Gossip Should Have No Friends

[April 22nd, 2009]

• BEAN THERE, DONE THAT: The latest sign New York’s love affair with PDX has gotten completely out of hand: Portland’s coffee king is invading New York, and the Big Apple doesn’t mind. Instead,New York magazine on Monday published a massive profile of Duane Sorenson’s Stumptown Coffee, which opens its first NYC cafe this summer in a Manhattan edition of the Ace Hotel. The story (which included a chart of Stumptown’s brewing process, a map of where New Yorkers can find a cup, and a taste test against native Five Boroughs roasts, which Stumptown wins ) was titled, perhaps slightly sarcastically, “The Messiah Hails from Portland.” Hark, the caffeine addicts sing!

• EAT MOBILE ATE KENTON: More than 1,300 hungry Portlanders descended on Disjecta Saturday, April 18, for Eat Mobile, WW’s second annual food cart festival. All net proceeds went to Mercy Corps NW. Although some festivalgoers were deterred by the blocklong line that formed outside the Kenton arts space at 5:30 pm, the hundreds that waited were rewarded with tastes from 17 local carts. Rudy Speerschneider’s Junior Ambassadors ice cream cart, which serves everything from vegan asparagus to maple bacon scoops, was chosen by a panel of judges as the winner of the fest’s first-ever Carty Award. But the biggest surprise of the night was former Hot Lips manager Matt Breslow’s Grilled Cheese Grill (grilledcheesegrill.com), which snagged tasters’ hearts and the festival’s People’s Choice trophy with its homey grilled sammies. The best part? The cart wasn’t even open yet. The Grill officially started grillin’ at 1027 NE Alberta St. on Monday. If you’ve got a suggestion for Eat Mobile 2010, please email jsword@wweek.com.