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Have you been yearning for the days of yesteryear, when the white, impeccably dressed Englishman stood on a hill, surveyed someone else's land and said, "Yes, I think I'll take it!" and then took a sip of his tea and a bite of his biscuit, and spit the whole thing out on the head of the young native boy shining his shoes because it wasn't lukewarm enough?
Well, you're in luck, old chap! According to PDX Eater, Sally Krantz's Saffron Colonial bakery and restaurant at 4120 N Williams Ave. is now "softly open."
Eater says the new Williams spot "serves the globally inspired dishes from the height of the British Empire" and that Krantz, a Portland-area native, was inspired by her time abroad, where "she's been lording over a mini bakery empire in Hong Kong for years."
Before the restaurant opened, WW spoke with Krantz about her project. She told us that she's always been fascinated by "historical food" and that many of the menu items at her Hong Kong cafe developed because she was "surrounded by the British," who asked for things like molasses cookies and sausage rolls.
"One of the things I find intriguing is colonial food," she told us over the phone. "Things that are a mix: old world, old style, whether American or English or even Asian, where the English brought their food and then mixed it."
"Mixed it" is one way to describe what happened when the English went on their world-conquering spree, though it doesn't quite emphasize the fact that the conquered countries didn't have much choice in the matter of mixing their ingredients with English food.
Thematically, the restaurant picked the perfect neighborhood. North Williams is the center of the controversy around Portland's gentrification and the pricing out of black residents. It's almost an historical re-enactment!
Saffron Colonial is currently open for breakfast and lunch.
UPDATE: We spoke with Sally Krantz after this piece was published, and she told us that she isn't a racist and she doesn't understand the backlash. "I'm not trying to incense anybody," she said over the phone. "I'm just trying to make food."
She added: "The people who own the Rheinlander aren't promoting Nazism, and the people who own the Screen Door aren't promoting slavery."
Willamette Week