Open: Veggie Grill Downtown

Vegan fast-casual chain Veggie Grill’s second Portland-area location is now open for previews and will expand to the general public at 11am on Thursday, May 31st. We were invited to a complimentary lunch today at their spacious new downtown location at Taylor and SW 5th.

The space is bi-level with counter, table, and booth seating. Order at the front counter and grab your number and a seat. They also offer grab-and-go and catering.

In addition to the new launch, they have added some new menu items which are also available at their Cedar Hills Crossing location in Beaverton.

Homestyle Plates are their new entree items with three choices…

- Urban Plate (blackened tempeh, camelized onion, portobello stack with a  side of Steamin’ Kale, sliced tomato salad, and chipotle ranch)

- Blackened Chickin’ Plate (with papaya salsa topping, a side of Steamin’ Kale, and Quinoa Pilaf)

-Crispy Chickin’ Plate (fried chickin’ with a side of cauliflower-mashed potatoes, porcini gravy with fresh rosemary, and Steamin’ Kale). 

There’s a new entree salad, the B-Wing Salad (buffalo wings over a salad of chopped romaine, avocado, celery, roasted corn salsa, and ranch dressing).

There are also three new sandwiches/burgers…

-Buffalo Bomber (crispy chickin’ tossed with spicy buffalo sauce, tomato, red onion, lettuce, and ranch dressing)

- VG Rollers (blackened chickin’, cabbage, creamy Santa Fe spread rolled in grilled flour tortillas and served with salsa and chili)

-“Crab” Cake (crispy “crab” cake, spiced tartar sauce, pickles, tomato, and lettuce on a bun; pictured below with a side of Cauli-Mashed Potatoes)

Speaking of, the two new sides are Quinoa Pilaf (with sauteed carrots, celery, and onions) and Mashed Potatoes + Gravy (aforementioned cauliflower-mashed potatoes with porcini gravy and fresh rosemary).

Lastly, the new dessert is Chocolate Pudding Parfait (their previous chocolate pudding now topped with chocolate sauce, crushed cookies, walnuts, and VG crema).

Veggie Grill Downtown (open 5/31)
508 SW Taylor St, OR 97204
503.841.6647
Sun-Thu 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

Veggie Grill Cedar Hills Crossing 
3435 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97005
503.350.2369
Every day 11am-10pm

photos by Food Mountain

Open: Wolf and Bear’s Southeast

Vegetarian Israeli cart Wolf and Bear’s is coming back to its original eastside location at SE 20th and Morrison with a soft opening today from 11am-4pm. It’s a new cart as the first is doing well at its relocated spot on Mississippi, which is now open 11am-11pm every day for the summer.

Wolf and Bear’s Southeast
SE 20th & SE Morrison St, Portland, OR 97214
May 25th-27th: 11am-4pm
starting May 28th: every day 11am-9pm

Wolf and Bear’s North
3925 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227
every day 11am-11pm


Falafels and pickles

photo by Food Mountain

Open: Gonzo

Middle Eastern cart Gonzo (formerly the sandwich cart One Hundred Miles) has taken over Awesome Cone’s spot at the D-street Noshery pod on Division. Their current offerings are vegetarian, with two of the three being vegan, and they use Square so you can pay with a credit card.

Gonzo
3221 SE Division, Portland, OR 97202
503.453.4340
Tue-Thu, Sun 12pm-8pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-10pm


Falafel


Hummus Plate

photos by Food Mountain

Class: Portobello Gnocchi

After a hiatus, Portobello Vegan Trattoria’s cooking classes are back with gnocchi on Sunday, May 27th.

“Come learn how to make our famous potato gnocchi with this informative class. We’ll meet in the Portobello kitchen, make some lovely gnocchi, and then enjoy it together with a family style meal, complete with beer, wine, or soft drinks. A fun time had by all! Just bring yourself and we’ll provide the rest…aprons, tools, and a recipe pack.”

Portobello Gnocchi Class
$70 + $4.84 ticket fee (includes a full meal with drinks)
May 27th, 6pm-9pm at Portobello
1125 SE Division Street, Portland, OR 97202
503.754.5993

photo by Food Mountain

First Look: Canteen

Canteen, the new brick-and-mortar vegan cafe from the folks behind the organic juice cart Sip, is set to open this Saturday (5/12) next Wednesday (5/16) at the corner of SE Stark and 28th. We were able to get a sneak peek of the beautiful new space to share with you!

The entire space (which used to be MoJo’s Coffee) was built out from scratch by the same design team who outfitted the Sip 1969 Dodge Chinook mobile juice and cocktail bar, Portland-based Von Tundra, with Brian Pietrowski who built the counter.

All the table tops are custom-built with marble and wood and the walls are lined with modular peg shelving which will double as storage.

The pegs are even used with a modular chalkboard, candle holders, and magazine racks. And yes, Canteen will have local organic beer on tap and one or two organic kombuchas from Eva’s Herbucha.

Find bar seating on one side of the space and table tops with a built-in padded tweed bench on the other. There will also be outdoor seating out front and under the covered side patio.

In the mornings, the menu will offer pour-over coffee from Cellar Door, juices and smoothies (pared down Sip offerings), fresh fruit parfait, hot oatmeal, and the Sunrise Bowl (organic granola with blended fruit). Lunch and dinner offerings will include meal-sized organic salads and bowls, including a build-your-own bowl option.

Evenings will bring organic beers and wine, raw cheesecake, and chocolates. Tentative hours include late nights on Friday and Saturday.

The menu is still being fine-tuned and they love incorporating customer feedback so look forward to more details and updates, as well as a grand opening party.

In the meantime though, Canteen is opening just in time to make full use of its outside seating in our newly found warm weather. Stop by this weekend next week to welcome them to the neighborhood!

Canteen
2816 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97214
Wed-Thu 9am-10pm, Fri-Sat 9am-12am, Sun 9am-6pm (subject to change)

photos by Food Mountain

Event: Scrambletown

Vegan Iron Chef Scrambletown

The non-profit Vegan Iron Chef organization is presenting their first-ever vegan scramble competition and tasting fundraiser event. For chefs, there’s currently an open call for contestants with a $10 registration fee. For eaters, $10 tickets will be available soon and that gets you a compostable dish and fork, access to as many tastings as you can manage (one sample per person per chef until the portions run out), donated sides, and five votes towards the Audience Favorite. Coffee, tea, and raffle tickets will be available for purchase.

Scrambletown
Saturday, June 16th, 2012
Dining Room at Taborspace/Mt Tabor Presbyterian Church
5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215
2pm doors open; 4:30pm doors close
$10 (tickets available soon)

photo from Vegan Iron Chef’s website

Open: Homegrown Smoker 2

Homegrown Smoker 2 has its grand opening at noon today (Friday, May 4th) at the Green Castle Food Court on NE 20th & Everett (between Sandy & Burnside). The downtown cart will be open regular hours and tentative hours for HGS 2 include the weekend so you can now get their vegan bbq every day.

Homegrown Smoker 2
1930 NE Everett St, Portland, OR 97232
Tue-Thu 12pm-7pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-8pm, Sun 12pm-4pm (hours subject to change)

Homegrown Smoker 1
SW 4th and College, Portland, OR 97211
503.277.3823
Mon-Fri 11am-4pm


Chili Dawg


Smoker Salad

photos from opening day by Tom F.

New: Blossoming Lotus Menu Revisions

Blossoming Lotus launched slightly revised lunch, dinner, and brunch menus today. Here’s a rundown of the changes…

Lunch: added Masala Bowl, Tofu & Greens Bowl; Smoked Maple Tempeh Sandwich replaced by Curry Coconut Tempeh Sandwich (red curry and coconut glazed tempeh and roasted sweet potato, topped with spicy marion berry jerk sauce, sliced tomato, and red cabbage slaw, served on toasted ciabatta); lunch entrees have been removed, but Live Pizza is available as a starter

Dinner: added Vindaloo Masala (potatoes, carrots, and seasonal veggies, braised in a spicy vindaloo masala sauce, served with seasonal leafy greens, spring onion panisse cakes, tomato chutney, and ginger crema; gluten-free, soy-free); Live Pizza has moved from entrees to starters; removed Winter Squash Red Curry and Lasagna

Brunch: Primavera Scramble has been replaced by Mushroom and Fennel Scramble

They have also added three Mocktails ($5) to their Cocktail menu: JK-47 (strawberry balsamic gastrique, lime juice, muddled basil, soda water), The Broadway (fresh grapefruit juice, lime, ginger juice, mint syrup, soda water, served with a salted rim), and Mad Chiller (peach shrub, fresh lemon and ginger juice, muddled sage, soda water).

Blossoming Lotus
1713 NE 15th Ave, Portland, OR 97212
503.228.0048
Lunch: Mon-Sat 11am-4pm; Brunch: Sun 10am-2:30pm
Happy Hour: Mon-Sat 3pm-5pm
Dinner: Sun-Thu 5pm-9pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-10pm

Closed Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 for spring cleaning


Live Sampler

photo from Blossoming Lotus Facebook page

Open: The Roadrunner Cafe

If you’ve been wondering what the big “CAFE” sign on Division was for, it’s the newly opened Roadrunner Cafe. They’re serving breakfast Friday through Sunday and their menu has some vegan options like biscuits and mushroom gravy, pancakes, and coconut yogurt. Opening weekend Yelp reviews make it sound like there are some kinks to work out, but let us know if you try it.

The Roadrunner Cafe
3570 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202
Fri-Sun 9am-3pm

photo by Food Mountain