Categories
Food

Island Burger at Ate-Oh-Ate | Reviewing The Dish

Ate-Oh-Ate Island Burger
Ate-Oh-Ate Island Burger

Restaurant reviews are inherently problematic.  With so many dishes on the menu at many restaurants, it’s almost impossible to give a fair assessment of the breadth of food a place offers.  Restaurants have their good days and their bad days. As a writer, it’s hard to take one visit and one dish as a complete representation of what a place has to offer. To do it right, you really need to revisit a place over a long period of time, sample many of their dishes and see how they do.

With sites like Yelp, Facebook and Twitter, there is also a need for instant coverage. I know when a place opens its doors, I want to know RIGHT AWAY if it’s good or not (as unreasonable as that is). So, in an effort to strike a middle ground and try a little something different, we decided to launch a new style of food review.  Rather than giving a holistic view that sums up a place, we’re going to review a dish.  We’ll try to hit both new restaurants and ones that have been around a while, the hope being that we’ll discover some good dishes and help cross some not-so-great ones off the list to help narrow things down to the real winners on a menu.

Categories
Theater

Mike Daisey The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs – TBA:10

Mike Daisey - The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs
Mike Daisey - The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

I’m always surprised when I mention the TBA (Time Based Arts) Festival to friends only to find that it isn’t really on their radar screens. It’s a real shame as the ten day festival brings to Portland such a wide range of talent and is so well produced that it’ almost inconceivable that so many people aren’t even aware that it’s going on.

This year, the festival brings back Mike Daisey one of my favorite monologists with a piece dedicated to all things Apple (both good and bad) in “The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs. Daisey follows in the line of great monologists like Spaulding Grey and performs a style of of monologue called extemporaneous monologue, where he tells a story based on a loose outline of notes. His work has an unique mix of the almost electric buzz of complete improvisation combined with a strong wire framework of something totally scripted.

Categories
Theater

Burn The Floor Interview with Creator Jason Gilkison

Burn The Floor
Burn The Floor

Dance has become a huge part of popular culture. Between TV shows “Dancing With The Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance”, more people are familiar with a wide variety of dance styles than ever before.  Jason Gilkison, Director and Choreographer of Burn The Floor (as well as choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance), captures the excitement of dance into a show that’s fresh off a successful run on Broadway and London’s West End.

We spoke to Jason Gilkison about the impact of dance moving into the popular culture, the challenges of putting together a huge dance production, and his experience with Pasha and Anya from So You Think You Can Dance.

Categories
Activities

Hidden Gems on Oregon’s Wine Trail

Dundee Hills Oregon's Key Wine Country
Dundee Hills, Oregon's Wine Country

Oregon’s wine industry has seen some explosive growth over the past few years with Oregon Pinot Noir making some serious waves internationally. A drive down 99W through Newberg and Dundee is now so littered with blue signs pointing to a plethora of wineries, it’s hard not to be completely overwhelmed.  The dizzying number of choices often leads people to pick out the more well-known wineries to visit like Argyle, Ponzi or Archery Summit and miss some of the smaller, more hidden wineries. Unfortunately this often results in tasting rooms with wine enthusiasts packed elbow to elbow trying to sample Oregon wines.

On a recent trip to the region, we set out to find a couple of lesser known wineries worth seeking out on the Oregon wine trail.

Categories
Activities

Portland By Air – Holmes Helicopters

Holmes Helicopters
Holmes Helicopters

Sometimes something comes up on Groupon that is simply too good to pass up. The Groupon deal for Holmes Helicopters was one of those amazing deals: a 45-minute helicopter tour of the Dundee Hills for two people for under $200. To put this in perspective, it’s not uncommon for helicopter rides to cost several hundreds of dollars per person. The reason helicopter rides cost so much is the fuel. It costs $200 per hour to fly a very small helicopter in good conditions, and considerably more for larger helicopters.

Holmes Helicopters is based in Newberg, Oregon, a quick 45-minute drive down the 99w from Portland. The company operates out of a home office and a tent by its hangar at the Sportsman Airpark, very much a mom-and-pop operation.

Categories
Interview

American Idol 2010 Interviews

American Idol 2010 Tour Interviews
American Idol 2010 Tour Interviews

The American Idol Tour in 2009 made Portland the first stop on the trip. The buzz and excitement of Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta hitting the stage for the first time was palpable. This time around the American Idol Tour hits Portland as it is winding down. Rather than have all ten of the 2010 American Idol Finalists come out and talk to journalists, they picked five to represent the American Idol Tour experience.

The five interviews include Didi Benami, Crystal Bowersox, Casey James, Aaron Kelly and Tim Urban. Interestingly, the topic of a country album came up with many of the Idols (with Aaron Kelly on the road to making a country album and Casey James signed to Sony Country). Acting was also on the minds of a few of the American Idols, with Didi Benami and Tim Urban both considering careers in film and television.

Categories
Music

American Idol 2010 Tour Review

American Idol 2010 Tour
American Idol 2010 Tour

The 2010 American Idol tour made one of its final stops in its national tour with a very clear message: what happens on the series isn’t always reflected when the show is translated onto the big stage.  For some like Andrew Garcia or Big Mike Lynche, this leads to significant disappointments, but for Casey James, Tim Urban and Aaron Kelly it was a tremendous opportunity to show what kind of artists they really are.

The 2010 American Idol series has often been criticized as a weaker season than many of its predecessors.  The truth is the Adam Lambert v. Kris Allen battle is a tremendously tough act to follow. But as a whole, this year’s American Idol Tour was actually stronger than last year’s, with better production values and some great surprises from some of the underdog performers.

The evening started out pretty well with Didi Benami, who did a solid job with ”Lay It On Me” by The Rescues. It was much stronger than other performers who’ve made it into the top 10 right on the cusp. Her rendition of “Terrified” by Katharine McPhee was simply fantastic. For a moment Didi really showed the talent that got her into the top 10 and made a strong argument that she probably should have finished higher.  “Terrified” was one of the real great moments of the show.

Categories
Getaways

Portland Getaway – River Rafting on The Deschutes

River Rafting on the Deschutes River
River Rafting on the Deschutes River

We’ve been looking for great adventure getaways, so we were excited to see a discount for the Imperial River Company in Maupin, Oregon pop up on Groupon. Over the summer Groupon has featured a number of enticing activities, and rafting down the Deschutes at half-off was way too good to pass up.

Up at 6:30 am, we were on the road by 7 and in Maupin by 9:15am. The just over 2-hour trip on Highway 26 brings you up and over Mt. Hood and through the high desert near Maupin. It’s a nice drive and the fairly close proximity makes it possible to go down to the Deschutes River for rafting in the morning (check-in is at 9:30am) and make it back home in time for dinner.

While the Groupon made a float down the Deschutes River a smoking-hot deal, the regular rates at Imperial River Company are extremely reasonable.  The 18-mile all-day adventure, which runs 6 hours and includes lunch, runs $99 (or $80 for kids). Considering that they run rafts with only 6 people in each raft and you get your own personal guide, transportation from the river, and lunch, it’s a pretty great value for an entire day’s activity.

Categories
Getaways

Portland Getaway – Great Wolf Lodge

Great Wolf Lodge
Great Wolf Lodge

In our continuing series of quick and easy getaways, we have a look at Great Wolf Lodge, Grand Mound Washington. Located an hour and forty-five minutes north of Portland, just outside Centralia, Washington, Great Wolf Lodge is one of the few water parks in the Northwest. Unlike many water parks, Great Wolf Lodge is not open for day use. In order to use its massive indoor water structures, you must be a guest of their hotel.

Great Wolf Lodge claims that this keeps the number of people in the water park down, but with so many rooms we found that even on off days the crowds can be significant.

Categories
Getaways

Portland Getaway – Lincoln City and The Oregon Coast

Lincoln City Oregon
Lincoln City, Oregon

In our continuing series on easy Portland getaways, we have a look at a fairly easy trip that’s only a few hours away – Lincoln City.  You don’t have to own a beach house to enjoy the Oregon coast. Using services like Vacation Rental By Owner or Home Away, it’s easy to book a few nights at a beach house. We picked a house that could accommodate a family of five and a dog. It’s surprising how many of the options available are pet friendly.  The house was situated just up the street from Bella Beach in Lincoln City (just north of the 101 near a big Safeway, Bi Mart and Grocery Outlet).  Bella Beach is a nice size and access to the beach is pretty easy, so there’s less of a need to stay right on the beach.

When looking at activities in, near, and around Lincoln City, I was surprised at the lack of feedback and reviews online.  After calling around to several charter fishing companies, I narrowed it down to two options, Yaquina Bay Charters (541-265-6800)  in Newport and Dockside Charters (541-765-2545) in Depoe Bay.  I liked how both companies presented themselves online and over the phone, and both had positive ratings among the limited reviews out there.  We ultimately went with Dockside Charters because Depoe Bay was closer and Yaquina Bay Charters was all booked up for their bottom fishing trips.  It’s a good idea to book these trips at least a week in advance to ensure a spot.