Krispy Kreme: Absence = Fonder! DRAGONFiSH: Just Plain Overdue!

by CARYN B. BROOKS
cbrooks@wweek.com

GENTLE READERS,

In recent weeks Miss Dish has enjoyed some time off to relax her mind so her body might follow. Miss D. would like to thank you for your kind words, entertaining emails and six-packs of Spam in her absence.

Now, by popular demand, here's the answer to the question everyone is asking--where the hell is the frickin' Krispy Kreme? Miss D. found out. This is an email from a Krispy Kreme honcho:

Thank you for your interest in Krispy Kreme entering the Pacific Northwest.

Our affiliate, KremeWorks USA, LLC, is the Krispy Kreme Area Developer for Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. Accordingly, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., forwarded your email to us.

You are absolutely correct that the press received to date has given the impression that a Portland store would be opening soon. That is not the case. We will be opening our first Krispy Kreme doughnut store in suburban Seattle, Wash., this summer. Following that opening we will begin focusing on locations for a Portland store.

Gerard Centioli

President & CEO

ICON LLC

OK, GOT IT NOW KIDS? NO KRISPY KREME FOR A LONG WHILE. PROBABLY WAY PAST THIS SUMMER. Miss Dish will let you know when some dates have been picked.

The wait for KK may seem unbearable, but keep in mind that eventually, hopefully, the wait will be over--like the time we've bided for Dragonfish, the restaurant in the Paramount Hotel at 808 SW Taylor St., 223-9900. The hotel opened over a year ago, and when Miss Dish spoke with the folks from the restaurant, they promised a new joint by summer. Well, it may be hot outside, but it sure ain't the sweetest season. Still, there shouldn't be too much complaining: Dragonfish (a hotsy-totsy all-things-Asian joint from that coolsville up North) just opened, and we're glad to have it even though it teased us so.

Dragonfish used to be called Blowfish, but when the owners decided to move down this way, they were faced with a dilemma. There's a Blowfish Cafe in San Fran, and they couldn't cross state lines with the name, even though it was registered in Washington. So they opted for Dragonfish, because 2000 was the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

It's now the year of the snake--so what was with the wait? Miss Dish spoke with Taylor T. Terao from the Restaurant Group, a management company overseeing the opening of Dragonfish, to find out. She had hoped for some deglazed tales of murder and mayhem, but instead got what tends to be the primary source of headaches in the restaurant biz: tales of the mundane and Maytag. Terao says the holdup was mainly due to some design issues in the hotel: In order to make the restaurant legit, they had to install a new hood system. "It became an expensive ordeal," Terao says.

Miss Dish toured the new place with Udo Starck, director of catering, and got a draft of the menu from the chef, Jim Angerman, formerly of Cucina Cucina. Here, then, is a list of the top five reasons Dragonfish will probably be a champ:

1) Bait Sushi hour: From 4 to 6 pm and 10 pm to 1 am, you'll be able to gobble sushi and small plates for radically reduced prices--plus discounted cocktails. "Without a doubt, this is what we're most known for in Seattle," says Starck.

2) Location, hours Dragonfish may have sprung its doors much later than promised, but in some respects it's just in time: The Fox Tower movie theater opened a few months ago and is so close to the restaurant you could probably chuck a potsticker at it. Dragonfish also serves food until 1 am, a nice touch in a notoriously early shuttered city.

3) Fiscal responsibility The price points cover a wide range to make the place inclusive. According to many locals in the restaurant business, Portlanders are cheapskates when it comes to dishing out clams for dinner (unless, of course, it's a big, juicy steak). For lunch Dragonfish offers everything from 12 pieces of sushi for $7.45 to Caramel Ginger Chicken served at the bar for $6.85. Dinner offers a range of small plates, such as cinnamon beef satays on spicy peanut noodle salad for $6.90 up to curried lamb chops with French beans for $16.85.

4) Cool for school This place has got the bling-bling. There's a 350-gallon saltwater tank stuffed with exotic fish on the restaurant side, bright pachinkos (Japanese pinball machines) on the wall of the bar, comfy booths, enough bamboo to build a cruise liner for the Gilligan gang, and plenty of dining seats at the bar for brooding loners.

5) Quirks Portlanders may not like to cough up cash, but they sure love anything quirky, no matter how pre-fab. Dragonfish has given all its servers instructions on not only how to use chopsticks, but how to teach chopsticks. Starck says they will supply forks and knives to those who beg, but they'd rather encourage people to learn. They will also supply origami paper, and the waitstaff will help diners learn this ancient art form. All hail edutainment!

Disclaimer: This is not a review; Miss Dish has not dined at Dragonfish.