The Great Brooks/Brooks Conundrum!

Before Caryn B. Brooks moved to Manhattan to work for Associated Press, Time, and Getty Images she lived and worked in Portland, Ore. At the time she was the arts and culture editor for Willamette Week where, under the moniker, “Miss Dish” , she penned a popular food column for the weekly publication. “Miss Dish” was the first columnist to refer to the gathering of food carts along downtown streets as "pods.” She was also really good at digging up dirt on local foodie gossip. Small problem. There was already an established restaurant writer in town named Karen Brooks who works for The Oregonian, and who at one time, was also the arts and culture editor for Willamette Week. Freaky! For several years, both Brooks went toe-to-toe regarding the foodie scene—long before the advent of Food Dude—and each were highly respected for often differing opinions. But on Friday, in The Oregonian’s A & E section, the “Brooks” join forces. “C. Brooks,” who recently moved back to Portland (and pictured above), has let loose a fluffy preview piece on Gruner, assigned by none other than her new editor "K. Brooks." This isn't her first time writing for The Big "O." In 2005 C. Brooks covered the James Beard Awards for them here. But that said, even they felt the need to make a note of it at the end of the Gruner piece: "The author of this article, Caryn B. Brooks (not to be confused with Karen Brooks, The Oregonian's dining editor), is a Portland freelance writer." This should get interesting.