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As the COVID-19 outbreak in Oregon continues to impact the local restaurant market, stories are popping up across the city, from food cart owners giving away free meals to chefs starting Instagram cooking classes. In this new version of AM Intel, we dive into different ways the state’s food service industry has been responding to the global pandemic. For more COVID-19 stories, check out our larger story stream.
Ultimate Picnic Baskets
Growing Gardens, the food-justice-centric nonprofit that builds gardens for food-insecure families and schools, begins its Chef In Your Garden fundraiser series in September, with tickets going on sale tomorrow. Chefs like Vince Nguyen of Berlu, Amalia Sierra of Tierra del Sol, and Fatou Ouattara of Akadi will create multi-course dinners for two served in picnic baskets; each basket comes with wine pairings curated by recent Wine Enthusiast 40 under 40 honoree Chevonne Ball, who runs the wine tour company Dirty Radish. Baskets cost $175; tickets will be available on the website.
Seafood Tower Brunch
Canard is going to start serving an elaborate, opulent seafood brunch starting September 19, complete with oysters, chilled mussels, prawn cocktail, crab spring rolls, salmon rillettes, albacore crudo, and oeufs en mayonnaise. The $120 brunch for two is available at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. seatings on Saturdays and Sundays, with patio seats and distanced indoor tables. For those actually hungry after all that, the brunch’s menu also includes add-ons like foie gras french toast and fries; the beverage menu includes bottles of bubbly, clarified bloody marys, and, of course, mimosas. Reservations can be made starting Sept. 2 via Resy.
Baking Book
Cheryl Wakerhauser, the owner of celebrated Portland patisserie Pix, is now accepting pre-orders for her second cookbook: Petite Pâtisserie: Bon Bons, Petits Fours, Macarons and Other Bite-Size Treats. The cookbook specializes in approachable versions of French desserts and candies, with recipes for various petit fours, s’mores macarons, and chocolate hazelnut bonbons. The pastry chef’s Pix-O-Matic vending machine will have sampler boxes of the book’s petit fours through the end of the day.
