Scoop: Spot the Baldwin, More Burgers for the Pearl

Gossip straight from the invalid litter dept.

VAN SANT
By WW Culture Staff
  1. BALDWIN WATCH: The Great Daniel Baldwin Experiment—Mr. Baldwin’s move to Portland and promise to bring a reality-TV studio with him—has entered its third year. It must be judged a considerable success, if by “success” you mean “not accomplishing any of the stated goals but scoring some great Blazers tickets.” However, Baldwin can finally add a hit TV show to his résumé, as he has a guest role on NBC’s Grimm. “[S]ay hello to Julian Vance[,] Grimm’s new arson investigator!!!!” Baldwin tweeted last week. Grimm producers are thrilled. “Daniel Baldwin is our guest star this week,” tweeted Edward Irastorza. “Not sure which one he is; the crazy one or the super religious crazy one.”
  1. KIMCHI KARAOKE: Starting Jan. 29, Nob Hill karaoke studio Voicebox is rolling out a new menu designed by Janis Martin, the chef and owner of Voicebox’s former neighbor, Tanuki. Martin’s decision to move her restaurant to Montavilla was the cause of much weeping among Northwest Portland residents. Soon they’ll be able to drown their sorrows in steaming boxes of udon noodles while singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
  1. PATTY PARTY: The JoPa restaurant group, which recently closed both its eponymous restaurant in Raleigh Hills and 50 Plates in the Pearl District, has fully transitioned to a burger-flipping operation. The company will open the third branch of its new venture, Joe’s Burgers, on Thursday, Jan. 12, in the ground floor of the downtown Portland building next to Ross Dress for Less, at 625 SW 4th Ave.
  1. STRANDING OF A SALESMAN: Gus Van Sant has replaced Matt Damon as director of a movie starring Matt Damon, says The Hollywood Reporter. The movie’s plot involves a traveling salesman stranded in a small town and was written by Dave Eggers with The Office’s John Krasinski. The actor best known as “Jim” once helmed a movie based on a David Foster Wallace book, so the project has a McSweenish aura.
  1. FESTIVAL GROUNDS: With the Broadway Metroplex shuttered since September, the Portland International Film Festival finds itself in need of at least four more screens to make up for its erstwhile central location. It has added some rather unlikely ones: Lloyd Mall, World Trade Center, Pioneer Place, and Lake Twin Theater in Lake Oswego.
  1. QUIN-DO’H-A: In a restaurant review of 2nd Story (Jan. 4, 2012), we described quinoa as a grain-like pasta. It’s a seed.

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