are now 19 new dining destinations, and 30% more point of sale locations that have been added offering food and beverage services and hopefully reducing lines. Classics and favorites are on the menu, but so are over 20 new menu items this year. The managing hospitality brand, Park Provisions (powered by Levy which has experience managing other sport arenas as well) includes new restaurant partners and beverage providers, as well as partnerships with local companies that provide ingredients going into the food.

I had a chance to get a preview of the new offerings of the new Providence Park after renovation. Besides the obvious expansion of seats (which blend seamless into the rest of the stadium), there are more screens, larger screens, more cover from roofs, the $85 million dollar renovation also extends to the food and beverage stands. Here’s the scoop for the June 1 Timbers home game opening!

Preview of the New Providence Park After Renovation Preview of the New Providence Park After Renovation

For example, the hot dogs and sausages you’ll find at Providence Park are from Zenner’s Sausage Company, made just half a mile from the park. I didn’t get to sample it on my preview visit, but I’m pretty excited for the Tillamook Mac and Cheese Hot Dog with Zenner’s Smoked Sausage that I saw on the new Tillamook Grill concession stand Evergreen Corner by Section 113. I’ll have a Mac and Cheese Hot Dog and a side of Mac and Cheese please.

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Good Coffee and Kolaches

When the much anticipated boutique hotel Woodlark Hotel downtown opened, besides the already well loved Oregon meets Texas meatcentric restaurant from Chef Doug Adams of Bullard, and the pre-Prohibition cocktail lounge of Abigail Hall as conceptualized by Jennifer Quist, the lobby also became the home to Good Coffee. Unique to this location you will find both Good Coffee and Kolaches.

Good Coffee and Kolaches in the Woodlark Hotel in downtown Portland Good Coffee and Kolaches in the Woodlark Hotel in downtown Portland

Good Coffee was recently featured as the best coffee in Oregon by Food and Wine Magazine for their 2019 list of best coffee in every state. The Good Coffee menu here includes the expected coffee drinks varying from regular filter coffee, single origin coffee, cold brew, espresso, cappuccinos, americanos and a wide variety of lattes from vanilla, maple and smoked orange, matcha, and spiced fig to almost a dozen Townshend Teas.

Good Coffee and Kolaches in the Woodlark Hotel in downtown Portland Good Coffee and Kolaches in the Woodlark Hotel in downtown Portland

If you have your coffee here rather then to go, it will be served in mugs by local ceramic artists like Margaret & Beau (the green mug you’ll see) and Mary Carroll (the pink mug). I love how these mugs feel and they have a pretty calming happy effect on me that puts me at ease. It’s yet another way the Woodlark shows how supportive it is of women by showcasing these women ceramicists. Besides Jen Quisty’s the Abigail Lounge named after women’s activist Abigail Scott Duniway and their cocktail menu of drinks with nods towards strong women leaders, Good Coffee offers The Founders Series of coffee drinks also named for women, including one called The Activist after Abigail.

Good Coffee and Kolaches in the Woodlark Hotel in downtown Portland. If you have your coffee here rather then to go, it will be served in mugs by local ceramic artists like Margaret & Beau (the green mug you'll see) and Mary Carroll (the pink mug). Good Coffee and Kolaches in the Woodlark Hotel in downtown Portland. If you have your coffee here rather then to go, it will be served in mugs by local ceramic artists like Margaret & Beau (the green mug you'll see) and Mary Carroll (the pink mug).

And now let’s talk about 75% of the draw for me for picking any coffee shop over the other – what they offer as bites to eat!

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Kachinka for Portland Dining Month 2019

In my previous post, I shared my top list based on the menu and $ value what I think are the best picks for Portland Dining Month, Aka the whole month of March, when more then 100 restaurants offer a deal of 3 courses for $33 all month long. On my list was Kachinka for Portland Dining Month 2019. I have already visited, and here’s what I recommend. And to help encourage you, I AM DOING A GIVEAWAY FOR A DINNER FOR TWO!

Kachinka for Portland Dining Month 2019

Ok, first, I should establish that Kachinka is in the old Kachka space – aka located at 720 SE Grand Ave, while the Kachka restaurant with its larger dinner menu has moved to a new location at 960 SE 11th Ave. Kachinka is a bit more like a bar with more small plates, including the all important dumplings. Kachinka opens at 4pm. With the opening of Kachka, it is now much easier to walk into Kachinka too since both restaurants can serve guests.

Kachinka Kachinka

The Portland Dining Month 2019 offerings they have for Portland Dining Month are really a food special that is not usually on the menu – that is one of the reasons it made my list. They are offering (including photos of each dish from my visit on March 1)

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Feast Fab Collab – and way to win tickets to Feast!

I have been attending Feast Portland for many years now, and am an enthusiastic supporter of the amazing 4 day food festival event that helps brings awareness and raise money for charitable partners fighting against hunger. Feast Portland also celebrates the delicious local bounty of the Pacific Northwest, ranging from producers of food products to those who transform ingredients into dishes on a plate or in a glass – restaurants and chefs and mixologists and more. Most of the events at Feast bring together various makers of food to collaborate to create a limited time offering for Feast. Of the 40+ events during Feast Portland, many are sold out, but there are still a tickets to some events, and there are ways to participate in Feast without a ticket, thanks to the Feast Fab Collab.

Feast Fab Collab 2018 Feast Mode Lager Beer (sold in cans) with 10 Barrel Brewing Co., a lager featuring pilsner malt, flaked rice and a subtle hopping for an ultra light and refreshing beer. $7.99 for a four pack of 16 ounce cans (so four pints), available at New Seasons Markets + Feast Fab Collab 2018 Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese, available at New Seasons Markets = perfection

Now in it’s third year, the Feast Fab Collab is a collaboration of products you can purchase outside Feast – in this case you can find them exclusively at New Seasons Market. The food items are limited edition just for Feast, and created in partnership with famed chefs and food producers also participating in Feast. And, you’ll still be doing good – a portion of gross sales from all Feast Fab Collab items are donated to Feast Portland’s charitable partners to be part of the fight against hunger too. This year the partners are Hunger-Free Oregon and Urban Gleaners.

For 2018, the Feast Fab Collab items include

  • Feast Mode Lager Beer (sold in cans) with 10 Barrel Brewing Co., a lager featuring pilsner malt, flaked rice and a subtle hopping for an ultra light and refreshing beer. $7.99 for a four pack of 16 ounce cans (so four pints).
    Feast Fab Collab 2018 Feast Mode Lager Beer (sold in cans) with 10 Barrel Brewing Co., a lager featuring pilsner malt, flaked rice and a subtle hopping for an ultra light and refreshing beer. $7.99 for a four pack of 16 ounce cans (so four pints), available at New Seasons Markets
  • Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches with Maya Lovelace (of famous Southern Appalachian pop-up Mae PDX and coming restaurant Yonder) and Ruby Jewel. The two flavors of mini ice cream sandwiches (it says mini, but they are still palm sized – it is only mini in terms of the ice cream sandwiches at Ruby Jewel are usually even bigger!) include Maya’s Southern Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwich with chewy cornmeal cookies from Bob’s Red Mill and strawberry buttermilk ice cream using strawberries from Oregon Fruit Products. The second ice cream sandwich is Grandma Mae’s Sweet Molasses Ice Cream Sandwich inspired from Maya’s grandmother molasses and apple butter sandwich cookies. If I had to choose between them, I prefer the strawberry one with cornmeal but really it’s just personal preference because I like strawberry and cream more then molasses flavors. Each sandwich is $2.99.
    Feast Fab Collab 2018 Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches, the Grandma Mae’s Sweet Molasses Ice Cream Sandwich with Maya Lovelace, available at New Seasons Markets Feast Fab Collab 2018 Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches the Maya’s Southern Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwich with Maya Lovelace, available at New Seasons Markets
  • Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese. I’m serving it below exactly as they recommended it, very simply just grilled the sausage and sliced it up with fresh pasta, olive oil and some garden cherry tomatoes – sounds simple but it lets the freshness of the summer tomatoes and all the flavor of the sausage really stand out! Maybe in retrospect I should have wilted some spinach, but at this point the sausage was oozing cheese and I wasn’t going to wait any longer to eat it. A package of 12 ounces of sausage runs $8.99.
    Feast Fab Collab 2018 Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese, available at New Seasons Markets Feast Fab Collab 2018 Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese, available at New Seasons Markets

The beer and mini ice cream sandwiches are available now at New Seasons Markets in Oregon and Southwest Washington states, and the Olympia Provisions sausage will be available this Monday September 3, just in time for Labor Day bbqs.

All of these products will also be featured at the Friday and Saturday Grand Tasting Presented By New Seasons Market, who is the main sponsor of the two Grand Tasting events. Thanks to their generosity, I am raffling off TWO tickets to the Friday Grand Tasting event!

So here’s how you can win tickets –

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