PDX Breakfast

I want my Boogie Shoes

eva — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:54:55 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Glee dedicated an entire episode to Saturday Night Fever. I used to love, love, love Saturday Night Fever. John Travolta dancing, what could be bad about that. When I got older and tuned into the whole rape thing, my love for the movie kind of soured. But, I still love watching the dance scenes.

Glee had a complete unknown, named Unique, don drag and sing Boogie Shoes. She pulled out all of the stops and gave a performance that would make Mitzi, Bernadette and Felicia from Priscilla Queen of the Desert, proud. Anyhoo, I have not been able to get the damn song out of my head for a couple of weeks now.

I was struggling to decide on a place for this week’s #PDXBreakfast and decided to put my earworm to good use and make it inspire me. That is why we will be dining at the most 70′s place I can think of: Doug Fir. We do run the risk of running into a fixie of hipsters, but I suspect they won’t be up and about at 8:30 on a Thursday morning. Yes, it’s true. We are now back on Thursday mornings.

The pertinent details:

Thursday, May 3rd, 8:30am at Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside.

And he’ll huff and he’ll puff…

eva — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:41:21 +0000

At the risk of sounding like I am crying wolf, this week’s #PDXBreakfast is yet another farewell breakfast to Kettleman’s Bagels. But this time, change is not just in the wind, it has begun. Einstein’s has already rebranded. remodeled and generally messed with 2 of the 4 Kettleman’s locations. The downtown store isn’t closed quite yet, but it will reopen as Einstein’s in June. The last Kettleman’s to go with be the first one to arrive. I don’t have a date for the departure of the store on SE 11th, but I suspect it will be shortly after the downtown store reopens.

There are some new bagel places popping up into the decent-bagel void, including Spielman’s. Between you, me and the interwebs, #PDXBreakfast will most likely be breakfasting at them all.

But for now, it is time to say farewell to Kettleman’s as we come to the end of an era. Thanks for the memories, breakfasts, the bagels for BarCamps, Wordcamp and other camps we held at CubeSpace.

Wednesday, April 18th, 8:30am, Kettleman’s at 2235 SE 11th.

Let my breakfast go

eva — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:07:42 +0000

Passover starts this week. This means no leavened foods made from wheat, spelt, oats, rye or barley for 8 days. Unlike giving up caffeine for Yom Kippur, giving up leavened foods for 8 days has never felt like a big deal to me. Between you and me (and the interwebs), I am really looking forward to matzah with almond butter and jam. See, its an anticipation thing. Lots of Jews (myself included) don’t eat matzah for the month before Passover. The idea is that when you first eat it at the first seder, the taste and texture are unfamiliar. Like it was way back in Egypt. Like many of you, I don’t like being told I can’t eat something. It makes me really want it. So the one month of the year when I seriously crave matzah is the month before Passover. It also works in my favor for the next 8 days. I don’t tend to be one of those folks who, as the week of Passover drags on, would trade their left kidney for something leavened. Me, I am still happily enjoying my matzah.

What does this have to do with this week’s #PDXBreakfast? I chose this week’s location based entirely on their name: Toast. Toast has been on the list for a while, but somehow never got chosen. Every dog has its day and so does every breakfast place in Portland. I look forward to seeing you folks at Toast: 5222 SE 52nd Ave, 8:30 am on Wednesday, April 4th. Rides, as always, are available for the asking.

Lastly, have I piqued your interest in Passover? If so, @RabbiDavid’s congregation, Kehillah Hadashah is having a community seder this Friday night, April 6th. Jews and non-Jews alike are welcome. For more information email Info@kehillahpdx.org.

I am the St. Patrick of #PDXBreakfast

eva — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:01:50 +0000

I made an unexpected trip east in early March and missed the last scheduled #PDXBreakfast. This was despite the fact that I had ID’d the location in a previous post. Apropos of the season, I seem to be necessary to lead the people out to breakfast.

On the plus-side, this means I get to have breakfast at Spielman’s this week. To refresh your memories, Spielman’s makes their own boiled bagels and they are quite good. Plus, they roast their own coffee, can’t argue with that.

Wed, March 21st, 8:30am, Spielman’s – 2128 SE Division St

I will be there and I hope you will too.

Sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner

eva — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:40:28 +0000

Next #PDX Breakfast: February 22nd, 8:30am at Tom’s ~~Diner~~ Restaurant, 3871 SE Division St.

Tom’s Restaurant has been on the corner of ~~39th~~ Cesar Chavez and Division as long as I can remember (I have been here since ’88) and I have yet to step foot in it. @RabbiDavid has been there though, and he described their breakfast as “standard greasy-spoon diner fare.” Although it is not my thing, there really is a place for a classic greasy spoon breakfast in every city.

I will be missing the next #PDXBreakfast on February 22nd because I have a doctor’s appointment (which seem increasingly difficult to get these days which is the only reason it is trumping #PDXBreakfast). This seemed like a perfect opportunity to let folks get their greasy spoon fix without me missing a choice location.

Save the date: The March 6th#PDXBreakfast will be at Spielman’s on Division. Spoiler alert: excellent coffee & house-made real bagels.

I might as well face it, I’m addicted to change

eva — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:46:52 +0000

That’s more than just a blog post title, it is the story of my life. I get it from my father. He hated driving back the same way he came (FYI–he is still alive, he just can’t drive anymore) and he refuses to eat the same meal twice in one day or on 2 consecutive days. I have been known to take longer routes just to switch things up. My abhorrence of eating the same food too frequently has always made cooking in bulk a problem for me. And it is why I struggle picking #PDXBreakfast locations.

The one thing I never imagine changing is my complete and utter adoration of my twin niecelettes. Ask me again when they hit puberty, but even then I can’t quite imagine myself turning down an opportunity to go visit them. Thanks to a fabulous @Southwest Airlines sale, I am heading to New York today. For those following along at home, that means I won’t be here for Thursday, January 26th’s #PDXBreakfast. Neither will @RabbiDavid because of his new gig as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Willamette University. Nor will @BryanStearns because he has to take @GinaBean to a doctor’ appointment. Missing critical mass means that I am cancelling this week’s #PDXBreakfast.

@RabbiDavid teaches classes Tuesday and Thursday mornings, which precludes him from joining the #PDXBreakfast crew for all of Spring semester. For purely selfish reasons, I am moving #PDXBreakfasts to Wednesdays for the foreseeable future (I just like hanging out with the guy). That makes out next #PDXBreakfast on Wednesday, February 8th at Delphina’s Bakery Cafe at 4200 NE Wygant St.

That will also be the @EvaCatHerder Birthday Edition because this year my Hebrew birthday, Tu B’shvat, falls on February 8th. My secular birthday is on Friday of that week, so I guess this year I will just have a double-plus good birthday.

Stymied by indecision

eva — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:10:42 +0000

At the end of the last #PDXBreakfast, @BryanStearns asked if we could have our next breakfast at the Blue Pig. I happily agreed because it meant that I wouldn’t have to decide where to have this week’s #PDXBreakfast. But, as it turns out, I met @BryanStearns & @GinaBean at the Blue Pig for breakfast that very weekend. Bryan ended the meal by telling me that all he wanted to do was make sure I had breakfast at the Blue Pig, so I was now free to hold the next #PDXBreakfast at the location of my choice. While I very much appreciated the gesture, that was a bad move on Bryan’s part, since it left me way to long to mull over where to hold the next #PDXBreakfast.

A normal person probably would have left well enough alone and stuck with Plan A. While I am many things, normal is not one of them. I kind of blame my father for this (take that Freud!) My father doesn’t like repetition. He had a rule about always taking a different route home (he no longer drives, so this is now a tough rule to enforce) and he refuses to eat the same food twice in one day. While I don’t always need to take a different route home, I do like to mix things up. @RabbiDavid thinks it is very weird that I will sometimes take a longer route if it means I get a break from the routine. This also applies to restaurants. I try to avoid going to the same restaurant on two consecutive occasions. Thus the crux of my dilemma.

I have spent the last week debating revisiting the Blue Pig vs. any other breakfast place in Portland. We have yet to try Toast. I wasn’t impressed with the Blue Pig’s biscuit, which led me to think fondly of Bakery Bar’s homemade pepper biscuit (yum!!!!). I finally made it to the Rocking Frog, and while their breakfast menu is very limited, their made-to-order donuts were awesome! This morning, I finally came to a decision driven by behavior rather than decisiveness. Since it is now Wednesday morning and I have yet to post a location, I figure I should stick with what we all agreed to a couple of weeks ago. But, ~~since I still can’t stop thinking about Bakery Bar’s biscuits,~~ I am going to schedule the next 2 breakfast locations now.

I just looked at the calendar and realized that our first #PDXBreakfast in January is the day before @RabbiDavid’s birthday. And since I know that he loves, loves, loves Zell’s, I will postpone fulfilling my desire for a Bakery Bar biscuit for a bit longer (knowing that my birthday is in February) to give @RabbiDavid a birthday treat. It also means I am creating a new #PDXBreakfast rule:

Hear ye, hear ye. As of December 2011, any member of the #PDXBreakfast cohort (and we define membership as showing up) gets to choose the #PDXBreakfast location for the gathering closest to their birthday. So say we all.

Thursday, December 29th – 8:30am Blue Pig at 2028 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Thursday, January 12th (2012–eek!) – 8:30 am Zell’s Cafe at 1300 SE Morrison St.

Hello, Goodbye (this time, with corrections)

eva — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:12:55 +0000

In case you were living under an imposed news blackout, you have probably heard that Kettleman’s was sold to Einstein Noah Bagels. Ownership has already been transferred as evidenced by Kettleman’s receipts. Rumor has it that Kettleman’s will be keeping their own bagel recipe, but I have to wonder how long Einstein/Noah’s will let 4 5 Portland locations have different recipes (not to mention boiling rather than steaming). Once the signage changes, I also wonder how those of us not in the know will be able to distinguish which location sells what bagels without physically going into the store.

I survived a couple of decades of living in Portland without decent bagels and I will be able to do it again. Admittedly, I did bring home a couple dozen H&H Bagels every time I went back to New York. But before we lose our treasured bagels, #PDXBreakfast will pay homage by dining at the location that started it all.

So, this Thursday, December 15th at 8:30 am meet me and my fellow breakfasters to partake of some bagel happiness, at the original Kettleman’s at 2235 SE 11th. Maybe you will even be inspired to bring some home with you.

Desayuno con companeros

eva — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:25:47 +0000

I have been getting alumni emails from my socialist summer camp (I completely filtered out the zionism, but did seriously drink the socialist kool-aid) which just makes me wistful for an idyllic socialist nation. However, the pragmatic side of my brain keeps loudly reminding me that socialism sounds great on paper, but has some serious flaws when implemented. And eating Cuban food is a tasty way to remind myself of the issues*inherent in socialism?

If I haven’t already convinced you that I am a socialist, then I will let my library addiction speak for itself.

Havana West is a Cuban restaurant that is located in what used to be Hal’s Tavern (next door to Zell’s). They are still relatively new and somewhat untested, but #PDXBreakfast will help remedy that.

If you look at a calendar, you might (or might not, depending on how much attention you are paying) notice that the next #PDXBreakfast is scheduled for Thanksgiving (aka Exploit the Natives Day, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Day, T(of)urkey Day or other moniker of your choice). That didn’t seem like such a good idea, so we have elected to bump it back a week.

That puts the next #PDXBreakfast on Thursday, (gulp!) December 1st at 8:30am. Havana West 1308 SE Morrison Ave.

*However, for all of it’s political and economic issues, Cuba has a 99.8% literacy rate,^[3]^[13] an infant death rate lower than some developed countries,^[14] and an average life expectancy of 77.64.^[3] In 2006, Cuba was the only nation in the world which met the WWF‘s definition of sustainable development; having an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a Human Development Index of over 0.8 for 2007. –Wikipedia

Change is inevitable (but I don’t have to like it)

eva — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:15:45 +0000

Before our failed trial of moving #PDXBreakfast to OMFG early, I had planned for us to go to Juniors, but they don’t open until 8am. I have been avoiding Juniors for longer than I would like to admit. Not for any rational reason. But simply because I know the founder and original owner. A new owner meant change. Some change I embrace, but because Portland has such a plethora of great breakfast places I found it so very easy not to give the new owner a chance. So now I am using #PDXBreakfast as a way to break me out of my routine and embrace change.

But before I fully embrace change, I need to thank Junior’s original owners for opening up my breakfast world a little bit. Until I went to Juniors I never ordered oatmeal when I went out for breakfast. Restaurant oatmeal always seemed to be a gummy, unappetizing mess. But Junior’s oatmeal was a bowl of delicious steel cut oats served with a plethora of fresh fruit. Without Juniors oatmeal, I would never have ordered Gravy’s oatmeal brulle, which is probably the best oatmeal I have ever eaten.

So please come join me embrace change on Thursday, November 10th, 8:30am at Juniors: 1742 Southeast 12th Avenue.