Cafe Rowan, in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood, managed to open during the pandemic. PHOTO COURTESY OF CAFE ROWAN To put it mildly, Portland’s restaurant industry has been through the wringer in the past year. We’ve lamented the closures of many beloved eateries, said goodbye to some food titans (for the best, in some cases), and wondered […]
Janey Wong
Janey Wong is the Mercury's food editor and the managing editor at our sibling site, EverOut. She's usually eating, thinking about what she ate, or planning what to eat next. She dislikes drinking milkshakes through paper straws.
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: Gado Gado Is Doin’ It for the Culture!
Cute packaging featuring the restaurant’s signature eye-catching food print Janey Wong At the Indonesian-Chinese inspired restaurant Gado Gado (the name was plucked from the salad dish of the same name, which is a hallmark of Indonesian cuisine), bartender Scout Caldwell switches up menus to keep cocktails seasonal-ish. Two of the current menu’s cocktails include nods […]
Posted inSpring Reawakening 2021
Taking the Temperature On Portland’s Restaurant Industry
To put it mildly, Portland’s restaurant industry has been through the wringer in the past year. We’ve lamented the closures of many beloved eateries, said goodbye to some food titans (for the best, in some cases), and wondered where the hell government assistance was. In March the United States Senate finally passed the American Rescue […]
Posted inSpring Reawakening 2021
Let’s Be Honest: “Normal” Isn’t Exactly Worth Returning To
Editor’s note: This article includes references to depression. As the world slowly but surely returns to “normal,” society is once again faced with a seismic shift in the way we think, function, and experience things. It has been a time for those of us who live with a fragile mental state. But at the beginning […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: The Magic of Malka
Malka’s cocktails to-go are also available sans alcohol! Janey Wong I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to make it to Malka. A friend of mine with impeccable taste had been waxing lyrical about their Bellflower salad for over a year before my ass finally got into gear and over to the charming house […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: Tiny Bubbles, Big Flavor
Tiny bubbles in a glass Janey Wong At face value, Tiny Bubble Room looks like a craft beer taproom verging on dive-y, but the painstakingly restored bar has so many more layers than that. The name was carried over from the lounge of the previous tenant of 50+ years, Lung Fung Chinese restaurant. The original […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: Elephant’s Peachy Keen Deli
“Millions of peaches, peaches for me!” Janey Wong Part restaurant, bar, market, bakery, and café, Elephant’s Delicatessen is a food lover’s playground or an indecisive person’s nightmare. The Portland institution has been around for 42 years and counting, serving everything from freshly baked giant cookies to ratatouille. When owner Elaine Tanzer opened the doors to […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: Nicholas Restaurant Starts New Chapter of Storied Legacy
Nicholas’ gorgeous new bar greets visitors upon arrival Janey Wong Longtime Portlanders may remember when Nicholas Restaurant introduced the city to Lebanese-Mediterranean food back in 1987. Nicholas and Linda Dibe fled war-torn Beirut five years prior, leaving good jobs to secure their family’s safety and future. Faced with a language barrier, they began selling Greek […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: Michelin Star Meets Dive Bar at Bit House Collective
The “Strawberry Soup” comes with a BFC (big fucking cube) and mint garnish (not pictured)! Janey Wong When Bit House Saloon went down for the count as a result of the second shutdown, a trifecta of industry vets came in to reincarnate the bar as Bit House Collective. The bar’s spacious interior located within the […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: G-Love Wants You to Eat (and Drink) Your Veggies
At G-Love, farm fresh produce figures heavily not only into the food, but the cocktails as well. Janey Wong As Portland self-described first “reverse steakhouse,” G-Love still serves meat and seafood, but animal proteins take a backseat to vegetables. Chef and owner Garrett Benedict—G-Love is his childhood nickname—worked at a couple of Michelin star restaurants […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cocktail To-Go Club: Epif Pairs Pisco with South American-Inspired Vegan Eats
Epif welcomes guests in through an intricately carved front door from Peru. Janey Wong Prior to relocating to Portland, Epif owners Nicolle Dirks and her husband Pepe Arancibia previously owned a vegetarian restaurant in his native Chile. Now their stateside restaurant is close to home for them… literally. The couple designed and constructed the commercial […]
Posted inFood and Drink
With a New Book and a Top Chef Judge’s Seat, Portland Chef Gregory Gourdet is Having a Banner Year
Chef Gregory Gourdet Smallz & Raskind/Courtesy Bravo After building an illustrious career cooking different cuisines, Gregory Gourdet is exploring his heritage. “Cooking Haitian food feels really comfortable to me because it is so embedded in me as a person, in my memory, and in my soul,” says Gourdet. The James Beard-nominated (four-time Best Chefs in […]