The former Bar King Bakery space has a new occupant that’s bound to delight pastry lovers.
Fills, the year-old business that introduced Portland’s culinary scene to a new style of doughnut—the Berliner, is launching a pop-up at 726 SE 6th Ave. The shop will operate from 10 am to 1 pm every Sunday, starting Oct. 17.
Originally opened last October in Blue Star Donuts’ former flagship on Southwest Washington Street, Fills expanded to the new Mercato Grove development in Lake Oswego in July 2021.
The business is a joint venture between pastry chef Katherine Benvenuti and Kurt Huffman’s omnipresent restaurant group, ChefStable. After temporarily shuttering the downtown location due to the pandemic, Benvenuti is eager to return to the city.
“Nearly every day, we get people asking us when we’re coming back to Portland,” the owner-baker stated in a press release. “While we’re still focusing on our Lake Oswego shop and not quite ready to reopen the downtown location, we still want to make sure our Portland friends get their Fills.
So what, exactly, is a Berliner? The traditional German pastries do not have a center hole, and are filled with fruit, chocolate or custard. Fills’ version starts with a naturally leavened sourdough starter that’s not too sweet. It’s then fried in small batches, cooled, hand filled and glazed. You can also find the doughnuts put to work as buns for breakfast sandwiches and burgers at the Lake Oswego restaurant.
Flavors inside Fills’ $20 pop-up boxes will change every week. You can order them in advance from the company’s website every Tuesday. Covered outdoor seating will be available for those who can’t wait to get home to devour their doughnuts, and you can pair those fried delights with a cup of Troutdale’s Good Coffee.
Here’s the filling lineup for the first week:
Boston cream pie
S’mores
Maple bacon butterscotch
Blueberry buttermilk
Glazed brioche rings
Cruller