by David Burn | Jan 27, 2009 | Digital culture, Oregon
Beer and Blog put together “End Joblessness: A mini job fair” on Saturday in Beaverton. The event took place at the offices of Oregon Technology Business Center, which is a non-profit incubator for tech startups.
I walked in, grabbed a Deschutes Mirror Pond and began to mingle. I spoke with Web designers, a researcher for a tech recruiter (whose boss wants him “to Twitter and blog”). I also met Steve Morris, the Executive Director of OTBC and the co-host of the event, along with Beer and Blog’s Justin Kirstner.
What I didn’t expect was Magic Seth. He approached me directly and asked if we’d met before. I said no. He said next time we will have. He then drew me and two iPhone App developers into a magic trick. He asked me to pull a card from a deck. I did. It was the 8 of Hearts. He asked one of the developers to pull up a card site up on his iPhone. He did. He then chose the 10 of Diamonds from that digital deck. Magic Seth said we could look at each others choices. I won’t tell the rest, ’cause it’s magic, but suffice it to say all three of us were alerted to the quirky but powerful intelligence in our midst.
So, it’s now a few days later and I have Magic Seth’s business card here on the side table. Naturally, I Google the man. It appears that Magic Seth has a degree from Hampshire College and another one from MIT. He wrote an academic paper titled, “Interactive Visualizations for Text Exploration: Using SVG to navigate large collections of unstructured documents”. In other words, chaos isn’t frightening to Magic Seth.
Here’s some video, if you feel like investing deeper in the Magic Seth story:
Turns out, Magic Seth leads half day to three day intensive seminars in “doing the impossible.” It’s possible that he’s licensing proprietary technology to multinationals on the side. Anyway, I didn’t find work on Saturday, but I did encounter some mid-afternoon brain food.
by David Burn | Jan 19, 2009 | Food & Beverage, Oregon
I first stumbled in to Big Horse Brew Pub in downtown Hood River in 1996 when I was on an epic NW road trip. I remember being impressed with the location and the beer. We stopped in again today and things were as I last experienced them. Stunning views of the river and tasty beer.
by David Burn | Jan 18, 2009 | Food & Beverage, Oregon
Hammerhead. Ruby. Terminator Stout.
These are all well known items to craft beer drinkers in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to the Herculean efforts of two brothers, Mike and Brian McMenamin, owners of the entertainment empire that bears their name.
Edgefield. Kennedy School. The Crystal. The Bagdad.
These proper nouns are also well known. You can order a Hammerhead or Ruby in these places, but that’s just the beginning. You can also spend the night, dip in an old school soaking pool, see a concert or movie, attend a wedding, and so on. Thanks once again to the beer brothers, Mike and Brian.
What started on SE Hawthorne Blvd. in 1983 is now a business with more than 50 pubs, hotels and music venues in Oregon and Washington. McMenamins sales in 2007 topped $27 million dollars. They employ 1,400 people and the brothers now run the third largest craft brew operation in the United States. They also produce and market wine, spirits and coffee.
So, what’s the foundation for their success? Timing had something to do with it, as did their entrepreneurial makeup and powers of persuasion. The brothers were semi-normal tavern owners until 1985. That’s the year they successfully lobbied lawmakers in Salem, Oregon, to allow patrons to consume beer at the place where it is made. They soon started brewing at their Hillsdale location and before their eyes an entire industry was born.
Another key that unlocked McMenamins success is the family-friendly atmosphere that they bring to their properties. While the beer is strong and the spirits stronger, there’s something almost theme-parkish about each McMenamins property. The properties all share a fun, somewhat kitschy, look and feel. You instantly know you’re at a McMenamins when you enter one, and that’s a credit to Mike and Brian, as every business needs a strong sense of identity if it’s going to stand out in the sea of sameness.
McMenamins, for certain, does more than just stand out in the neighborhoods they inhabit-they’re often the defacto community center. Take Kennedy School in NE Portland. There’s the building itself to consider. It spans an entire city block and is a lovingly restored architectural gem. Inside the old elementary school, former classrooms are now spacious accomodations for guests to the Rose City. Kennedy School also has live music and a movie theater, plus a restaurant and five bars, including the Honors Bar and Detention Bar (for good and bad citizens, as the case may be).
Yes, there are five bars, all in one building. That’s how the McMenamins roll.
There’s something European about what the McMenamins are doing. Mike McMenamin has noted in interviews that bars in Portland were generally dark, hard-partying, slightly scary places when he got into the business. He had a different vision and he’s executed against it perfectly. McMenamins pubs and hotels are now anchors in the communities they serve. In several cases, the buildings the McMenamins bought and refurbished were historically signigficant properties. Their way of doing business consciously improves the community while helping members of said community have a good time.
There are some rumblings from long time customers that the quality of the chain’s food and the beer have suffered, after the company expanded into hotels and the concert business. “They’re cutting corners now they never would have cut before,” says Nathan Parr, who’s been a fan since the early 1990s. There’s likely some truth in his assessment. Furthermore, Mike McMenamin has lamented not knowing all his managers. And the widespread proliferation of the McMenamins brand is Starbucks-like in Portland particularly. Yet, if you weigh the positive contributions to local communities and to the craft beer culture in this region and nation, it’s hard to fault Mike and Brian. The company they’ve built is as Portland as Nike, maybe more.
by David Burn | Jan 12, 2009 | Food & Beverage, Oregon
We went looking for Terrapin Cellars on Saturday. According to our source materials, the wine is produced in Rickreall, just west of Salem. We arrived in the small town by mid-afternoon and looked around a bit, but we didn’t see Terrapin. I don’t know if I imagined a shrine to the classic Grateful Dead album or what, but it wasn’t there. We asked a local walking his two dogs and he said the winery–he couldn’t think of its name–was on the edge of town. That’s the lead we were looking for, so we motored over there and found Eola Hills ready and waiting to serve.
Unlike most of the wine tasting rooms we’ve been to recently, Eola Hills didn’t charge us to taste their value-conscious wines. They did ask for a $5 fee on their higher end wines, but then they applied those fees to the purchase of wine, so there was no tasting fee after all. While there, we inquired about Terrapin and the woman said, oh yes, Terrapin is made on premise. Then she dodged off to get me the winemaker’s phone number. It turns out lots of winemakers produce their wine at Eola Hills. So, for those in the Amity Eola Hills area with grapes and the requisite know how, but no winery, there’s a community-oriented production option. Pretty cool.
As for Eola Hills, their wine is pretty decent for the price. Most bottles we sampled were going for $13 or $14. Some of their higher end offerings were $25 to $50. Their $50 bottle, the 2006 Oregon “Wolf Hill” Clone 667 Pinot Noir is right up there with the best of them. The complexity of Wolf Hill kept coming and coming. I’d love to take an entire bottle for a ride some night.
by David Burn | Jan 7, 2009 | Food & Beverage, Oregon
Oregon’s artisan culture has given rise to a full fledged microdistilling movement. The Seattle Times published a detailed and glowing review of the scene last June.
With 17 microdistilleries in Oregon, and eight more startups expected across the state by year’s end, spirits aficionados haven’t seen anything like this in recent memory.
Collectively, the distillers help shape the bar and culinary scene in Portland. The Rose City is now seeing a renaissance of classic cocktails, and some high-end restaurants are trying experimental pairings of food with spirits.
“The distillery scene here is where the wine industry in California was in the 1960s,” said Steve McCarthy, owner of Clear Creek Distillery, one of the nation’s first microdistilleries. “We are rewriting all the rules. The artisan distilleries are making up a whole new industry.”
One of the most valuable offerings in the piece is the sidebar, where the state’s microdistillers are listed.
In Portland, there’s Clear Creek Distillery, House Spirits Distillery, Ransom Spirits, Sub Rosa Spirits, Integrity Spirits, Highball Distillery, New Deal Distillery, Rogue Spirits Portland and Edgefield Distillery.
Elsewhere in the Beaver state there’s Bendistillery, BU-TAY Vodka and Liquid Vodka in Bend. Plus Brandy Peak Distillery in Brookings; Dolmen Distillery in McMinnville; Hood River Distillers in Hood River; Indio Spirits in Cottage Grove; and Rogue Spirits in Newport.
Among the spirits being crafted here: whiskey aged in Oregon oak, pear brandy, pinot noir brandy, gewürztraminer grappa, Eastern-style gin, hazelnut spiced rum, vodka infused with hot pepper, saffron, tarragon, chocolate and basil.
Listen to OPB’s Think Out Loud show dedicated to the topic.
by David Burn | Jan 6, 2009 | Food & Beverage, Oregon
American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs, define wine growing regions throughout the U.S. It’s a program administered by the ATF. Lately, I’ve been studying the local wine producing regions by visiting the areas on weekends and by looking at maps, like this one, care of the Oregon Wine Board.
According to WinesNW.com, when Willamette Valley AVA was first authorized 1984, its geographic description included some 3.3 million acres. Twenty years later, winemakers and wine growers succeeded in submitting applications for approval of six sub-regions within the Willamette Valley, to better describe micro climates proven over the years to be distinctly suited for the growing of wine grapes. McMinnville Foothills, Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge, the Yamhill-Carlton District, Eola-Amity Hills District and the Chehalem Mountains were all authorized as official American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in 2005 and 2006.
Once that data kind of sinks in, it’s time to start identifying certain wines with the characteristics found in a given AVA. For instance, we know that 2006 was a great year for pinot noir in the Willamette Valley. But was it a better year in Dundee Hills than it was in Eola-Amity Hills? I don’t know, but I know it’s going to be fun finding out. Some of the famous producers in Dundee Hills include Sokol Blosser, Archery Summit, Domaine Drouhin, Domaine Serene, Erath Winery and The Eyrie Vineyards. In other words, the classic Oregon producers. Eola-Amity Hill is more of a mystery. I’ll need to go looking for a bottle of Witness Tree or Strangeland.
BTW, where is the best place to buy locally produced pinot noir in NE Portland?
by David Burn | Dec 23, 2008 | Food & Beverage, Oregon
We went to Newport Seafood Grill for lunch today—day 10 of a massive winter storm. The staff was incredibly happy to see us.
According to The Oregonian, Portland restaurants are reeling.
Portland’s formerly bustling scene is squeezed as never before. Soaring ingredient costs, escalating gas prices, vanishing credit lines, a looming increase in the minimum wage and consumers who closed their wallets back in October all contribute.
David Machado, owner of the popular Lauro Kitchen and Vindalho says, “This weather is ripping the guts out of restaurants and wiping out one of our busiest times — this micro climate thing is going to tip the balance against a lot of businesses because restaurant margins are as thin as they get.”
“I’ve heard some people say their business has dropped by as much as 40 percent in the last month or so,” says Bill Perry of the Oregon Restaurant Association. “Things weren’t too bad until October — sales were off just 4 percent or so over the year — but then, two or three weeks before the election, things just froze. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Oregon lost 1,900 restaurant jobs in September and October, and suppliers are left with unpaid bills and dwindling orders.
“These are hard times for everybody because we’re all in the same boat,” says Ben Savery of wholesaler Provista Specialty Foods Inc. Savery has been in the business for years and says he’s never seen the likes of 2008. “The economy has been not great for a year or so, but in the last three months it’s become something much worse.”
[UPDATE] We did what we could to prop up the restaurants this holiday season by visiting Fife, Ciao Vito, Toro Bravo, Pok Pok and McCormick & Schmick’s.
by David Burn | Dec 17, 2008 | Literature, Oregon, Place, The Environment
I read the book Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach many years ago. In the book, the Pacific Northwest secedes from the nation. I’ve been a bioregionalist ever since.
Now I see in “Sunday Styles” that the book—which sold over 400,000 copies in the 1970s—has caught on with new audiences in churches and classrooms around the nation. A fact which has led Bantam to reissue the title this month.
Scott Slovic, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said, “You hear people talking about the idea of Ecotopia, or about the Northwest as Ecotopia. But a lot of them don’t know where the term came from.â€
The green movement’s focus on local foods and products, and its emphasis on energy reduction also have roots in “Ecotopia,†he said. In fact, much of Portland, Ore., with its public transport, slow-growth planning and eat-local restaurants, can seem like Ecotopia made reality.
Which must be why the copy editor of this section titled the article, “The Novel That Predicted Portland.”
by David Burn | Dec 15, 2008 | Advertising, Art, Digital culture, Film, Literature, Media, Oregon
Laura Oppenheimer of The Oregonian put together a feature article on the efforts being made by Portland’s various creative communities to unite and successfully promote themselves.
salon owner, Kahala Orian, sporting a knitty
Here, Oppenheimer shows the two ends of the local spectrum:
If you picture the creative economy as a continuum from corporate giants to part-time artists, Nike inhabits one end. Oregon’s largest company employs more than 6,000 people at its headquarters, on a college-size campus near Beaverton.
A notch away from Nike is the advertising firm that branded it: Wieden+Kennedy. Columbia Sportswear Co. and Adidas USA round out the huge names. A slew of midsize companies design clothing, sports equipment and buildings, make movies and computer games, and promote it all to the world.
To explore the other end of the continuum, you could’ve walked down Southeast Belmont Street last weekend, past coffee shops and neighborhood bars, across from a retro arcade and a vegetarian diner, into KOiPOD salon. The owner, Kahala Orian, hosted a craft show called Handmade for the Holidays.
More than 20 entrepreneurs covered card tables with knit hats, soy candles and hand-stitched pillows, while a DJ wearing giant silver headphones spun tunes.
The article also explores how Steve Gehlen and Tad Lukasik are launching Oregon Creative Industries “to connect people online and in person, lobby for resources to help business grow, and to make creativity the state’s economic signature.”
OCI is a startup in the non-profit sector. They’re looking for volunteers to help grow the business, if you’re interested.
by David Burn | Dec 15, 2008 | Art, Oregon
Yesterday was a dramatic weather day in Portland. Given the unique conditions, photographers throughout the city took to the frozen streets to document what they saw.
PDX Pipeline has a great recap of the day in pictures and Tweets. Additionally, Flickr groups sprung up to capture the day in images.
