the bent brick

last week my coworker and i were going out for a bite to eat and she suggested checking out this new restaurant called the bent brick.


the bent brick is located in the beautiful brick building that was once home to the oddball/baddoll shoe store. i've always thought that this building needed to be a restaurant instead and i'm so happy it finally is.


there is a great little seating area in the front complete with a giant jengo sculpture. it would be fun to hang out in this lounge over cocktails with friends.


and then the back of the dining room opens up completely. we have so few nice days here in portland and outdoor dining can be somewhat of a challenge. so the perfect solution is just to open up the side of the restaurant. this would even be nice on a rainy night.

we just had a few light snacks but the food is really good. my favorite was the roasted snow peas. these were snow peas in the pods and roasted on the grill. i loved these so much that lorenzo and i went to the farmer's market last week and bought some beautiful snow peas and then roasted them ourselves. this is my new favorite snack. why had i never had this before?

and i can't believe that i didn't get a photo of their wine taps. all of their wines are on tap. now i really need this at home. delicious wines right out of the tap. yes, please!

so get on over and check out the bent brick for yourself. you will be very happy i sent you.

1639 nw marshall
503.688.1655

olympic provisions

last night my friend and i decided to go check out the new olympic provisions west side that has just opened in the old carlyle space.


the decor is considerably different than carlyle's, you would hardly recognize the clean white industrial space.


nate tilden was kind enough to give us a tour of his new wholesale facility. i must admit, we felt really bad that the boys weren't there with us to see this. nate is really proud of all of their meat!


this is the last process of curing the salami. a controlled environment is perfect for the mold they need to finish off this amazing salami.


and here is their finished product. you can buy some to take home with you to have later. we really loved the spicy chorizo salami.


and i love, love, love roast chicken which is what we decided on for dinner. it was amazing, not to mention the accompanying potatoes that went with it.

their dinner menu is really simple but we had a hard time deciding on what we wanted, everything looked so good. we were sitting at the bar and could see everything the kitchen put up.

and nate was so nice to bring us their signature chocolate salami for desert. this consists of fudge with hazelnuts and pistachios that are made to look like salami. it is then served with a citrus marmalade and salt and pepper shortbread. i am not a huge desert person but this was soooo good. that salt and pepper shortbread was to die for, i was wishing there was more on the plate. nate also gave us a sampling of a barolo antica. this is a desert wine of barolo and grain alcohol. i had never had anything like this. it was delish! it definitely warmed me up, suddenly i felt very flush and had to get outside to cool off.

as always, nate and his partner's establishments impress me. it was great food, a beautiful environment and fabulous service. i can't wait to get back to try their polenta.

thank you, nate and team for such a great meal and i hope you and jane have a great trip to spain. i can't wait to see what new recipes you bring back.

olympic provisions
1632 nw thurman
503.894.8136

crystal palace

this morning i was lucky enough to be given a tour of the latest mcmenamin's endeavour, the crystal hotel.

the crystal hotel is housed in an old portland bathhouse and the former location of the silverado club located in portland's vaseline alley. i must say this neighborhood has made quite a transformation over the years becoming home to an american apparel store and a new johnny fluevog shop.

and while i'm a little saddened by the new squeaky clean look of this particular neighborhood (there is little left of the old portland of the drugstore cowboy and my own private idaho days) however, i'm happy that this small city block has been lovingly preserved by mcmenamin's. this is much better than being torn down to build another giant chain grocery store or condo building!


most of the rooms in the hotel are european style with a shared bathroom but there are a few king suites with bathrooms. there are four large bathrooms on each floor with just 17 rooms sharing them so i'm sure there is plenty of bath space.

the rooms are all named after bands that have played at the crystal ballroom over the years and are decorated with the whimsical mcmenamin's touch. rooms start at $85-$185, which is very reasonable for being located so centrally downtown.



in the basement is the salt water soaking pool. i love the bamboo lined walls in here.

a few cool things to take note of is that if you stay at the hotel, you are automatically reserved 2 tickets to the shows playing at the crystal ballroom during your stay. if you would like to make use of these tickets, you just need to book them more than 48 hours in advance. after that, they open up to be sold to the public. if there is a sold out show you were hoping to catch, you can always book a room to get the opportunity to see that show.

also, there is an all ages venue (up to 10 pm) in the basement of the hotel that you can access through ringler's annex or the hotel lobby. it's a great live performance space and every show played there will be free. i can't wait to catch a show down there!

the crystal hotel officially opens on may 3rd and m. ward will play a series of three shows to celebrate the grand opening.

303 sw 12th avenue
503.972.2670

the hotel is located near every king of public transportation in town so make your stay here car free.

all images from oregon live

hawthorne girl hits williamsburg

last month when i was in nyc for work, i had just enough time to hop on over to brooklyn and check out williamsburg in hopes of finding jason schwartzman filming bored to death (not really, well yeah, maybe). my bff and i hopped on the subway and and got off at the bedford stop. we didn't have a lot of time and it was pretty cold out but we did manage to find two great spots before heading to downtown brooklyn to visit with my friend gale.


our first stop was the bedford cheese shop. the windows full of cheese drew us in, i had no control over the matter! this was a quaint little neighborhood cheese shop full of cheese, salami and best of all, chocolate. how cute is this little corner shop? we need one of these in portland.


the goods laid out before us.


here i am in my infamous pendleton coat purchasing some mast brothers chocolate. if you have never heard of this chocolate, find some...soon. it is to die for. i'm trying to get some ordered for my shop but i fear i will be my own best customer.

bedford cheese shop is at 229 bedford ave. brooklyn, ny 11211 718.599.7588

as my friend and i were growing thirsty, i asked the gentleman at the cheese shop where a good place to grab a glass of wine would be and he directed us kitty corner to juliette bistrot. i feel as if he truly knew us by sending us here!


juliette is a beautiful restaurant that channels paris in brooklyn.


i loved the little bar area the best (sorry for the blurry pic). i must say, after two glasses of wine here, it was hard to leave.


in the center of the restaurant was a little atrium that reminded me of bronte's rooftop garden in green card. i wanted to get a better photo of it but they were having a staff meeting and i didn't want to interrupt.


here is my bff kjirsten enjoying a rest and a glass of wine after i drug her shopping all over soho. it was a much needed break!

juliette is at 135 n. 5th st. brooklyn, ny 11211 718.388.9222

I have read on their website that they have a fabulous roof-top bar as well so if you find yourself in brooklyn during the warmer months, this would be a perfect place to waste away the afternoon.

historic portland

back when i had free time to do things like volunteer, i worked with an organization called the bosco-milligan foundation. this foundation is focussed on preserving historic portland artifacts big and small- from the building all the way down to a door knob. bosco and milligan were two gentlemen who's passion was to go around portland collecting old bits of buildings that otherwise were headed to the landfill. they amassed quite a collection of architectural salvage before they both passed away quite prematurely.

for a while the historic preservation league of portland was responsible for their collection but it required more attention than they could give and thus the bosco-milligan foundation was formed and has been run ever since by a close friend of benny and jerry's, cathy gailbraith.

the photo above is a buidling that the two owned and ran their stained glass business out of. for many years it sat untouched lacking the funds it needed to be renovated. if you have been in portland for a while, you will know this building over on se grand ave. well, a few years back, the renovations were completed and the building was reopened as the architectural heritage center and the home base of the bosco-milligan foundation. this building works as a resource center and library for all things old portland.

i mention this now because the archtectural heritage center has some really cool programs on a regular basis and this spring they are hosting walking tours of portland. the tours begin in april and run through the summer. there are some really great neighborhoods on their list of tours-belmont, hollywood, yamhill, vista and reedwood. i can't wait for the reedwood tour, i've always wanted to check out the reed college campus and this tour focusses on the mid-century houses on and near the campus.

many of the tours require pre-registration since there are only so many spaces available. so go to the ahc site for more information and to register for the tours.

when i was in interior design school many years ago, i went on several walking tours of portland and let me tell you, there are some amazing gems in our community often designed by very well-known architects.

so what better way to spend the warm months here than getting out and getting to know the historic neighborhoods of portland!

murder in portland part 2

i know i have mentioned the author cara black on i heart portland before. she writes a series of murder mysteries based in paris starring the stylish and smart yet not so great decision maker french detective aimee leduc. aimee inevitably finds herself in some sort of bad predicament in paris usually due to the fact the a criminal has pulled on her heartstrings yet again. oh aimee, when will you ever learn?

sometimes the stories are a little far-fetched for me and end like the da vinci code (completely unrealistic), but there is something so endearing to me about cara's novels. most likely the fact that they take place in and around paris, of which cara knows very well due to the help of great friends and the paris prefecture as well. it really is like taking a little vacation through the quartiers of paris.


cara will be in portland again on the 26th of march speaking at the alliance francaise. if you have not been to an event at the alliance and you are even remotely a francophile like i am, you should check it out. it is in a beautiful old victorian house in goose hollow that the alliance runs its programs out of, and there is no better place in portland for cara to transport you to paris than here. hop on the alliance website to register for the event because it is a very intimate space.

cara will be in town reading from the 11th installment of the aimee leduc series, murder in passy.

hawthorne girl takes new york

it's only fitting that this be the follow up to my last post, written over a month ago. january was a crazy whirlwind of work on the road and i can't be happier to be back in portland.

i received a call from my boss on saturday night while waiting for my flight to leave newark that my coworker and i were in the sunday style section of the new york times. yes, it appears as though our crazy pendleton meets opening ceremony coats caught the eye of bill cunningham while we were walking the shops along madison avenue. i must say we were quite the spectacle in a sea of black with our bright colors...and it looked like it paid off!

when all is said and done, it was the best trip to new york ever and this was just the icing on the cake. i met so many incredible people and drew so much inspiration i was excited to bring the experiences back home and implement them into my life and work.

i apologize for my slacking on posts and hopefully will get the blog back up and running. thanks for hanging in there!

nell's diner

last weekend was a quintessential portland weekend which means one thing--breakfast.

when the weather here gets yucky, do what portlander's do and head inside for some great coffee and good food. one of my favorite places when i'm craving weekend breakfast is cafe nell.

cafe nell is a little over a year old and resides in the space that formerly housed cafe des amis. i loved cafe des amis as well but the new owners of the space have really done an amazing transformation. what was once tiny and closed in, seems bright and open and spacious thanks to creative interior design and the big wall of mirrors. it may be dark and gloomy outside but certainly not inside this beautiful restaurant.


i like to sit in the bar so i can look out the window into the neighborhood. i also got a good look at the fabulous bloody marys they were making behind the bar.


nothing gets better than a cup of coffee while watching the rain outside.

for breakfast, i ordered the huevos rancheros. i generally do not order huevos in restaurants because being from new mexico, i'm usually disappointed with the huevos up here. well, the waiter assured me they were delicious so i went ahead and tried them because new mexican comfort food was really sounding good to me. and guess what, i was pleasantly surprised! they were really good with the chunky ranchero sauce and just the right amount of kick. the eggs were cooked perfectly and it really hit the spot.


i'm not sure if i'm ready for this everyday but sometimes it's nice to just sit and watch the rain. and cafe nell is a great spot to do this in.

it is located at nw 20th and kearney 503.295.6487

they also have a small parking lot in back which is great when visiting the nw neighborhood.

it's baack!

so last week i was walking through chinatown and saw this in it's former home (now ping restauraunt)which was once the hung far low restaurant, an old town/chinatown must see. it was removed several years ago when hung far low moved out to 82nd street. it turns out people make a special trip to chinatown to see the sign and there have been many disappointed tourists upon finding out it was no longer here. therefore, the owners of ping began a movement to bring it back.


this morning i was driving into work and snapped this shot. what's the deal? no fanfare? no glory? it just reappears like it was never gone.

although it has been painstakingly restored and looks even better than ever.

oh hung far low, how we have missed you!

go here to read the most recent oregonian article.

ahhh astoria

sorry for the lack of posts this week. i'm now unpacking from the big move and on vacation for the week. however, i'm needing a little break so tomorrow the girl and the dogs and i are taking a drive out to the coast. i'm hoping we can stop for lunch in astoria at my favorite cafe, the cannery cafe.

what i love about the cannery cafe is it's right on the waterfront. the food is delicious and it's in my favorite sea side town, astoria.

ever since i was a little girl, astoria has been my favorite place on the oregon coast. there is just something about it's scandinavian charm. once my parents took me on the little trolley ride that talks about the history of the town and as hokey as it seemed, i really enjoyed it. there is such great history in the town and i can't wait to head out in the morning for another visit.

if you are passing through astoria, check out the cannery cafe at #1 6th st 503.325.8642

hawthorne i love you

when i decided i wanted to write a post about hawthorne, i started to look for images of the heart of hawthorne and came across this one and decided that it is perfect for my ode to hawthorne. i've driven past this mural on the side of a bookstore at about 31st and hawthorne for so many years and i've always had a fondness for it, particularly because it featured one of my favorite tormented authors, sylvia plath.

why am i writing an ode to hawthorne? because as of june 30th, i will no longer reside in my much loved portland neighborhood. it's funny to think about because i thought i would live out my days in this little "quarter". but alas things change and people move on. if not, we would never evolve, right?

it is decidedly so that i have outgrown my sweet pied a terre and before my poor landlord who lives below me kicks me out of the building due to late night, wine induced tromps up above, lucie jumping up and down all day, or a big dog howling every time someone walks by my window, i have decided it is best if i leave on good terms, that and the fact that i have an amazing guy who has an amazing daughter that i want to spend as much time as humanly possible with, and this means moving out to the country to be with them.

so how do i begin to pay tribute to my home of 11 years (i cheated on hawthorne for 1 year over on corbett and quickly came back)? i wouldn't even know where to begin but here are a few things that i will always look back on fondly...

standing outside of the bagdad theater in the pouring rain the first week i lived here wondering what in the heck i had done.

great times with raney down the street in her amazing apartment.

the reunion with my dear friend racheal at the cup and saucer cafe.

hanging at the barley mill with raney, kelly, tim and marin, amanda and frank, and jessie and vince.

st. patrick's day at biddy mcgraw's.

working sunday nights at the italian joint (rip).

countless birthdays at the bombay cricket club with kjirsten and megan.

my favorite safeway and the sweet people that work there, as well as the springtime drycleaners whose owner worries about me if i forget to come pick up my drycleaning (granted i leave it there a ridiculously long time).

and there are so, so many more things i love about my neighborhood that i won't bore you to death with but will always cherish, yes, i have had some good times on hawthorne!

and by the way, i am having a huge moving sale this sunday the 27th so come on over, buy some crap so i don't have to move it, or you can just say hi! (12th ave two blocks south of hawthorne).

in the words of sylvia plath (or gwyneth paltrow playing sylvia) my life in hawthorne has been a "pot boiler", and yes, i will always be a hawthorne girl!

image from todd mecklem
mural by jane brewster

i want my maple bacon bar...

i feel like i've been on a whirl-wind tour myself. things have been pretty busy here in p-town and i'm not sure when the end will be in sight.

between packing, moving, catching whatever music i can and oh yeah, working, i've been pretty busy the last few weeks. i caught the psychedelic furs show last night which brought me back to my teen age years and then this week i'm just gearing up for a visit from one of my dear friends, finish moving, have a yard sale and host one last soiree in my much loved hawthorne apartment. whew!

luckily, with all of this mayhem, there has been some fun mixed in there to keep me going and tonight is one of those nights...i'm going to see anthony bourdain at the bagdad theater.

i have wanted to see him the previous times he came through portland but could never get it together to make it happen. so a big thank you to my friend joel for taking charge and getting us tickets.

he will be reading from his latest book medium raw which will definitely be on my summer reading list.

let's just hope he gets his voodoo maple bacon bar before the show so he isn't pissed off!

the bagdad theater is at 3702 se hawthorne 503.236.9234

ccccold!

what the heck is going on with the weather up here? this reminds me of the famous mark twain quote "the coldest winter i ever saw was the summer i spent in san francisco (sub portland)."

you know, we only tolerate the crappy weather all year because our summers are so beautiful that it makes it all worth it. i can't help but feel a little short changed.

i'm moving this weekend so cross your fingers it doesn't rain as much as the forecast says it will. oh rain rain go away!

GOAL!!!

oh yes people. it's that time, the time i have been counting down to for the past four years. it's WORLD CUP SOCCER!

i love world cup and aside from tennis, it's the only sport i will get up to watch and ungodly hours of the morning. and i must say, for this next month, it's all about world cup for me. i have to get my fill in to tide me over for the next four years.

the last world cup i was all about portugal and when they were out of the series i was pulling for forza italia. i am happy with either one making it to the finals. who is your team?

i got on line to see where i may be viewing my early morning games and found that beulahland has a really easy to navigate schedule listed and three big screen tvs, so i may start my viewing there this year. besides, they have great cheap breakfast and awesome biscuits and gravy.

beulahland is at 118 ne 28th ave 503.235.2794
here is their soccer schedule

fleet week

it's fleet week in portland when thousands of drunken sailors emerge upon downtown where hopefully they will be shanghai'd back into the seas from whence they came.


oh let the rose festival begin!

golf pro...

...i am not! in fact until this weekend, i had never played a real game of golf in my life. not that what i played at mcmenamin's edgefied could be called a "real" game but for me, it was a far cry from the putt putt i used to play as a kid at the phoenix metro center course.


i have loved edgefield ever since i moved to portland and my friends first took me there. i don't make it out as much as i used to but i do try to make it once or twice a summer because nothing beats a lazy summer weekend hanging out around the little red shed drinking rubies or "rubinators".


so the fact that this time i actually played golf was an entirely new experience for me. luckily, i good coaches and after a few rough starts, i was able to get my first swing onto the green.

and the course is absolutely beautiful looking down the hill onto the edgefield grounds. you really couldn't beat the great weather we had out on saturday, it was a clear blue sky day.

i really hope i can get out to edgefield a few more times this summer. i'm not sure if another golf game will happen, i don't know if i have the attention span to play even nine holes but i definitely hope to make it out for some music like willie nelson or pavement. oh i can't wait for summer!

mcmenamin's edgefield is located at 2126 sw halsey st troutdale 503.669.8610

photo 1 courtesy of eats and interest
photo 2 courtesy of macgeek

cafe velo

i needed to go run an errand today during lunch and took a side street that i don't take very often. this cute little cafe caught my eye on the corner of sw 6th outside of the the big pink and right on the transportation mall. several different lunch counters have occupied this space in the past but i love what this one has done for the curb appeal.

i popped in just for a minute to look over their menu, which sounded really good. when i got back to work, i googled this little gem and this is what i found out about our new neighborhood business.

cafe velo started as a mobile coffee cart over at the portland farmers market in the south park blocks. the owner, rick wilson, quit his high tech job, purchased a european bakfiet bike (the cool three-wheeled kind that looks like a boat) and opened up shop. he felt that this was the perfect business for portland because it involved a bike, coffee, and sustainability. it turns out he was right. his business is booming at the farmers market and now he has a permanent home as well, referred to as cafe velo 2.0.

at cafe velo 2.0, he still offers made-to-order drip and french press coffee by stumptown, but also offers a few other varieties of coffee as well. i have not yet jumped on the portland made-to-order drip coffee bandwagon but now i think i'll give it a shot to see what all of the fuss is about. however, what really caught my eye was the great lunch menu he boasts at the tiny cafe.

the menu is based on rick's time living in paris when he encountered the diverse ethnic selections of parisian street food. he offers flatbread sandwiches, falafel and hummus, soups, tagines and one of my favorites-paella. i cannot wait to go back and try some of these wonderful flavors of spain, morocco and tunisia right here in our very own neighborhood!

cafe velo is at 600 sw pine 503.719.0287 and is cash only. there is a menu listed on their website cafe-velo.

a shot of sun

oy my friends, hawthorne girl here. life has taken an unexpected turn for the better and I find myself at a crossroads (denver international airport). so many new and exciting changes on the horizon that I need a bit of sun on my pale portland skin to put it all into perspective. I will be back in touch, my loves, when I have dried out a little and can think a little clearer after the margaritas have worn off. i'll be in touch very soon!

xoxo

the gordon house

i'm looking forward to the weather getting a little better so that we can head down to silverton and tour the frank lloyd wright designed gordon house.

i was able to see it in it's original location in wilsonville before they moved it down to the oregon gardens but i have not yet been able to go tour it again since the move.

this is the only flw house in oregon and i highly recommend checking it out, it's very unusual. it doesn't look like much from the outside but when you stand in the living room and look out, it has a really amazing feel. he was the master at connecting the interiors of his homes to the natural landscape and exterior of the house.




the house is in silverton at 879 west main 503.874.6006

it lists on the website that tours are on the hour between 11am and 5pm, may through october and 12pm to 4pm november through april. i would call first, though because the last time we went down, they were requiring reservations made ahead of time so we did not get to tour it.

i'm sure it will be very beautiful here in the next few weeks after more has bloomed so i'm going to wait a little bit longer before visiting it.

j & m cafe

i think one of the first restaurants i visited after moving to portland was the j & m cafe. my best friend loved to eat breakfast there so she took me there soon after my arrival in town. i think it was the first place i ever dined that let you help yourself to your own mug from the mug tree and pour your own cup of coffee. i loved this concept. just because you need to wait to dine doesn't mean you should have to wait on your coffee!


i have no idea how long j & m has been open. i've been here over 11 years and i'm sure it had been open many years before i came to portland.

one of the things i love about j & m is their consistency, great service, great food, great atmosphere. i have never had a bad experience in this restaurant, they know what they are doing and they do it well.


i love the big open and airy space. even on our darkest days here in portland it seems sunny.


here's the ever famous mug tree. you can choose your mug depending on the days mood.

some of my favorites at the j & m are the mess of potatoes covered in fresh house-made salsa, bagel and lox plate and my very favorite dish, the j & m plate. it's like their own version of eggs benedict. i like to substitute fresh tomato slices for the bacon so it's not so heavy.

when i first moved to town and a few years there after, there was a big group of new mexico transplants living in portland. we liked to meet for brunch at j & m most weekends. as i am the last one to remain here, i really miss my get togethers there. i still go there and think about all of the good times we had--and then i send texts to my friends back in the southwest letting them know i am dining there without them. i do need to guilt them a little bit for abandoning me!

if you have never been to j & m, you must go. it is one of the great old gems that is still survivng.

j & m cafe is located at 537 se ash 503.230.0463