Maybe you don’t especially like leaving the dark outside for a darker inside. I get that. Maybe your response to our peculiar brand of winter woes involves good food and a bottle of vino.

Hello Oregon Seafood & Wine Festival (Feb. 1-2). I think they do it February because around here the shortest month can sometimes seem like the longest. It’s amazing what a bit of Dungeness crab and a nice pinot can do.

OK, I’m not hot on the location (the Oregon Convention Center), but what it lacks in ambience it makes up for in sheer size. That means lots of sampling choices (food samples range from $1 and up. Wine starts at .50.). And that’s good.

It is $12 to get in but some of that money goes to the Oregon Chapter of the National MS Society. Plus, you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the world’s largest Oregon pink shrimp cocktail.

See you there,
Emily

I give the Reel Music Film Festival a standing O. It’s really the Reese’s peanut butter cup of festivals: you got your music in my movie, you got your movie in my music. And who doesn’t like peanut butter cups?

But now we’re approaching the mother of all Portland film festivals: PIFF. Which stands for Portland International Film Festival. If you were planning on quitting your job anytime soon, this would be a good time. At the very least I think you’re coming down with that flu that’s going around.

Because man alive there are too many choices! The festival runs from Feb. 7-23 and includes I don’t know like 10,000 movies (it’s actually more like 100 something, but come on!) Check out nwfilm.org for listings to plan your attack.

Good luck.

Later,
Keith

Let’s make this a festival trifecta, shall we? I’ve got two words for you, four syllables: Choc-o-late Fest. Sounds like something dreamed up by Mr. Wonka. Ah, but it is oh so real. And no golden ticket necessary.

I can’t tell you why it’s held at the World Forestry Center, but there it is. Put it in a Jiffy Lube for all I care. What worries me is that this is apparently the third annual. How in the blank did I miss something called Chocolate Fest?

Their info says they’ll have all kinds of vendors on hand. And if you weren’t impressed by the world’s largest shrimp cocktail at the Seafood & Wine Fest, try the world’s largest chocolate truffle. Blessed are the chocolatiers.

And if you’re 21, there will be wine, beer and even sake available to help you explore every possible choco pairing. So bring your imagination.

Cheerio,
Emily

Even as a pretty new arrival I can understand why Portland has so many film festivals. Especially in the winter. There are almost too many to keep track of.

So you gots to be choosy. And this week I’m choosing the one-of-a-kind Reel Music Film Festival. What makes it worth it is it’s all music all the time. Every film, mostly documentaries, focuses on some music artist or style or whatever.

This year, the 25th annual, runs until Feb. 4 and includes all kinds of movies from one about American jugband music, to another about some Algerian style of music call nouba, to one I really want to see called Let’s Get Lost about Chet Baker.

Shows run at the Whitsell Auditorium, the theater I just found at the Portland Art Museum. So get out of the rain for awhile why don’t you?

Later,
Keith

I’ve got to get in on this java conversation. I never drank coffee before I came out to Portland. But man it didn’t take long. Now I give my fiancée a bad time when she says, “I drink tea.” To me it’s like living at the ocean and not going in the water.

So here are my favorite coffee stops in Portland:

Winter — Rimsky Korsakoffee House (S.E. 12th)
It’s in this big rambling house but still has an intimate feel. Best name too, even though it doesn’t even have a sign.

Summer — The Pied Cow (S.E. 32nd)
It’s also great in winter, but in the summer I just love the outdoor patio area. They also have great desserts, even a hookah.

Coffee Time on N.W. 21st is also a good spot. Great for getting a close-up look at Portland hipsters.

Later,
Keith

Now that the holidays are mercifully over — don’t those few weeks just seem like forever? — it’s time to get back to business. I’m talking of course about Hotel deLuxe’s monthly Sunday night movie series.

If you haven’t been, the third Sunday of the month we show a small independent movie in our Screening Room here at the hotel. Usually they’re the work of local filmmakers. And you can order food and drinks from Gracie’s or the Driftwood while you watch.

So…join us on Sunday, Jan. 20 for Grandma Zula’s Legacy, a documentary about racism, community service and activism during the 1940s-70s in Portland. I’ve not seen it yet but am looking forward it.
By the way, it’s usually a good idea to call ahead for reservations: 503.219.2093. Doors open at 6 p.m., show starts at 6:30 p.m. Oh, and it’s free.

See you there/here,
Emily

Portland is known for coffee, and rightly so. It fuels this town like nothing else. I personally think drivers are nicer here because they’re preoccupied and don’t want to spill.

You already know about Starbucks. We give directions here based on their numerous locations: “Go up to the Starbucks on Broadway, take a right and at the next Starbucks take a left and then it’s just two more Starbucks.”

But there are other great coffee stops in town, too. Here are two that are close to Hotel deLuxe:

1. Stumptown Coffee — The local roaster has a few places in town, and luckily one is not far from us on S.W. Stark. Maybe the best coffee in town.

2. World Cup Coffee & Tea — It’s a perfect spot to while away a rainy day, and is right near great shopping on N.W. 21st and 23rd.

All hail the bean!
Emily

On this we agree, my dear Keith. The McMenamins’ places really are distinctive. And I of course love that they commission original art for all of them. Kennedy School, for example, is full of paintings, mixed media pieces, mosaics. Everywhere you look there’s something.

But you forgot to mention that they also make their own wine, distill their own spirits and roast their own coffee. Their pinot noir is quite good. Even their table red, Black Rabbit Red, is quaffable, as we say. I’ve never tried the whiskeys, brandies or gins. I don’t know why.

And of course they brew their own beer, though I’m admittedly not much of an aficionado. If I’m having their pizza I might combine it with a pint of their Ruby (made with raspberries!) but that’s about it. Next time: brandy.

Prost!
Emily

In the upcoming presidential election I’m voting for the McMenamin brothers. They’re Oregon’s own brewpub barons and renaissance men, with some of the coolest places anywhere.

Start with the Bagdad and the Mission, their two theaters. Both serve up second-run movies accompanied by beer and food. I’m not going to lie, when I first came out to Portland they were one of the things that got me thinking of moving.

My favorite of their places is Edgefield. It used to be poorhouse. Seriously. Now it’s got a par-3 golf course. And then there’s the Crystal Ballroom. And all their places have these really creative touches you just have to see. Oh, and if that weren’t enough a lot have live music, too.

Later,
Keith

I guess maybe it’s because of the changing of the year, but I’ve been feeling decidedly nostalgic lately. Worse yet, it’s for a time before I was even born. The product of my love of old movies, I suppose.

But as I may have mentioned before, when my Mom was young, she often worked as a chorus girl for the old Portland Civic Theater. The theater is now the Social Security Office and is situated just around the corner from Hotel deLuxe at 1530 SW Yamhill.

The other day I wandered in there just to see if I could get a feel for what it must’ve been like. The theater opened about a century ago and had evening and afternoon entertainment from stock companies, road shows, vaudeville. It closed in the 1990s sometime.

For a second I thought I heard an echo of the theater’s former glory, but it was just someone’s stupid ringtone.

Break a leg,
Emily