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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Food Wanted: Freelance Mercury Food Critic!

Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 11:13 AM

UPDATE! THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR THIS POSITION IS CLOSED! THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST!

Woe be unto us! It's my unfortunate duty to announce that our beloved Tony Perez will no longer be able to perform his weekly duties as the Merc's chief food critic, due to overwhelming pressures at his REAL job over at Tin House Publishing. (He's kind of a big deal over there.) HOWEVER! There are two pieces of good news here: 1) Tony will still be joining us now and then with his always excellent food and drink coverage, and 2) Some lucky person out there will become the Mercury's new chief food critic! HERE'S THE AD ANNOUNCING THAT!

WANTED: FOOD CRITIC/REVIEWER

The Portland Mercury is looking for a new food/restaurant/drink critic to add to our stable of great writers. COULD THAT BE YOU, OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW? Let's find out:

The successful candidate will have extremely strong and snappy writing skills, a passion for food and drink, and an intimate knowledge of the Portland restaurant scene. Reporting skills are a definite plus, as is prior food criticism experience.

Duties include writing one restaurant review per week for the print edition, and publishing at least three blog posts per week on Blogtown. This is a FREELANCE position which allows the candidate plenty of time to have other employment, and this person can choose their own hours—as long as deadlines are met.

Pay is $100 per week, and meals eaten for review purposes are paid for (within reason of course) by the Mercury.

Interested parties should email editor Wm. Steven Humphrey (put "FOOD CRITIC POSITION" in the subject line) and include the following:

• A cover letter describing why you're so awesome.
• A resume that includes pertinent experience.
• Up to six published food writing clips (blog posts are acceptable, as are PDFs and URLs). No published clips? NO PROBLEM. Send in a 600-word review of a place you've eaten at recently.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012.

EatUp.jpg

 

Comments (26) RSS

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1
Is this a trap?
Posted by Commenty Colin on January 4, 2012 at 11:25 AM · Report
2
I think this might be a trap.
Posted by Alison Hallett on January 4, 2012 at 11:27 AM · Report
3
How about a subset position for a vegan food blog writer? We could really use that around here.

There, I said it! Expecting to be told to shut up in 1... 2...
Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 11:29 AM · Report
4
@Fruit Cup, actually, I was thinking the same thing. There's a real lack of vegan restaurant coverage. Grant Butler does some nice vegan writing at the O, but he doesn't do any/much reviewing. It would be great to see some real reviews of places other than Natural Selection that aren't just "they made a vegan version of this!"

Plus, more vegan food, please.
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on January 4, 2012 at 11:59 AM · Report
5
Find a vegan food blog writer who lives in LO, that way they can be called "The Lake Osvegan."
Posted by Todd Mecklem on January 4, 2012 at 12:12 PM · Report
6
@4, yes completely. Not to mention the local vegan blogs (looking at you Stumptown Vegans) have pretty much abandoned the job. It's impossible to count on Yelp, either, for finding new/interesting vegan spots.

Hell, I'd be interested in highlights of menu items at places you wouldn't expect to find a vegan option (the delicious vegan wings at FOTM spring to mind).

Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 12:15 PM · Report
7
For you vegans, a catch-all site.


http://epicuriousvegan.com/
Posted by TSW on January 4, 2012 at 12:15 PM · Report
8
@#6, I heard those vegan wings at FOTM are frozen packaged stuff, so I've never tried them. If someone can confirm that they make them in-house and tasty, I'll be there this weekend.

I do like your idea of unlikely-vegan-options-on-omni-menus coverage. That'd be nice for when my parents want to load up the SUV and haul in from the suburbs for a holiday/birthday/briss/pre-Blazers-game dinner.
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on January 4, 2012 at 12:32 PM · Report
9
We really wanted to like them, but FOTM's vegan wings are gross, in my opinion.

FOTM's meaty wings were on my very short list of "food I really missed as a vegetarian," so when I went back to the dark side, I had them - and they were so much less delicious than I remembered. The bottom line for FOTM for me is that they have delicious sauces, but I think they use truly industrial-grade chicken parts for the wings themselves.

The smoked wings at NEPO 42 on the other hand, were exactly as awesome as I remembered.
Posted by Commenty Colin on January 4, 2012 at 12:43 PM · Report
10
@8, They actually have two vegan wings on the menu. The "Portland Wings" are definitely frozen/pre-packaged. The "Vegan Drumsticks" are constantly on special (only on the proper menu at the new Fremont location). As far as I know, they're made in-house. They're somewhat reminiscent of the wings they used to do at the African food cart on 4th and College (before they closed). They're more expensive ($6.95 for 6) but pretty good. Especially when you consider the beer menu is also quite good (Mondays are $3 pint nights, btw). It’s definitely where I go to fill my not-horrible vegan bar food at a place with good beer fix.

Something else to consider is that the sauce is what makes FOTM shine. Most of the sauces are vegan, but ask if you’re not sure. Stay away from the conventional sauces (Mild/Medium/Hot), as they have dairy. If you’re real sweet, they’ll let you sub the Vegan Drumsticks onto their Jamaican Jerk sandwich (it has a pineapple ring and jerk sauce). Pretty tasty.
Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 12:50 PM · Report
11
@CC, even if I ever went back to the dark side, I could never eat a chicken after watching Food, Inc. over the weekend.
Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 12:53 PM · Report
12
That jerk sammie does sound good. I still haven't had a vegan jerk sandwich in Portland that can hold a candle to one I had in Louisville, KY a few years back.

For vegan pub grub I just keep bitching at my neighborhood bars and then ordering chips and salsa. It's a sad existence.
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on January 4, 2012 at 1:19 PM · Report
13
SHUT UP, VEGAN.
Posted by Graham on January 4, 2012 at 1:33 PM · Report
14
It's a good sandwich. It probably won't hold a candle to something more authentic. But it's quite good for pub grub. Since the place isn't natively vegan, they don't seem to add the "vegan mark-up" that most places seem to add to their food (here's looking at you Hungry Tiger).
Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 1:35 PM · Report
15
Damn, now I want a sandwich. Blogtown Banh-meet-up?
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on January 4, 2012 at 3:17 PM · Report
16
Damn, now I want to punch a vegan.
Posted by Reymont on January 4, 2012 at 4:00 PM · Report
17
@15, You missed the Old Gold meet-up! That was Banh-mi-riffic. The tofu is good. Although they could definitely adjust their crunchy bits to bread ratio. If they fix that, they'd beat out the Sweet Hereafter at a lower price point.

@16, I think you meant to say you wanted to "hug a vegan." I only assume such because you seem like a nice guy. Not the type that would stoop to threatening violence because people eat different things than you. I mean, it's food. The stakes just aren't that high.
Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 4:18 PM · Report
18
Admittedly my bias is fairly blinding, but I think the Old Gold's banh mi is better than the Sweet Hereafter. (I ate both last week!)
Posted by Alison Hallett on January 4, 2012 at 5:35 PM · Report
19
Ok, ok, so I need to make it to the Old Gold. Guess I can saddle up and catch a Blazer game there soon. But now I'm thinking Sweet Hereafter for dinner tonight. Because cooking at home is for the 99%.
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on January 4, 2012 at 5:57 PM · Report
20
@18, I've had both. But admittedly I've only had the Sweet Hereafter during the first week. Sweet Hereafter has been spotty as hell since opening. I assume it's because they've been splitting staff between Sweet Hereafter and the Bye and Bye (they definitely have an A Team and a B Team). When you get a sandwich from the A Team, it's one of the best things going in town.

I'll be revisiting the Old Gold Banh-mi later this week.
Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 6:32 PM · Report
21
20 Vegan comments? Fail. what relevance does this have to the blog posting?. You are the un-silent minority. Do you have a right to more coverage? Sure....just kinda sick of hearing about it. I am not a vegan (or vegetarian). Its a choice, I don't care about your lifestyle any more than you do mine. Oh, and Merc...try getting some one who actually knows something this time
Posted by The Showstopper on January 4, 2012 at 6:51 PM · Report
22
@21, It's true, I fruit-jacked the thread. I do that sometimes.
Posted by Fruit Cup on January 4, 2012 at 7:14 PM · Report
23
I assume we won't be seeing any stories decrying "big box" retailers or any other soulless corporations for not paying living wages to their employees.
Posted by Chuck Garabedian on January 5, 2012 at 7:10 AM · Report
24
Showstopper's just jealous because Carrie Brownstein thinks we're cool.
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on January 5, 2012 at 8:31 AM · Report
25
Re: Blazer games at the Old Gold—they have $2 Rainiers during games, served in those Dairy Queen Blazer caricature glasses from the '90s. (Ezra should be paying me for this shit.)
Posted by Alison Hallett on January 5, 2012 at 9:54 AM · Report
26
@24 guarantee you she Knows I'm cool (or so I tell myself, anyway)
Posted by The Showstopper on January 7, 2012 at 2:26 PM · Report

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