2016 Electric Summer PDX

Raise your hand if you like food, drinks, live music, and sunshine? Yeah, I like all those things too. And at Electric Summer PDX last Sunday, they had it all. The outdoor space at White Owl Social Club was transformed into a backyard BBQ celebrating summer and Portland’s food scene. For just $10, you could nibble your way through small bites from about 20 different Portland restaurants. On top of that, White Owl makes their drinks pretty strong, so we knew we were in for a good time.

I was faced with the classic food blogger’s dilemma: camera or phone. I chose phone and ended up with a phone covered in food and drinks, which is always a sign of a successful foodie outing.

Summer BBQs usually equals lots of meat, but when you live in PETA’s #1 most vegan-friendly city, you know there will be good meatless options. We happily chowed down on corn on the cob from Renata and adorable jackfruit sliders from Harlow. Yep, I went back for seconds. Love that they used a biscuit for the slider bun.

The folks at Kim Jong Grillin cooked up a tofu version of their dish for us. Hot and spicy, this was the most satisfying thing we ate that afternoon. Look forward to visiting their food cart at some point, hopefully soon. You can’t have a summer party in Portland without Salt & Straw, and it made my day when I discovered that the yummiest sounding of the three flavors available was the vegan option. YASSS!

That vegan flavor from Salt & Straw combines Petunia’s chocolate sandwich cookies with creamy coconut ice cream and locally made raspberry jam. Speaking of Petunia’s, they were at the event too with the cutest table of sweet treats. Oh, and they’re all vegan and gluten-free. We kept circling back to their table for more desserts… can’t stop, won’t stop! No wonder I had to take a nap on the street car ride home.

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