The Alibi is the second-oldest continuously operating tiki bar in the country

GET BUSY

LISTEN: Blossom at Knot Springs Summer Concert Series

Come for the aromatherapeutic River Mint Body Wash, stay for live music at Portland’s premier wellness-themed social club Knot Springs. Underground hip-hop artist Blossom is set to bring her jazzy neo-soulinspired vocals to the urban spa’s outdoor patio. Take a dip in the soaking pool, dare to invigorate your body in the 47-degree cold plunge, and then warm back up in the sauna while you’re there. Knot Springs, 33 NE 3rd Ave., Suite 365, 503-222-5668, knotsprings.com. 6-8 pm Wednesday, Aug. 24. $79. 18+. LISTEN: Téada

This traditional Irish band, whose name translates to “strings” in English, released Coiscéim Coiligh (As the Days Brighten) last spring—their first album in nearly a decade, which continues to draw inspiration from folksy jigs, barn dance music and ballads. Téada has played in numerous locations around the world, including in front of a crowd of 30,000 in France’s Brittany region (let’s hope Winona Grange #271 isn’t too much of a letdown for the band after that experience). The group is a favorite of actor John C. Reilly, who collaborated on one of the new songs, so what’s good enough for Wreck-It Ralph is sure to please the rest of us mortals. Winona Grange #271, 8340 SW Seneca St., Tualatin, teada.com. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Aug. 24. $15-$35.

COURTESY OF THE ALIBI

GO: The Alibi 75th

Anniversary Outdoor Luau

Everybody shows up to The Alibi with the same goal: get super-wasted on cocktails garnished with miniature umbrellas and then belt out go-to karaoke jams. The Overlook neighborhood staple is celebrating its 75th year this weekend, which means the songs will probably be a little louder, the patrons a little more drunk, and the party bigger than ever. FYI: Over seven decades of continuous operation makes The Alibi the second-oldest tiki bar in the U.S. On top of all the kitschy tropical gloriousness you can imagine, there will be some non-kitschy attractions as well, including performances by Hawaiian dance troupe Hula Halau ‘Ohana Holo‘oko‘a and presentations by Native historians. The Alibi Tiki Lounge, 4024 N Interstate Ave., 503-287-5335, club21pdx. com/Alibitiki. Noon-8 pm Saturday, Aug. 27. Free.

 GO: Closing Soirée

for Motherhood

Gone are the days of Disjecta’s funky underground art scene housed in a somewhat hidden space found mostly by word of mouth. Today, the venue is known as Oregon Contemporary, and it’s located in a much more formal setting in the Kenton neighborhood, complete with manicured grounds and exhibitions curated by prominent locals like A.J. McCreary. Celebrate the end of the McCreary-curated Motherhood exhibition with a soirée and complimentary art-meets-food tasting experience by Black Feast. Oregon Contemporary, 8371 N Interstate Ave., 503-286-9449, oregoncontemporary.org. 2-5 pm Saturday, Aug. 27. Free. LISTEN: Volume Bomb

Block Party 5

With 50 bands crowding into one block on a single Saturday night, there’s sure to be some commotion. Volume junkies are invited to five bars near Southeast 48th Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard, including Space Room Lounge, QuarterWorld, Bar of the Gods, Mighty Moe’s Tanker and The Trough for all the noise—er, music—you could possibly desire. Various locations, volumebomb.com. 4 pm-12:30 am Saturday, Aug. 27. A $10 wristband gets you access to every performance. 21+.

 REMEMBER: A Culinary

Tribute: Forever Brophy

Daniel Brophy was a beloved instructor at the Oregon Culinary Institute before he became well known outside of the culinary community for his tragic murder. Former students have organized a dinner in Brophy’s honor to benefit the Domestic Violence Resource Center in Beaverton. The five-course meal is inspired by Brophy’s favorite foods, his recipes, and his students’ memories of the time spent in his class. Alumbra Cellars will provide the wine pairings. Alumbra Cellars, 12655 SE String Town Road, Dayton, 503-714-1300, foreverbrophy.eventbrite.com. 5-8 pm Saturday, Aug. 27. $110.

COURTESY OF ABBEY ROAD FARM

 SIP: Silobration NW

Take a short drive to idyllic Yamhill County for a full day of Silobration activities at Abbey Road Farm. The event promises a Maker’s Market with more than 25 local artisans, live music on the lawn, food trucks, a bouncy house and, naturally, wine tasting. Admission to the event is free, with fees for the 5k Wine Fun Run, charcuterie workshop, and plant-potting class with the Whorticulturist. Abbey Road Farm, 10501 NE Abbey Road, Carlton, 503-687-3100, abbeyroadfarm.com/silobrationnw. 11 am-5 pm Sunday, Aug. 28. Free. $30-$70 for the other activities.

 PLAY: Crawfish & Cornhole

“BagGate” may have cast a long shadow over professional cornhole this month, but amateur enthusiasts can still enjoy the game surrounded by the late summer blooms of hydrangeas, Japanese anemone and purple aster at the Oregon Garden Resort. Cap o an evening of yard games with live country rock and a crawfish boil. Oregon Garden Resort, 895 W Main St., Silverton, 503-874-2500, oregongardenresort.com. 6:30-9 pm Sunday, Aug. 28. $50.

FOOD & DRINK Editor: Andi Prewitt Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

Top 5 Buzz List

WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.

1. OLD PAL

3350 SE Morrison St., 503-477-9663, oldpalpdx. com. 4-10 pm Sunday-Monday and Thursday; 4-11 pm Friday-Saturday. The new Sunnyside neighborhood restaurant Old Pal wants to become your regular drinking buddy. You’ll currently fi nd a lineup of eight cocktails, including its eponymous drink made with rye, Campari, and Dolin Dry vermouth, as well as beer, wine and zero-proof drinks. Pair your beverage with the fl avors of late summer, like an heirloom tomato gazpacho.

2. MIGRATION BREWING AT WASHINGTON SQUARE

9585 SW Washington Square Road, migrationbrewing.com. Noon-8 pm Monday-Saturday, 11 am-7 pm Sunday. Migration is making it cool to be a mall rat again. The 12-year-old company just opened a beer garden inside Washington Square with four taps as well as multiple packaged options, including cider and wine. The bar is surrounded by food court staples, which means you fi nally have the opportunity to pair a Migration classic like Straight Outta Portland IPA with a plate of piping hot orange chicken from the nearby Panda Express.

3. THE SUNSET ROOM

100 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., kexhotels.com/eatdrink/thesunsetroom. 4-10 pm Friday-Sunday. The rooftop oasis that once held Kex’s Lady of the Mountain has a new occupant. Renowned bartenders Je rey Morgenthaler and Benjamin “Banjo” Amberg opened the Sunset Room in late July after launching the hotel lobby’s watering hole Pacifi c Standard. The top-fl oor perch has a menu that’s more whimsical and experimental, which goes well with views of the riot of color that is the neighboring Fair-Haired Dumbbell.

4. NORTH 45

517 NW 21st Ave., 503-248-6317, north45pub.com. 4 pm-midnight Monday-Thursday, 2 pm-1 am Friday, noon-1 am Saturday, 2 pm-midnight Sunday. You never know exactly what you’ll fi nd on North 45’s rear patio, but it’s the promise of a rollicking scene tucked out of street view that keeps people waiting for a seat. But like a mullet, the party in the back is balanced by a measure of refi nement. The drink list circumnavigates the globe, from renowned Belgian Trappist beers to a booklet of spirits that’s almost two dozen pages long.

5. THE KNOCK BACK

2315 NE Alberta St., theknockback.com. 4-midnight Monday-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday, noon-2 am Saturday, noon-midnight Sunday. Over the past two years, we’ve seen plenty of bars close, along with a slew of brave newcomers entering the market. But rarer is the resuscitation of any pandemic casualties. Now, the Knock Back, which shuttered in 2020 after an unsuccessful GoFundMe campaign, has returned to its original location with a new drink menu. Perhaps the best part, though, is the fact that it has also revived food cart boom standout Grilled Cheese Grill under its roof.

Course by Course

The team that made Roe a world-class seafood destination returns with Tercet, one of Portland’s few remaining prix fixe restaurants.

BY ANDREA DAMEWOOD PHOTOS BY AARON LEE @AARONLEEPHOTO

This feels weird to say about a restaurant that charges $150 a diner, but I’m rooting for Tercet. Located in the mezzanine of downtown’s historic Morgan Building, Tercet is the rebirth of beloved prix fi xe seafood restaurant Roe, which closed due to the pandemic just as head chef John Conlin felt he was coming into his own. I’ve maintained that Roe (fi rst opened under chef Trent Pierce; Conlin took the helm in 2018) would be one of the few Portland restaurants to get a Michelin star if the company handed those out in the Pacifi c Northwest, and its rebirth as Tercet maintains those high standards. Tercet, which means three lines of poetry, expands somewhat from the fi sh-only Roe, adding a meat course or two to its menu, like a recent plate that capitalized on this year’s never-ending morel season, served draped over a tender beef tartare with a pond of hollandaise sauce, all meant to be assembled like little tacos in a bright green onion crepe. Conlin says that by adding meat dishes to the lineup, he can avoid ordering fi sh that has to be fl own in from around the globe, ensuring that the proteins are all hyperlocal and seasonal. A beautifully, lightly poached wild Chinook was a pop of pink in a green sorrel sauce with toothsome English peas and a dusting of Dutch rye bread crumbles. And yet that will make way for a late summer poached sole dish with tomato dashi, grilled haricots and a chicken fat crumble. Tercet is also hanging on in downtown, which is a very different place than it was four years ago—one of the doors to the Morgan Building was boarded up, and while waiting for our ride-share post-dinner, a man wandered the block screaming at the top of his lungs. On the one hand, it feels a little wrong to sip excellent sparkling wine and dine on dishes with tweezer-placed microgreens while Rome burns. Serious economic disparities and policy failures continue to plague our city. On the other hand, Tercet is one of a shrinking group of wildly creative fi ne-dining restaurants that serve only prix fi xe meals: Erizo, Holdfast and Beast are all gone; Castagna has yet to reopen. When done right, such places push boundaries and bring together fl avors that challenge and surprise even the most experienced

eaters, such as Tercet’s pine nut ice cream served with a pine cone syrup and spruce tip powder that tastes how a walk in a Pacifi c Northwest rainforest feels. I’d hate to lose that. Conlin is joined by two other Roe alums—chef Wyatt VandenBerghe and sommelier Michael Branton, who all take turns running out the plates, while Branton offers a globe-trotting wine list that strays from Tercet’s local-food-only ethos but is the right call to get the perfect pairing. A dish called simply “egg” on the one-ingredient-per-course menu turned out to be a perfectly jammy yolk spooned over cherry tomatoes at the height of their acidic sweetness along with a dollop of caviar that popped with salty delight. Diners are also greeted by an array of “snacks,” my favorite of which was a raw oyster with a frozen cucumber granita on the top, and…more caviar.

“ When done right, places like Tercet push boundaries and bring together fl avors that challenge and surprise even the most experienced eaters.”

With the end of summer in mind, Conlin says he’s got big plans for peach season, including making noyaux out of the pits and infusing it into ice cream or pastry fi lling and making sure the “perfect chanterelles” that just came in get into a dish with sweet corn. That’s the kind of future we can all hope for.

EAT: Tercet, 515 SW Broadway, #100, 971-865-2930, tercetpdx. com. 5:45-10 pm Wednesday-Saturday. Wine pairings $85 per person, $135 for two. Reservations and proof of vaccination required.

Top 5 Hot Plates

WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK.

1. TITO’S TAQUITOS

3975 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, 503-4065935, titos-taquitos.square.site. 11 am-6 pm Wednesday-Saturday. At Tito’s, the taquitos are neither an appetizer nor an afterthought but an elaborate—and elaborately composed—entree. They’ve got a spectacularly crispy crackle, strong corn fl avor, and chunky-soft potato fi lling, plus an assortment of vegetable garnishes and your choice of proteins laid on top.

2. CHENNAI MASALA

2088 NE Stucki Ave., Hillsboro, 503-531-9500, chennaimasala.net. 11:30 am-2 pm and 5:30-9:30 pm Tuesday-Sunday. Chennai Masala has been a South Indian standard for more than a decade. After the dining room was remodeled, it gained the feel of a midscale restaurant, shedding the cafeterialike vibe. South Indian food leans heavily vegetarian, so order accordingly. We suggest one of the dosas, a scrolled crispy crepe made with fermented lentil and rice fl ours. Good plain with just a side of aromatic sambar or fi lled with potatoes, chutney, egg, cheese, meat and more.

3. CHAMPAGNE POETRY PÂTISSERIE

3343 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-265-8834, champagnepoetry.biz. 9:30 am-7 pm Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 9:30 am-9 pm Friday-Saturday. This new bakery is a pink wonderland of colorful macarons, airbrushed tarts and sou é pancakes. Chef-owner Dan Bian is dedicated to infusing classic French desserts with exciting ingredients—from yuzu to guava to ube. The real stars here are the hyperrealistic cakes, including one that looks like a perfect Homer Simpson doughnut.

4. RUKDIEW CAFE

2534 SE Belmont St., 503-841-6123, rukdiew.com. 11:30 am-3 pm and 4:30–9 pm Monday-Thursday, 11:30 am-3 pm and 4:30-9:30 pm Friday, noon-9:30 pm Saturday, noon-9 pm Sunday. The most sought-after Thai appetizer in Portland these days might just be chicken wings, since the fall of Pok Pok has many hoping to discover an adequate replacement. Look no further: RukDiew’s hot wings are not only heavenly, the dish is secretly two great snacks in one. Flats and drums are tossed in a light chile-garlic sauce and served on a bed of fried basil leaves and egg noodles.

5. DESI BITES

16165 SW Regatta Lane, #300, Beaverton, 971-3712176, desibitespdx.com. 11 am-2:30 pm and 4-9 pm Tuesday-Sunday. Desi Bites is one of the Beaverton’s newest South Asian markets with a full restaurant. Beware, however, the dining area is tiny (while the store is huge) er, the dining area is tiny (while the store is huge) and it fi lls up quickly. Plan for takeout, at least and it fi lls up quickly. Plan for takeout, at least as a contingency. Don’t be afraid to try the as a contingency. Don’t be afraid to try the fi ery tomato- and coconut-based Telangana fi ery tomato- and coconut-based Telangana curry, a specialty of Hyderabad. For a more curry, a specialty of Hyderabad. For a more mainstream repast, try the kati rolls or kemainstream repast, try the kati rolls or kebabs wrapped in paratha bread, which are babs wrapped in paratha bread, which are messy but delicious. messy but delicious.