Vegan Iron Chef Ticket Giveaway!

Unfortunately, I'm not going to be here for the second annual Vegan Iron Chef Competition this year -- but if you are I've got a pair of tickets for one lucky commenter. Since last year's event sold out quickly I'm doing this giveaway early so those who don't win can go ahead and purchase tickets ($12 advance/$15 at door/$100 VIP tasting seats).

Comment below on the best vegan dish you've eaten out in Portland recently (or a vegan dish you've made at home recently if no restaurant dishes stand out) for a chance to win a pair of tickets.

From the press release:

Three chefs from the community’s favorite establishments will prepare dishes inspired by an unveiled secret ingredient for a panel of esteemed judges and a live audience, while the event is live-streamed to anticipated thousands.

The event will be co-hosted by bestselling cooking author Isa Chandra Moskowitz of The Post Punk Kitchen and local artist and zinester Nicole J. Georges.

Our chefs are Kitchen Dances’ Piper Dixon, Homegrown Smoker’s Jeff Ridabock, and Dovetail Bakery’s Morgan Grundstein-Helvey.

This year’s judges include Julie Hasson from Native Bowl and Everyday Dish, Aaron Adams from Portobello Vegan Trattoria, Grant Butler from The Oregonian, John Janulis from The Bye & Bye, and last year’s crowned Vegan Iron Chef, Quasu Asaase Yaa.

Live music, exhibitors, sampling, trivia, and raffle prizes round out this can’t-miss event.

Tickets ($12 in advance/$15 door; $100 VIP tasting seats) are available at VeganIronChef.org. Sponsorship opportunities available now.

Vegan Iron Chef is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, OR, with a mission of spreading the message of veganism by showcasing the art of vegan cuisine and celebrating community. Other cities are encouraged to join the Vegan Iron Chef network, hold their own competitions, and unite for regionals and finals in upcoming years.

Vegan Iron Chef Competition Sunday, July 10th, Competition 5-7:30pm; after party until late Event @ Refuge PDX

Grizzly Tattoo Opening Party Redux

Wow, what a party! My boyfriend Tyler Adams' new North Williams Ave. tattoo shop -- Grizzly Tattoo -- opened with a bang a little over a week ago and a lot of you were there, and then some. Hundreds came out to celebrate and I've included a few peeks into the night below. (I only took a few photos at the very beginning because it quickly got too crowded. I also wrote about the party here.) Awesome!

We reached out to neighborhood businesses for food and drink donations and holy bleep they rose to the occasion. (Tyler tattoos a lot of food and drink folks in town.)

On the food and drink donation front we had Yaquina Bay oysters on the half-shell hand delivered by EaT Oyster Bar owners Ethan and Tobias; chicken liver sherry mousse, poached almonds, pickled cuke and more from Tasty n Sons, a keg of lager from Hopworks BikeBar, pulled pork sliders and traditional sliders from Che Cafe food cart, all sorts of sweets from Pix Patisserie and Jaime Henderson, secret loveliness from The Bye & Bye, mini pies from Loly LeBlanc, delicious mustards from Creaux Creole Mustard and the list goes on. Wow.

I also made a few things myself -- a gallon of pickled asparagus (from our neighbor's friend's farm), a gallon of pickled beets and two tapenades -- one with anchovies and one vegan. Oh, and Faulkner Short's photography will be up in the shop for several weeks so stop by and check it out. There are some really nice photos for sale.

Thank you to everyone who donated! Thank you to everyone who came out for the party! Thank you Portland! Go Grrrrrizzly!

Thank you so much for donating food and drink to Grizzly Tattoo's opening party!

More deliciousness from Grizzly Tattoo's opening party!

A few minutes into the party. Got too crowded to take pics shortly after...

I called dibs on the first tattoo at Grizzly Tattoo so Tyler gave me these feathers. Black and blue. Love it.

Grizzly Tattoo www.grizzlytattoo.com 3949 North Williams Ave. Portland, Oregon 503.265.8146 tyler at grizzly tattoo dot comCheck out Tyler's tattoos

Grizzly Tattoo Opening Party Friday, June 3rd 7pm-late

My boyfriend Tyler Adams is opening a new Portland tattoo shop -- Grizzly Tattoo -- on North Williams (next to Hopworks BikeBar in the newly constructed EcoFlats building) and he's celebrating with an opening party this Friday, June 3rd 7pm till late that you and all your friends and family (and their friends and family...) are invited to! Hope you can come out and help us celebrate with food, drink, music, a photography show by our friend Faulkner Short, musical styling by our friend Rale Sidebottom and a tattoo giveaway.

Hopworks Urban Brewery has been generous enough to donate a keg of their delicious lager for the event, and Tasty n Sons, The Bye & Bye, Pix Patisserie, Che Cafe food cart and Jamie Henderson are being the best neighbors in the world by donating some of their delicious food. So come on out and eat, drink and be hairy with Grizzly!

I'm so happy that Tyler is in the same neighborhood as the lovely folks at Tasty n Sons, Pix Patisserie, Lodekka double decker dress shop (they're having a party on Saturday, June 4th!), EaT Oyster Bar, Che Cafe food cart and then some.

Here's to Grrrrrrizzly! Grrrr!

Grizzly Tattoo shaping up. I took this photo last Friday -- a week before the opening party THIS Friday! No sleep till Grizzly!

Mr. Grizzly

Grizzly Tattoo www.grizzlytattoo.com 3949 North Williams Ave. Portland, Oregon 503.265.8146 tyler at grizzly tattoo dot comCheck out Tyler's tattoos

Taste of the Nation 2011

Taste of the Nation truly gets bigger and better every year. We had a fantastic time eating and drinking all sorts of amazing things from Portland area chefs and food/drink folks at this year's Taste of the Nation at Luxe Autohaus. (Always made much better by the fact that 100% of the proceeds go toward local child hunger relief.) If you don't know about the event you can read more about it here and here. We paced ourselves a lot better this year so that by the end (and we stayed until the very end -- as in tables being folded) we felt full but not roll-out-the-door full.

It's hard to pick favorites but I think it's good to give credit where credit is due. SO here are my top five favorite things that I ate at this year's Taste of the Nation (not to mention all the delicious wine, beer and bubbly) followed by photos...

Top five bites at this year's Taste of the Nation in no particular order...La Calaca Comelona's rainbow chard wrapped masa with pork in a red sauce Biwa's braised pork and house pickled vegetable lettuce wraps Bamboo Sushi's Oregon albacore carpaccio Fifty Lick's coconut lemon saffron sorbet Davis Street Tavern's cold carrot fennel soup with sorrel salsa verde

Screen Door's mini chocolate and peanut butter pies were really good. Especially when eaten right after their...

Smoked meatloaf and whipped potato bites topped with crispy shallots. Yeah, pretty genius side-by-side.

Biwa kicked ass as usual with their braised pork lettuce wraps with pickled veggies.

Fratelli was set up right next to Biwa with some yummy rockfish crudo that got topped with yuzu foam seconds after I took this photo.

No, he did not get stuck in the ice cream cooler. 50 Licks' coconut lemon saffron sorbet is incredible.

Andina had a lovely spread of marinated fish in a aji colorado al batan sauce, fava bean salad and okra rellena stuffed with braised oxtail. Top that why don't you.

We hung out with friends until the lights-out end. Another fantastic Taste of the Nation with 100 percent of proceeds going to local child hunger relief organizations. Cheers Portland!

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation Monday, May 2nd, 2011 5-9pm LUXE Autohaus 410 NE 17th Ave. Portland, OR 97232 Stay tuned for next year's Taste of the Nationwww.portlandtaste.org

Winner of Taste of the Nation 2011 Tickets!

You know who you are lucky #17 commenter Jaime! You've won yourself two tickets to this year's Taste of the Nation. Drop me a line @ info at lizcrain dot com with your full name and contact info. and I'll pass that along to the organizers who are donating the tickets.

Thanks everyone for all of your tasty comments! I'm looking forward to checking a lot of the places out and trying the foods and drinks that you mentioned. I haven't tried a lot of them which makes me happy. I might just print all the comments out and keep the list in my bag so I don't forget.

For those of you who didn't win tickets there are still tickets left for this year's Taste of the Nation and if you can I suggest you snag them. It's one of the absolute best food events in town and I highly recommend it. In addition to it being delicious and super fun 100% of proceeds go toward ending local child hunger. Gotta feel good about that.

Thanks everyone!

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation Monday, May 2nd, 2011 5-9pm LUXE Autohaus 410 NE 17th Ave. Portland, OR 97232 Tickets $85 (order by phone 877.26TASTE, online or at any New Seasons Market) www.portlandtaste.org

Taste of the Nation May, 2nd 2011 -- Ticket Giveaway!

Share Our Strength's annual Taste of the Nation on Monday, May 2nd is just two weeks away and in the interest of shouting it out loud and clear and getting as many people to come out for it as possible I'm giving away a pair of tickets here on my blog.

I love this event because 100% of ticket sales go toward working to end child hunger via Oregon Food Bank, Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank, St. Vincent de Paul Food Recovery Program and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. Read about last year's Taste of the Nation here.

So it's a VERY worthwhile cause that I highly recommend buying tickets for. You can also try your luck for a pair here. I've got a number in mind and I've written it down and taken a photo of it as proof. That numbered person to comment takes the cake. You get me your name and contact info. and there will be a pair of tickets waiting for you at will call.

So what to comment about? Let me know your favorite new (to you or truly new) food find in Portland that is not a restaurant. It could be a food or drink product, a market, a coffeeshop, brewery -- anything PDX food that's not a restaurant. Just because I'm curious. This year's TOTN will showcase food and drink from these folks:

Restaurants: Andina Aviary Boke Bowl Davis Street Tavern Heathman Restaurant & Bar Metrovino Ned Ludd Saint Cupcake Screen Door Simpatica The Gilt Club

LUXE and VIP Gems: Beast Castagna Genoa June Laurelhurst Market Tasty & Sons

Beverages: Amity Vineyards Anne Amie Vineyards Cana's Feast Winery Domaine Drouhin Vineyard Johan Vineyards Sineann Wines Willamette Valley Vineyard Youngberg Hill Vineyards Dry Fly Distilling House Spirits Full Sail Sierra Nevada Captured by Porches Smith Teamakers

I'll announce the lucky winner early next week!

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation Monday, May 2nd, 2011 5-9pm LUXE Autohaus 410 NE 17th Ave. Portland, OR 97232 Tickets $85 (order by phone 877.26TASTE, online or at any New Seasons Market) www.portlandtaste.org

Bakesale for Japan April 2nd @ Ristretto Roasters & Barista

Giovanna Zivny, Elizabeth Nathan and others have organized Portland's Bakesale for Japan next Saturday, April 2nd from 10am-2pm at two of Portland's favorite coffee shops -- Ristretto Roasters (Williams) and Barista (Pearl).

Home and professional bakers are grabbing their whisks and cranking up their ovens to raise money for Peace Winds Japan, a partner of Mercy Corps.

This is a nationwide effort (Bakesale for Japan currently has generated 17+ bake sales stretching from San Francisco to NYC) that originated with Oakland chef Samin Nosrat. She raised $23K for Haiti last year with just three bake sale locations. Portland's Bakesale for Japan has a matching donation lined up from Intel.

If you'd like to bake (amateurs and professionals welcome) or volunteer for Bakesale for Japan contact pdxbakesale@gmail.com.

Here is the amazing list of Portland folks signed up so far to contribute tasty baked goods: Little T American Baker, Alder Pastry & Dessert, Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry, Fleur de Lis Bakery and Cafe, Alma Chocolate, Kir Jensen (The Sugar Cube), Kristen Murray (Paley’s Place), Kim Boyce (Golden Oven), Bakery Bar, Suzette, Random Order Coffeehouse & Bakery, Petunia’s Pies & Pastries, Confectionery, Little Branch Jam, and Bees & Beans.

Portland's Bakesale for Japan 10am-2pm Saturday, April 2nd @

Ristretto Roasters (N Williams location) 3808 N Williams Ave & Barista (Pearl location) 539 NW 13th Ave

Thank You For Everything!

Maybe you read this blog every week, every once in awhile, or maybe this is your first time here. Regardless thank you for being here now, perhaps often, and thank you for caring about Portland food and food culture.

Ever since my book Food Lover's Guide to Portland came out -- about six months ago now -- I've been overwhelmed by all the personal and professional support you all have given me by reading my blog, coming to my book events, buying my book and helping to spread the word about this delicious city. I feel loved and want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for contributing in small, big and mysterious ways.

Right now I'm back to my gig as editor at Hawthorne Books, I'm working on various freelance and fiction projects AND I'm working on a big, beautiful, new book proposal. Yep, that's right. I can't tell you much more about it at the moment beyond that it's a very exciting collaboration, it's Portland-based and I can't wait to get out of proposal land and back into writing-a-book-land again. I'll be sure to keep you posted. I think you're going to like this one.

Due to this and other projects I'll be posting one-to-two blog posts a week rather than the always two a week in order to stay sane. As always, if you want a signed copy of my book you can get that from me or you can also buy from my favorite bookstore in the world. And if you own or work at a business that wants to carry my book please call 800.775.0817 and you'll get a sweet wholesale deal. Below is a list of some recent reviews that make me smile. Thanks for all of your support!

Latest coverage:

Pacific Northwest Cheese ProjectNeighborhood NotesJustOutMusic To My MouthBroadway BooksVassar Quarterly

Portland Italian Food Panel @ Elephants Delicatessen Tuesday Night

A few months back Jesse Locker of the Portland Bologna Sister City Association (PBSCA) asked me to be a part of PBSCA's January Know Bo event at Elephants Delicatessen. I was honored and now here it is mid-January and the event is tomorrow night.

I'll be hosting the Mangia, Mangia! panel for PBSCA's monthly Know Bo tomorrow night at Elephants on NW 22nd Ave. from 6-8pm. The event is free and open to the public. There will be minimal food/drink samples but plenty for purchase to eat/drink during from Elephants Delicatessen. I'm the event moderator so I'll strive to sound smarter than I am about Italian food while asking local experts about everything from red sauce to Italian ristretto style espresso.

Joining me on this Italian food folk panel will be folks featured in my book Food Lover's Guide to Portland -- Cathy Whims of Nostrana, Andrea Spella of Spella Caffe, Patricia DiPrima LeConche of DiPrima Dolci Bakery and Darryl Joannides of Cork: A Bottle Shop. I'm really looking forward to it. The more the merrier. Come on out and mangia, mangia with us.

Andrea Spella will talk all things Italia coffee at Mangia, Mangia! Tuesday night.

Portland Bologna Sister City Association (PBSCA) January Know Bo Mangia, Mangia!: A food panel about Portland/Italian food hosted by me @ Elephants Delicatessen 115 NW 22nd Ave., Portland Tuesday, January 11th 6-8pm Free and open to the publicwww.elephantsdeli.comFacebook Mangia, Mangia! event page

Allium + Oregon Tilth Dinner Sunday Dec. 5

There are a lot of eat for a good cause events in and around Portland so it's always hard to choose which ones to write about here. I don't have a complicated formula. It's usually pretty simple why I write about one and not another. If it's an event that I'm going to, or would want to go to, and if I like the folks involved and I have time and space to write about it then I do. It's that simple.

This Sunday's Winter Neighborhood Dinner at Pascal Chureau's Allium Bistro in West Linn -- The Farm Comes to Allium -- has all that going for it. The dinner is in partnership with Oregon Tilth and 10% of the evening's proceeds go to the organization. I wish I could attend but unfortunately I'll be at the Oregon Historical Society's Annual Cheer all day and have plans for the evening. Check out the info. below if you're interested in attending and be sure to make your reservation soon because there aren't too many seats left.

More info. from Allium's site:

Join Farmer Conner Voss of Oregon Tilth's Demonstration Garden at Luscher Farms & share the farm's organic provisions and inspiration.

Cheese Plate~local & imported, fruit confiture, toasted almonds, grilled breads Sautéed Shrimp~citrus marinated shrimp, garlic, almonds, romesco sauce, piri-piris Endive Salad~mache, oregon blue cheese Coq au Vin~braised chicken, smoked bacon, pearl onions Steamed German Butter Balls Potatoes~truffle butter, chives Pan Roasted Rock Fish~confit garlic, cream, mustard, tarragon Oven Roasted Butternut Squash~ Kruger's Farm wild blackberry honey, cumin, oregano Warm Chocolate Cake~caramel crunch, eggnog crème anglaise Red wine & White Wine

7 dishes + wine ~ $36 per person including wine/ $10 per child

10% of the proceeds will be donated to Oregon Tilth's Educational Farms

Reservations required-- 503.387.5604

Allium Bistro Winter Neighborhood Dinner Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010 6:30pm, drinks at the bar at 6pm www.alliumoregon.com