Openings, closings and dishy gossip

[July 16th, 2008]

SWEET, CUBED: The cart invasion continues! Kir Jensen , who’s spent the past six years baking sweet treats at other people’s restaurants around town (including clarklewis, Noble Rot and Genoa), opened a picture-perfect cart named The Sugar Cube (Southwest 9th Avenue between Alder and Washington streets, thesugarcubepdx.com) downtown last week. Beginning at 5:30 am each morning, the 30-year-old redhead bakes everything in-cart with her high-end convection oven and brews up pots of Spella coffee. Her decadent cupcakes ($2.50) are the big hits so far, especially her super-moist chocolate buttermilk “Highway To Heaven,” which her menu describes (accurately) as hiding a “salted caramel center and creamy chocolate ganache that Michael Landon would be proud of.” Amazing stuff. There are panini, soups and salad, too, but why stray from the sugar rush? The only downside so far is the fact the cart’s only open 8 am-3 pm Monday-Friday.

TRUE BREW: The beer gods are smiling on us: Last month Bend-based Deschutes Brewery turned the big 2-0. To celebrate, it revamped its Black Butte porter, a staple of the brewery since Deschutes’ opening in 1988. The result of this Frankenstein experiment is Black Butte XX, an imperial porter brewed with coffee from Bend and cacao nibs from Seattle and aged in whiskey barrels from Denver. It looks like espresso, complete with a thin, silky head mimicking a crema, and packs a sweet, rich, smooth taste that completely belies its 11 percent ABV. The price tag ($10.99 for a 22-oz bomber; available at Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St., 232-8538) may cause one to hesitate, but, really, it’s an investment. Buy two bottles: Drink one now and save the second in your basement until June 2018.