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Quick Spin: Noelle Scaggs of Fitz and the Tantrums

It’s one of those stories you tell about that favorite band, the one you saw years back, when they were just starting out. The moment you heard the notes and knew that this band was something, that this music was unlike anything you had heard before. You stopped whatever you were doing and stood there to listen, taking in the tune, finding the beat with your fingers. For me, I first saw the band at the Taste of Beverly Hills. The inaugural event, now better known as Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival, took place in September of 2010, just…

Comedy Can Save the Day: Portland Comic Ian Karmel

I cannot think of a better week for the Bridgetown Comedy Festival to arrive. Portland will welcome heaps of comics of all varieties this weekend, at a time when it feels as though we could all really use a good laugh. Comics are coming in from all over the country, including a few of my personal favorites like Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero and Guy Branum, while showcasing some of Portland’s finest. One comic who stands out among the city’s comedy scene is Ian Karmel. Recently, I heard an interview with Chris Rock where he described his pre-show ritual  of just writing the…

Daily Blender Exclusive: Chris Martin and Chris Phillips of IAMDYNAMITE

Jumping around the photo pit at one of my brother’s concerts, press pass displayed on my chest, camera in hand, I hear all kinds of things from the crowd behind me while they’re smashed against the metal barrier separating them from me and the stage. I wonder which one she’s with. Who’s this? Where’s [enter band name here]?! These guys are f*cking awesome! Your son rocks! Wait… what?   Chris Martin (aforementioned brother) and Chris Phillips were still kids when they met, fusing their musical talents together in a various assembly of southeastern Michigan bands before finally honing in on…

Quick Spin: Chef Matthew Busetto

When I first went to Firehouse in North Portland, I was only in it for the pizza. I’ve never met a wood fire pizza I didn’t like so I knew I’d end up there for that reason alone. But what I didn’t know was how much soul was baking within the walls of the old Dekum location. The shared building – chef Matthew Busetto’s wife runs the naturopath clinic upstairs – has been producing some of the best Italian food (and smells!) in Portland since 2008. Sure, I may be biased because Busetto has roots in the same part of…

Quick Spin: Chef Eric Haugen

The luxury of The Lambs Club in midtown Manhattan is captivating. The relatively modest entrance on West 44th hides the glamour within, an elegant space reminiscent of the city’s glory days with an interior of art deco sconces along wood-paneled walls, an illuminated four-seat bar manned by gentlemen in white suits, and a dining room of red leather guarded by an original painting of Lambs Club members – a star-studded roster from the beginning of stage and screen including everyone from Chaplin to Rodgers & Hammerstein. Since early 2012, 27-year-old Eric Haugen has led the line as Executive Chef at…

Portland’s Blind Pilot Ups The Musical Ante with the Oregon Symphony

By the time the first few notes of “We Are The Tide” began to swirl through the auditorium, the crowd had already made it to their feet. Swaying back and forth in their seats throughout the evening, toes a-tapping, it had been a relatively even-keeled set, a bit of the pomp of the Oregon Symphony keeping the generally raucous Portland crowd at an easygoing level. But when the band members of Blind Pilot struck the chords of their final song, prior to the encore, after the strings and horns of the symphony had been paired so bewitchingly all evening on…

Anatomy of a Successful Event: The 2013 Seattle Wine and Food Experience

The crowd at an event last fall hit me just before the pain in my feet arrived. It was a high-profile shindig, with big names scattered throughout the scene. I scanned the clearly oversold room, a wave of dread slowly taking over. After hiking up the fifty or so entry stairs in four-inch heels, shaking my fist in the air, I was hit with a wall of people, chaos in every direction. No vendor map, no clear path of movement to the room. Guests were crowded six deep at every table, glasses of wine and beer, plates precariously handled barely…

Sbrocco, Samuelsson Bring the Shine to the 2012 Taste of Tulalip

The Tulalip Resort stands like a beacon along the stretch of Interstate 5 between Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia. It beckons weary travelers like an oasis in the desert, the brightly lit black and white orcas adorning the multilevel hotel beaming amongst a sea of strip malls and outlet shopping. Inside, the resort is heavily decorated in the colors and symbols of the Tulalip tribes governing the operation, beams of hand-carved wood, bears, wolves, and ravens at every turn. The four-diamond hotel rooms, with their comfort and chic décor, easily rank among some of the best in the city,…

Portland Cocktail Week Rolls With The Red, White, and Booze

I was on a World Series high last Thursday night. My beloved Tigers were entrenched in the second game of the finals, battling it out with the San Francisco Giants, when I walked into Red, White, and Booze – the closing event of Portland Cocktail Week. The mitten state had been on my mind all week after a Jameson dinner at Ox brought together five of us former Michiganders, each sharing stories from our earlier years in the Lower Peninsula. With the Tigers in the playoffs, there was a frenzy of excitement, the revered team of our childhood looking at…

Zen and the Art of Food and Drink: 2012 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival

When Kat and I arrived at Portland International Airport on Thursday morning, long before the sun would rise, we were nearly giddy as we passed through security, ecstatic that our adventure to New York City had finally arrived. As we made our way to the gate, we noticed a monk walking in front of us, and chattered about it being a good omen. After a brief wait, I stood patiently in line waiting for a seat assignment as others funneled into line, my mind wondering if I would be cast to the bowels of the back of the plane, shooting…