Hello! Apologies for the break. Let's jump into some news!

Birds and Brews: Columbia Gorge Discovery Center (5000 Discovery Dr, The Dalles, OR 97058), Thursday, August 11th from 6:30 pm to 9 pm. 21+ event; tickets $16-$20. Beer, wine, and food for sale. Ticket includes admission to museum, a meet and greet with a resident raptor, and a special exhibition opening reception for the center's newest temporary exhibition, Avis Marvelous: Ornithology on the Western Frontier, 1776-1896. More information and tickets here. 

Paella Party with Fishpeople Seafood: This event will be at The Ruins (13 Railroad Street, Hood River, OR) on Wednesday, August 10 from 6 pm to 9 pm. Event organizers say, "Amy Roots will be helping us prepare the paella this year, while the Fishpeople crew will help serve, and the Ruins staff will pour you refreshing beverages, Ben Bonham and friends will be playing some tunes and you will be happy as a clam." $50 tickets and more info here. ​

Peach Day: Runcible Cider (1084 Quartz Dr, Mosier, OR 97040). Saturday, August 13, noon to 5 pm. New cider release. Tamales with peach salsa available for sale. Live music (Nate Stranz). Peaches for sale. 

Tofurky (Warehouse Supervisor). See their ad in Gorge Hired. 
Pizza Leona (Cashier, $16/hour + tips). See their ad on the Gorge Classifieds. 

The menu is simple: fish and chips. Expect a nice portion (we got 3-4 pieces per order) of light, crisp fish in a house-made gluten-free batter. An order comes with fish, fries, coleslaw, house-made tartar sauce, and Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese fish sauce).

Each day, the truck will serve a "catch of the day," which can be anything from halibut to sole to Albacore to Ling cod. All fish comes from Oregon or the Washington Coast. 

For drinks, you'll find a selection of Blue Bus kombucha and Columbia Gorge Organic drinks like lemonade. 

For now, 11:30 to sold out or at least 4 pm Friday-Sunday. Open for the summer season, through at least September, perhaps longer (if they close for winter, they would re-open next year). 

Payment accepted: cash, card, Apple Pay
​Address: if you put 403 Portway Ave in your navigation and look for the parking lot on the corner of N 2nd and Anchor Way, you'll see it
Facebook: facebook.com/FishpeopleHoodRiver

Owner: Kipp (also an owner of FishPeople Seafood downtown)
Staff: Levi, Brooke, Ruth, Joe
Creative Chef: Jason, a chef at Hiyu whom helped develop the recipes 

For the last two weekends of this month, head to Local Rhoots (1301 Belmont St.) for a dumpling pop-up. Called "Bao to the Dumpling," the menu will be available for dine-in or take-out this Friday and Saturday, as well as next Friday and Saturday. 

Bao Buns Trio with Slaw
House-made steamed fluffy boa buns filled with your choice of succulent Charsui Pork, Sweet & Spicy Chicken or decadent Shitake Mushrooms garnished with house-pickle, jalapeño & cilantro.  Served with a  side of Asian-Inspired slaw.

Szechuan Dumpling Bowl
Bursting with flavor and heat.  Pork dumplings swimming in a spicy broth finished with house-made chili oil, cilantro & house-pickle.

Umami Dumpling Bowl
Pork dumplings lounging in a 12-hour shiitake-miso broth garnished with pickled shiitake, cilantro & sesame seeds.

Caesars Got a Wedgie
Grilled Napa cabbage with a wonton scallion cracker and black bean Caesar dressing. (vegan; chicken can be added on)

Pickle Plate
Watermelon Radish, Shiitake Mushrooms, Cauliflower, Carrot & Rhubarb in an Asian-inspired pickle.

Butter Mochi Bars 
Gooey mochi bars topped with toasted coconut flakes, yuzu and red bean.

Mango Coconut Pudding
Layered mango pudding

When: Friday-Saturday July 22-23 and 29-30 from 5 pm - 9 pm. 
Where: Local Rhoots: 1301 Belmont St. Order at the counter for either to-go or dine-in. 
Pay with: Cash, card, Apple pay
Who's running the kitchen: Chef Amanda brought her passion for multi-cultural cuisine to Local Rhoots at the end of 2021.  Since then she has become an asset to the team and has contributed recipes and flavors to the weekly meal service.  This is Amanda's first venture into a Pop-up style menu and she is excited to bring her obsession for bao and dumplings to the Gorge community.
Chef Sam, owner of Local Rhoots, will play a supporting role in the kitchen. She is invested in supporting women in the community and is excited see Amanda grow as a chef.

The Gorge has a new mobile tap truck: Better Together Tap Truck. Opened May 21, 2022  by Dakota and Greg Wilkins​, the truck has 6 taps and will serve parties of any size or type, from a backyard anniversary party to a wedding. The owners say, "we can show up to your backyard BBQ, rehearsal dinner, birthday, wedding, or any event you want us to be a part of."

On tap is anything you want that comes in kegs: beer from Pfriem, cider from Crush, wine from Viento (while the tasting room isn't open, you can still buy wine from Rich), or even root beer. Yes, also macrobrews so you can get your Rainer on. ​

You may recognize Dakota and Greg by their names. They are both in public-facing jobs in Washington, Dakota is a first grade teacher in Washougal, WA, and a zip-line tour guide at  Skamania Lodge during the summer. Greg works at Backwoods. It was Dakota's idea to open the tap truck, "I had a wild idea to start this business, and my husband just helped make sure it happened."

If you decide to hire the truck, keep in mind that gratuity is not included in the price, so either you or your guests will want to pick that up. ​

Website: https://bettertogethertaptruck.com/
Facebook: ​facebook.com/Bettertogethertaptruck
Instagram: instagram.com/bettertogethertap/

There's a new BBQ truck in Husum. It's called Get Hu'Sum BBQ and it's run by Stan Pratnicki. You'll find it in the parking lot of River Drifters Rafting Company, which is right before Wet Planet and the Ruby June in if you're headed north on 141 (it's right where you turn off 141 to get to the Weldon Wagon Trail). When we asked Stan why he opened his truck where he did, he said, "Work where you live, live where you love!" 

​On the menu (pictured above), find wraps, salads, and bbq bowls. 

You may recognize chef/owner Stan Pratnicki from his work at River Drifters Whitewater Rafting on the White Salmon River, where he helps manage operations and caters meals for  rafting trips. Or, you may recognize him from his extensive and impressive work history in Portland. Stan worked in the kitchens of Papa Haydn, Atwater's and Taqueria Nueve before opening his own joint, Bar Dobre. 

Open Thursday through Sunday each week 12 pm- 5 pm. 
Open: May - October
​Forms of payment accepted: Cash / Apple Pay / Credit
Address: ​856 WA 141 White Salmon, WA 98672

​https://www.facebook.com/gethusumbbq
https://gethusumbbq.com/​

​News time! Let's start with some fruit talk.
The Hood River Fruit Loop is bursting with u-pick and pickup fruit, mostly cherries and blueberries right now. Harvest is low and late this year, thanks to that weird spring we had.

• 𝗨-𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 are available at Kiyokawa Family Orchards, Draper Girls Country Farm, The Gorge White House and soon (July 20) Mt. View Orchards and Montavons Berries.
• Boxes of already picked cherries are available at Packer Orchards.
• 𝗨-𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 are available at Montavons Berries. Blueberries are also available at Wilinda Blueberry Patch (starting Friday, July 15).

𝗡𝗢𝗡-𝗙𝗥𝗨𝗜𝗧 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦:

• Pacos Tacos Official added some bomb-looking nachos to their menu (picture from them below)
• Pine Street Bakery has added a basil-mint limeade to its menu.
• Fox Tail has a happy hour Mon-Thursday 3-6 with $1 off prints and $5 off growler fills.
• Y'all all saw it and sent me lots of messages about it but Fishpeople Seafood Market at Hood River opened a food truck called "Off the Hook." It's parked behind Ferment and open 11:30/noon to sold-out on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We're sending our sleuth, Michelle, to grab photos and a menu this weekend. Stay tuned!
• Columbia Gorge Confections is offering BOGO truffles and chocouterie this week.
• Local Rhoots is closed Friday for some rest.
• A reminder that Kickstand holds a community ride every Wednesday that is followed by free music at the restaurant.
• And tomorrow (Friday), $1 from every Dutch Bros drink sold in Hood River will go to the Columbia Gorge Food Bank.

That's your news folks! Did I miss something? Comment below with your update!

​July 4 is tomorrow and that means some places that are normally open are closed and some places that are normally closed are open!
​
We've started a list for you below. It doesn't include every restaurant in town. We're still trying to get in touch with a few business owners.

GorgeOn Wines (11-3)
Solstice truck (12-4) and restaurant (11-8)
Working Hands (open at 8:30 am)
Crush Cider Cafe (6 p.m. to fireworks)
Sothkitchen (11-3)
Solera (4pm-9pm)
The Gorge White House (10-7)
Volcanic Bottle Shoppe (10-5)
Kickstand (8-3)
Pesco
BackWoods Brewing Co.
Gorges Beer
Mt Hood BBQ (8-4)

​Lake Taco
FishPeople Seafood
Grasslands
Full Sail
6th Street Bistro
Sushi Okalani
Grateful Vineyard
Bette's
The Pines 1852
Local Rhoots

Gorge Deliveries has expanded to White Salmon and Bingen and is offering delivery from EAT 14, Pizza Leona and Harvest Market. Want to learn more about the business? Check out our article here. 
Pearl's Place is now open for the season. 

​Change The Way We Waste, June 25, 2022: A summer talk about waste and sustainability at 1009 12th St. Hood River. FREE
Dinner in the Vineyard, Loop de Loop Wines, July 16: A 6-course tasting menu. $110 includes food as well as wine pairings. Call 503-298-9420 for tickets and information.