One door closes and another opens -- Steve Jones will still have his hand in cheese at Cheese Bar on SE Belmont St. and 60th Ave.

Only the good die young…

but only the great rise again like the phoenix.

Sorry for the cliche overload but it’s hard not to wax poetic when discussing Steve Jones’ still-open-but-not-for-long Steve’s Cheese on NW Thurman and his newest venture Cheese Bar due to open mid-March at 60th and SE Belmont.

I spoke with Steve late last week and here’s the scoop…

How would you describe Cheese Bar?

Cheese Bar is a cross between an old world delicatessen and a tabac.

What’s a tabac?

In France and Italy both there are these things called tabacs and they’re on almost every corner. It’s where old men come in in the morning and buy their tobacco — although we obviously won’t be selling tobacco — and then they’ll stand and have a glass of espresso and maybe a croissant. And then in the evening they’ll come back and have a glass of grappa and piece of cheese or something.

I’ve always really liked the social aspect of them. People coming in and out — and quite often they’re in and out in twenty minutes. It’s really the only fast option you have in Europe — everything else takes forever. So it’s kind of cool you can get a little bite or boost and keep on moving. That’s kind of been my intention with this. If people want to linger they can but Cheese Bar is more for when you’re on your way home and you stop and have a glass of beer and a piece of cheese, or a glass of wine and a small bite.

Other differences between Steve’s Cheese and Cheese Bar?

I keep telling everyone [Cheese Bar is] everything you’ve got now [Steve's Cheese] and more. We’ll still carry everything including all the meat and cheese but you’ll also be able to have a beer while your shopping. That’s, you know, my dream moment. To get a beer and then shop for cheese. I mean, hell yeah, that’s perfect.

I think if we’ve got a really long line I’m just going to grab a pitcher of beer and just pour everyone a little glass and say, “Here, have a beer.” I used to shop at an old meat shop in St. Louis and no matter what time of day you’d walk in they’d ask — “Want a bavarian beer?” It’s 9:30 in the morning and they’d be offering you a beer…”

Same killer cheese selection at Cheese Bar plus beer and then some

Other things I learned about Cheese Bar:

The small menu will be stocked with sandwiches, soups, salads (such as garbanzo, tuna, and red pepper) snacks (sardines on toast), and hot plates ranging from $2-$10.

Cheese Bar will have the same rocking cheese selection (available in-house or to-go) as Steve’s Cheese as well as all the other retail food and drink products such as vinegars, pastas, pickles and more.

There will be in-house beer, wine, and beer and wine cocktails. Curious about the latter — we shall see.

And the look and feel? Lots of reclaimed wood and reused materials, four tables, two small bars (one standing bar, the other with stools), and a warm color scheme with lots of reds and browns.

I know where I’ll be come mid-March.

Cheese Bar
opens mid-March
503.222.6014
6031 SE Belmont St.
10am-11pm Tue.-Sun.

Tasty vegan treats at Dovetail Bakery's new NE Alberta location

In December, I wrote about vegan Dovetail Bakery’s soon-to-be new retail location on Northeast Alberta Street. Well, they’ve delivered on their promise — they’re open for business!

This Saturday, February 6th from 5-8pm Dovetail is hosting its grand opening party with snacks, drinks and all sorts of good folks. According to Dovetail owner Morgan Grundstein-Helvey the more the merrier so head on over for some merrymaking and free tasty vegan drinks and snacks this Saturday.


Dovetail Bakery 

3039 NE Alberta St.

Portland, Oregon

503.288.8839

Hours: Tue.-Sun. 8am-6pm
www.dovetailbakery.blogspot.com

**All photos in this post were taken by Morgan’s friend KC Tarog on Dovetail Bakery’s opening day late January.

Good morning sunshine -- Dovetail's cinnamon rolls

More Dovetail Bakery vegan sweets. Open for business!

Dovetail Bakery vegan scones and muffins

Yep, it’s been one whole year of blogging and I thought I’d do a year in the life post of the Food Lover’s Guide to Portland blog. I’ll start this off with a confession. When Sasquatch Books vice president Sarah Hanson asked me at Wordstock 2008 to start a blog for my book I remember a sinking feeling in my stomach. It wasn’t a one too many Manhattans feeling. It was more of an — I don’t want to be a self absorbed, write-ad-nauseam-about-trivial-kitchen-experiments kind of person. I don’t want to share my personal life with strangers online. I don’t want to bore people, and bore myself to tears.

Well, I hope that my initial apprehension has served me well and that I’ve risen above my fears and provided something truly worthwhile in this endeavor — nearly 100 posts later. Mostly I hope that I do not, in fact, bore you to tears. If I do — please move along because what follows is simply a year in review — ghosts of my blog’s past.

My first post revealed my stinky side — my kimchi habit.

All my kimchi fixings

And I’ll have you know that shortly after that batch of kimchi (for which I bought a new mandoline) I sliced off the tip of my right ring finger slicing radishes on it. That’s one way to delay the writing of your book by the way.

One of my favorite blog posts was about the April Fool’s Voodoo Doughnut wedding that I got to attend. The fact that this was just days after I went to ER for my sliced finger and was hopped up on Vicodin made this weird event even weirder…

Beneath the Cruller Chandelier of Life...

Some other good times researching/writing the book and blogging about it include meeting Earnest and Sumiko Migaki of Jorinji Miso and learning all about their local miso…

I love that we have local, hand crafted, delicious miso in Portland

Talking with Belmont Station and Biercafe co-owner Carl Singmaster about all things beer…

I got to try my first sour beer with this man!

Going on yet another amazing Wild Food Adventure with John Kallas…

This spring I ate wild sorrel, young salmonberry shoots, and stinging nettle thanks to John Kallas of Wild Food Adventures

Volunteering with Oregon Food Bank at its Eastside Learning Garden…

Mid-March harvest of collard greens from OFB Eastside Learning Garden

Taking a Kookoolan Farms cheese class…

I learned how to make ricotta, herbed chevre and more at a Kookoolan Farms cheese class in the spring

And attending Home Orchard Society’s All About Fruit Show in the fall…

Thanks to Home Orchard Society experts at the annual All About Fruit Show this fall I found out my ancient backyard apple tree is a Gravenstein

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring.

Here’s to another great year!

Eat, drink and be hairy.

'Tis the season...

Even though, yes, my friends and family obviously know that I’m a food nut this year’s holidays were exceptional in terms of edible gifts. I mean just look at all of the deliciousness that I got above. I feel the love. And to be honest, there’s a lot that was already eaten by the time I got around to taking this photo…

My friend Wendy went all out with edible gifts this year. She gave my boyfriend and I that big, beautiful, ceramic bottle of homemade Jolly Rancher sour apple infused vodka, homemade toffee (didn’t make it to the photo…), and all sorts of other treats I won’t tell you about because then you’ll really think I’m spoiled rotten.

Our friends Steve and Lorna from Humboldt County gave us a dozen of their home cooped chickens’ eggs, all that lovely Cypress Grove Chevre straight from the source, homemade blackberry elixir, AND homemade pear brandy.

My brother and sister-in-law gave us all sorts of edible gifts from Cincinnati’s Findlay Market (where I’m from — Cincinnati, not the market of course) including the spicy kimchi and the beautiful box of culinary salts. Our friend Alice and her family gave us herb-infused olive oil, candied almonds (also gone before the photo), balsamic vinegar, and sparkling sake.

So I guess I’m a braggart. I can’t help it — had to share.

And what about me this year — what did I cook up as gifts? Nada. I know, it’s pathetic. The holidays hit my on the head this year and practically knocked me out. I was working and writing and then whamo. Well, I bought lots of edible gifts — I know, not the same. But locally smoked salmon, local hazelnuts, and slow cookers from Kitchen Kaboodle aren’t too shabby. I’ll be better next year. I’ll get back to my homemade mustard, tea blends, hot sauce, blackberry jam and then some making ways.

What edible gifts that you gave/received this year stood out? I’d love to hear about them…

Please bite the baby.

Several years ago a baby was born. A little pink plastic king cake baby.

I can’t remember how I got the baby but I’m guessing from my friend Loly who’s from Lafayette, Louisiana. I’d never heard of king cakes until I met Loly. I kept the baby on my windowsill for a year or so with all the other knick knacks that reside there — figurines, shot glasses, a corn cob pipe, a couple shells. It fit right in until one day I kidnapped the baby from its comfortable home.

I was making postickers for New Year’s Eve and decided to put the king cake baby in one. Whoever bit into the potsticker with him in it (or her — it’s hard to tell) would be on track for a very fortunate year. Don’t worry, I warned everyone not to bite too hard. My friend Chris got the baby that year. One of the only times when it is ok — in fact your encouraged — to bite a baby.

Shrimp, cabbage and mushroom potstickers.

So I’ve done this a few times since. It’s a great tradition — an every couple of years tradition.

This all leads me to Mardi Gras. King cakes and Mardi Gras…

One of my favorite North Portland restaurants has some fantastic Mardi Gras action this year that you might want to check out. Here’s the scoop straight from the source:

EaT Oyster Bar is hosting a big Mardi Gras party as well as lots of events during the entire week leading up to Fat Tuesday.

Bon Ton Roulet is playing live on February 13th for EaT’s Crawfish Boil, which starts at 1:30pm and goes until they run out. There will be king cakes, traditional beads and doubloons along with a Grand Mardi Gras Dress-up Ball on Fat Tuesday February 16th. Festivities start at 11:30am and go all night with live music, cajun specialties and the crowning of the Mardi Gras King and Queen of Portland. Check out the website for a schedule closer to the day of the event.

EaT Oyster Bar
www.eatoysterbar.com