PNW Relocation Blog

Sandwich Week Day 7 (of 7) was intended to knock out one of the most appealing of the Sandwich Week offerings: The High on the Hog offering from Laurelhurst Market, on East Burnside (about 1.5 miles from my place, directly up Burnside Ave. from where I live). Laurelhurst Market was only offering their special during lunch service, and both my Portland State U friend and I had each noted this previously as a sandwich of interest. Neither of us had been to Laurelhurst Market but had both read/heard good things, so all aligned for this to be a do-over of the Friday evening Sandwich Week attempt.  All went to plan Sunday midday for arrival at Laurelhurst Market, on a scorcher of a heat wave day no less, to have their Sandwich Week offering on their outdoor covered patio. So per Sandwich Week, the High on the Hog breakdown: What's on it?: Spiced & smoked pork loin, radicchio, giardiniera, Italian salsa verde, and crispy fried onions on a toasted bun. The Inspiration: We aim to b...

With top billing on today's docket being to address my broken truck window, I bowed out of my 8-10am volunteer shift this morning at Lan Su Chinese Garden, and instead... slept in until a bit after 9am.  Turns out I was a bit hung over from the night before. I got it together ultimately and ended up lining up a window replacement service appointment for Monday morning.  With that set up for Monday, other tasking of the day was to get my truck somewhere to vacuum out all the broken glass, and grab a Sandwich Week sandwich for lunch. With the oncoming heat wave this weekend and expected high of 93 today, I wanted to get the heavy activity out of the way before it got too hot.  Ended up landing on that I would go to a nearby Washman Car Wash that has self serve vacuum stations, then once done head across town to Phil's Meat Market and Delicatessen, to get their Croque Philip Sandwich Week special for lunch. Vacuum duty went accordingly to plan, and before 12:30 I was headed ...

I ended up with ambitious Sandwich Week plans for Day 5, to head out to the Foster-Powell neighborhood (over 4 miles away) and try the offering at Bar Maven.  My Portland State U friend was to join me and we were also going to check out nearby Assembly Brewing, then head back toward my neighborhood and hit Ecliptic Brewing Moon Room. However, plans went awry once I actually got out to my truck to leave for said adventure.  Turns out somewhere in the past 24 hours, someone had broken into my truck by completely smashing the driver's door window.       So... ended up cleaning that up as best I could for the evening, and plan to try to get window fixed the next day, as well as go vacuum out vehicle somewhere.  I park in an open city lot across the street (and down 3 flights of stairs) from where I actually live, so not practical to do detailed clean out in the open lot. Friend ended up ubering over and helped out, and we cleared out most stuff from the truck...

Sandwich Week Day Four (Day Three for Me) was the day of Banh Mi! (Hey, that rhymed.) While initially not on my Sandwich Week hit list, the offering this week at Banh Mi Up, out in the St. John's neighborhood (20+ minutes from me) ended up being the Thursday night dinner choice. I headed out shortly after 6pm, as I was trying to get to the Ace Hardware there within a few blocks of Banh Mi Up before it closed at 7pm.  I got my Ace shopping done and walked the 2 short blocks down to Banh Mi Up, with order placed by 6:47pm. Service was friendly and quick -- my order of the King Katsu Banh Mi Sandwich Week special, as well as an order of their Garlic Noodles with Chicken Katsu, was in my hands within 5 minutes tops of ordering. It took awhile to trek back to my place, but soon enough I was enjoying my oyster mushroom banh mi sandwich. Per Sandwich Week, the King Katsu Banh Mi details were: What's on it?: Battered and fried King oyster mushrooms, pickled daikon, pickled carrots, ...

Today's Sandwich Week sandwich almost didn't happen for me.  Long work day and I didn't sign off until after 7pm.  And I wasn't in much of a mood for exploratory eats and experience. But, I am glad I powered forward.  I decided I'd drive by the place Big's Chicken on NE Glisan en route to a Fred Meyer supermarket out that way, and if it was open & looked approachable (not too busy, parking not impossible) I'd go through with getting their Smoked BBQ Chicken Sandwich. I secured said Smoked BBQ Chicken Sandwich, as well as a small side of their JoJo potatoes. Per their advertising, the sandwich was: What's on it?: Smoked and shredded chicken in a spicy bbq sauce, slaw, and white gold sauce, served on a soft bun The Inspiration: We take our famous smoked chicken thighs and smother them in spicy bbq sauce until tender. The shredded chicken will be accompanied by house slaw and white gold sauce all served on a soft bun What I got: Service was quick ...

(Note: I had my list ready for the Sandwich Week hit list a week-plus prior to launch, but on account of SF Bay Area trip for Juneteenth Weekend, and not arriving back to PDX until evening of Day 1, I didn't get my first PDX Sandwich Week sandwich until Day 2.) My first Sandwich Week sandwich was from the food cart Marty's Sandwich Shop, which is entirely out of the way for me for where I live (4+ miles way).  But, it worked out as a late lunch option after swinging by my storage unit out on SE 82nd Ave. Marty's Sandwich Shop is in the Carts on Foster food cart pod on the 5200 block of Foster Street, in SE Portland. I had never been out for eats this way as a resident, other than for Portland Mercado Food Cart (7200 block of SE Foster).  Per Sandwich Week, the following was the breakdown for the Bread over Alice Waters sandwich: What's on it?: Lemon herb whipped feta, seasonal sautéed veggies, fresh greens dressed with bals...

It was a pleasant surprise a few weeks back to find out that there is a Frank Lloyd Wright -designed home within an hour of Portland.  Further, that it is open to the public, AND that it was having an event on the first Saturday of June to celebrate FLW's birthday. The bonus for me was that the structure, known as the Gordon House, is a single family home that is an example of his Usonian design style, which I had only first learned of a year ago when I was taking an online class at Santa Barbara City College.  The Usonian style was in part a set of homes that Wright designed with the intent of being affordable housing for the American working class of that time (1930s, 40s).  Simpler styles and smaller square footage, but with at least one element of what was considered high design, were some primary characteristics. The Gordon House itself was built in 1963 in Wilsonville, OR, but ended up being partially taken apart and relocated about 21 miles way in 2001 to the town...