Right at the Fork

We flash back to May of 2022 for the Classic episode with Bill Oakley.

 

Bill Oakley is a television writer and producer, maybe best known known for writing for the Simpson's (where he was also the co-show-runner), as well Portlandia and much, much more. For the past 13 years, he has also called Portland home.

In this episode, we talk about him growing up in Maryland, his time at Harvard, working in Hollywood and of course what brought him to Portland.

We also dive into his latest venture, the Steamed Ham Society & Food Discovery Club, which you can learn more about (and sign up for!) here:

https://www.patreon.com/steamedhamssociety

 

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

Our host Chris Angelus takes us on a culinary journey from Astoria to Yachats with his favorite spots to eat, along with a couple of other places to see and go. Chris has over 10 years of experiences to share with listeners.  If you're heading the the northernmost 180 miles of Oregon Coast, this episode is a must! 

Places we cover in this episode include:  

• Astoria (14:30)
• Cannon Beach (25:30)
• Manzanita (30:20
• Nehalem/Wheeler (35:45)
• Rockaway Beach (42:20)
• Garibaldi (43:20)
• Tillamook (47:30)
• Newport (53:10)
• Yachats (59:40)

 

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

 

We speak with Ben Edmunds - Brewmaster at Breakside Brewery in Portland - where he oversees the company's production brewery and two pub breweries.

We talk about his background, growin up in the mid-west, to what ultimatley inspired him to change careers as a high school teacher and go into brewing.   Under Ben's guidance, Breakside has won many medals at national and international competitions - including 8 World Beer Cup Awards.

Hear the behind the scenes decision making moments that have made Breakside what it is today - including the introduction of a new year-round witbier. Plus - where does Ben eat and drink when he's not at Breakside.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

Our second guest ever, and return guest, joins us again for our Where Are They Now? series.  The former owner of Mi Mero Mole, Zapapizza, Kenny and Zuke's, as well as the curator of one of the original Portland food blogs, joins us to talk about his in depth research into regional Barbacoa in Mexico and the families who have the passion for it, on his way to publishing a book down the road.

Nick also expresses what his motivations would be to give another restaurant a go.  We will hear about some of his favorite Portland area Mexican spots, too. 

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

We're back with a classic episode of Right at the Fork, from November 2021, featuring Anthony Cafiero of Meta Pizza, when we were still trying to figure out the best way to do a podcast from our homes.  

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

It's always a great conversation with Anthony Cafiero, who has a diverse background cooking in Portland. From his early days before Nostrana, to his Tabla Bistro tenure, to Racion, to vegan ice cream and a number of pizza gigs, Chef Anthony recently opened his own place, Meta Pizza in Portland's Brooklyn neighborhood. We talk about that cooking history, what he's learned, and how Meta Pizza came about after his job shifted in Micah Camden's organization during the pandemic.

Find Anthony at @metapizzapdx and make sure to visit metapizzapdx.com to order.

 

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

It’s been 20 years since Carman returned to her 90-year-old family ranch, transforming the land and business with regenerative practices. Inspiring her collective of nine independent farms and ranches across the Pacific Northwest, Carman Ranch have now been practicing them for decades. As a result of their efforts, the company is now the first to carry the Regenified™ seal on its grass-fed, grass-finished beef as a result of their ecological practices.

  We discuss some of the challenges and joys of her career, as well as life in Wallowa County.

We celebrate the opening of Oregon Dungeness Crab season with a visit with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission's Executive Director, Tim Novotny.  We will talk about what makes dungeness crab so beloved, what some of the challenges are for commercial crab fishermen, good years, bad years, some of Tim's favorite crab dishes and more.   About Tim: Tim Novotny joined the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission in 2017 as communications manager, with a master’s degree in public relations and more than two decades of experience in journalism and marketing. He has lived in Coos Bay since 1999 and became news director of KCBY-TV in2000, later writing for The World Newspaper in Coos Bay from 2012 through 2015, often reporting on the commercial fishing industry throughout his journalistic career.

Prior to his arrival in Oregon, Tim worked as news director of KKVI-TV in Twin Falls, Idaho, and later was an assistant news producer at WMTV in Madison, Wisconsin. Born and raised in Joliet, Illinois, he later headed west and got his degree from Boise State University.

In December, he became just the third executive director for the commission since 1990 - following Nick Furman (1990-2012), and the recently retired Hugh Link (2012-2022).

He is also a long-suffering Chicago sports fan, happy to reminisce anytime about the glory days of Ditka, Payton, and Jordan.

 

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

We catch up with Eric Finley again in the second of our Where Are They Now series. Eric owned Chop Butchery during his Portland years, which ended in 2018.  Eric was previously featured on our podcast in 2014, episode #18.  Eric talks about his reasons for leaving Portland and the journey that landed him and his family in Bentonville, Arkansas.  We also talk about what saved his life, his sobriety, along with what he misses in Portland, and what he doesn't.  We foray into a frank conversation about the food industry, and how it has changed for the worse and for the better.   We really enjoyed talking with Eric, and surely wish to have him on again to share his stories and viewpoints with us again.   Right at the Fork is supported by:   Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

Upon his Beard nomination for Best Chef NW last year, we were honored to have Jonathan Jones on our podcast. Now that the second JBF nom has come his way, and after moving his Salem restaurant's location, we thought it would be worthwhile to revisit our interview with Chef Jones from March of 2022.

Jonathan Jones of Salem's Epilogue Kitchen and Cocktails makes his first podcast appearance with us just after his recent 2022 James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northwest nomination.    He asked us if we could focus on the positive, and for sure we did that, discussing what the nomination means to him, his paths from southeast Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and Vermont to Oregon to garner such an accolade, along with some of the people who helped inspire and instill in him what it took to be not only a great chef, but a responsible restaurant owner and active citizen.

Jonathan espouses appreciation for all the places he's lived, and especially for those things that make him satisfied with his and his wife's choice to move to Oregon.    We do spend some time on his  activism, partly manifested in encouraging reading with the library maintained at Epilogue, as well as the energy required to put forth to be an active person.  We talk about what he has learned in promoting the interests of the underserved, and what changes he expects in the marathon of spreading understanding of the meaning and need for the Black Lives Matter movement .   

We really enjoyed this talk and hope you supplement listening to this episode with a visit to Epilogue Kitchen and Cocktails in Salem to meet Chef Jonathan in person.

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com Oregon Dungeness Crab: www.OregonDungeness.org  RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

 

Chef Lisa Schroeder of Mother's Bistro has had a very challenging few years.  The most recent upset was when her bank wouldn't honor refunding the money on checks written to her bank account number under someone else's name, simply because she didn't report the problem soon enough.  This comes on the heels of a tumultuous few years after 23 years in business  In 2018, she went through the process of moving Mother's to its new location not long before the pandemic hit.  Her location, in the middle of downtown where meth use is prolific, isn't the only challenge. She's required in her lease to be open 7 days a week, since her restaurant serves the hotel in the same building.  Lisa talks to us about the outlook for her business in the face of rising costs and new Portland dining and working patterns as well as restaurants as a whole, wherever they may be.   Lisa is one of Portland's most outspoken restaurant owners, and she's always a great interview.  

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com