Gossip Should Have No Friends

[April 9th, 2008]

THINK PINK: Brother-and-sister team Rose and Jason McCormick (of the Basement Pub and the Crow Bar, respectively) sealed a deal last week to purchase North Mississippi’s The Belgian Embassy from its former owner, Kelly Stewart. The pink house (the original home of Lovely Hula Hands) had been mysteriously shut down, and phone calls were greeted with a no-frills “we’re closed for business” voicemail. The spot will undergo a minor facelift, Rose McCormick says, and will emerge in about a month as the Liberty Glass Bar and Restaurant . Food and drink will be homestyle healthy with classic cocktails. Add live music Monday through Thursday, and you’ve got a full plate.

WHEY OUT: Cheesemonger newbie Lisa Jacobs’ Jacobs Creamery made its debut on opening day of the Portland Farmers Market, after a few sold-out gigs at the Hillsdale Farmers Market. On Saturday, April 5, only early shoppers got to try Jacobs’ super rich and creamy egg-yolk-yellow vanilla pudding—it sold out by 10 am . The self-taught 24-year-old uses cream and milk from Norris Dairy of Scio for her ricotta, mascarpone and flavored cream cheeses (try the smoked salmon her dad makes), and always tries to have one item on the list to satisfy her sweet tooth. Next up? Maybe ricotta pie or cheesecake, Jacobs says. Here to hopin’ she finds a year-round retail and production space soon. Jacobs says she’s looking.

CHEESESTEAK THROUGH THE HEART: Calamitous news for cheesesteak junkies: Steakadelphia, the Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Dekum Street sandwich counter that won the silver medal in WW’s “Super Cheesesteak Bowl” (Jan. 31, 2007), is closing after Saturday, May 3. Sandwich artist Rolando Mingledoff says he’s moving back to his hometown of Philadelphia, where he hopes to open another restaurant. But will they appreciate the Philly Ranch like we do?

HA, HA, OW: Third Rail Rep announced the lineup for next season at the company’s new home in Portland’s World Trade Center: Dead Funny, a morbid comedy by Terry Johnson; A Skull in Connemara by Martin McDonagh, a prequel of sorts to the company’s wildly popular 2006 production of The Lonesome West; and Fabuloso, a “life-affirming” domestic farce by John Kolvenbach.

CLARIFICATION: In a Words listing in the March 26 issue of WW, we incorrectly put the number of Palestinians displaced by the creation of the state of Israel at 9 million. That figure represents an estimate of the current Palestinian population worldwide; the number displaced by Israel in 1948 and 1967 is closer to 900,000. WW regrets the error.