The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More

The RE-BRANDING: This blog is about Food Carts Now!

So you may have guessed I got bored with trying to eat lunch on Hawthorne every day. It was expensive, we ran out of restaurants we weren't specifically avoiding, and oh yeah, I moved my office to felony flats. Well, technically we've rebranded it the "Flavel Arts District" hoping it'll catch on like Alberta did, but apparently white trash people are harder to gentrify. Anyway! I was just in a heated debate with Stan about our two nearest Food Cart pod locations (actually it wasn't heated at all, we agreed) and realized, I could start food blogging again, but about cart pods. I'm way better at keeping these things going…
Read More

Another Cook Off Video!

What do you do for fun? Me, I put on cooking show spoof cook offs and then make videos of them. With each one (this is the fifth one), it gets more serious, and more polished. For the latest I branded it, came up with some instrumental background music, and got a sponsor that actually provided the featured ingredient. Then I spent a solid 12 hours editing, only to export and realize there were a few more things I wanted to fix. But after two days of editing, I figured, good enough! Enjoy. Be sure to check out the full gallery of artsy black white photos here.
Read More

Vegan Cupcake Wars!

As you may or may not know, my office is above a Vegan bakery. It's cool because I get all the coffee and vegan pastries my heart could possible desire, but the catch is, when Lisa needs something requiring my skill set, I can't say no. So when someone from the Food Network called asking her to try out for Cupcake Wars, it was my job to make the video. Not that I would have said no, as this is clearly my latest big break! Jared did most of the filming (though I will definitely claim the shaky shots -- there is free coffee here.) I did the editing and…
Read More

Toney Bento

1423 SE 37th Date of visit: June 28, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $20 Our "new" options on Hawthorne are limited, so there have been a lot of trips to the same old places lately, but yesterday we finally decided to get back on blog-wagon and try out something new. Toney Bento is tucked just off the strip on 37th, and is one of the few places left on our list that isn't a dingy-looking sports bar. In fact, it looks quite appealing and even has sweet samurai swords on display. How can you go wrong with swords!? Despite the name, there is also more on the menu than…
Read More

Mulligan’s

3518 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of Visit: March 11, 2010 Cost for 2 (with tip): $21 Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's day, it seems fitting we'd finally make it to Mulligan's, although, the impending holiday actually has nothing to do with why we went there. A combination of attempting to be less fat and attempting not to spend so much money has slowed the lunch blogging, but there are a few places still to cross off. Mulligan's was one of them. We showed up promptly at noon and were officially the only customers in there. The bar is big, with a couple pool tables, and apparently on Thursday…
Read More

Top Chef Part 3

After losing the soup off, and the Totino's Party Pizza challenge, I figured it was time to let some other people do the cooking. I brushed up on my hosting skills by studying Padma for weeks (not really) before we headed to Seattle for this latest Top Chef installment. This time it was legendary pro snowboarder Peter Line competing against my former challenger, Party Time Nate, and the theme was hot dogs! Peter was kind enough to host in his insane Seattle pent house that sort of made me feel bad about my own home. Maybe I shouldn't have given up on being a pro snowboarder after all... It was…
Read More

Cafe Magnolia

1522 SE 32nd Ave Date of visit: February 3, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $20 We're really winding down this project -- basically the places left to go are either not really on Hawthorne, or just plain scary. Magnolia fell into the former category with it's slightly off-the-beaten-path location on 32nd. We were actually trying to go to Chance of Rain cafe, the former occupant, but it's gone, Magnolia is open and there we were. I gathered this was more of a breakfast spot, the waitress was sure to let us know they served it all day, although the menu options were not very extensive for either meal. I…
Read More

Jam on Hawthorne

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: January 13, 2010 Price for 2 (with tip) $18.50 Jam on Hawthorne is a pretty typical Portland breakfast joint, and if you know any thing about Portland, that's a good thing, at least foodwise. Ample portions, lots of variety and a full bar with all sorts of specialty cocktails are a must for any go-to breakfast spot in this town. But of course, there is a dark side to almost all of the good ones: the are small and usually crowded, and unfortunately, this much is also true for Jam. We managed to arrive at prime lunch time, and had to put our…
Read More

The Space Room/ Brite Spot Cafe

4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://www.spaceroomlounge.com/ Date of Visit: 1/12/2010 Price for 2 (with tip): $14.50 After yesterday's round up of places yet to go, it became clear we're pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel on Hawthorne. 80% of remaining restaurants are of the scummy bar variety, and, well, my ass is already fat enough. But one place I hadn't thought of was Big Bertha's; a-ten-dollar-and-under gyro sounded mighty delicious today. It turned out though, that there was a reason we hadn't tried it: this is is exclusively a late night spot. So we hastily opted for the Space Room, directly across the street. I've been to this bar…
Read More

Chopsticks

3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd Price for 2 (with tip) $16 Date of visit: 12/21/09 The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside…
Read More