Brooke Geery

Wille Yli Luoma’s New Heart

Just when I was starting to get tired of the other 519 coffee shops in Portland, Wille Yli Luoma decided to open Heart Roasters on East Burnside. Wille is out to prove, probably inadvertently, that just because you spend years as an influential pro snowboarder, you are not destined to a future of team management, announcing, or photography. Either that or he just really likes coffee. We’ll probably do a deeper expose into the inner workings of Heart in the future, but for now, this is a story about the kick ass opening party on Saturday, October 17. The classy, open space was filled with a DJ and hipsters from…
Read More

5 Interesting/Important Things: Oct 17, 2009

As the internet buzz wears off from the stupid Burton drama, I can't help but realize even further how unimportant action sports are. So I've decided in order to add meaning to my life as an extreme journalist, I am going to start recapping things in the world that actually mattered (or were at least interesting) every week. Here's what made the cut this week. 1. Balloon boy! Is he in the balloon? Is he dead? Was it a hoax? Was it the parent's fault? So many questions, so much wasted time. I too found myself transfixed, watching the live feed of young Falcon, allegedly careening over Colorado in a…
Read More

What’s for Lunch?

Today we cheated on Hawthorne Blvd and crossed the bridge to eat at an old favorite, Vegetarian House. One thing that I have noticed by eating at a bunch of new places is that most are not really that great for lunch. But rather than just complain that they aren't, I figured I should explain exactly what I am looking for in a lunch spot. 1. Cheap. One of the things that is awesome about eating lunch out is lunch specials. The midday meal is often less expensive than eating out for dinner, or even breakfast, so ideally, the restaurants serving lunch should recognize that. To put a value on…
Read More

Vincente’s Gourmet Pizza

1935 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: October 15, 2009 Price for 2 (with tip): $20 It is my firm belief that when you see the words "gourmet" and "pizza" together, you should not even consider going inside. But since the goal of this blog is to eat at every restaurant on Hawthorne, we were going to have to bite the gourmet bullet and eat at Vincente's eventually, so today was the day. I should also note I have been here before, but only for drinking purposes while waiting for movies to start and Cinemagic across the street. But this was my first pizza/lunch experience. The slice options were limited,…
Read More

Things I am Good at Part 2: Money Management

someday, this could all be yours! I find it simply astounding that at no point in our lives as freedom-loving, all-consuming Americans, we are not taught how to manage money. Sure, some of us are, thanks to our parents, but in between phys ed and beginner French, schools don't bother to say hey: here's how to make a budget and manage your money. Luckily, I have a blog where I share my thoughts and happen to be pretty good at it, so for you, my huge readership, here's my take on it. Now first off you should know, being an extreme journalist is not as glamorous as it sounds. I…
Read More

Pho Van

3404 SE Hawthorne Blvd Date of visit: October 14, 2009 Price for 2 (with tip): $26 Though we've been to Pho Van's 82nd Ave location many times, this was the first visit to the somewhat more swank Hawthorne location. On the corner of 34th and Hawthorne, the booths here are divided by ornate woodwork, and the light fixtures are especially awesome, but this is a food blog, not about interior design. And since I've been to another Pho Van location, I knew what to expect in terms of food quality. The real test was the ambiance, and of course, the lunch specials. Ironically, Pho Van seems to have an anti-lunch…
Read More

Hawthorne Fish House

4343 SE Hawthorne Blvd http://hawthornefishhouse.com/ Date of visit: October 13, 2009 Cost for 2 (with tip) $28.25 ($28.50 w/ dessert) On a cold, stormy Portland day I wanted something hearty and wholesome, so I figured fish and chips would be just the ticket. So we headed to Hawthorne Fish House, just for the halibut. No wait, because we cod. Ahahahahaha. Ok, I'm done now. The sign on Hawthorne Fish House (sister location to Corbett Fish House on the west side) says "Portland's Best Fish and Chips." Now this isn't a small claim, since this city is filled with amazing food. To say you have the BEST of anything is quite…
Read More

Lek Thai Food

3145 SE Hawthorne Blvd Cost for 2 (with tip) $21.50 If we're in the mood for Thai, we normally don't venture to Hawthorne, as our office is one block from Thai Thai on Stark. But when I saw the building that was formerly The Italian Joint had been painted lime green and purple and filled by Lek Thai, I figured I might as well throw myself on the fire and try it out. Like Chinese places, Thai restaurants usually have bitchin' lunch specials, so I expected a discounted menu, which they had. Unfortunately, the specials weren't all that great, all over $7 for a single dish. Since most of the…
Read More

Party Time Product Review: Gloves Part 3

Out of all the Party Time Product reviews, the glove reviews have definitely been the lamest. I mean, who really cares if you can eat tacos in gloves? But for the final test of the Drop, Dakine and Bonfire gloves we think we really nailed what matters. We lit them on fire. So now you'll know once and for all if you catch on fire, which gloves will protect you the best. No Party Time Nates were harmed in the filming of this test, however, you should still not actually try this one at home. [media id=34 width=555 height=320]
Read More

Who’s Paying for This?

Since starting a food blog I have been asked the same questions over and over, so I figured I might as well write a blog and answer them. 1) Why are you doing this? Are you trying to get free food? The first part of this question is answered here, but basically, we want to eat lunch at every restaurant on Hawthorne because it's a fun project and nothing else. Everyone wants a free lunch, but as you may have heard, there is no such thing. So no, we are not trying to get free food. 2) Who is paying for this? We are. Jared and I alternate who pays…
Read More