Right at the Fork

Meg Cotner is a freelance writer and editor based in Portland, Oregon via various other places including California to New York.. Meg publishes Bridgetown Bites, which covers restaurants, bars, cafes, food trucks, events, and includes opinion pieces, all centering on the Portland food world.. The site focuses on openings and closings news, while dabbling in reviews and other editorial content. We talk about what it requires in time and effort to keep up the site, as well as Meg's personal and business objectives and her writing and eating background that led her to Portland and starting her website. Meg also provides a great list of her favorite places to eat and sip, some off the radar, some on. It's worth a listen just go be clued into what someone who's out there enjoying and thinking about the food world thinks are places you should go! www.bridgetownbites.com

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

We look back to our conversation with Alexa Numkena-Anderson from July of 2024:

Alexa Numkena-Anderson @cheflex_pdx is enrolled Hopi and is Yakama, Skokomish, Cree and Mexican descent. She was born in Yakima, Washington and grew up in the greater Washington area (Toppenish, Tri-Cites and Fairchild Air Force Base). After high school Alexa moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue a culinary career and attended Le Cordon Bleu Culinary school while also working as a line cook.

She has worked in many kitchens across the Portland, such as @kingtidepdx (formally Three Degrees) @twr.pdx @sammichportland @imperialportland @headwaterspdx and @bullardtavernpdx as well as working for acclaimed chefs and restaurateurs such as @dougiepdx @vit0bike @lesbianmeatmaker & @lauroromero to name a few. Drawing inspiration from her grandmother, her indigenous heritage . Her grandma Stella of the Yakama Tribe with memories of fry bread, roast beef, and soups as well as her Hopi heritage With the motivations of being a new mother, she is ready to share and continuously learn about her culture's food. Inspired by other Indigenous chefs she feels it is her responsibility to share and learn about these ancient foods and techniques.

Javelina's main feature is fry bread and even though this food came from necessity, our people were able to make a comfort food that is still found at pow wows and family gatherings to this day. On her culinary journey she discovered the amazing bounty of native ingredients the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Using what the surrounding land has already given them and combining it with Alexa's culture, skill and vision they hope to create a truly unique story.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

Frank Squillo has had quite a storied career, but as he points out in this episode, there are definite parallels between his career as a radio host and now, as co-owner of the storied Wanda's Cafe and Bakery, a mainstay of the North Oregon Coast that he purchased with his husband in 2019 and has operated since. We talk about what it takes to run a successful restaurant on the Oregon Coast - the key ingredients in the business and in the recipes. We'll even go into the things he's learned and how he deals with challenging situations and challenging people. We talk a bit about life at the coast, the places Frank enjoys most and his involvement in local politics and theater. Frank shares some anecdotes about his interviews from his radio days with Joe Rogan and his favorite guest, Sammy Hagar, and why both of them are great memories for him. He even talks about what it took to interview people who really didn't have any interest in being in front of a mic for an interview. Take a listen and find out more about one of the gentlemen behind the scenes of what host Chris Angelus refers to as a coastal icon, Wanda's Cafe and Bakery. https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=wanda%27s%20cafe%20%2B%20bakery https://wandascafe.com/

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

Jon Galdos operates a premiere tour company in San Sebastian. The convergence of his love of travel and thirst for holiday time led him to find this passion almost 20 years ago, during a successful career in engineering. Jon explains in this interview how he approaches designing experiences for people in one of the most culinary-rich areas of the world, and how he came to love what he does. Jon has curated some wonderful experiences for host Chris Angelus' Portland Food Adventures groups with Urdaneta in Basque Country. One of them, a dreamy visit to a 13 generation Basque Pig family farm, gets a little love and time from Jon in our conversation. It's a must to hear about -- and more importantly, DO!! Access the PFA trip to Basque Country here: https://www.portlandfoodadventures.com/basque-country-with-javier-canteras And Jon's Basque Tours here: https://basquetours.com/index.htm Check out Jon on Instagam: @jon_galdos + @basquetours

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

Tyler Malek is the Chef and co-owner of one of Portland's now most iconic brands and restaurants, Salt & Straw. Now with locations cornering the continental US, Tyler and his cousin Kim have made some serious noise in the ice cream world. In this episode, Tyler talks about the longshot pitch to Disneyland to be their official ice cream vendor, and how quickly the folks at Disney decided they wanted Portland's Salt & Straw vibe over some of the big, more well-known ice cream brands, like Ben & Jerry's. Tyler talks about the process of building the store and all that was involved with that with the input from Disney. Also, Tyler talks about the business of building and using the Salt & Straw brand to its advantage, and what that has meant for growth. We cover sampling, flavors, staffing, as well as some of the places Tyler loves to go in Portland right now. This is our third interview with Tyler and that's because he's one of the good guys who has represented the Portland psyche so well.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

We're going back to August of 2022 and our conversation with Aundre Barnes of Urdaneta.

ORIGINAL POST:

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

To kick off 2025 and Right at the Fork's 12th year, we are pleased to feature a conversation with Bill Oakley, known to many on Instagram as @ThatBillOakley.

Bill is a celebrated food celebrity who is a regular on The Food that Built America and other TV shows. He discusses some of the food and places featured in his annual Steamie Awards as part of his Steamed Ham Society, both nationally, and special awards for his home base of Portland, Oregon.

Bill talks about how he goes about doing the awards, and why he does them. It's a real fun hour that is a must for any Portland food lover.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

We complete our 11th year with one of our favorite guests, Gary the Foodie. Gary discusses some of his his favorite Portland food experiences of 2024, as well as some others outside the area, well, because it's Gary!

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

We look back at our converation with Don Bourassa in January 2024...

Don Bourassa was Right at the Fork's first guest ever in 2014. Back then, he was the Community Director for Yelp. Now, he's moved to Porto, Portugal with his wife and among his many endeavors, he writes on substack: International Adulting. We talk to Don about what's transpired in the ten years since his first visit with us, including the process of deciding to move and the ins and outs of moving to another country. Also, having traveled the world, his thoughts on Portland as a food city. We also get a taste of Portugal, where, among other tasty morsels of info, his wife has created a community of Vegans.

https://internationaladulting.substack.com/

Insta @thedonb

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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

Joining us this week is Andrea Falaschi, fourth generation butcher from Macelleria Falaschi in San Miniato in the heart of Tuscany. Andrea's family business is celebrating its 100th year in 2025. Andrea takes us through his family history with some anecdotes about how the business started back in 1925 with his great Grandfather Guido emigrating from Argentina with no reading and writing skills to open San Miniato's first butcher shop. Moving through Fascism in Italy we hear about the discord between his grandfather Vasco and Vasco's brother Bruno, and you must hear the segment discussing Vasco's fear of the phone when that technology became commonplace!! Also, Andrea talks about the influence women in the family had on the business. Andrea, with interpretation assistance from his dear friend Astrid Ensign, who designs Portland Food Adventures trips to Italy, shares some of the challenges of the business, including the severe conditions in Italy through the pandemic. He is a huge lover of cinema, and Andrea shares the joy he had visiting the Goonies house when visiting Oregon earlier this year, as well as some of his favorite experiences in Oregon. How does this relate to Portland? Well, here. Two ways!: Andrea will be the marquee guest at the Oregon Mailata in May of 2025, the Italian Festival of the Pig put on by renowned chef Portland chef Cathy Whims and her team. The event takes place on March 22 and tickets can be found here, where you can see his exciting butchering demonstration, in addition to many other workshops, wine tasting, and a big celebratory meal put on by some of Portland's best chefs. VISIT ANDREA IN TUSCANY!! This!! A very few select folks can book a trip to Tuscany in the Fall with RATF host Chris Angelus' Portland Food Adventures, and celebrate Macelleria Falaschi's 100th anniversary with Andrea and PFA's Astrid Ensign, former expat, and host Chris. Check out those details here and contact Chris - contact into on the PFA website at the link to your left.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

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