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

August 31, 2018 by 1 Comment

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 –

[Read more…]

Signature

Filed Under: Festival Event, Food and Drink, Sponsored Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tips for Feast PDX 2016

September 8, 2016 by 7 Comments

It’s one week until it’s here! The food holiday time of year in Portland – Feast week. It’s all starting Thursday September 15 and goes through Sunday September 18 2016. This will be my fourth year attending Feast, and here are my top tips for Feast PDX, ranging from what to wear to how to proceed through a food event and make the most of it.

Feast promises 4 days of belly busting events showcasing delicious eats and drinks. This is Feast’s 5th year, not only celebrating the bounty of the Oregon and the Northwest in food and drink, but also since its inception Feast has donated more than $230,000 to charity. Feast Portland’s charitable partner in 2016 is Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon.

The main event kick off starts with Thursday, with the Sandwich Invitational (Sold Out) and multiple Dinner Series events (also Sold Out). Then, Friday is your best bet if you don’t already have tickets, as there are tickets still for the Friday version of the Grand Tasting ($60, which are the biggest value for your eating and drinking buck events – $12 an hour progressive sampling of all you can eat and drink for 5 hours!) and several Drink Tank events: see the full Feast schedule here. You can also check the Feast official Facebook page to see if there are any giveaways still open to win tickets.

Beans & Booze panel at Feast 2014 Feast 2015: Oregon Bounty, Kimberly Hoang of Magenta Restaurant in Corvallis Oregon presented Hot Chicks! Dough filled with savory chicken and spicy tamarind creme Brunch Village at Feast 2015, USA Pears, one of the participating sponsors, really brought their A game with their Creamy Coconut and Star Anise Poached Pears and a Pear Shrub wtih Sparkling Prosecco or Soda Water

I also wrote a previous post listing some of the Fab Five food that celebrates Feast but you can get even if you are not at any of the Feast events, and a portion of proceeds still goes to fighting childhood hunger. If you are attending a Feast event, here are my top tips for Feast PDX!

Tip 1: Dress Comfortably &  have Easy Pockets or a Tote Bag

For all the main events, you will be visiting a lot of different booths as you are progressive eating through a food market. That means you will be on your feet a lot of the time. In some cases, you will be walking on grass (Smoked) or gravel (Night Market – make sure you have good padding in your shoes). So wear comfy shoes every time.

You will also be eating for several hours – so dress like this is Thanksgiving. This is not the time for your form-fitting dresses and skinny jeans. You want to dress in clothes that have a little tummy give.

Friends - Joey - gif of These are my Thanksgiving Pants

If you are going to an evening event, think about layers as the weather will get cooler later. If you’ve got tickets Smoked, be prepared that the cooking aromas can permeate the air and your clothes will absorb it. In general you don’t want anything requiring dry cleaning!

I  highly recommend wearing something with easy accessible pockets or have a tote bag. That way you can store your napkins or utensils or camera or phone while leaving your hands free to hold and eat food and drink, but also get to those objects easily. I don’t like to create a lot of waste at these events, so I will try as much as possible to use every last corner of my napkin and reuse my utensils.

Official Feast Tote bags at Feast 2015

If the weather says it may be rainy and you are attending one of the outdoor events, I recommend wearing weatherproof hooded jacket instead of an umbrella so you don’t have to juggle a food sample, drink glass, AND your umbrella. Plus, your jacket should then come with pockets!

Specifically for the Sandwich Invitational, it is easy to get really, really full on all those 15 or so sandwiches. My secret trick for big multiple station food events like this is that I only take a couple bites of each dish. But since I feel bad throwing the rest away when it’s so delicious I store it away in a few ziploc bags I have in my tote bag and eat it for lunch the next week! This doesn’t mean to go grabbing multiples of a dish unless it’s the very end of the event: have respect for letting all your fellow guests get a chance to try the dish too.
Widmer Brothers Brewing Sandwich Invitational presented by Dave's Killer Bread, Feast 2014. Cathy Whims of Nostrana (Portland, OR) was still giving out a relaxed vibe from her return from Hawaii as she presented her sandwich of Peach Whim Smoked Lamb Ham, Cresenze Cheese, Watercress, Tomato, and Spicy Onion Relish which was paired with the Widmer Portlandic Porter, my favorite sandwich and Widmer beer pairing of the night.

Limiting yourself to only a couple bites, or sharing with a friend, is pretty much the only way to try everything because there is too much for a normal appetite. Don’t feel like you have to eat and drink everything either.

By the end at all the events, don’t be surprised if some of the booths may have already served up all their plates either so make sure you go in the order of chefs or dishes you want to see the most so you won’t be disappointed you missed someone you really wanted to see. I particular like visiting the out of town chefs first rather then the hometown favorites (though I visit them too) since it’s a unique chance to try their food without having to fly to their city.

At Grand Tasting, one of my favorite booths, and which always has a line, is the USA Pears booth which the previous years have featured multiple special dishes and a different chef each day, so if you are attending go look for their booth to see how they have highlighted pears this year. Last year it was Chef Vitaly Paley and then Chef Brian Clevenger. A little birdie told me this year you may find Top Chef finalist and local PDX Chef Doug Adams sharing nibbles featuring USA Pears paired with sips from Chateau Ste. Michelle! Saturday will be Chef Brian again- you can get a peek at what he served last year below. Also, don’t miss out on the Travel Oregon section (for the past few years it has been towards the weather machine) which features various chefs from Oregon.
USA Pears Pop up featuring Vitaly Paley Feast 2015: Oregon Bounty featuring Brian Clevenger with Bartlett Pear Bourbon cocktail, Sikoku oyster with pickled Anjou Pear, Foie Gras with Seckel Pear Mostarda on crostini, and Roasted rabbit loin with Bosc pear puree and brown butter

Tip 2: Use your Phone or Camera to take Photos for Notes

One of the best things about Feast is being introduced to so much new deliciousness. To help remember what you ate or drank, take a photo of them. The visual cue of seeing the descriptions (particularly wine bottle labels) when I look on my phone is so helpful later!
Feast Portland 2014, Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting Elizabeth Chambers wine Feast Portland 2015 Night Market, Mei Lin was hyperfocused and zen as she carefully plated her Pork Belly Pâté Egg Rolls, Nước chấm, Fragrant Herbs

Don’t forget to bring a charger because all those photos (and if you are recording any notes on your phone) will eat up your battery. I have a portable external battery phone charger I always keep in my bag, as well as the wall charger attachment and if you are driving, for your car as well.

In order to see what is happening and hot everyday at Feast, you can check the hashtag #feastpdx and for handles see on Twitter @FeastPDX and follow on Instagram Feast Portland to also see what everyone is talking about. Maybe that’s how you’ll know to hurry and get into a particular line for a food dish before it runs out. If you yourself do share, make sure you tag #FeastPDX too!

I’ll be on Twitter and Instagram myself covering Feast, so I hope we are already friends on Twitter @pechluck and on Instagram @pechluck .

Having cell phone juice is particularly important if you want to make sure you have enough for your phone to ride Trimet with their online app or be able to call a cab or Uber or Lyft for a ride.

Portland Transportation Options 

You can use Google Maps to help find your transportation options (they are hooked up pretty well, and you can also use trimet.org’s Transit Tracker to look up the stop # and see how long until the bus/Max appears – it’s only $5 for an all day pass). You can purchase a pass using cash or credit card at the Max stops, cash only on the buses, or on your phone using credit card via the Trimet Tickets app (iPhone and Android). You flash your ticket to the bus driver, but for the Max you only have to show it to the fare inspector.

It is very difficult to wave down a taxi – you are better calling one if you aren’t convenient to major streets like Broadway or Burnside near downtown where there are lots of hotels that have taxi stations that they might be heading towards.

  • Uber or Lyft: Use UBER app (iPhone, Android, Windows phones) or LYFT app (iPhone, Android)
  • Portland Taxi Cab Company: 503-256-5400
  • Radio Cab: 503-227-1212
  • Broadway Cab: 503-333-3333
  • Green Cab & Green Shuttle: 503-234-1414
  • Union Cab PDX: 503-222-2222

Tip 3: Talk to Strangers, and Smile!

Since everyone around you is a food and drink lover like you and me, we can ALL surely be friends. Start conversations with strangers! Something as simple as “What are you having? Where did you get that?” or “Did you have a favorite sandwich/sample/wine/etc” is a great conversation opener. This can help give you a heads up on something you try that you didn’t know about. There is a lot going on at each event, so to make sure you see everything so talking to people in line or while by a cocktail table eating is fun and a way to get the scoop of what’s hot.

When you’re at a booth, make sure you flash a smile to whoever is working to show your appreciation for them being on their feet prepping and serving food and drink samples to the crowds. Ask all the questions you’d like with the various vendors (stepping to the side so others can still get to samples), and thank everyone you see working hard to keep the event clean and running smoothly and your plates and cups full!

Sammich of Ashland, OR brought House-Cured Pastrami wtih Double R Brisket on Light Rye with Swiss, Slaw, and Housemade Russian dressing at Brunch Village, Feast 2015 One of my favorite dishes of the Night Market during Feast 2015 was the rich dish of Beef Tongue, Roasted Bone Marrow Aioli, Crispy Rice, Pickles by Carlo Lamagna of Clyde Common

If you really like their food or product, make sure you give them that feedback, ask where you can find their product. If you have a social media account, let them know how much you enjoyed it on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Doesn’t everyone like hearing a compliment and validation that their hard work was enjoyed?

Tip 4: Go with Friends, go Alone, just GO!

Being at Feast is sort of like being able to talk to anyone and everyone rooting for your same sports team at a game – but here the game is FOOD.

That means you also don’t worry about going to any event alone. I have gone to food festivals alone and with friends – and both have their pros and cons. Of course, going with friends means you can share the excitement before, the experience during, and the memories after. In some cases, you might even strategize with friends by waiting in different lines and coming together to share samples.
At Brunch Village for Feast 2015 Simpatica pleased the crowd with their Fried Chicken and Waffles with Green Tomato Syrup Feast 2015 Oregon Bounty: Face Rock Cheese Ricotta on Brioche with Honey with Face Rock Whipped Ricotta, Handmade Brioche Toast, Honey Drizzle, and Toasted Honey Almonds Bonnie Morales of Kachka was adored for her plates at Night Market 2015 of Lamb Pelmeni with Adjika Butter and Pickled Pears

Going alone also has its pros in that you are much more likely to meet new people, and you are able to move faster through food stations. You will naturally get full over time, so the faster you can eat the more you can try before getting to the uncomfortably stuffed point. On your own, you can make your own calls about how you want to proceed through the food areas based on your preferences at your pace.

Sunny Jin of JORY, at The Allison presented Goat Tartare - Charred Green Tomato, Frozen Egg, Panisse Croutons for Night Market 2015 Feast 2015, Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting Feast 2015, Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting

I hope my Top Tips for Feast and links to previews to get you in the feasting mood are helpful to you. Here are links to my previous posts from Feast 2015 and 2014 for an idea of the incredible bites of previous years:

For more Feast tips, check out the perspectives of my blogger friends like

Maybe I’ll see you at Feast? Don’t be shy about coming to say hi!

Disclosure: I was granted a Blogger Pass for Feast Portland 2016 for blog post and social media coverage but I am not otherwise being compensated. Even before I was given the Blogger Pass I already had tickets for some Feast events that I paid for myself. I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Signature

Filed Under: Festival Event, Food and Drink, Portland Highlights, Sponsored Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aaron Franklin’s Stumptown Coffee Cookout at Feast 2015

October 2, 2015 by 4 Comments

My strategy when the Feast Portland tickets go on sale (mark your calendars now- Feast 2016 is slotted for September 15th – 18th, and the schedule comes out sometime in May 2016) is to first look at the small events. Specifically, this means immediately quickly examining what is listed in the Dinner Series, as those only have so many seats and are apt to sell out the fastest out of all the Feast events. After that, check out the Hands On Classes before browsing the rest of the events. Many events will sell out for Feast, but the other events tend to have greater capacity so you are a little safer not buying your tickets within those first few hours that the Feast website goes live with 2016 events.

My other tip is that don’t go shopping around putting multiple things in your shopping cart and then checking out. As soon as I decide I want something, I check it out right away. This saves me clicks from trying to recreate my shopping cart in case the website isn’t taking the load well. At the same time in another browser tab you know I’m reading about other events as I go through the shopping card purchase transaction.

As a backup, I have the Feast twitter feed – there are sometimes issues with the website, though I have never experienced it (then again I’m likely one of the first 100 or so people using the site since I have it set on my calendar early). There, you can tweet questions and sometimes get additional contact info for help.

This year, I pulled the immediate trigger when I saw the Aaron Franklin’s Stumptown Coffee Cookout. While many of the dinner events costs hover close to $150-$200, this one was a mere $75 and offered three hours of bbq. Usually, to get this low and slow delicious meat you would have to fly to Austin, wait in line for a few hours (even if you go when Franklin’s BBQ opens there’s a line! The first person there in line gets there around 6 AM usually!), and Aaron Franklin may not even be there. For the relatively much lower price of $75, I would save the travel, the time, and see the BBQ god himself. Sold!
Stumptown Coffee & Aaron Franklin BBQ Cookout as part of Feast 2015 Menu for the Stumptown Coffee & Aaron Franklin BBQ Cookout as part of Feast 2015

So that’s how at 3:30 or so after my Lyft deposited myself and NomNerd at Stumptown Coffee Roaster’s location on SE Salmon, I was the fifth person or so in line, smelling the aroma of that smoke like Pepe Le Pew.
Pepe Le Pew

Once we entered, there was a small lull where we were supposed to get beverages, so I helped myself to some Buffalo Trace Bourbon neat although they were also offering cocktails and slushees (!!). There was also wine by Acrobat available, amazing Bonfire Iced Tea which I multiple cups of thanks to Steven Smith Teamakers (I may have also used the tap of this tea in the media lounge many, many times throughout the weekend and now I want my own kegarator of just tea).
Buffalo Trace offered cocktails or a frozen slushie fortified with their bourbon and Stumptown coffee Drinks by Widmer Brothers beer and Buffalo Trace bourbon

Widmer Brothers Brewing also offered two of the special Feast collaboration beers they had created for Feast:

  • The collaboration with Aaron Franklin: a Rauch und Kirschen Helles Lager brewed with 10 pounds of cherries smoked by Aaron Franklin
  • The collaboration with Stumptown: El Injerto Coffee American Style Pale Ale with Guatemalan Finca el Injerto Bourbon coffee

Widmer Brothers brewing serving up the Rauch Und Kirschen beer that was a beer created in collaboration with Aaron Franklin, and the El Ijerto Pale Ale created in collaboration with Stumptown Coffee, as well as their classic Hefeweizen
PS the only one I didn’t get to try was the one from Andy Ricker, so if you see it go on anywhere, please let me know 🙁

Ok, so there was still a line to get Aaron’s wagyu brisket, ribs, and sausage along with Snake River Farm Tri-tip steak from the nation’s first and only BBQ Editor, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly, plus sides of spoon bread, spicy slaw and Woodsman baked beans from The Woodsman Tavern’s Andrew Gregory. There was sliced white bread (which I ignored) and also a special Espresso Barbecue Sauce, naturally. Dessert came via Woodblock Chocolate Moonpies.
Stumptown Coffee & Aaron Franklin BBQ Cookout as part of Feast 2015

While in line (which is where I had my chocolate since it was on the way to the meat…) everyone got to admire the smoker that Aaron Franklin himself helped build and which was freshly driven up from Austin. We also were entertained by the honky tonk music from the Lonesome Billies
Smoker that Aaron helped build and that was driven from Austin Texas up to Portland The Lonesome Billies entertained us as we waited in line and ate our BBQ

I ran into someone I knew from the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association judging circuit, Gary Fujino who was closely observing the bbq behind the scenes! More importantly, check out that smoker behind us!
Myself and Gary Fujino (who I know through the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association) posing in front of the smoker Aaron helped build and which was brought up from Austin Texas to Portland

But it was a mere 15 minute line to get this… first the “snack station” of the Tri-Tip Steak from Daniel Vaughn. Naturally I had to carefully observe the slicing of this… I should warn you now this is going to be a meatastic post too so vegetarian eyes may want to turn away now.
The nation's first and only BBQ Editor, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly serving up the tri-tip the nation's first and only BBQ Editor, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly serving up the tri-tip steak the nation's first and only BBQ Editor, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly serving up the tri-tip steak the nation's first and only BBQ Editor, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly serving up the tri-tip steak the nation's first and only BBQ Editor, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly serving up the tri-tip steak

And now the approach to getting the sausage and that wagyu brisket (sourced from Snake River Farm) sliced for you by the man himself, Aaron Franklin. I suddenly turned into paparazzi. Somehow, I was speechless and just silently squealed but didn’t have the courage to say hi to Andy Ricker (who was also hanging out for BBQ from the man), but put Aaron Franklin in front of me and I go crazy. I’m so lucky- at my turn at the table he just pulled out a new brisket too! You can literally seeing me taking a photo with every step ha ha. If I only I had a real camera with a faster shutter speed there would be 6x as many.
Aaron Franklin carving up the brisket and sausage for each guest Aaron Franklin carving up the brisket and sausage for each guest Aaron Franklin carving up the brisket and sausage for each guest Aaron Franklin carving up the brisket and sausage for each guest Aaron Franklin carving up the brisket and sausage for each guest I'm so lucky- at my turn at the table Aaron Franklin just pulled out a new brisket I'm so lucky- at my turn at the table Aaron Franklin just pulled out a new brisket

The most beautiful brisket I’ve ever seen being carved into slices for me by Aaron Franklin personally
The most beautiful brisket I've ever seen being carved into slices for me by Aaron Franklin personally The most beautiful brisket I've ever seen being carved into slices for me by Aaron Franklin personally

OMG that wagyu brisket, best brisket of MY LIFE.
Wagyu Brisket - juicy and from Aaron Franklin himself

Then the ribs
Slicing up the ribs at the Aaron Franklin Stumptown Coffee Cookout

This is the BBQ OF MY DREAMS.
BBQ Plate from the Aaron Franklin Stumptown Coffee Cookout BBQ Plate from the Aaron Franklin Stumptown Coffee Cookout

The Lonesome Billies entertained us as we waited in line and ate our BBQ The Lonesome Billies entertained us as we waited in line and ate our BBQ

The end of this blogpost.
BBQ Plate from the Aaron Franklin Stumptown Coffee Cookout

Other Aaron Franklin Stumptown Coffee Cookout coverage:

 

Disclosure: I was granted a Blogger Pass for Feast Portland 2015 for blog post and social media coverage but I am not otherwise being compensated. I also purchased my own Feast event ticket to this Aaron Franklin Stumptown Coffee Cookout and am covering it because I just wanted to easily be pull up pictures of this spectacular meat whenever I want by searching my blog.  I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Signature

Filed Under: Festival Event, Food and Drink, Sponsored Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feast Specials

September 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Are you attending Feast, or wish you were? Well besides the Feast food festival events kicking off today, here are a few Feast Specials I wanted to have you know about. I will try to keep this updated- some are special deals for those who are attending Feast. Others are just specials that are being offered to the public to help celebrate Feast and show off the delicious bounty of Oregon and Portland!

Show your Feast wristband for a deal

Show your Feast wristband and enjoy special offers from these tasty Portland restaurants. Valid 9/18 – 9/21 at all restaurant locations.

  • Blue Star Donuts – buy one, get one free (all locations- the one most convenient to most Feasters is the downtown one at 1237 SW Washington Street). Yes, you could go to the famous Voodoo Donut with all the other tourists. But those in the know here locally will tell you that we get our donuts from Blue Star, which starts with a classic brioche recipe and local ingredients. They come in tasty flavors be it classic buttermilk old fashioned or lemon poppy seed or cinnamon vanilla sugar. There is a Valrhona Chocolate Crunch or Bacon Maple or Fried Chicken on a Spicy Honey Donut to get your savory fix. Other unique ones like Blueberry Bourbon Basil or Cointreau Creme Brulee (it has a shot of orange Cointreau liquor!) or Dulce de Leche Hazelnut or Salted Almonds on Chocolate Ganache are pretty tempting too. Don’t judge that I know all these flavors. With this Feast deal you have no excuse to not try 2 flavors!

    While here, don’t forget to grab something to wash your donut down such as with Portland favorite Stumptown Coffee Roasters (I like the Hairbender, French Roast, and Cold Pressed coffee) or Steve Smith teas without having to take an extra trip to the shops (unless you want to!)
  • Boxer Ramen – free dessert with purchase of a ramen bowl, but I would be disappointed in you if when you visited, you also did not order the okonomiyaki as well. Warning, this is a cash only place (1025 SW Stark St.)
  • Little Big Burger – free truffle fries with purchase of a burger (all Portland locations, the one closest to downtown is in the Pearl at 122 NW 10th Ave). Their burger menu is pared down to the basics to offer you the best, the truffle fries are crazy addictive, and oh yeah, you can ask them to make you a beer float because even though their food menu is focused, they can’t help but offer 30 beers on the menu.
  • Son of a Biscuit – free dessert with purchase of a meal that would of course, naturally be composed of fried chicken and biscuits. (2045 SE Division St.)

Feast Wine Flight

This weekend, don’t miss out on the Feast Flight, celebrating Oregon’s Bounty at the SE Wine Collective. SE Wine Collective will be pouring Division Winemaking Company 2011 Red Collar Chardonnay, Fullerton Wines 2013 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Vincent Wines 2013 Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills. Come on by through Monday, September 22 to share in the fun of Oregon’s Feast Portland celebration!

Feast Cupcakes


This weekend, Saint Cupcake is offering a Hazelnut Buttercream exclusively for Feast weekend! They have big and small cupcakes, so maybe also try their flavors of Big Top (vanilla cupcake baked with chocolate chips on top – like a cookie AND a cupcake), Toasted Coconut Cream (vanilla with toffee chips and topped with toasted coconut flakes), Big Elvis (banana cake with chocolate chips and peanut butter fudge) or my favorite the Salty Captain (chocolate cupcake with caramel buttercream) or stick to classics like Red Velvet, Carrot Cake, and yes they have vegan ones too. Other treats include their cookies (like smoked chocolate chip, bittersweet chocolate with sea salt or ginger molasses) or bonbonbunbuns of cinnamon sugar covered light airy brioche bites or savory offerings of Caramelized onion and gruyere pocket pies, Bacon Wrapped Crackers, Ham and cheese brioche buns.

Disclosure: I was granted a Blogger Pass for Feast Portland 2014 for blog post and social media coverage but I am not otherwise being compensated. Even before I was given the Blogger Pass I already had tickets for some Feast events – so it just means I will have more to recap for you now! The listings above are ones I am just gathering in one place for convenience for both you and me!

Signature

Filed Under: Festival Event, Food and Drink, Portland Highlights, Sponsored Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tips for Attending Feast Portland

September 10, 2014 by 7 Comments

GAH! Where did the summer go soooo fast? Can you believe Feast Portland, the best, most delicious, food festival in Portland, the all holidays rolled into one long weekend of September 18 – 21, is only 1 week away! EEEEEeee!!!

I have shared before an overview of Feast PDX 2014 in a previous Countdown to Feast post. This time, assuming you have a ticket to at least one event or have signed up for volunteering for Feast, I wanted to share tips for attending Feast Portland.

Tip 1: Carry a tote bag

You will be picking up business cards and pamphlets for instance if you are attending the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting on either Friday or on Saturday. Tickets are still available for these two events BTW! Anyway, I have a tote bag that has a small little mesh pocket on the side which I actually use to carry my drink glass sometimes. That way I had someplace to put my glass when I wanted to get both hands on my mini sandwiches when I was at the Sandwich Invitational last year (I also plan to attend the Sandwich Invitational this year also. And there are still tickets available for this event if you are interested).

The glass for beer at the Widmer Sandwich Invitational at Feast 2013 Supporting local, thanks to Whole Foods at Feast 2013

I also use the tote bag to carry extra napkins (including wetnaps!) and to carry the same knife/fork/spoon all night so I don’t have to use additional ones because I threw it away. I also have a bottle of water in there!

My tote bag also has a little notebook where I might jot down notes of things I might hear, be it stories from the vendors or one of the chef demonstrations at the Grand Tasting, or from talking to various people I may meet as we are simultaneously tasting wine together.

Who knows, you may even find something you’d like to buy and carry back with you… like I got these awesome T-shirts from Flavour Gallery that are super soft and comfortable and proudly proclaim my love of deliciousness. Only a week after Feast 2013 last year, I was excited to pack that shirt and wear in when I was traveling looking at waterfalls in Ithaca NY. I remember seeing them at the Sandwich Invitational and at the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting
Shirt from Flavour Gallery at Feast Portland 2013. I love this shirt. Me wearing my Feast Portland 2013 shirt from Flavour Gallery just a week later after Feast while posing with Buttermilk Falls in New York

The biggest secret in my bag? I have little ziploc bags in there. You don’t have to sample everything, but believe me, even so you can only eat so many of those Sandwich Invitational sandwiches without feeling overly full. One thing I learned from being a certified PNWBA barbecue judge is that there is no reason to take more than a few bites. Since I don’t want to waste the food, I then put the rest in the ziploc bag in my tote and move on to another taste. And then I eat those leftovers the whole next week after Feast…

Tip 2: Talk to Strangers

Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting, Friday, Kyra's Bake Shop Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting, Friday, Ben Jacobs3n himself of Jacobs3n Salt

I give my personal business card out freely as anyone I meet whether it be in line or while trying to balance samples is a food lover like me, and we can surely be friends. Something as simple as “Oooo, what are you having? Where did you get that?” or “Did you have a favorite sandwich/sample/wine/etc” is a great conversation opener. Everyone here is HAPPY to talk about food and drink while eating food and drink, believe me!

At events like the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting, take this opportunity to find out the story about the various artisan vendors and to explore new things you have never tried before. This is a serious tip- Urban Bliss also included it on her tips list, and you should also check out her Top 10 Tips for Feast Portland Newbies post!

Tip 3: Make a Game Plan

When I first go to an event, before I even attend I take a look to see if their are any names that initially jump out at me as ones I want to visit right away. Then, when I actually arrive at the event, based on how busy it is, I will decide how I am going to order my visits. I personally like to be there when the event first opens. Then I walk around the entire event space, seeing who is where and what everyone is offering. Based on that, I then plan my visit order!
The layout of the High Comfort event at Feast 2013 Grilled Cheese Please! From Tillamook Widmer Sandwich Invitational at Feast PDX 2013

An example might be at the Sandwich Invitational and when I attended High Comfort last year (there are tickets still available to High Comfort for 2014!), I picked out certain chefs who I knew were from out of town and likely to be in high demand and figured out where their booths were and looked to see what they were serving as their sample tastes. Then based on that,  I picked out what I wanted to eat most and went from there. Pretty much I’ll be making a beeline for Hugh Acheson at Sandwich Invitational and for Aaron Franklin at the Tillamook Brunch Village (tickets already sold out!) for instance. <3 <3 <3

At an event like the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting, check the schedule of the day to see who and when the chef demonstrations are occurring at the KitchenAid Main Demo Stage!
The Lee Brothers charm the audience during their Kitchenaid Demo, regaling with many stories while making oyster peanut stew on the KitchenAid Main Demo Stage at Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting, Feast 2013 Naomi advise to squeeze butter w your hands to help warm it up as she prepares corn souffle on the KitchenAid Main Demo Stage at Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting, Feast 2013

Tip 4: Wear Comfy Shoes and have Pockets

For events in which are will be visiting a lot of different booths in a food market style – namely the Sandwich Invitational Oregon Grand Bounty Tasting, High Comfort, and Brunch Village, you will be on your feet a lot. If you are attending the dinners or tasting panels you will be seated so relax.

Be prepared accordingly. These events are also rain or shine, so check the weather and bring a rainjacket hoodie if necessary. Don’t do an umbrella – you don’t want to waste your hands that could be holding food and drink!

I also highly recommend wearing something with easy accessible pockets. Even if you have your tote bag, you don’t want to go scrounging around in there each time you want to get your camera to grab a photo.

Tip 5: Use your Phone! Take Photos and follow Social Media

One of the best tricks for remembering delicious things is to take a photo of them. I take photos of signs describing the dish as I’m going up to the booth, and if I really like a particular beer or wine or anything, I take a photo. The visual cue of seeing the descriptions (particularly wine bottle labels) when I look on my phone is so helpful later!

In order to see what is happening and hot, be sure to check the hashtag #feastpdx on Twitter #feastpdx  or the handle Twitter FeastPDX and follow on Instagram Feast Portland to also see what everyone is talking about – maybe that’s how you’ll know to hurry and get into a particular line for a food dish before it runs out. If you do share, make sure you tag #FeastPDX too.

I know I’m sorry to be missing the Night Market, but I’ll be following the pictures online to live vicariously through all the social sharers out there.

Given that you may be taking photos and twittering… don’t you think of leaving home without your phone charger with you. Who knows how long the evening might extend to and you don’t want to run out of battery.

Make sure you also program a taxi number in your phone. You may not need it, but it’s so useful to have just in case you get invited to party on with new friends that you meet…

I’ll be on Twitter and Instagram myself covering Feast, so I hope we are already friends on Twitter @pechluck and on Instagram @pechluck .

If you don’t have tickets yet, the recommendation I would give (and apparently so would Carrie Welch, one of the co-founder of Feasts – she noted this in an interview Bakery Bingo recently posted. Also check out some interesting tidbits about her at an interview of Carrie at love, rachel with her post Coffee Conversations: Carrie Welch Co-Founder of Feast Portland is to strongly consider either the Sandwich Invitational on Thursday evening, or Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting on either Friday or on Saturday.

I hope these tips are helpful to you, and maybe I’ll see you at Feast? Don’t be shy about coming to say hi!

Disclosure: I was granted a Blogger Pass for Feast Portland 2014 for blog post and social media coverage but I am not otherwise being compensated. Even before I was given the Blogger Pass I already had tickets for some Feast events – so it just means I will have more to recap for you now!

Signature

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Portland Highlights, Sponsored Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Next Page »