Yelp Mash Up Bash

WhoDaThunk that these phonebooks could turn into this? Apparently 300 Portland yelpers did, and last Friday they were shakin’ up Olympic Mills harder than a box of cereal with a coveted prize!

In one room yelpers found DJ RNA pumping out sweet, sweet jams. Continue to the next room for the mad mixology skills of bartender Brian, serving up Mason Jars of DRY Soda with Crater Lake Vodka and Cascade Mountain Gin.

Passing art by Chris Haberman and Yelp’s Local Art Mission, the next room proved to pop tops off Sake2Me, select FireStation5 and Metolius beers, and Belgique Ales of Belgium.

Making the rounds to the fourth and final room, Portland yelpers were tantalized by Portland Photobooth‘s promise of privacy, and naturally, brilliant artistic renderings ensued.

Executive chef Randal St. Clair and the charming 50 Plates staff passed a wide array of appetizers throughout the space, serving up mouthwatering morsels like the “Lousy Hunter” (sliders with fried green tomatoes and goat cheese,) “Media Noche” (sammies with slow roasted mojo pork, ham, gruyere, and jalapeno pickle relish,) and “Mac’N’Cheese (‘N’Chicken’N’Fennel)” (chicken-fennel stuffed pasta in parmesan cream). And these are just a few of their foodie takes on classic American faves that they spoiled us with! The kicker was the dark-chocolate-covered peanut butter-crispy treat, which could legitimately stop crime and bring world peace upon first bite.

The entire space, gorgeous in its own right, was filled with stunning art — ranging from Portland’s most accomplished artists to first time exhibitors, including 30 yelpers who participated in a Yelp Local Photo Mission. It was a truly beautiful sight to behold both new and old yelpers meeting and mingling with the artists, and even voting on their favorites with recycled nuts and bolts from the Rebuilding Center. Chalk this one up as a night to remember!

The behind the scenes effort by dozens of people was invaluable. A HUGE thank you to all of the participating artists, Adrienne Fritze, Rachel Novak and their team of volunteers and staff from Working Artists Network who worked around the clock to pull this opening off. Special thanks to the folks at Olympic Mills and Chris Haberman for letting us use and abuse their space. And of course, Yelp’s finest Michelle B, Katie S, and Stephy S for doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it well, Nikki, Jason, and Jonny our volunteer workhorses, all of our fabulous food and beverage sponsors, and Stu Mullenberg representing Newspace Center for Photography for beautifully and unobtrusively capturing the evening.

Speaking of capturing the evening, check out the reviews and photos!

Until next time, Peace from PDX~
Laura N