Chinatown Uwajimaya Scrapped; New Gluten-Free Brewery

Image of Uwajimaya Seattle courtesy camknows via Flickr

OLD CHINATOWN: Lamesauce. The Oregonian reports that owners of the Uwajimaya Asian grocery store notified officials (in the form of a letter to Portland City Hall) that the chain has scrapped long-stewing plans to open a store in Old Chinatown. Uwajimaya CEO Tomoko Moriguchi-Matsuno writes that "the principal reason for our withdrawal... has to do with the slow recovery from the economic downturn of the past few years." [OregonLive]

SOUTHEAST: A liquor license application has been filed for a SE Lincoln space on behalf of Harvester Brewing, a gluten-free brewery scheduled to open in fall or winter of this year. According to the application, James Neumeister (a homebrewer who recently worked with Widmer as part of its Collaborator series) and Belmont Station owner Carl Singmaster are behind the project. [EaterWire]

DOWNTOWN: About those plans for the James Beard Public Market by the Morrison Bridge: The Portland Business Journal reported on Friday that the development team behind the project is looking to raise $25 million in funds. [PBJ via PF.org]