Stray Dogs and Pizza Jerk Form Pop-Up; Portland Hosts Trailblazing Korean Food Festival

NE 42ND AVE -- What happens when two hotly anticipated restaurants tag team a pop-up dinner? In the case of Stray Dogs and Tommy Habetz's Pizza Jerk, the result is this Friday's Stray Jerks. Powerhouse chefs Peter Cho and Johnny Leach head Stray Dogs, and Pizza Jerk will be Habetz's first big non-Bunk venture. "We've been wanting to do something with Tommy for a long time," Cho tells Eater. "We thought it would be cool to do a little sneak peek at some of the food they're going to do when they open." Here's the menu, and reserve seats by emailing straydogspdx@gmail.com.

THE PEARL DISTRICT -- Why is everyone freaking out over the October 11 Portland Korean Food Festival, with Portland Monthly even introducing it as "is the first dedicated Korean food festival in the country"? Well, there are lots of big-name Portland chefs, including Kyo Koo, who hasn't been seen since departing Blue Hour in July (he's making braised pork belly served with radish kimchi and lettuce). But more importantly, it reflects the growing hunger in Portland for regional Asian cuisines, and this round will include Korean barbecue, hot ox tail soup, octopus and oyster pancakes, and fried chicken. The chefs from Smallwares, Toro Bravo, Kim Jong Grillin', Lardo, Koi Fusion, Stray Dogs, Bamboo Sushi, and more will be in attendance.

MT. HOOD -- Also on October 11, Wild About Game, the festival that brings meat lovers to the mountain, returns for its 15th year, this time at Resort at the Mountain in Welches at the base of Mt. Hood. Chef competitions will feature the likes of Smallwares' Johanna Ware, Imperial's Doug Adams, and Spinasse's Stuart Lane, plus you'll find the usual choose-your-own-adventure tour of Northwest meat masters serving up tasty bites.