In June, 35-year old Chad Schild, a Portland restaurant worker, went to ER with a bunch of unusual but seemingly routine health complaints. He came out with a stunning diagnosis: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, an uncommonly aggressive form of cancer.

He is currently receiving as much chemotherapy as his body will tolerate in an attempt to force this disease into remission. Chad has worked at Papa Haydn and Jo Bar on NW 23rd for the past 5 years. Anyone who lives, eats or drinks in this neighborhood would recognize Chad’s sandy blonde beard and remember his never-ending wisecracks.

That is just a nightmare in and of itself, but, wait, this only gets worse.

Like 46 million other Americans, and like so many of our fellow Portland restaurant workers, Chad does not have health insurance. While the Oregon Health Plan and Medicare may step up to cover some part of his medical expenses, he is still unable to work, and his monthly bills are piling up. This combination of medical bills and debt threatens to derail Chad’s life even if he does make a full recovery from his current condition.

Meanwhile, Chad’s family is rearranging their lives to travel to Portland during this battle, stretching everybody’s budget to the limit. Chad’s story is the ultimate “what if” tale for restaurant workers. As we all know, it is not economically feasible for most restaurants to offer health insurance to all their employees. But we can band together to support a member of our service industry family during this tragedy.

So, of course, there are ways to contribute. There's a paypal general fund for Chad. You can buy a t-shirt ($20 at Jo Bar, talk to the bartender or manager on duty for details). And/or, you can go to Supportland.

This is a benefit concert organized by an amazing core group of Chad’s friends. It promises to be an evening of music, food, drink, and friends. Some big name Portland bands, like Floater, Go Fever, Caves, Blue Skies for Black Hearts, and Federale, will be playing. The space, AudioCinema, is super-cool, with good food and beer on tap. And, it's for a really good cause.

Tickets are on sale now at Trade Up Music (4701 SE Division St., 1834 NE Alberta St.), Clinton Street Video (2501 SE Clinton St), Old Town Music (40 SW 3rd Ave), and Jo Bar (715 NW 23rd Ave).

Tuesday is the grand opening of K&Z. I've been a couple times during the soft opening, and while they've been working the kinks out, the food has been right on target.

I've got more photos online if you care to look.

I found this on the always informative and amusing Blogtown USA.

I guess there's a guy running for City Council who's come up with a shrewd publicity move.

Colbert show fans remember (very recently) when Colbert's book, I am America (and so can you) came out. Colbert showed footage of the book release party that Powell's threw at the Blitz Bar, and then became incensed that Powell's was ripping him off by offering his book at a discount.

Well, not only that, he called Portland a hippie stronghold and that we're communist! (the footage is on the Powell's Blog if you haven't seen it)

Powell's, by the way, sent Colbert $8 (the amount he was "ripped off") and a People's Republic of Portland t-shirt. Now, Powell's doesn't have a People's Republic of Portland t-shirt, and so I am on a quest: I must have one! Is anyone making them? Please, someone, tell me! The comments are now working (I hope). I don't want to have to get into the t-shirt making business!!

Anyways, Charles Lewis (the City Council candidate) baits Colbert with one of his favorite creatures: a bear!

Marjorie Skinner has an excellent listing of small independent shops here in Portland in today's Mercury. These shops sell fashion: mens and womens wear, vintage, jewelry & accessories, bridal wear (go, Elizabeth Dye, go!), activewear, swimwear, housewears, baby goods, and shoes.

Some of these shops offer custom clothing; some feature their own in-house line of clothing; some primarily one of a kinds, but most feature the local and independent, which, Darling, there is lots of.

Sadly, she didn't mention my favorite shoe store in the world, Amenity Shoes (3430 NE 41st at Fremont, [503] 282-4555), but hey, I did...

If you read a lot (or any) of the Portland food bloggers, you are already aware of this wonderful resource created by Portland Food and Drink's Cuisine Bonne Femme.

But in case you live under a rock, here's her description:

This site is an ode to Portland's food carts, and a practical guide on where to find them and what to eat once you get there. It contains a listing of carts, a map, a search feature, and categories by cuisine types and specific locations. It also contains photos and menus if I can get them, and the occasional profile or review if I am especially inspired (or horrified) by a particular cart.

At this point, the big categories are Vegetarian Options, Vegan, Sandwiches and Mexican. Each entry has at least the address, with a googlemap and frequently a detailed description/entry.

I plan to break out of my downtown lunch rut with this, yes indeedy.

More photos from Nutshell

NOTE: 10/10/2007: Chef Sean Coryell has left Nutshell. What this means for the food remains to be seen.
(this according to aidensnd at PortlandFood.org)

I just had the most phenomenally delicious dinner. It was delicious and innovative and beautiful and not outrageously expensive.

Nutshell is brandspanking new, in the suddenly happening neighborhood at the east edge of NoPo, on Williams Street. It's casual and sophisticated in the same breath. Concrete floors, painted cinderblock, and beautiful wooden booths. Books for exchange located near interesting beers and wines for retail. And carnivorous plants, gorgeous carnivorous plants.

I've had people I know rave about the food here. My neighbor, who isn't a foodie, told me he wanted to lick the plate. So I was excited to finally get to eat there.

Looking at the menu, I felt a bit of panic. What to order?!? It's a little overwhelming. Salads are $5-$6, a bowl of soup $4, stews $8, veggies & starches $4, featured entrees $9-$11, and pastas and tandoor skewers $8. Even if you decide to order bread ($2) with extra virgin olive oil ($1) and salt (50 cents to $1 each). you have to choose between 5 bread selections, 8 olive oils, 18 basic salts, and 6 premium salts. Thankfully, the staff are helpful, and we ordered the Jamaican Choco Escovitch with a Pearl Bakery assortment, olive oil, and a couple salts to start.

The name, Choco Escovitch, is just so much fun to say, I had to order it. It was one of those salads, like the Singing Pig Greens at Toro Bravo, that really elevates your expectations of what a salad can be. The greens in question included herbs, and were lightly dressed with a creamy dressing made from angostura bitters (but not bitter at all). Thin slices of merlatan squash, with a taste and texture similar to granny smith apples or jimaca, were fanned over the greens, with a tiny edible pansy on top. And on top of that—genius!—what appeared to be tempuraed cucumbers. Yum! The flavors were so bright, flavorful, slightly floral, and dare I say, dynamic.

The next to arrive was our selection of breads with olive oil and salt. This is such a simple thing, and generally so pedestrian. But it was a revelation to try the various breads with the oil, with the oil and salt, with the oil and the other salt. One salt was slightly piquant and showy, the other more subtle and slightly smokey.

The shot of soup is just that—a shot glass full of soup. In our case, it was a chilled creamy french lettuce & chervil soup with lemon, which was so rich and creamy that I was glad to only have a shot -- but again, so flavorful. So yummy.

The Nutshell Jamaican barbeque includes four of the starches (peas & rice, aka the traditional Jamaican red beans and rice; crispy shredded yucca pancakes; Jamaican cornmeal fritters that look just like cheddar puffed cheese balls; and, an orange stuffed with yam, coconut, and mace), house made jerk, fried okra, and grilled eggplant and lilies, as well as a shot of the Marley family drink.

The peas and rice were redolent of coconut, fresh coconut, and the yam had the fruitiness of habanero without the heat. The grilled onions were delicious and sweet, the okra crispy and not at all slimey. The only just okay part of the meal was the eggplant which was grilled, not at all bitter, just not a lot of flavor. But combined with the rest, it was delightful.

My neighbor had raved about Karen's raw living lasagna, and so that's what I ordered.
The lasagna contains no pasta, just a stack of vegetables and sauces. The heirloom tomatoes are easily the best tomatoes I've eaten this year, the sort that need nothing but a shake of salt and pepper (though these wanted for nothing). There were also marinated mushrooms and very thin slices of zucchini, separating the layers of pinon ricotta, pistachio pesto, sun dried tomatoes.

The pesto and tomato sauces along with the creamy pine nut ricotta say lasagna, but everything element of the dish just sang. Beautiful, again, and wonderful balance of flavors. I was really glad they had been so generous with the bread so I could mop up that extra sauce.

Our bill, with two beers, was $33, and walking out, we were both stuffed. I can't wait to go back.

Making food taste good using dairy and meat really isn't that hard. But someone who can do that just with vegan ingredients is a real master. We finally have fine-dining vegan food in Portland, and it's really good. This is vegan food that really anyone could love... and will, I bet.

Update:: The menu has been simplified. But the service in our last couple visits has really gone downhill. We've had servers who seem annoyed that they have to take our orders, servers who expect us to eat soup with our hands, and no sort of concern that we might not be enjoying our meals. We've had naive servers who appeared to have never tried the foods in question. I am hoping these are blips. Sean, Tabla guys, please make the service match the incredible food!