MY SADDLE’S WAITING, COME AND JUMP ON IT: Dig A Pony, the bar set to replace the old Niki’s Restaurant at the east end of the Morrison Bridge, is starting to look like a thoroughbred. Co-owner Aaron Hall showed WW around the space Sunday, and from the huge horseshoe bar
with room for 40 people to the new decor (a 110-year-old piano, church
pews, custom stained-glass work), it looks promising. “[It’s] a place
that has a lot of class for us younger people, but without reflecting it
in the price,” says Hall. Pony will feature nightly DJs and a budget-priced menu from Departure chef Gregory Gourdet. While
there’s still plenty of work to be done, Hall says that Dig A Pony
hopes to open July 20 with some of PDX’s finest electronic and pop bands
slated to help celebrate.
A LOTTA TALK: Drum/viola/beats/pieces duo Talkdemonic has just announced that it is leaving Arena Rock Recording Co.—the label that released the band’s last two albums—in favor of Glacial Pace Records, the imprint run by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock.
It’s a fitting move for both band and label. Brock is a huge fan of
Talkdemonic, taking it along with his band on a recent tour, and helping
out with some mixing duties on its upcoming LP (out this fall). Mutual
admiration between these musicians is a longtime thing, according to
Talkdemonic drummer/programmer Kevin O’Connor: “I put on a show for
Modest Mouse in Tri-Cities in 1997,” he told WW. “Isaac...stayed at my house and I remember my dog peed on [him].”
ATTACK OF THE SMARTIES: Just know that you are simply smarter than the chumps around you? Make it official at the 2011 Mensa National Convention,
taking place at the downtown Hilton this weekend. It’s the first time
the group of smarty pants have held a convention in the Northwest (more
than 2,000 are expected to attend), and includes an appearance by native
Portland Mensan and author Jean Auel. Want to join in the epic high-IQ
fest? Mensa holds its $40 admission tests at 6:30 pm Thursday and 9:30
am Saturday, June 30 and July 2, during which they will expect you to
answer questions like the following....for reals: “Tabitha likes
cookies but not cake. She likes mutton but not lamb, and she likes okra
but not squash. Following the same rule, will she like cherries or
pears?” WTF. (Download more Mensa quiz questions here.)
GRUB ALERT: In downtown Portland, the MAX-side spot last held by AJ on the Rails is becoming an Italian eatery called Mucca from chef/sommelier Simone Savaiano. We’ve got word of a new Mexican place just off Southeast Foster and 60th Avenue called “Torta-landia” owned by the folk behind Mi Famiglia Wood Oven Pizzeria in Oregon City. And in Northeast, the short-lived Clementine Bistrospace on 28th Avenue is slated to be reborn as a “small plates” place—no name just yet.
