32 minute read
Nurses Without Vaccines
ALEX WITTWER
CLEAN QUARTERS: Hospitals are asking for the authority to require vaccinations of their staff.
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Hypocritical Oath
The highest-risk professions in Oregon are barred from instituting vaccine requirements.
BY RACHEL MONAHAN rmonahan@wweek.com
Last week, the Oregon Health Authority released data showing that just 62% of staff at nursing homes and other long-term health care facilities were vaccinated against COVID-19.
That number is alarming because nursing homes and other care facilities for the elderly had the most significant outbreaks in the country. It’s also notable because employers have no authority to require licensed health care workers at any job to get the shots.
In most industries, employers can mandate that their workers receive COVID-19 vaccines, at least within certain parameters, like making the shots a condition of returning to the office. But in health care—where the stakes are highest—employers cannot.
That’s right: No Oregon hospital can require that its doctors, nurses or other licensed health staff receive vaccinations before entering the building.
“Vaccines are safe and effective and are the best way to protect hospital patients and the hospital workforce from COVID-19, the flu, and other infectious diseases,” says Becky Hultberg, president and CEO of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. “Yet health care providers are the only organizations prohibited by Oregon law from considering vaccine requirements for their employees.”
That’s thanks to a law passed in 1989. It added to a previous requirement that health care employers must provide free vaccinations to their workers. The additional clause, however, said bosses couldn’t mandate shots. “A worker shall not be required as a condition of work to be immunized under this section,” the law says, “unless such immunization is otherwise required by federal or state law, rule or regulation.”
The law defined health care workers to include “employees of a health care facility,” as well as “firefighters, law enforcement officers, corrections officers,” as the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries noted in guidance issued earlier this year. Exceptions to vaccines also apply in cases where employees have a union contract that prohibits a vaccine mandate or where employees have a religious reason or a disability that prevents them from getting vaccinated.
The long-standing existence of such a prohibition has created an odd dynamic in Oregon labor relations: In the jobs that care most intimately for the state’s most vulnerable people, employers have the least power to require safeguards.
Industry groups representing hospitals and group homes say the prohibition is outmoded and raises the risk for patients as COVID-19 variants arrive in Oregon.
“For the protection of health care workers, patients and their families, we should reconsider this needlessly restrictive policy,” says Hultberg. “This discussion is long overdue and is more important than ever as we move into the next phase of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Oregon Resource Association, a network of organizations that provide housing or services to intellectually and developmentally disabled adults, says employers would like that option—even if it comes at the risk of alienating vaccine-skeptical workers.
“Very likely, some staff would choose not to continue if they had to get the vaccine,” says Lois Gibson, executive director of the Oregon Resource Association. “But I believe [employers] would like to have the option.”
The key concern for the industry, she says, is staffing. The long-term care industry is perpetually short-staffed because wages are largely set by state reimbursement rates and are low—lower than unemployment benefits in some cases. Women, who make up most of that workforce, have had to stay home in greater numbers for the past year as schools remained closed.
Such tight staffing means outbreaks, when they occur, result in staffing crises. “So, suddenly, you have 15 people that can’t work when you already didn’t have enough people to work,” Gibson says.
For the same reason—staffing shortfalls—employers would likely not institute across-the-board vaccine mandates, for fear of pushing workers out of their jobs, but the mandates could be a useful tool if applied only to employees in certain positions.
Examples of places where a vaccine requirement might make the most sense for such employers? Homes for the medically fragile, Gibson says, as well as houses and programs that employ staffers who move between multiple locations.
The industry group representing long-term care facilities, the Oregon Health Care Association, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. And labor unions representing health care workers declined to offer a defense of the prohibition on vaccine requirements.
The Oregon Nurses Association declined to weigh in on mandates, but made an argument that employers should provide more incentives for vaccination, while noting nurses are already vaccinated in higher numbers than the general population. “Companies must ensure workers who want to get vaccinated can do so conveniently, including by providing paid time off for vaccine appointments,” says ONA spokesman Kevin Mealy. “In addition, companies should provide robust vaccine education, ensure paid sick time for all workers who need it due to vaccine side effects, consider worker incentives, and ensure that any and all future ‘boosters’ are supported in the same ways.” Service Employees International Union Local 49 did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
No bill to reverse the 1989 law was introduced in the last legislative session. At least one lawmaker says that should change.
Employers “should be able to require the COVID-19 vaccine for people who come into contact with patients in all health care settings,” says Rep. Lisa Reynolds (D-Portland).
In a conversation with WW, Reynolds, a pediatrician, pointed to the Hippocratic Oath, which stipulates doctors must do no harm.
“We are in a unique position,” she says. “When we take care of people whom we can make sick and we can prevent [it] with a vaccine, we have a special responsibility to do that. We still know that there are 30% of Oregonians who are not vaccinated, and if they’re unvaccinated, they’re at risk of making their patients sick.”
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Drawing Ire
A guide to Luka Grafera’s Portland: Year of Protest.
From the artist:
“Portland: Year of Protest is an illustrated map through the lens of the local protests between May 2020 and May 2021. The community that formed in Portland around the uprising following the murder of George Floyd has shared a whirlwind of profound moments that have reshaped the way we see the city. Many neighborhoods, intersections and buildings have taken on new associations, as they have become the backdrop for severe trauma and deep comradeship. I created this piece as a means to process and contextualize my own intense memories, as well as accounts by others that have stuck with me. It’s an expression of gratitude to every person who showed up for the struggle, in whatever way they were able to. I hope it helps protesters connect over their shared experiences, and better communicate those experiences to people who weren’t present.” —Luka Grafera
Below, Grafera describes some of the notable individual scenes, in the order in which they occurred:
Marches from Revolution Hall
Throughout June, marches originating at Revolution Hall drew crowds of thousands, who traveled along various routes holding signs, chanting, and drumming. Though the marches occasionally concluded downtown where police clashes took place, they more often ended with speeches in parks. On the edges of many marches, teams of bike corkers protected protesters from vehicles at intersections.
Marches From Revolution Hall
Throughout June, marches originating at Revolution Hall drew crowds of thousands, who traveled along various routes, holding signs, chanting and drumming. Though the marches occasionally concluded downtown where police clashes took place, they more often ended with speeches in parks. On the edges of many marches, teams of bike corkers protected protesters from vehicles at intersections.
The Fed Wars
Starting in July, federal agencies began to make appearances downtown near the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse. Though the first groups of protesters to face off against them were small crowds of dedicated nightly protesters, increasing public awareness of the violence and abductions by federal agents resulted in a massive wave of renewed engagement.
The Fed Wars
Starting in July, federal agencies began to make appearances downtown near Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse. Though the first groups of protesters to face off against them were small crowds of dedicated nightly protesters, increasing public awareness of the violence and abductions by federal agents resulted in a massive wave of renewed engagement.
Back the Blue Counter-Protest
Back the Blue Counterprotest Tensions between antifascist protesters and various white supremacist groups escalated to a brawl in front of the Justice Center on August 22nd. Hours of Tensions between anti-fascist protesters and intermittent fighting, which involved paintballs, smoke bombs, fireworks, and various white supremacist groups escalated copious amounts of pepper spray, came to an end when antifascists advanced victoriously to push the disjointed adversaries out of the area. to a brawl in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center on Aug. 22. Hours of intermittent fighting, which featured paintballs, smoke bombs, fireworks, and copious amounts of pepper spray, came to an end when anti-fascists advanced victoriously to push their disjointed adversaries out of the area.
Night 100 Night 100 On September 5th, to celebrate the 100th consecutive night of protest in Portland, On Sept. 5, to celebrate the 100th protesters gathered for speeches in Ventura Park. When they left to march toward consecutive night of protest in Portland, protesters gathered for the East Precinct, police quickly intervened with tear gas, impact munitions, and violent bull rushes. Protesters responded with fireworks and misthrown Molotov cocktails. By the end of the night, 59 protesters had been arrested. speeches in Ventura Park. When they left to march toward the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct, police quickly intervened with tear gas, impact munitions, and violent bull rushes. Protesters responded with fireworks and misthrown Molotov cocktails. By the end of the night, 59 protesters had been arrested.
Mutual Aid
Mutual Aid
Mutual aid networks have been essential to sustaining the protests and beginning to build the kind of world that many protesters are fighting for. Community members came to depend on these groups for food, medical care, protective gear, mechanic work, jail support, firewood, clothing, prescription eyewear, and many other specialties.
Dan Ryan’s House
On the night of Oct. 27, protesters marched to Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan’s home to urge him to vote in favor of an $18 million police budget cut. Despite the heartfelt stories that protesters shared with him in support of their pleas for defunding, and a prior stated interest in reallocating police funding to other programs, Commissioner Ryan cast his tie-breaking vote against the cut, prompting subsequent protests at his home.
Mutual aid networks have been essential to sustaining the protests and beginning to build the kind of world that many protesters are fighting for. Community members came to depend on these groups for food, protective gear, mechanic work, firewood, clothing, prescription eyewear, and many others specialities. The mutual aid groups that arose in response to the protests eventually provided necessary support to those displaced by unprecedented wildfires in September 2020.
Red House Eviction Defense
Early in the morning on Dec. 8, after months of community gatherings facilitated by the Kinney family to resist their eviction from the Red House, police initiated a long-anticipated raid. Despite several arrests, and efforts to render the Red House uninhabitable, the community responded by constructing their own barricades to defend the home and the surrounding encampment. Protesters occupied the fortifications for several days until a tentative agreement was reached to allow the Kinney family to keep their home.
North Precinct Mass Arrest
As crowd numbers began to dwindle and the remaining community became more connected, there were opportunities for new protest tactics. On October 10th, a group coordinated through secret channels to silently march to the North Precinct. Information about the plan was leaked publicly, and police were ready to attack Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage protesters immediately upon their arrival. The group struggled to hold onto each On the night of Oct. 11, an Indigenous-led march other as they were pepper sprayed, violently pried apart, and arrested. from Waterfront Park to the South Park Blocks culminated in the toppling of two statues. The first, a statue of Theodore Roosevelt, an expansionist who sought to erase Native Americans from their ancestral lands, and the second, a statue of Abraham Lincoln, who signed off on the mass execution of 38 Dakota men.
North Precinct Mass Arrest
As crowd numbers began to dwindle and the remaining community became more connected, opportunities emerged for new protest tactics. On Oct. 10, a group coordinated through secret channels to silently march to the North Precinct. Information about the plan was leaked publicly, and police were ready to attack protesters immediately upon their arrival. Members of the group struggled to hold on to each other as they were pepper-sprayed, violently pried apart and arrested.
Dan Ryan’s House On the night of October 27th, protesters marched to Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan’s home to urge him to vote in favor of a 18 million dollar police budget cut. Despite the heartfelt stories protesters shared with him in support of their pleas for defunding, and a prior stated interest in reallocating police funding to other programs, Commissioner Ryan cast his tie-breaking vote against the cut, prompting subsequent protests at his home.
Kettle in the Pearl Indigenous Day of Rage
On the night of October 11th, an indigenous-lead march from Waterfront Park to South Park Blocks culminated in the toppling of two statues. The first, a statue of Theodore Roosevelt, an expansionist who sought to erase Native Americans from their ancestral lands, and the second, a statue Abraham Lincoln, who ordered the Laurelhurst Sweep mass execution of 38 Dakota men.As increasing numbers of Portlanders were affected by homelessness throughout the year, a disproportionate number of them being nonwhite, many people involved in racial justice protests also directed their efforts toward preventing homeless encampments from being demolished by city contractors. The protest in response to the sweep of Laurelhurst Park on
Nov. 19 was one notable effort among many similar actions at various other camps.
Laurelhurst Sweep
As increasing numbers of Portlanders were affected by homelessness throughout the year, a disproportionate amount of them being non-white, many people involved in racial justice protests also directed their efforts toward preventing homeless encampments from being destroyed by city contractors. The protest in response to the sweep of Laurelhurst Park on November 19th was one notable effort among many similar ones at various other camps. Red House Eviction Defense
Kettle in the Pearl
On March 12, a group of over 100 protesters moving through the Pearl District were indiscriminately detained in a kettle by Portland police. Press and legal observers were asked to leave before protesters were singled out to be photographed and identified as a condition of their release. Many resisted and several were ultimately arrested.
Early in the morning on December 8th, after months of community gatherings facilitated by the Kinney family to resist their eviction from the Red House, police initiated a long-anticipated raid. Despite several arrests, and efforts to render the Red House uninhabitable, the community responded by constructing their own barricades to defend the home and the surrounding encampment. Protesters occupied the fortified area for multiple days until a tentative agreement was reached that would allow the Kinney family to keep their home. To see more of Grafera’s work—and download a coloring book version of Portland: Year of Protest—visit grafera. zone. Archival-quality prints are also available to order at buyolympia.com/Item/luka-graferaportland-year-of-protest-print.
TOO HOT TO HANDLE
How Portland cooled o —or tried to.
GET BUSY
TOUCHSTONE PICTURES
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
Cinema Unbound Open Air Cinema last summer was all about the drive-in movie revival, for obvious reasons. This year, we’re getting out of our cars and stepping gingerly back into theaters. But for those who aren’t quite ready psychologically to sit in a dark room with strangers again, NW Film Center’s outdoor summer film series should help with the transition. Commandeering the rooftop parking garage at Lloyd Center, the series kicks off Fourth of July weekend with a triple shot of crowd pleasers: Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Wonder Woman and reigning Best Picture winner Nomadland. 2201 Lloyd Center. 8:45 pm Thursday-Saturday, July 1-3. $20. See nwfilm.org/film-series/cinema-unbound-summer-movies-open-air-experiences for schedule and tickets.
Waterfront Blues Festival Ain’t no fireworks, Brewers Fest or Pickathon this year, but at least one Portland summer tradition is making its return. Granted, the 2021 Waterfront Blues Festival is significantly different from the 33 editions that came before it. For one thing, it’s no longer taking place at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, instead moving upriver to the Lot at Zidell Yards, the socially distanced event space under the Ross Island Bridge where basically everything is happening in this post-pandemic transition season. Instead of thousands of people crowding the riverbank with towels and beach chairs, groups of up to six attendees can purchase tickets to sit inside fenced-in “pods.” And since the crowd will be stuck facing one stage, the total number of acts will also be drastically reduced, with four or five artists playing two separately ticketed shows each day. The lineup itself is also far more modest: no big headliners like Robert Plant or Buddy Guy, but plenty of local favorites, including Marchfourth, Hillstomp and Marc Broussard, plus the usual slate of killer zydeco acts. Your dad’s gonna be stoked regardless. The Lot at Zidell Yards, 3030 S Moody Ave., thelotatzidellyards.com. ThursdayMonday, July 1-5. See waterfrontbluesfest.com for schedule.
ABBY GORDON Comedy in the
Park with Mohanad Elshieky
Comedy and the outdoors typically don’t mix—ask anyone who’s tried to watch a standup set at a music festival (or seen a comic try to go for a jog. Amiright, folks?!). But the pandemic forced many clubs’ hands: Last summer, Helium Comedy Club started throwing shows in its parking lot, and it went well enough for the venue to bring the concept back as a weekly showcase this year. Now, Kickstand is going one better and hosting comics in one of Portland’s most picturesque parks. This installment sees the return of Mohanad Elshieky, a WW Funniest Five finalist currently living in New York writing for Full Frontal With Samantha Bee. Dylan Carlino, Dahlia Belle, Wendy Weiss and Andie Main will also join in, presumably to make a lot of jokes about dogs and pollen. Laurelhurst Park, Southeast César E. Chávez Boulevard and Stark Street near Concert Grove. 6:30 pm Friday, July 2. Free. See kickstandcomedy.org/laurelhurst for more information.
Michelle Ruiz Keil in Conversation with Laini Taylor Portland author Michelle Ruiz Keil’s debut, All of Us With Wings, was a young adult novel with punk rock edges, full of both magical realism and realistic trauma. Her follow-up, Summer in the City of Roses, is steeped in similar themes, interpolating both the Greek myth of Iphigenia and the Grimms’ fairy tale “Brother and Sister” to tell the story of two teenage siblings forcibly separated by their family one summer who try to find each other amid the landscape of ’90s Portland. There’s a “queer Robin Hood” on a bicycle, an all-girl punk band called the Furies, a pro-sex work undercurrent—basically, it’s the book you wish you’d had when you were a young adult and could probably still use now. Keil discusses Summer in the City of Roses with fellow YA author Laini Taylor. See powells.com/events-update for streaming registration. Church of Film presents
Le Altre
The movies are back, baby! After over a year deprived of the communal cinematic experience, it’s finally time to step into that huge, dark, air-conditioned room full of strangers again. This week, the Clinton is finally reaching into its film library and showing this unjustly underseen Italian drama from 1969, in which two fashionable women fall in love and live together in a pop-art apartment, where they long to have a child and build a family together. Italian censors in 1969 banned it for portraying lesbians too positively, sadly condemning the groundbreaking film to obscurity. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 503-238-5588, cstpdx.com. 8 pm Wednesday, June 30. $6. 8 pm.
Broken Harts The new Discovery+ documentary Broken Harts certainly shares the same dose of forensic leering as other true-crime programs as it chronicles how a mother formerly from Oregon mother fatally drove her family over a California cliff in 2018. The disbelieving tone of the film’s questions is familiar: How could this happen? What kind of monster would do this? Yet the most interesting voices of Broken Harts interrogate the dynamics of the racially mixed Hart family—white mothers who adopted two trios of Black siblings and made themselves mildly internet famous sharing pseudo-inspirational content. Oakland, Calif., journalist Zaron Burnett III clearly emphasizes the systemic failures that led up to the tragedy during interview segments: Black children ripped from stable families and numerous claims of child abuse against the couple that went ignored for years. “The responses I got to this documentary made me know it’s still important to keep telling these stories because people are still at the shock-andoutrage stage,” Burnett says. Streams on Discovery+.
FOOD & DRINK
FEATURE
DAVID MOIR/BRAVO
KILLER TOFU: Top Chef: Portland contestants visit Ota Tofu headquarters in Southeast Portland.
The Bravo Bump
Did Top Chef: Portland boost business for the city’s featured restaurants? It’s hard to tell.
BY MEIRA GEBEL @MeiraGebel
As the Top Chef: Portland finale approaches this Thursday, some of the local restaurants and businesses featured this season seem to be reaping the benefi ts of being showcased on small screens across the country. But it may just be a coincidence. This season happens to be airing at the same time coronavirus restrictions are lifting after a grueling 16 months. Are people populating patios because of television, or because they are sick of watching it? Either way, Portland’s presentation on a nationally beloved reality competition show comes at an advantageous time, as the city attempts to reassert itself as a tourist destination, and its stakeholders are cautiously optimistic about how long “busy” will last. We asked five restaurants featured on the show what effect their Top Chef cameo had on business.
AKADI
On Episode 3, judge Kwame Onwuachi took contestants to Portland’s only brick-and-mortar West African restaurant, which shuttered temporarily in December. Owner Fatou Ouattara plans to reopen in a bigger location later this year and has since returned to Ivory Coast to develop more recipes from her hometown to add to Akadi’s current offerings of peanut butter stew, fufu, spicy okra, and curried spinach. Since the episode aired, Ouattara recalls not wanting to take part in the show initially, saying it felt “too good to be true,” until “many conversations” with chef and series alum Gregory Gourdet. The experience, she said, was overwhelming at fi rst, having so many cameras filming her cooking in a small kitchen, but it ultimately ended up being rewarding. “Because we are closed, we have been receiving a lot of requests for reopening,” Ouattara says. “Our sauce sales did go up thanks to that feature, so we hope the hype is still there when we come back for the reopening.”
BAKE ON THE RUN
Episode 3 took a deep look at cuisine hailing from the African diaspora, but also those with African influences, among them Bake on the Run, a Guyanese food cart located in Southeast Portland’s Hawthorne Asylum pod. Guyana, located in South America, takes influences from all over, including parts of the Caribbean, Africa, India and China. Chef and owner Michael Singh and his mother, Bibi, run the cart and said fi lming their segment of the episode was “lightning fast”— crews showed up and, in less than an hour, were gone. It’s hard for Singh to tell if the feature on Top Chef yielded a bump in business because, fortunately, the cart has “flourished” amid COVID restrictions. “We were open the whole time, and it only benefited us because everything else was closed,” he says. “Because of the show, the whole entire pod is benefi ting. Since we are in the back, people who come for us have to pass the other carts, too.” Not only has foot traffic increased, but the restaurant’s online exposure exploded. “After the episode, initially we were getting 60,000 views on Google a month,” Singh says. “We experienced a burst and are now getting over 130,000. I don’t know if that’s a lot.”
THE REDD
OTA TOFU
CHRIS NESSETH
AKADI
BAKE ON THE RUN
OTA TOFU
It makes sense Top Chef: Portland would include an entire episode dedicated to tofu— the city is home to the oldest tofu manufacturer in America. The contestants headed to Ota Tofu for Episode 10’s “Tournament of Tofu” and met with owner Jason Ogata to learn how it’s been making tofu by hand for over a century. Ota Tofu is only available in a small selection of local grocers, and many restaurants here use it, but Ogata said the episode yielded dozens of emails asking when, and if, Ota could start shipping its signature nigari-style tofu beyond the Beaver State. “We’ve heard from businesses who want to use high-quality tofu and loved what they saw on the show,” Ogata says. “Even our social media blew up, and the clicks on our website went through the roof. It showed us we could defi nitely grow in other markets.”
PALEY’S PLACE
In Episode 12, Portland chef, restaurateur and local icon Vitaly Paley made an appearance as a guest judge. But just before fi lming the episode, Paley shuttered his classic downtown eateries Headwaters and Imperial. The sadness he felt was palpable, he said, but being on set for the Oregon Trail-themed challenge was reassuring. “The fact that they paid attention to folks like myself, [Gourdet] and Naomi [Pomeroy]— long-term food scene people—was nice to see,” he says. Paley and his partner Kimberley’s 25-yearold flagship, Paley’s Place, is going strong, despite last year’s profound hiccups. And it’s not like Paley’s needed a boost from the show, either. Reservations pre-pandemic had long been coveted. The restaurant made a push on its social channels and in its newsletter to promote the show, and since it aired, Paley has noticed an uptick in business. “We’ve been super busy, so it’s hard to say where that business is coming from,” he said. “People are just happy to be out.”
THE REDD ON SALMON
In Episode 8, the show headed to Southeast Portland’s instantly distinguishable events space for the Top Chef fan-favorite challenge Restaurant Wars. If this season had taken place at any time other than in a pandemic, the Redd may not have even been available, says Tess Blessman, director of events. “The Main Hall had sat largely empty for months and was fortuitous for filming,” she says. “In a normal year, we would not have had the availability for the production team, so it actually worked out well.” Once the space could open once again at reduced capacity, Blessman said she fielded a number of requests from patrons who saw the episode, especially the aerial shots of the building, and the events calendar has since been fi lling up.
THE TOP MOMENTS OF TOP CHEF: PORTLAND
Top Chef: Portland represents the 18th season of the finest reality show on television, and like with a maturing teen, there was a lot less drama and harshness than in some of the earlier seasons—but there was still drama to spare. Ahead of this week’s finale, here are the top five moments and themes from our Bravo TV glow-up.
Jamie trying to leave in place of Maria: In the highest drama of Season 18, Maria is eliminated for her wing dish, and Jamie, who is also in the bottom, starts sobbing and asking the judges to give Maria a second chance. “This sounds like a Mexican telenovela,” Maria says. Ultimately, Maria hugs Jamie and asks her to “let me pack my knives with grace.”
Richard Blais’ hair: From a truly magnificent pompadour in the first episode to all manner of cascading ginger wave lewks, the former conte tantturned-judge’s wacky hairstyles were a fun Easter egg in each episode. All of Episode 1: As a Portlander, I couldn’t help but get super giddy to see all the shots of Mount Hood, the Rose Garden, the city’s skyline—heck, even a reference to “put a bird on it.” Not to mention seeing hometown faves like Gregory Gourdet, Vitaly Paley, Akadi and Gabe Rucker. It truly felt like we had arrived.
The chefs cook
with sacred first foods:
In this episode, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla shared with the chefs their first foods: salmon, sturgeon, the rare duck potato, and elderberry. The dishes from that episode remain, to my eyes, some of the finest of the season. Sara and Shota made a smoked smelt-crusted rabbit, for goodness sake.
Top Chef draws the ire of Oregon’s wilds: A few times, the Beaver State bit back. In Episode 4, Nelson tweaked his knee running through orchards in the Willamette Valley, then Gabriel got stung by a yellow jacket. In the penultimate episode, Gregory Gourdet finds himself on the business end of a Dungeness crab, and Shota cuts his hand open trying to open a clam. I can’t think of a season with more nature-induced injuries.
DAVID M O I R / B R A V O
DAVID M O I R / B R A V O
TOP 5 HOT PLATES
Where to get food on the Fourth of July.
1. Monster Smash Burger
At Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St., belmont-station.com/monster-smash. Noon-6 pm Thursday and Sunday, noon-8 pm Friday-Saturday. Pandemic Portland has more smash burgers than doughnuts these days, and one of the best comes from Monster Smash. The OG Smash Burger comes on a lofty Dos Hermanos brioche bun, with two 2.5ounce patties of local grass-fed 80/20 beef from Fulton Provisions. The housemade pickles lean toward spicy bread and butter, while Loverde’s “Monster Sauce” is in the classic Thousand Island style—mostly ketchup and mayo, with yellow mustard and seasonings.
2. Red Fox
5128 N Albina Ave., 971-279-2635, redfoxpdx.com. 3-11 pm daily. Hot dogs are thought of as the quintessential American food—but once you’ve had a bacon-wrapped Sonoran dog, it’s hard to go back to the sports stadium frankfurter. They’ve been on the menu at Red Fox, the friendly Humboldt neighborhood watering hole, for years. Do the dogs, which come dressed in mayo and crema and dusted with cotija cheese, measure up to those you’ll find most plentifully in Tucson? Close enough.
3. Dirty Lettuce
At Shady Pines, 5240 NE 42nd Ave. Noon-8 pm Thursday-Sunday. An all-vegan food cart hub in Portland seems like a no-brainer, and the popularity of Shady Pines confirms it: Even on late afternoons in the middle of the week, there’s usually a constant flow of people picking up hearty vegan meals. Arguably the pod’s biggest breakout success is Dirty Lettuce. The Mississippi transplant serves up seitan versions of down-home favorites like barbecue ribs and fried chicken with a rotating array of classic Southern sides.
4. Buddy’s Steaks
5235 NE Sandy Blvd., 215-694-8095, buddyssteaks.com. 3-8 pm Friday and Monday, noon-8 pm Saturday and Sunday, or until sold out. What’s a cheesesteak without cheese or steak? Vegan cheesesteaks are all over Philadelphia, but Buddy’s exists because co-owners Buddy Richter and Angela D’Occhio hadn’t found any meatless cheesesteaks that lived up to their own pre-vegan, Philly native memories. The “steak” is made in-house by Richter, and the cashew- and coconut-based whiz is available as either “provolone” or “cheddar,” which is an especially radioactive-looking orange.
5. Nacheaux
4765 NE Fremont St., nacheauxpdx.com. Noon-8 pm. One of 2020’s hottest food carts has hit the big time. Anthony Brown has brought his Mexicajun fusion to the former Alameda Brewhouse on Northeast 48th Avenue, sharing space with Blind Ox Taphouse. Hitching Southern food and Cajun-Creole flavors is not unheard of, but it’s a rare concept in Portland. The “Nacheaux nachos” start with a big pile of fresh-fried chips and also feature carnitas that could just as easily be cochon au lait, while a cheesy “crunchwrap” comes stu ed with red beans, dirty rice and fried chicken.
TOP 5 BUZZ LIST
Where to hide from the heat this week.
1. Shanghai Tunnel
211 SW Ankeny St., shanghaitunnelbar.com. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Friday, 1-10 pm Saturday. Here’s some news: Portland’s dank, brick-lined basement bar Shanghai Tunnel is back! Named for Portland’s tunnels of urban legend, this gru but lovable dive has pinball, poor cellphone reception, and friendship toilets in the women’s restroom—y’know, two toilets side by side so you can hold hands with your bestie.
2. Psychic Bar
560 N Mississippi Ave., psychicbarpdx.com. 4-11 pm SundayThursday, 4 pm-midnight Saturday-Sunday. A much-beloved watering hole among Portland’s most eccentric and hopelessly hip, Psychic is located in a hot, hot house but will be looking out for its customers throughout the summer, turning its patio into a summer party zone, with full-coverage misting fans, boozy slushies and “electro tropic” DJ sets.
3. Life of Riley
300 NW 10th Ave., lifeofrileyportland.com. 3-11 pm Monday-Thursday, noon-midnight Friday-Saturday, noon-11 pm Sunday. This downtown pub has a welcoming basement full of dark wood furniture, pool tables, and a cucumber gin and tonic that will really make you think about ordering quite a few gin and tonics.
4. Al’s Den
This concert venue, in the basement of the McMenamins Crystal Hotel, has been home to intimate comedy and music shows. There’s no programming on the board yet, but they’ll still let you downstairs. You can even bring your kids and make them sit with you until 8 pm—at which time you must send your children elsewhere.
5. Co ee Time
712 NW 21st Ave., co eetimepdx.com. 7 am-4 pm MondayWednesday, 7 am-6 pm Thursday-Sunday. While Co ee Time isn’t a bar and isn’t in a basement, this delightful ice-box cafe certainly has a grizzled, cavelike atmosphere. Pre-pandemic, Co ee Time’s hours were legendary for a city that doesn’t like to stay up late. As we live now, you’ll have to wrap up your chess game in the afternoon, right when the sun is out there doing its worst!
