START THE FIRE: Long
before Southeast Division Street became restaurant row, Northwest’s
“Trendy-third” was the spot to be from the 1980s until the Great
Recession slammed it hard. By 2010, the number of empty storefronts
along the once-vibrant thoroughfare was a sad sign of the times. The Fireside, a restaurant slated to open in late fall inthe former Music Millennium space vacant since 2007, may portend a turnaround. The 2,200-square-foot, 50-seat restaurant and bar will be built around two
large fireplaces—a circular black cast-iron one in the middle of the
dining room and a huge open flame intended to mimic “a big bonfire.”Sue Erickson, who tended bar at Ping, Lincoln and Grüner, and Wendy Hessel, a veteran local server, are involved. Also interesting is the involvement of Dick Singer,
landlord and investor, who controls substantial swaths of Northwest
23rd Avenue real estate and is well known for clashes over parking and
development with the area’s peevish neighborhood activists. The Fireside
will feature “outdoor-inspired cuisine” based on the owners’ great
affection for the Pacific Northwest.
FUTURE DRINKING: Tilt,
a burger place at 3449 N Anchor St. on Swan Island, has applied for a
beer and wine license. Paperwork reveals that the business’s full name
is actually “Tilt: Handcrafted Food Built for the American Workforce.” >> Beloved Southeast sandwich joint Meat Cheese Bread is expanding to include a bar, which will, of course, be called Beer. >> Exciting news for people who complain about how much better Portland was before the damn hipsters ruined things: Yaw’s Top Notch, a reincarnated version of the old Portland drive-in, is open at 11340 NE Halsey St. and has applied for a full liquor license.
ANTI-DENTITES: As the debate over fluoridating Portland’s drinking water
grows into a significant issue in the upcoming city elections, it was
only a matter of time before musicians chimed in. And opposition to the
City Council’s vote to put fluoride in the city’s water supply isn’t
coming from the scene’s conspiratorial fringes. The lineup for Public
Water Public Choice—taking place simultaneously at Rotture and Branx on
Oct. 7—features some major local names, including members of the Portland Cello
Project, Jeremy Wilson of the Dharma Bums, Marty Marquis of Blitzen Trapper and the Dandy Warhols,
whose keyboardist, Zia McCabe, organized the concert. McCabe insists
the show isn’t protesting fluoridation, but the fact the decision was
made without public input. “This isn’t technically a pro- or anti-fluoride event,” she writes in a statement, “just very much pro-democracy.”
REKINDLING THE MUSIC MILLENNIUM SPACE
