Wednesday November 4top
Livestock
Here's a recipe for a successful Portland event: Take three butchers, six food-centric essays, a cow, a pig and a whole lot of brave foodies, mix together in a room full of blood and guts, and let the conversation begin. On Wednesday, Camas Davis, butcher and mastermind behind the soon-to-be launched Portland Meat Collective, and Lisa Donoughe, of Watershed Culinary Productions, will host Livestock, a one-two punch of literary arts and craft butchery. Adam Sappington of Country Cat and Cathy Whims of Nostrana will butcher a cow and a pig, respectively, in front of a live audience while six local writers will read essays on their relationship with meat. After the meat is cut, attendees will get to dine on several preparations of each animal. It'll be gory, but surely delicious. A portion of ticket sales will go to Friends of Family Farmers.
The International Culinary School at the Art Institute, 34 NW 8th Ave., 228-6528. 6-8 pm Wednesday, Nov. 11. Call 827-6564 for reservations. $25 for each night. Map
Roots Sixth Anniversary Celebration
Finally, a (delicious) reason for Portlanders to make the trek north over the bridge: Roots, a farm-to-table restaurant right on the other side of the river, is celebrating its sixth anniversary with a week of specials. It’ll be offering $6 entrees, $6 drinks and a $36 six-item
prix fixe menu, and if you bring in six cans of food (to benefit the Clark County Food Bank), you’ll also get a free appetizer. That’ll probably make up for the extra gas money.
Roots, 19215 SE 34th St., Camas, Wash., (360) 260-3001. 11:30 am-10 pm Tuesday-Sunday, Nov. 3-8. Map
Thanksgiving Cooking Classes
Does the thought of cooking Thanksgiving dinner make you want to run to the comfort of Grandma's house? Frightened at the thought of burnt turkey or gummy stuffing? In Good Taste cooking school is here to help. It'll be offering two Thanksgiving classes this week. First, Piper Davis of Grand Central Bakery will teach you everything you need to know about making the perfect turkey-day pie (and you'll get a signed copy of her new cookbook). The next day, Robert Hammond will take you through the entire feast-cooking process, from grocery shopping to turkey to cranberry sauce.
In Good Taste, 231 NW 11th Ave., 248-2015. Piper Davis: 6 pm Wednesday, Nov. 4. Robert Hammond: 6 pm Thursday, Nov. 5. Visit ingoodtastestore.com to register. $75 and $95. Map
Saturday November 7top
Coffee Fair and Exhibit
Bring your caffeine-addled brain over to the Discovery Museum and learn a little more about your morning (and afternoon and evening) cup of coffee. The
Coffee: The World in Your Cup exhibit runs through January 2010, exploring the environmental and social impacts of the coffee business through photographs, videos, installations and plenty of coffee tastings. For a full jolt of beans, come this weekend for Coffee Fair, a two-day coffee party.
World Forestry Center, 4033 SW Canyon Road., . Coffee Fair 10 am-3 pm Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 7-8. $5-$8. Map
Todbott's Triangles Grand Opening Party
The popular Japanese "bicycart," Todbott's Triangles, is finally getting a permanent home. Come celebrate the opening of the restaurant this weekend and dine on a (slightly) expanded but still super cheap (everything is $5 or less) menu of
onigiri (a rice ball wrapped in seaweed),
amazake (fermented rice drink),
nukazuke (Japanese pickles) and kombucha.
, 2827 NE Alberta St., 971-344-9548. 4-9 pm Saturday, Nov. 7. $5 and less. Map
Sunday November 8top
Sunday Dinner Series at Robert Reynolds Chefs Studio
I know you. Ever since watching
Julie & Julia, you’ve been dying to set foot in a French cooking school. Now’s your chance. This week, Robert Reynolds’ excellent, intimate Chefs Studio concludes an eight-week Sunday dinner series—hosted by former
Portland Monthly food editor Camas Davis and mouth-about-town Mike Thelin—served in the one-room chef school. Nov. 15 features Ken Rubin, director of the new Culinary Institute at the Art Institute of Portland.
Robert Reynolds Chefs Studio, 2818 SE Pine St., 544-1350. 6:30 pm Sunday. $85, includes four courses and a wine pairing. Call 347-5540 for reservations.
Map
Monday November 9top
Wine, Tapas and Music at Andina
Feeling a little undereducated in the wine department? Come to Andina on Monday to try more than 15 different varietals from Argentina, Chile and Spain. There'll be tapas to soak up all those "tastes," and Latin and Caribbean music spun by DJ Malolactic.
Tupai at Andina, 1314 NW Glisan., 228-9535. 6:30 pm Monday, Nov. 9. Call 228-9535 for reservations. $55. Map
Tuesday November 10top
Drink Local Project
Get locally sauced this month at Urban Farmer. Each week, bartender Daniel Stern will create four new cocktails featuring a different local producer. Recently, he showcased Integrity Spirits, and in following weeks Stern will shake or stir selections from House Spirits, Clear Creek Distillery and Stumptown Coffee. New cocktails premiere each Tuesday during an extended happy hour.
Urban Farmer Restaurant, 525 SW Morrison St., 8th floor., 222-4900. Cocktails debut 3-7 pm Tuesdays in November. Map