June has been a bit of a waiting game. Waiting for the rain to stop. Waiting for night to fall (“The sun is awake so I am awake,” my 3-year-old likes to say). And for restaurant fans, waiting for some of Portland’s best-known chefs and restaurateurs to open their first major projects since the start of the pandemic. While we wait for for Jeffrey Morgenthaler and Benjamin “Banjo” Amberg to open their post-Clyde Common bar Pacific Standard later this month, for Gregory Gourdet to put the finishing touches on his wood-fired Haitian restaurant Kann and the just-announced bar Sousòl in July, for Canard to expand to Oregon City and Langbaan to get final permits for their new Northwest Portland home, here are 10 pieces of restaurant news to whet your appetite this June.
Celebrity chef Justin Sutherland opens Portland sandwich shop Big E
Inspired by songs from Prince, LCD Soundsystem and The Notorious B.I.G., new downtown Portland sandwich shop Big E is the first restaurant opened outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul by celebrity chef Justin Sutherland. Found in the rec room-style lobby of downtown Portland’s new 197-room Moxy Hotel, 585 S.W. 10th Ave., the new micro restaurant from the “Top Chef” contestant serves breakfast sandwiches with eggs in various forms, Tillamook cheese and fluffy milk buns from Beaverton’s Oyatsupan bakery. The signature sandwich is the It Was All a Dream, a steak sandwich with — like the Biggie lyric — cheese, eggs and Welch’s grape (jelly, though for the record, the song is referring to juice).
Victor Darchini stands outside Caspian Kabob’s upcoming Beaverton location.Courtesy of Tracy Darchini/Caspian Kabob
Caspian Kabob holds grand opening in Beaverton
Caspian Kabob, the beloved former Portland food cart, will hold a grand opening at its new Beaverton brick-and-mortar on Tuesday, June 14. Nearly three years after closing their cart at North Portland’s Prost Marketplace pod, owners Victor and Tracy Darchini are ready to welcome guests to their new restaurant, 3807 S.W. Orbit St. #110, in the West End District, a new development at the site of the old Kmart where Southwest Murray Boulevard hits the Tualatin Valley Highway. Look for Darchini’s saffron rice and grilled meat kebabs, plus specials including sabzi gormeh (a beef stew), salmon kebabs and lamb shank with dill rice.
Fast Feathers adds wings, creative sauces to downtown Portland
Speaking of Food Cart Alley, Portland Monthly was first to report that the Moxy’s micro restaurant row has welcomed a new wing concept from Anthony and Stephanie Brown of the currently on hiatus Mexican/Cajun fusion restaurant Nacheaux. Situated next to Big E (see above), 585 S.W. 10th Ave., the wing stand specializes in creative house sauce flavors including honey pecan, mole BBQ, and Dorito-dusted Doriteaux, plus sides including tater tots, French fries and fried pickles.
Fulamingo (oh oh oh-woah) takes a wall at Wellspent Market
Fulamingo, the online Japanese market from Erik Hanson and Kana Hinohara Hanson, recently took over a wall at Northeast Portland specialty goods store Wellspent Market, 935 N.E. Couch St., Portland Monthly reports. This is the place to come for a conveniently curated selection of Japanese items, including instant spicy cod roe spaghetti sauce, ramen chips, cans of Boss Coffee and affordably priced sake.
Grand Central Market transitions to new ownership structure
One of the Pacific Northwest’s best-known bakeries will no longer be privately owned by family and longtime employees. Instead, Grand Central Bakery announced that it will create a “perpetual purpose trust,” a new type of corporate structure that aims to uphold principles, not profit, company officials said. Two other Oregon businesses are embracing this new type of ownership trust. Eugene-based Organically Grown Company and Newport’s famed Local Ocean Seafoods. Read more about it here.
Hinterland, a food cart pod, located at 2216 S.E. 50th Ave., Portland, Ore., Thursday, April 28, 2022.Mark Graves/The Oregonian
Hinterland presents a sustainable model for food cart pods
Portland’s new Hinterland Bar & Carts offers a glimpse at a possible future for food carts. At the Southeast Portland pod, 2216 S.E. 50th Ave., a carefully selected quintet of carts is surrounded by amenities more commonly found at fancy food halls, including covered seating, big TVs, reusable dishware and one of the city’s best new cocktail bars. Portland has hundreds of carts spread across parking lots throughout the city, but as one cart owner put it in our recent review, Hinterland has set a “new standard” for pods. Visit and you’ll probably agree.
Fried chicken spot Yonder to close, reopen as Hissyfit
Yonder, the Northeast Portland fried-chicken restaurant from chef Maya Lovelace, will close near the end of June, then reopen almost immediately as Hissyfit, a new restaurant with some of Yonder’s old personality (and cocktails), while freeing up the kitchen to experiment with with global flavors. An early look at Hissyfit’s menu reveals fun fusion dishes highlighting ingredients from both the Pacific Northwest and the American South such as Korean-inspired cornmeal spring onion pancakes with spicy sorghum syrup, a McFarland Springs trout with fresh egg noodles and a guajillo-tomato butter, tempura pickled green beans with a smoked cheddar fondue and a koji-cured pork schnitzel. Look for Hissyfit to open at
The Matador opens new North Portland location
The Matador, a popular Mexican restaurant and bar chain with locations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, recently opened its third Portland outpost at 4101 N. Williams Ave., the company announced in a press release. Known for its selection of more than 100 tequilas, the new 4,500-square-foot restaurant at the Peloton Apartments has room for around 120 guests both indoor and on its patio.
MidCity SmashBurger serves the best smash burger in Portland, and it’s only $5.Michael Russell | The Oregonian
MidCity expands to Bend; Sammich heads for Lebanon
Two major Portland food carts are on the move. MidCity SmashBurger, our choice for Portland’s best smash burger, and Pastrami Zombie, the sister cart to Ashland-based sandwich shop Sammich, are making moves this month. After making a wrong turn at Corvallis, the Sammich cart has landed at the new Landing cart pod at Lebanon’s Tallboy Brewing, 2055 Primrose St. MidCity, meanwhile, has expansion on the mind, opening a new cart at Boneyard Brewing’s under-remodel original taproom, 37 N.W. Lake Place in Bend.
What’s happening at Ocean City Seafood?
Another one of Portland’s signature dim sum restaurants appears to have closed. Ocean City, a longtime rival to Wong’s King Seafood, was closed during a recent trip down Southeast 82nd Avenue, its building wrapped in a chain link fence. The Ocean City website remains operational, but no one answered the phone or follow-up emails to the restaurant Tuesday. Wong’s King, you might recall, closed during the pandemic, with a different dim sum spot, Excellent Cuisine, eventually opening in its place.
Rockwood Market Hall heats up Gresham’s food scene
New Gresham food hall Rockwood Market Hall isn’t just a destination for fans of po’boys, panuchos or chicken tikka masala. It’s a potential catalyst for growth in its own historically underfunded Gresham neighborhood. Steps from MAX, the large facility already boasts a quintet of tiny restaurants, with plans to add a half dozen more, including micro grocers, all next to a Euro-style plaza with a play area, seasonal splash pad and white-tablecloth Mexican bar and grill in La Villa.
Read more:
Indian popsicles, Caribbean bar snacks and more Portland restaurant news for May 2022
Bluto’s goes Greek, Bing Mi adds dumplings and more Portland restaurant news for February
Seattle dumplings, seasonal Burmese salads and more Portland restaurant news for January
— Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com @tdmrussell
