Friends Getting Their Props

My friends Bruce and Mary Fishback at Bread & Ink Cafe (mentioned here recently for their ramps specials) just got a love note from Gourmet magazine for Mary's brilliant Waffle Window, which has become a must-stop destination for waffle lovers far and wide. (Mentioned on GSNW right after it opened about...oh...two years ago.) Writer Giovanna Zivny effuses:

"Okay, I’ll say it: This place is adorable. It’s really a waffle Dutch door—a bright blue one in the red brick wall of longtime Portland restaurant Bread and Ink, which opened the waffle shop in 2007. The Liège-style waffles come plain or with creative topping combinations, and the Three Bs (pepper bacon, Brie, and basil, with a spoonful of homemade peach jam; $4) is a crowd favorite. I’m more partial to the scoop of quivering lemon panna cotta with a thick drizzle of huckleberry jam and whipped cream ($4). They’ve set aside a small seating area inside the restaurant for rainy-day waffle eaters."

All I can say to Gourmet is, "What took you so long?"

Details: Waffle Window, 3610 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Phone 503-239-4756.

Waffle Window Hits the Big Time

It's always wonderful when the people you love experience success. New job, children, new house, a long-awaited adventure; it's all worth celebrating, not to mention cheering about. When I originally wrote about my friend Mary Fishback's successful quest to recreate the Belgian street waffles her sons had discovered on a trip to that country, I knew she'd hit on something special.

Then when she repurposed an unused back hallway of her and husband Bruce's Hawthorne restaurant, Bread & Ink Café, and opened the Waffle Window, I knew it was just a matter of time before it hit that special nerve that brings Portlanders running.

Well, it looks like she's hit the big time now, with a photo and mention in the national edition of AAA's Via Magazine about Portland's eastside dining scene. How long will it take for mentions in Gourmet and Bon Appetit? Stay tuned, 'cause I'm betting it's soon. Congrats, Mary!

Details: Waffle Window, 3610 SE Hawthorne at the blue doorway on the 36th Street side of the building. Phone 503-239-4756.

Waffle Window

Remember those old movies about Prohibition where a couple walks down a dark street late at night, into an alley and up to an unmarked doorway? Then one of them knocks three times and a little slot slides open, squinty eyes peer out, secret words are mumbled, the door opens, and sounds of laughter and music tumble out into the dark alley, revealing a brightly lit room full of people drinking and dancing.

A secret spot like that has just opened on SE Hawthorne, and you have to have heard about it to find it. And instead of demon drink, this place dishes out sweet Belgian waffles, muffins, scones, hot chocolate and coffee from its decidedly cheery doorway.

As for those waffles, you may recall a previous post discussing these European treats. The brainchild of Mary Fishback of Bread & Ink Cafe, this blue doorway on the side of the cafe serves these delicious bits of decadence plain, chocolate dipped, with berries and cream, with nutella and banana or with a hot apple pie topping for only $2 to $4. Incredible! (That's Bruce Fishback's boyish mug just waiting to serve you.)

So slip on by sometime soon. The secret password is "GoodStuffNW!"

Details: The Waffle Window at Bread & Ink Cafe. Open 10 am-6 pm Sat. & Sun. On the 36th St. side of the cafe at 3610 SE Hawthorne. Phone 503-239-4756.

Food Alert: RAMPS!

Just got a note from Mary Fishback at Bread & Ink Cafe that they're going to be featuring a very special ingredient from tonight through the weekend. Ramps, or allium ampeloprasum, are wild leeks and, according to the Wikipedia, are found from South Carolina to Canada in the late winter and early spring. They have a pronounced flavor of onions and garlic and are traditionally prepared "fried with potatoes in bacon grease or scrambled with eggs and served with bacon, pinto beans, and cornbread."

This is the second year that Bruce and Mary have brought in ramps from their secret Southern source, and Mary says that from tonight (Tues., 4/3) through Easter Sunday they'll have "ramp pesto pasta and polenta with ramps for evening specials - unless we decide to do something else." Ramps will be featured in breakfast specials on Saturday and Sunday, as well. See you there!

Details: Bread & Ink Cafe, 3610 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Phone 503-239-4756.

Waffle-icious!

Bread and Ink, that cornerstone of life on SE Hawthorne for more than 20 years now, has added Belgian waffles to their menu. How does a Belgian waffle differ from the regular waffle we're used to seeing at Denny's throughout the land? Well, that's what proprietor and dessert maven Mary Fishback set out to resolve after her sons came back from a month in Europe raving about the waffles they'd bought at street carts in Brussels.

The problem was getting the right texture and flavor combination that allows this hand-snack to be consumed while walking the ancient city. Mary discovered that it's a special kind of sugar, called pearl sugar, that's added to the batter just before pouring it into the waffle iron that gives the yeast batter its unique portability.

They'll be serving these treats topped with seasonal fruits and maple syrup and mascarpone, and you may even see them popping up on the evening dessert menu. So if a trip to Brussels isn't in your immediate future, head over to Hawthorne for this most Belgian of treats.

Details: Bread and Ink Cafe, 3610 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Phone 503-239-4756.