Get On The Good Foot

Sometimes we like to tell the story of a friend of ours who passed out at an art-school party and woke up with a rooster drawn on his face. The point of the story, due to its lack of any defined punchline, is that it takes a certain mind to create something totally chic out of something everybody else takes for granted.

Johnny Sole is a shoe and accessories store that manages to make shoes seem cool. Yeah, shoes do make the man; and we’ve talked about that before—but Johnny Sole actually makes you believe it. The brands are high-end, the styles are fashion-forward, and there’s enough variation to please everyone from the C.E.O. to the lead singer of a New York Dolls cover band.

Johnny Sole no longer carries shirts or pants and the like, but they do still carry tons o’ hats, accessories and outerwear (like, coats n’ stuff). So, Johnny Sole is either the perfect place to top off your look, or your one-stop shop for fashionably flashing your rooster. You decide.

Johnny Sole
815 SW Alder St.
Portland, OR 97205
503.225.1241
www.johnnysole.net

Mother’s Milk

There’s only place in town to catch Mayor Sam Adams gulp down his daily cup of joe before he rides his bike to City Hall. It’s also the same spot where you’re likely to see a small posse of unemployed slackers lined up, laptops open, ready to tweet Adams every pastry choice. That would be NoPo’s hottest new coffeehouse, Posies Cafe.

Owned and almost entirely staffed by stay-at-home moms—affectionately known as the “mommy-ristas”—Posies serves Mayor Adams and other locals locally micro-roasted Ristretto espresso blend coffee as well as flaky Florio baked goods and house-made sandwiches and wraps. Smack dab in the middle of the Kenton neighborhood’s main drag, Denver Avenue, the 2,000-square-foot space full of funky furnishings once included a different kind of “house mother,” when years ago it was a brothel, complete with a secret tunnel to a nearby Masonic Lodge. 

Notorious past aside, Posies is a bright and shiny new star in this once dreary district. And, yes, you might even catch a quick glimpse of a breast-feeding mom.

Posies Cafe
8208 N. Denver Ave.
Portland, OR 97217
503.289.1319
www.posiescafe.com

Bada Ping!

We’ve always loved Chinatown and hated its food. In fact, we’d rather eat Chinese in just about any other Portland neighborhood, simply because there’s a lower probability of the meat in the General Tso’s belonging to some expired rodent found beneath the floorboards.

Fortunately, Ping has brought our appetite back to Chinatown. The sequel restaurant to the east side’s Pok Pok, Ping has a heavy emphasis on delicious skewers of meats and veggies served with spicy or savory sauces, like the wild-caught gulf prawns skewers with sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice, or the homemade pork meatballs and sweet chili sauce. If you’re not into the whole food-on-a-stick craze, there are a bevy of spicy noodle dishes and plates of boiled, steamed, and fried meats of the more unusual variety like pork knuckle, game hen, and quail.

Wash it all down with specialty cocktails from Ping’s well-stocked bar, piece together your favorite cocktail from Ping’s liquor wall, or stick with a traditional mock-Asian favorite, like the Singapore Sling—a mix of cherry brandy, gin, club soda, sweet and sour mix and grenadine that could resuscitate a dead rat.

Ping
102 NW 4th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
503.229.7464
www.pingpdx.com

Photo courtesy of www.HenryandJune.com.

D.I.Y. = Dremel It Yourself

D.I.Y. is about getting your hands on a project and enjoying the time spent doing it.

Dremel—the must-have for smaller projects—now offers a golf kit. The same all-in-one polisher, buffer, and drill you’ve always known now comes in a cool “clear green,” and is paired with a carrying case and all the attachments needed to properly polish your nine wood and buff your balls.

www.dremel.com

I’ll have a Bakon Press, Please.

George Costanza tried to mix sex with eating and watching T.V. to little success, but now Bakon Vodka is here to properly mix your favorite vices into one delicious, if not odd, experience.

Bakon Vodka is only available in the NW, so get on the ground floor of this phenomenon now. The recipes that Bakon offer tend toward the savory, but, much like bacon maple donuts and choco-covered bacon proves, there is plenty of room for sweet treats. Want to have a memorable party? Bring this.

www.bakonvodka.com

The Home That Has Everything

At almost every party, it seems that everyone ends up in the kitchen for at least a full beer. We think it’s something to do with wipe-able surfaces and plenty of counters to lean on, but it’s definitely not the decor.

If you want to add some bling to your kitchen, why not start with the sink? The pewter Elvis Head sink stopper will not only look super cool, it will keep your lime wedges and cocktail weenie toothpicks from going where his career did.

www.giftapolis.com/elprkistsist2.html