Portland dining rooms can reopen today after a week-long shutdown, but that's not the only big news in the restaurant scene this week: The sex worker-centric delivery service Meals 4 Heels Like List has launched a full-fledged cafe, Bee's Custom Cakes Like List baker Rebecca Powazek is opening her own bakery, and Kachka Like List is back open for outdoor dining with a playful Mexican-Slavic happy hour (three words: queso fundido khachapuri). Read on for that and more updates. For more ideas, check out our food and drink guide.
NEW OPENINGS AND RETURNS
Chimcking
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This wildly popular Korean fried chicken chain with a location
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in Beaverton soft-opened a new location in the Hollywood District on April 22. The menu includes wings, served plain or with soy-garlic, hot, or extra-hot sauce, as well as salads, ddukbokki, potato wedges, French fries, rice, soju, and beer.
Northeast
Pickup, delivery, or outdoor seating
Kachka
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Great news: The much-adored Russian restaurant has reopened for outdoor dining, and it's added a fun new happy hour to boot. In a nod to several Kachka staffers' Mexican roots, the so-called "Tekc Mekc" menu (a play on "Tex-Mex" with Cyrillic characters) incorporates Latin influences, resulting in dishes like queso fundido khachapuri (!), Georgian cornbread gorditas, and lavash nachos. Other Kachka classics like vareniki, pelmeni, and Moscow mules also make an appearance.
Southeast
Pickup or outdoor seating
Meals 4 Heels
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Local chef Nikeisah Newton started a food delivery service for sex workers called Meals 4 Heels in 2019, inspired by her former dancer girlfriend's need for nourishing food after her late-night shifts. Now, as she waits for strip clubs to reopen, she's launched her own brick-and-mortar cafe inside the Powerhouse Cafe space. The healthy bowl-style dishes have names inspired by her customer base, like "I Like to Cha Cha" ("green" brown rice, citrus slaw, black olives, mild salsa, cheddar, and cotija, topped with avocado, crushed Juanita's tortilla chips, salsa lizano, pickled red onions, and cilantro) and the "Verbal Tipper" (lemon pepper couscous, Italian pickled vegetables, marinated artichokes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, crumbled cotija cheese, crispy quinoa, and a balsamic drizzle).
Southeast
Pickup or delivery
FUTURE OPENINGS
Bee's Cakes and Cafe
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Former Multnomah Whiskey Library
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pastry chef Rebecca "Bee" Powazek, who runs the online bakery Bee's Custom Cakes, is planning to open a permanent location in the former space of Heim Bakery
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after it closes at the end of the month and once the increase of COVID cases slows down. You can look forward to cardamom rolls, everything bagel brioche buns with scallion cream cheese filling, toffee carrot cake, and other sweet and savory baked goods.
Northeast
Neighbors Taproom
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Friends Tia Williamson and Kristine Corey, who met working together at Natian Brewery's Burnside taproom, are taking over the space where they met to open their own community-focused taproom and coffee shop called Neighbors Taproom together later this month. The spot will function as a vegan cafe by day and a beer bar by night, and will feature local art, music, and events like book clubs.
Southeast
POP-UPS AND EVENTS
COVID Relief for India Fundraiser Raffle
Past Event
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Veganizer director Waz Wu is organizing this raffle fundraiser with hundreds of dollars worth of prizes from sought-after local restaurants like Boxcar Pizza, Nightingale, Kate's Ice Cream, Mirisata, Mama Dut, and more—each prize is worth a minimum of $150. Proceeds will benefit the increasingly dire COVID-19 crisis in India, which is facing a rise in rates and hospitalizations. Chef Deepak Saxena of DesiPDX will match the first $5000 of donations.
Online, through May 15
Margarita Week
Past Event
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Sip salty, limey elixirs from a dozen participating bars, including Deadshot
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, Botanist
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, Bit House Collective
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, and more. Proceeds will benefit Team Brownsville, an organization providing aid for those seeking asylum.
Various locations, through May 9
Oregon Wine Month
Past Event
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Oregon Wine Month will offer a month of safe and socially distanced programming celebrating Oregon-grown vino, including self-guided tours, educational seminars, talks, tastings, and more programming.
Various locations, through May 31
NEW SPECIALS
Aviv
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The plant-based Israeli and Middle Eastern restaurant has dreamed up a new ice cream flavor called "Purple Rain," featuring a coconut-based ube ice cream with lots of marshmallows and Oregon Bark's Tom Bumble Crumble.
Southeast
Pickup or delivery
Delicious Donuts
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Got a soft spot for Chamoy? Delicious Donuts has a craveable new mango flavor covered in the salty-sweet-sour-spicy Mexican condiment, finished off with a little tamarindo stick as a garnish.
Southeast
Pickup or delivery
Maurice
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The Nordic-French luncheonette is offering a new special inspired by a recipe from chef Kristen Murray's great-grandmother, with lefse (a thin, crepe-like potato pancake), gravlax, radish, roe, and creme fraiche.
Southwest
Pickup or delivery
Pix Patisserie
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Ready for a spontaneous al fresco meal in the park? Pix Patisserie's 24-hour contactless "Pix-O-Matic" vending machine has you covered with a "spur-of-the-moment picnic" kit with tuna pate, crostini, manzanilla olives, a goat cheese crottin (a small, round cheese), sardines in olive oil, two salted caramel chocolates, and napkins and utensils. Just add a bottle of wine and a red checkered blanket for a picture-perfect picnic.
Northeast
Pickup