Scoop: Trivialized Portland, All Xmas, All The Time and Interurban Burning

1. TÁBORIAN TRIVIA: Schnitzelwich peddler Karel Vitek just released a new iPhone app. Portlandivia is a trivia game app that pairs Vitek’s arty black-and-white photos of the city with questions about things like what the Union Station’s 150-foot Italian Renaissance tower encourages you to do (answer: “Go By Train”). So far we’ve found no questions that double as advertisements for Tábor, his Czech food cart, though some of us have been a bit humbled.

1. BOARDING BEER: Beer and skateboards seem like a potentially disastrous combination, but Burnside Brewing plans to make it happen in honor of Burnside Skate Park, according to ESPN, as the park turned 21 in October. Since it’s now old enough to drink (if a patch of concrete could drink, which it obviously cannot), brewmaster Jason McAdam, who grew up skating there, wants to pour something in its honor. The brewery hasn’t yet settled on a style, recipe or name, but proceeds will go back to the park.

1. HIGGINS CONT’D: As mentioned previously in this space, Portland chef Greg Higgins (of downtown’s Higgins restaurant) is in Mongolia, sharing his sausage and charcuterie expertise with local butchers as part of Mercy Corps’ Farmer to Farmer project and blogging about it for wweek.com. Recent posts find him in locales such as Ulaangom, tackling subjects like “the Mongolian sausage conundrum.” Vegetarians be forewarned, Hig’s vacation photos are heavy on the red and pink.

1. DOUBLE TREE: Portland has not one but two Christmas-only stations this year. KYCH (“Charlie”) 97.1-FM is the new addition, going Xmas-only for the first time. It joins KKCW (“K103”) 103.3-FM, which is an adult-contemporary station in less festive months.

1. SO HOT RIGHT NOW: Interurban, the new bar on North Mississippi Avenue from chef John Gorham (Toro Bravo, Tasty N Sons), barkeep Dan Hart (Prost) and restaurant mogul Kurt Huffman (St. Jack, Ping, Grüner, Wafu, etc.) that opened last week, is temporarily closed. The culprit? A two-alarm electrical fire that broke out Sunday morning and burned the upstairs kitchen. Firefighters had to cut into the walls to find the flaming wires, which Gorham told WW “could have been smoldering for days.” Gorham added that he plans to reopen the bar by Thursday, Dec. 1, and he’ll use the Toro Bravo kitchen as a commissary until the building is fully repaired.

1. MORE AUTENTICA: Oswaldo Bibiano, chef of Mexican restaurant Autentica at Northeast Killingsworth Street and 30th Avenue, has opened a second restaurant, Mextiza, at the other end of the street (2103 N Killingsworth St.). It shares a roof with the recently opened Old Gold bar (see this week's review here).

WWeek 2015