Gossip Should Have No Friends

[May 3rd, 2006] OVER-RIPE holy lowercase-lettered crap! Last week, it seemed that Portland's resident restaurant empire, ripe , was going strong, with projects as diverse and bloated as its own line of Gotham Bldg. Tavern gin and a cookbook/manifesto titled Kill the Restaurant in the works. But the chicken-liver ragu hit the fan last Thursday when co-owner Naomi Hebberoy announced on wweek.com that her husband and ripe co-creator, Michael Hebberoy , had "kind of cracked " and left ripe , giving her all the shares and control of the company. She also confirmed that the couple would officially divorce . Saturday brought a second bombshell as Miz Naomi released a statement that Gotham Bldg. Tavern and ripe's Family Supper had closed (clarklewis will remain open). "Upon [Michael's] departure the company needed to be re-structured—both legally and fiscally," Naomi wrote in a long missive she posted on the popular local foodie website portlandfoodanddrink.com Saturday evening (read the full statement here: www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=470#more-470). A longtime ripe staffer (who preferred to remain anonymous) confirmed that approximately 30 Gotham and ripe employees were notified of the closure after their shift Friday night. They were let go at that time. Rumors have been flying that a lack of confidence from ripe investors prompted Naomi to shutter the businesses, but Naomi termed the closures a way to "re-group" in her portlandfoodanddrink.com post. No word yet where Gotham Bldg. Tavern's chef/co-owner Tommy Habetz will end up as the ripe meltdown continues. And as for Michael Hebberoy? He could not be reached to confirm Naomi's comments. According to her, Michael's "taking a break." No shit. Check out wweek.com and portlandfoodanddrink.com for gossip, rank speculation and reactions to the ripe implosion.

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY TAMBOURINE-LIKE Little did they know, the throng of wordies who attended Everything Is Illuminated author Jonathan Safran Foer 's reading at Powell's last Thursday were watching both a literary and an indie rock star. Foer, a friend of novelist Maile Meloy , had been emailing her brother—The Decemberists' Colin Meloy —in anticipation of his visit to Stumptown. Before his Powell's appearance, Foer was invited to Southeast Portland's Kung Fu Bakery Studios , where he recorded with the band, playing percussion on a track, tentatively titled "Summer," for their upcoming fall release. Attaboy!

COVER ME Alan Parsons can read your mind, but only Greg Glover at the Arena Rock Recording Company can read Portland's collective subconscious. And what does it say? We freakin' love classic-rock covers, of course. Glover, who's also 94.7's main morning radio man, has brought a ton of Portland bands on board and asked them to cover their favorite tracks from yesteryear. Currently the compilation, which will come out this summer (to benefit p:ear), includes the aforementioned Decemberists playing Fleetwood Mac's "Think About Me," the Kingdom screeching Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" and Viva Voce crooning Alan Parsons' "Eye in the Sky." Rock on.

SKI BUNNY REPRIEVE Most every year Mount Hood Meadows closes with feet of snow still on the ground, leading to the diehards' lament, "But why did they close?" The answer from Meadows management is always the same: "No one skis after April." Well, tired of being the bad guy, this year Meadows GM Dave Riley has tossed the snowball back into the ski bunnies' court (so to speak). He says that this month Meadows will stay open every weekend through June 4 just as long as 4,000 people come and ski or snowboard (pass holders, day tickets, whatever). If the number falls below 4,000 on any weekend—deal's off and the mountain closes. Check out www.skihood.com for updates.