- SHUT AND OPEN: Chef Kevin Gibson of Evoe (and formerly of Castagna), along with Kurt Heilemann of Vinopolis, intends to open a small restaurant in the former June space at 2215 E Burnside St., next to Heart coffee. According to Heilemann, the space will âfocus on Kevinâs food, the next step of what heâs doing.â Heilemann adds, however, they have yet to fully work out details for the new restaurant. >> North Williams Avenue pizza spot Oro di Napoli has closed for good. The restaurant opened this year and closed its doors in August, saying it would reopen. It never did. Instead, former Paccini owner Jason Kallingal will be taking over the placeâs imported wood-fired oven and serving up fresh-fired pizza by the slice, after a remodel. >> John Esbeck of farmers market staple Câest Si Bon! has applied to revive the Kir space at 22 SE 7th Ave. as a wine bar and creperie.
- AS TEARS GO BY: Singer Fiona Apple ended a show in tears at Portlandâs Newmark Theatre on Oct. 3 after a fan in the balcony yelled, âGet healthy, we want to see you in 10 years!â and âI saw you 20 years ago, and you were beautiful,â presumably in reference to Appleâs thin figure. Apple spoke about the incident to Pitchfork, saying, âThatâs just rude, and I donât want her there anymore because itâs my stage, you know? I got very angry.... I need to be able to do my job.â She added, âWhat makes me unhealthy and puts me in danger is that kind of scrutiny itself. Itâs the same as being bullied at school, and just because youâre getting older, it doesnât mean that you arenât hurt by it. You could make anybody cry if you told them that theyâre ugly.â
- RED HOT FRANKâS: Local favorite Frankâs Noodle House got a visit from the Man in the Douchey Flame Shirt last May, and will be featured on the Food Network program Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Oct. 21. Noodle House chef-owner Frank Fong has been slinging noodles at Frankâs since 2009, when he left Beavertonâs Du Kuh Bee restaurant. On the restaurantâs Facebook page, Frankâs asked diners to âjoin us in celebrating this great event.â Portland has been an extremely popular destination for Guy Fieriâs show: Thirteen other Portland restaurants have been featured, including Bunk Sandwiches, Pok Pok (considered a dive, apparently), Pine State Biscuits, Ottoâs Sausage, Podnahâs Pit and the PDX 671 food cart. As a side note, a criminal trial began Oct. 4 for a California teen accused of stealing Fieriâs Lamborghini.
- ON THE WEB: Weâve got a post about an Estacada man making kopi luwak coffee using the human digestive tract instead of a civet catâs, and a live review of last Fridayâs Gary Clark Jr. show. Also look for John Locanthiâs preview of the Oregon Ducksâ football game against the Washington Huskies and, later, his taunts about yet another Ducks blowout.
WWeek 2015