Looking for Brooklyn on the West Coast
Once again, we arrive in a new city feeling the repercussions of the previous night; we need help. On Alberta, (Portland’s Bedford Ave?), we appropriately discover Random Order and choose a classic Irish coffee from a selection of spiked coffee drinks. We don’t think our destination Brooklyn pie spots offer this, but we think they should.
Next, we drift into the red house that beckons us with a taco truck and Navajo prints. The Factory owner Mella Kaufman keeps us entertained with Mimosas as she shows us “the workspace” (sewing machine) and explains that her goal with the store is to provide accessible clothing (we scored a bedazzled bomber for $14) and encourage emerging culture (she will be using basement space to host music and art gatherings).
Basically, a condensed Artist & Fleas experience.
The Make House, a few blocks down, is also based on the idea of creating a destination for the arts, with the multi-leveled house offering a screenprinting studio, sewing house, woodshop and gallery. A former resident of Brooklyn, designer and Make House founder Nathan Reimer explains that the biggest difference in Brooklyn vs. Portland is need (or lack thereof) for world domination (apparently Portlanders do their craft for the love of it; not to get famous).
However, we are reminded of The Arm Letterpress as he gives us a quick lesson in using the machinery (they actually offer official courses too) with his daughter watching.
Curious as to what Portland’s barber scene offers, we waltz into The Modern Man where an extremely reasonably priced haircut ($24) also gets you a choice of complimentary whiskey, scotch, beer, wine, coffee AND a cigar or cigarette. The saloon-styled space also just opened its upstairs to The Whiskey Room, where you experience the satisfaction of walking through mini doors, choosing from a selection of 40 ryes, bourbons and scotches and drinking beneath a huge taxidermied bear.
On a taxidermy tangent, we seek out Paxon Gate for a deep hit of our beloved cabin-fever aesthetic. The cabinet-of-curiosities and rich, dark magic vibe of the store shares a Hollander & Lexer approach, and we appreciate their collection of under $10 glass eyes. Obviously.
What Brooklyn experience would be complete without a queer party? Blow Pony fulfills our need for pop music-meets-transgender types making out to Rihanna and Salt ‘n’ Pepa. With a table of boy shorts and a photo booth capturing the decadence of the queer attendees, we decide our work here is done.