September 1st. It is a week out since Portland’s Burger Week. I’ve had enough time to digest the John Wayne amount of red meat in my colon. In its first iteration since 2019, thanks COVID, Portlanders returned to local restaurants to try their wares. Burger Week also gave me a chance to indulge and a chance to see something other than the inside of my house.
Ever since arriving in Portland, Oregon in March 2015; I’ve tried to participate in as many of the Burger Week festivities as I humanly could. Each year, I try to outdo my previous year’s record. Previously, I would scribble down locations and offerings off of the Portland Mercury website into a Moleskine notebook. I was living and working in Beaverton without access to a car, so I had to be strategic. The process included getting to public transportation, getting to a restaurant, waiting then scuttling off to the next location before it ran out of burgers or closed. HOW DID PEOPLE LIVE BACK THEN?! Each burger meant a notch on the burger belt. I evolved. I became a better connoisseur of burger meat. After establishing myself in my new city, I bought a car and was able to increase my hit rate, the On Burger Percentage. Switching jobs in 2017, I was able to walk to a location, two if I felt extra bold… spitting in the face of the “1-hour lunch” concept. Huffing and puffing, pouring burger sweat in the August sun in my quest to be the Burger King. Acquaintances and friends were both appalled and amazed about my dedication to the craft of American burger gluttony.
The same can be said about beers. Early in my “career” I was consumed by having as many different brews as I could. Variety packs satiated this early on before the proliferation of breweries. I could get 4 kinds of Sam Adams within a 12 pack. When I would run out of new offerings in the local grocery store, there was always something new. Hell, when I travel, I plan out which breweries are accessible where I’m staying. Going to those breweries, getting a flight or two. Like Gretzky or Ovechkin, I was all about putting up points.
Since offices around the world closed up in March 2020, people’s routines are not what they used to be. People with families had to juggle their professional lives with their spouse’s or partner’s as well as making sure their kids weren’t goofing off while their teacher was trying to teach a class on Zoom. For me, I didn’t have that trouble. After a few months of my extended work-from-home program, I began to institute more routines. An early morning run, shower and sitting down at the computer to conduct business, jump on the Peloton and then head to the local townie watering hole and finish the nights with a few pops and dinner. Drifting away from my routines caused anxiety for me. If I didn’t start the day with some kind of physical activity, I would be drawn into my work without properly getting rid of the angst. Something is askew when I don’t put my laundry away after doing it. I am one of those people. My grandfather would shit a brick if laundry wasn’t done and put away on the same day, which was Sunday. Burger Week was controlled chaos. I had my work appointments and meetings, per routine. However, depending on the day, I could still get my morning workout and meetings done so that I could have a burger or two. I’d come home, finish my work for the day and then be able find my dinner burger. Not having a car again was a hindrance as it was totaled a few months ago while I was on vacation and someone ran into it. I was able to secure a car by taking my partner to work and hit 3 on the backend.
Things like Burger Week and other festivals are important, now more than ever. When I was living in Buffalo, I had the best of both worlds. There were food events, like the Taste of Buffalo which happens in July, coupled with cultural festivals like the Italian festival, Polish Harvest festival and to some extent, Oktoberfest. East Coast cities are replete with these festivities, especially if that location is bigger. I’ve noticed that these can fizzle out as you cross the Mississippi River, moving west. In Portland, I could count on the Polish harvest festival, Serbianfest and the Greek festival. These were canceled in 2020 and except for the Serbianfest, are canceled in 2021. I was hoping they’d be back, because after a year and a half of half and full shutdowns, people needed to be in the sun and trying a Polish combo platter of globki, sausage and potato pancake. But the proper steps weren’t taken and it seems like we kind of took a step back. Maybe next year?
Now, here’s the beef!
Bar Bar's "The Encore Burger"
