Upcoming Chef Challenges; New Burgerville Outpost

DOWNTOWN—Pioneer Courthouse Sqaure inexplicably plays host to two cooking competitions over the next five days. First up: The Dairy Farmers of Oregon's 2012 Ice Cream Churn-a-ment, scheduled for this Friday at noon, features chefs from six restaurants in a race to hand-churn a summer-inspired ice cream. Competitors representing Salt & Straw, Riffle NW, the Country Cat, Aviary, Noble Rot, and Papa Haydn will duke it out for prizes in both "Best Tasting" and "Fastest Churner" categories, while gawkers will get to sample ice cream from some favorite Oregon dairies. More information here. [EaterWire]

DOWNTOWN—Chef challenge #2: On Monday, July 16, chefs Greg Gourdet (Departure), David Padberg (Park Kitchen), and Sarah Schafer (Irving Street Kitchen) will compete in the second-annual COUNTRY Chef Challenge (sponsored by the all-capped financial firm). Each chef will shop the market for ingredients, then have 30 minutes to whip up a winning dish, to-be-decided by a panel of judges. Spectators, it should be noted, will not taste but can show up to catch the spectacle and collect complementary swag bags, courtesy COUNTRY. [EaterWire]

TIGARD—Portland Business Journal reports that Burgerville has opened its 39th location — the first new spot since 2001, apparently — in Tigard. [PBJ]

Image of Pioneer Courthouse Square courtesy LWY via Flickr