{"id":44,"date":"2012-07-15T11:41:48","date_gmt":"2012-07-15T11:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/?p=44"},"modified":"2013-04-10T22:41:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T22:41:00","slug":"its-lunchtime-in-portland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"It’s Lunch time in Portland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hear the whistle blow?\u00a0 It’s Christmas<\/del> lunch time in Hollis, Queens<\/del> Portland, ya’ll.\u00a0 I can feel it – this could be a whopper <\/a>(no pun intended) of a post.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a second to appreciate not the usual world class video & film projects, but instead let’s talk about something equally as important.\u00a0 World class lunch.<\/strong>\u00a0 Woo ha!<\/p>\n

Something I remember vividly about the first time I ever visited Portland (circa 2006) was how incredibly good the food was.\u00a0 And how accessible.\u00a0 And how cheap.\u00a0 <\/em>Lunchtime in Portland is pretty rad, you have to admit.\u00a0 We’ve got it good.<\/p>\n

Rarely does the combination exist where most any craving can be (more or less) satisfied within walking distance, but my recent job switch has me working down in NW Portland again, and I’m constantly impressed with how rightly Portland does up lunch.\u00a0 With gusto!<\/p>\n

I think it’s something you appreciate more with some perspective.\u00a0 I can only speak for myself here, but I completely took a good lunch for granted during my NYC days.\u00a0 C’mon – in that town, anything and everything you could ever want is just a few steps out your door.\u00a0 Simple economics – endless amounts of busy, hungry people requiring food of all sorts brings the most amazing concentration of restaurants ever assembled, with the high volume comes low prices as they compete for our lunch dolla$.\u00a0 When genuinely incredible food only sets you back $5 or $10, it makes it reeeaaal easy to head out daily.\u00a0 Which for some of us represents one of the keys to sanity<\/em> (can I trademark that?).\u00a0 Step out, get some fresh air, stretch those legs.\u00a0 Catch up with coworkers.\u00a0 Try something different, keep things interesting.\u00a0 Unplug from the grind for half a sec.\u00a0 A shred of normalcy in this crazy biz we’re in.\u00a0 Play a little credit card roulette <\/a>and then deduct the whole thing and write it off as “networking.”<\/p>\n

It’s not all puppy dogs and ice cream out there.\u00a0 The flip side of the coin hit me when I moved to New Zealand, and the film studio was – as many film studios are – out in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 “The wop wops” as the kiwi’s called it.\u00a0 Where real estate isn’t prime city prices – you know the drill, usually out by an airport (what’s up with airports and cheap real estate, anyway?).\u00a0 Now, I’m talking earrrrllly Weta days here.\u00a0 Before the Park Road Post Cafe was installed on-campus.\u00a0 Before Lucas decided he wanted to be livin’ La Boca Loca<\/a>.\u00a0 Oh, don’t get me wrong, I had my share of Elements Cafe, Maranui Surf Club, Sinbad Kebabs, Chocolate Fish<\/a> this and Aranya Thai that, and boy just the mention of those spots brings a rush of memories.\u00a0 But it was a far cry from the lunch situation in NYC.\u00a0 Ok, ya know, I’m probably being too harsh.\u00a0 Full disclosure – on the subject of food, Wellington can hang with anywhere I’ve been for the most part (fact – the most cafes and restaurants per capita in the world<\/em>) but it was the whole have-to-hop-in-a-car thing that was the real buzz kill out there.\u00a0 This is not a problem here in P-Town.\u00a0 Worst case, you have to hop on your beater bike that you keep at the office.<\/p>\n

Now, you want to talk “lunch challenged,” imagine yourself magically whisked away to…\u00a0 mystical Albuquerque, NM.\u00a0 Why did the tribal music and the naked indian from Wayne’s World come rushing to your head?\u00a0 How, uh, cheeky<\/em>!<\/p>\n

I briefly “did some time” in the ABQ at the Sony office downtown when it existed, back on Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, so it’s still relatively fresh in my head.\u00a0 Actually, let’s not even go there.\u00a0 Ya know, mom taught me – if you don’t have anything nice to say about a lunch scene, don’t say anything at all.\u00a0 I don’t know, they had good pie<\/a>!\u00a0 When your tongue wasn’t scorched from red & green chiles (christmas!) or pickled from the Wine Margaritas<\/a>.\u00a0 My point is – I’ve seen it all, and since being removed from NYC, there was a gaping hole in my soul when lunch rolled around.\u00a0 A little emptiness, a careless whimper, sometimes a growl.\u00a0 I’m talking stomach gurgles here… \u00a0\u00a0 yanked outta the city that never sleeps – and never has a bad lunch – part of me wanted to just work through my lunch hour… \u00a0 even to –\u00a0 gasp (!) – bring my lunch from home.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Yikes.<\/p>\n

Portland restored balance to my foodie universe.\u00a0 I’m a big fan.\u00a0 And it deserves a shout.\u00a0 Game on.<\/p>\n

This could turn into a series of posts, but let’s start off first and foremost with NW<\/strong> – since I have such a soft spot for NW Portland.\u00a0 And by NW I mean “Nob Hill,” “The Alphabet District,” “Slabtown,” “the hood with all the street names from the Simpsons…”\u00a0 whatever.\u00a0 I lived, worked & breathed NW for my first 3 years here.\u00a0 At one point, when Laika’s LJC building was in full swing and I lived on Everett, I was able to condense my life into about a 10 block radius from Couch down to Raleigh.\u00a0 Let’s just say I got to know NW really<\/em> well.\u00a0 Trust me, best to divide this one up.\u00a0 And conquer.<\/p>\n

Lower NW – <\/strong>This is the south section and first part of the alphabet – Burnside through Kearney, roundabout 21st & 23rd and home to Hinge Digital<\/a>.\u00a0 The highlight reel would most definitely include:\u00a0 (deep breath)\u00a0 the fish tacos (and about everything else you could ever want) at Elephants<\/a>, the patio and under $10 lunch menu @ Cha<\/a>\u00a0– go for the Gomez! \u00a0That would be the Gomez burrito, named affectionately after the unimitable Ramiro Gomez at Hinge Digital.\u00a0 Down the street, the daily plate at Cafe Nell<\/a>, the sushi rolls at SanSai<\/a> (solid, but still out the door for $7 or so), the dive bar burgers at the Matador<\/a> (the original Matador not the other one), mole at MuuMuu’s<\/a>, and the gluten free turkey sandwich + hazelnut smoothie from Cafe Rio<\/a>\u00a0are all strong choices.\u00a0 If it’s after 4pm, the burger and back patio at North45<\/a> are hard to beat.\u00a0 Need a boost?\u00a0 Coffeehouse NW<\/a>.\u00a0 Breakfast on the way into work?\u00a0 Ken’s Bakery<\/a>.\u00a0 Bonus points:\u00a0 word on the street is that Koi Fusion<\/a> is opening a permanent location across from the Timber’s stadium where the flower shop was.\u00a0 Score! (or maybe “Goal” is more appropriate?)<\/p>\n

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Koi Fusion’s korean taco bliss<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Upper NW –<\/strong> Moving North, Lovejoy down to Thurman & Vaughn way – home to Kamp Grizzly<\/a>, Sonic Media<\/a>, Laika\/House<\/a>, Limbo Films<\/a> (who for some reason I always want to confuse with Lyon Films<\/a> out in SW) and others.\u00a0 The Thurman strip is the goldmine here.\u00a0 St Honore <\/a>and it’s tasty french patries are great on an overcast day – and we get our fair share of those, don’t we?\u00a0 Besaw<\/a>‘s brings it down home – I get the breakfast burritos and then don’t eat the rest of the day.\u00a0 Nic Marrison was a big Besaw’s guy, and also used to swear by the greasy spoon Joe’s Celler, which also quietly has some of the best Karoake in town (Thurs & Sun) and is heavily attended by both Benters and Laikans alike – although I’m not sure they know each other?\u00a0 One of these days I’ll shove you all together like 7th grade boys and girls at a sock hop.\u00a0 The “bento guy” with the little alcove cart down on Quimby b\/w 22nd and 23rd is one of the best $5 lunches around.\u00a0 Laughing Planet<\/a> deserves to be in the rotation, as does the fabulous\u00a0 New Old Lompoc<\/a>, which will soon become the New New Old Lompoc as it’s reconstructed…\u00a0 I’ll miss your “new old” back patio (but we await your triumphant return).\u00a0 In the meantime we’ll have to get by with Lucky Lab<\/a> I guess.\u00a0 Laurelwood is missed in this regard also – that little house is where it all began for me.\u00a0 Stepping Stone Cafe<\/a> tucked down on quimby & 24th is underrated, as is the BBQ at Slabtown<\/a> (what, you wanted dive bar pinball?\u00a0 go to the other one<\/a>).\u00a0 The el cheapo @ Pepino<\/a>‘s does the job. The Ratatouille Sandwich at Kenny & Zuke’s<\/a> is great with a ginger beer, but get the whole not the half.\u00a0 Cart land:\u00a0 18th & Quimby – go for the Bi Bim Bop at the Korean BBQ Box<\/a>! \u00a0Do not be afraid! \u00a0 Coffee:\u00a0 Vivace<\/a>.\u00a0 Breakfast on the way in?\u00a0 St Honore except on days the Dragonfly<\/a> has waffles.<\/p>\n

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Kenny and Zuke’s: serious sandwiches in a town that takes sandwiches seriously<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wow, a mouthful.\u00a0 Literally.\u00a0 Enough typing for this one, but there’s a lot more to say in the vein of lunch and I promise to lob more salivations in a future post.<\/p>\n

Left out your spot?\u00a0 Drop a note in the comments and give props where props are due!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hear the whistle blow?\u00a0 It’s Christmas lunch time in Hollis, Queens Portland, ya’ll.\u00a0 I can feel it – this could be a whopper (no pun intended) of a post. Let’s take a second to appreciate not the usual world class video & film projects, but instead let’s talk about something equally as important.\u00a0 World class… Continue reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18,12,13,17],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-keys-to-sanity","tag-lunch","tag-neighborhoods","tag-pdxclusive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Cfrz-I","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vfxpdx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}