Salt & Straw’s Special Vegan Menu Debuts Today — and Other Intel

— Framing it as a New Year’s resolution, ice cream whizzes Salt & Straw are launching an all-vegan seasonal menu today (January 5), and it’ll be available at every Portland location (and online). And don’t expect the vegan ice cream standards like coconut green tea — there’s chocolate hazelnut fudge, lemon cheesecake using “cheeze”-maker Heidi Ho’s products, and to celebrate Elvis’ birth month, a banana-coconut creation with peanut butter fudge, marionberry jam, and faux-bacon made with tamari, smoked tea, maple, and coconut, evoking the star’s sandwich fillings of choice. The menu will run through to Thursday February 1.

— Good news for fans of Jose Chesa’s nearly five-year-old Spanish gastropub Ataula: tapas, sangria, and paella will now be served on Sunday nights at the Northwest restaurant. Sunday hours are 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., just like the other days.

Pony Espresso/Gofundme

— Longtime shot-pullers Pony Espresso are calling out for help after owner Bruce Lindner’s truck (one of the city’s first food carts) was lost to a fire — there’s a Gofundme page that’s been getting lots of attention after being featured in multiple TV reports.

— Per Willamette Week, build-your-own salad spot Crisp recently nabbed $10,000 from Visa for pledging to stop accepting cash payments, and making a video about it. Good for them, although the campaign is fairly shameless on Visa’s part, given that fewer cash payments would obviously translate to more Visa payments. In any case, Crisp says it’ll be a while before they actually move to card-only.

Jacqueline

— SE Clinton oyster spot Jacqueline will be open on Monday nights, starting January 15. The regular menu will be available, but a Monday night fish fry is the focus, so the restaurant will lean casual with offerings like lobster rolls, fish and chips, and fried oysters, as well as $4 draft beers.

— Rose VL, the beloved SE Powell strip mall soup and sandwich spot is set to become just a soup haunt: the owners announced that as of Monday January 8, the restaurant’s banh mi will be off the menu.

— Zagat has a new video series profiling chefs around America, and first up is Aaron Adams of top vegan restaurant Farm Spirit — and he really likes powerlifting, it turns out.

• Help Bruce Lindner [Gofundme]
• Visa Pays Portland Salad Bar to Pledge to Stop Accepting Cash for Food [WWeek]