Scoop: Future Drinking and the Portland Digital eXperience

1. WEED ’N’ FEED: In what reads like satire but appears to be true, an all-hemp cafe has opened in Portland at 2714 NE Alberta St. Billing itself as “Portland’s premier hemp foods restaurant,” Hempress Cafe—which also happens to be Portland’s only hemp foods restaurant—serves mostly hemp-flour flatbread sandwiches and salads made with hemp seeds.

1. FUTURE DRINKING: Is delivery-only eastside pizza joint Lonesome’s taking over the hallowed pizza window at Dante’s? That’s what it looks like—the venue’s liquor license has been amended to add Lonesome’s as a partner. There was talk of a Lonesome’s window with the Grove Hotel redevelopment across West Burnside Street, but that project is now on hold. Dante’s pizza is not good, so this would be a welcome change. >> Goose Hollow’s Commodore Lounge is moving two blocks away to where the Bulldog Tavern currently lives at 1650 W Burnside St. >> Sergey Udalov is planning to open Cafe Theobroma at 1037 NW Flanders St. in the former Boyd’s Coffee in the Gregory building. >> Irah’s Coffee & Yogurt Lounge at 1755 SW Jefferson St. has applied for a beer and wine license. >> And in non-Portland news, someone is opening a brewpub in Bend called Rat Hole Brewing.

1. GRACEFUL WINS: Two people from Portland’s dance community have received Princess Grace Awards. One of the highest honors in performing arts, each year the Princess Grace Foundation—established 30 years ago by Monaco’s Prince Rainier III and named after his wife, actress Grace Kelly—awards emerging talent in the fields of theater, dance and film. Franco Nieto of the Northwest Dance Project is among six dancers in the country to receive a fellowship from the foundation. Rachel Tess of the Rumpus Room Dance Company received the Works In Progress Residency Award, a grant advancing the artistic development of previous winners. (She won as a performer in 2002.) It will allow her to continue developing a collaboration with designers Gian Monti and Michael Mazzola.

1. GIF FROM GOD: Tickets are on sale for the digital arm of this year’s MusicfestNW, Portland Digital eXperience. Speakers include Tumblr VP Andrew McLaughlin (we’re hoping his talk will be titled “Fuck Yeah Andrew McLaughlin” and just be a series of animated GIFs), Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. (he invented those Field Notes memo books and is one of the most foul-mouthed and hilarious speakers you will ever encounter), Maggie Vail of CASH Music (she was in the Bangs, was a VP of Kill Rock Stars, and her new nonprofit CASH Music is set to be a game-changer in music distribution) and a bunch of other interesting folks from the tech realm. A PDX wristband also gets you into Musicfest shows. Tickets and more info at musicfestnw.com/pdx.

WWeek 2015