Right at the Fork

We spend an hour with Aundre Barnes, who has been serving diners at Portland's Urdaneta for the past 7 years.  Aundre is a native Portlander and has seen many changes over his years here.  He's worked in banking and in voice-over work along the way.    He shares with us some of the reasons for his passion and his love of the industry, which run from the soulful experience of gaining first-hand knowledge of Spanish cuisine during Urdaneta's company field trips in addition to his admiration for Chef Javier Canteras, whose Basque roots shine through in his unique cuisine.  Aundre will share some of his favorite Portland haunts, as well as some of his favorite travel destinations.   Disclosure:  Right at the Fork host Chris Angelus is associated with Urdaneta and Aundre with his trips to Basque Country offered through Portland Food Adventures.  

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

In this classic episode of RATF, we go all the way back to July of 2014, to a conversation with Jeff Trenary of Kingfisher Farms.  Sadly, Jeff passed away earlier this year.  Over the years, we talked regularly with Jeff about coming back on the show, but never made it happen. This reposting of of episode #27 will serve as our tribute to a great person.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

Original Post:

Farmin'!  Get to know a man responsible for the wonderful vegetables that land on your plate.  Oh, and how to properly pronounce "Nehalem."  It's Jeff Trenary from Kingfisher Farm.

Mentioned in this episode:

www.nostrana.com/

www.bluehouronline.com/

www.clarklewispdx.com/

www.taradpdx.com/

www.facebook.com/vinomanzanita

www.higginsportland.com/

www.roe-pdx.com/

www.woodsmantavern.com/

www.trifectapdx.com/

Bryan Deckert has been running the busy Country Cat restaurant at PDX since it first opened its doors.  Along the way it's garnered BEST AIRPORT RESTAURANT honors twice, and is a model for the many new local brands making airport experiences better. 

Bryan talks to us about what goes into running such a busy, quirky operation with different hours and structures, especially through the pandemic.   We also touch on Bryan's earlier days at Pazzo, where he was in charge of making dignitaries, like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, happy.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com

Flying Fish's Chef Erik Englund joins us on the podcast today to talk about his journey from the Detroit area to Portland 12 years ago, with stops at fabled Gruner and CDC at Bamboo Sushi for years.  There, he procured seafood from Lyf Gildersleeve during his food truck days on Hawthorne, and the rest is current history. 

Lyf brought Erik in to assist him at his former oyster bar at Providore and then built a restaurant around Erik's talents, which can now be enjoyed at their fish market and restaurant on East Burnside.   

We talk about Erik's appreciation for the beauty of natural Oregon and sanity in kitchens as well.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com

With the recent news that Mike Aldridge was talking his Mid City Smash Burger to Bend, we felt it appropriate to bring back our conversation with Mike about the origins of Mid City.

ORIGINAL POST:

Chef Mike Aldridge has been on quite a career and personal journey over the past couple of years. Mike, a native North Dakotan, has cooked in some of Portland's well-known restaurants, including Urban Farmer, Imperial and Headwaters, among others. He became chef at the coastal restaurant, Salmonberry Saloon in 2017 and garnered lots of press for making hay in a region not known for great dining. After leaving there, he started his own pop-up, Ope, in Portland, with the goal of opening up a place near Mt. Hood, where his heart as a winter enthusiast had always drawn him.

His love of New Orleans drove him to expand his horizons there in early 2019, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, his plans were derailed, as restaurants struggled through yet another calamity in that city. To make ends meet, he started making burgers at home and offering them to friends and neighbors. Before he knew it, he was sold out each time he put his burger party together. Now, we talk to Mike about his adventure back to Portland, and the opening of Mid City Smash Burgers as a food cart. Mike talks about his plans to expand that business and realize his dream of a brick and mortar restaurant on this episode.

@midcitysmashburgers on Instagram

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com

We are seeing a coming of age in the suburbs with regard to their food scenes, so Wendy Bumgardner (Insta: @locavoregon) joins us to give us a seasoned food-lover's guide to Vancouver, WA , as well as some walking suggestions in the city.  Wendy also talks about some of the pop ups in the region she's been enjoying as well as an overview of why she enjoys going on Portland Food Adventures' international trips.     Note and full disclosure:  Host Chris Angelus operates Portland Food Adventures.  

This episode of Right at the Fork is sponsored by:

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

Our guest this week is Michael Westfall, co-owner of Tapphoria, a taphouse in Tigard, Oregon.

Cort catches up with Mike to talk about his journey from business school to starting a party bus company, running a coffee shop to eventually creating Tapphoria. 

Hear about the challenges of the pendemic, ways they've had to change their business approach - and what Mike thinks about some of Portland's big restaurant names moving to the suburbs. 

Tapphoria's 8th Anniversary Events take place July 13th & 14th. Learn more here: www.tapphoria.com/

This episode of Right at the Fork is sponsored by:

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

 

On this holiday weekend, we got back to May of 2021, and our conversation with Michael Gibbons.

Michael Gibbons and his wife own Papa Haydn and Jo Bar, which have been a staples in the Portland Food world since they met each other as employees at Papa Haydn many cakes and drinks ago. Since then, they've largely stepped away from the day to day operations to leave that responsibility in younger, capable hands, including their son Brendan.

We talk to Michael about his trajectory from a kid in LA slinging burgers to Reed College in the 70s to his building of Papa Haydn's bar program as a stop between semesters, which of course turned into the love of his life with the love of his life for years and years. We also talk about service, Portland as a city now and how it may fare coming out of the pandemic. And the Dodgers.

This episode of Right at the Fork is sponsored by:

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

In this month's flashback episode, we go all the way back to December of 2021 - and our conversation with Chip MacGregor of MacGregor's Whiskey Bar in Manzanita and Cannon Beach.

We get to know Chip MacGregor, co-proprietor of MacGregor's Whiskey Bar with locations on the coast in Manzanita and Cannon Beach. Chip and his wife Holly met by chance through their writing connections in the very building they now operate. We talk about the business of whiskey and how both locations seem a bit different, where Chip suggests people check out in Portland for great whiskey experiences, and even how to go to the Bourbon Trail with them for their first whiskey experience that goes deeper.

Here's the address to which you can send funds to help Lynn Kyriss recover from her car accident, follow this link:

https://www.macgregorswhiskeybar.com/

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com

He's back for the third round, and this time, Erick Russ of Pono Brewing brings his partner, founder and brewmaster of Pono Brewing, Larry Clouser.  We hear about their unique challenges during the pandemic, how friends and other breweries stepped up to help - and what futures plans are in the works. 

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com  Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com