Ken Norris Definitely IN at Headwaters | Groundwork Coffee Expands to Portland

DOWNTOWN—Late last week, a tipster told Willamette Week's Mathew Korfhage that Ken Norris had been tapped to lead the kitchen at Headwaters, Vitaly Paley's upcoming seafood restaurant coming soon to the old Heathman space. Turns out, as this story's pic indicates, that tipster's rumor is indeed true. Norris, who helmed the kitchen for a year at Riffle NW, says he's in the process of handing over the reigns at Clutch Sausagery, his downtown food cart, to make the time necessary to run the hotel restaurant kitchen. Keep your eyes peeled for Headwaters' summer opening.

SLABTOWN—Per The Oregonian, Groundwork Coffee Co., the 25-year-old roaster that got its start in Venice Beach, California, just made its first foray across state lines by purchasing Kobos Coffee, the 41-year-old old-school roaster located at 2355 NW Vaughn Street. Now before you go hating on Californians, know this: According to a press release, Groundwork hopes to keep on local employees, and plans to offer positions to the staff that works Kobos' downtown location, which will shutter later this year once its lease runs out. Look for a Groundwork summer opening.

PEARL DISTRICT—Touché, the Italian restaurant and upstairs billiards lounge, may face the wrecking ball, the anonymous blog The Portland Chronicle reports. According to the piece, the 103-year-old former fire hall at 1425 NW Glisan Street that Touché occupies may one day be home to a 12-story apartment building. The post also indicates that it's likely that the Hawaiian Time restaurant might also be raised to make room for the project, as well as the recently shuttered spot, Le Bouchon. Touché opened in 1995. It's long been a service industry hangout, thanks to its second-story billiards lounge. A call to the the Bureau of Development Services confirmed that there is indeed a pre-application meeting to discuss the property's potential development scheduled for April 20.