The first thing I want to say is -- don't be sad. Tanuki is closed (and yes, I agree, that this is enough of a reason to stay in bed all day -- all MONTH -- with a box of tissues), and Tanuki Northeast MLK is no longer on the table, but good things come to those who wait and I'm certain that Tanuki will find an even better location to kill it in Portland. Just you wait.
My boyfriend and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Tanuki friends/family closing party a few weeks back and good times were had by all. There were a lot of toasts, and so yes, lots of drinking, lots of incredibly tasty food -- most of which Janis grilled outside by the entrance, and a lot of good conversation too, well, from what I can remember.
My feeling throughout the night can pretty much be summed up by this -- a friend of Tanuki is a friend of mine. My feeling the next morning -- Holy f#!ck my head hurts.
Tanuki is one of our favorite Portland restaurants and we miss it very much. If you don't know what I'm talking about then stay tuned for its newest incarnation. For all things Tanuki go here.
Here's the scoop for before Tanuki finds its new brick and mortar spot. Details straight from Eater PDX:
"...Martin will set up shop in the downtown culinary incubator KitchenCru (whose owner Michael Madigan happens to be a longtime Tanuki regular), serving a series of lunches and happy hours on July 13-16 and July 20-21, from noon until 6pm. Expect happy hour faves like the kimcheezesteak sandwich, tsukune burger, and noodles on the menu, in addition to a few new items like yangnyeom dak (Korean fried chicken) and Dak Bal (crispy spicy chicken paws). 'Having access to an actual kitchen, I'll be doing a lot of things we couldn't do before,' Martin says. Also in the works: Kimchi available for purchase."
Tyler at Tanuki's closing party.
Things got a little blurry after that...
Tanuki Portland, Oregon www.tanukipdx.com