Tommy Habetz owns Bunk Sandwiches, Bunk Bar, and the upcoming Moon Pizza. He also has a weekly radio show on Portland's XRAY FM.
What was the food highlight of your year?
Well, for better or worse, it was the infamous PizzaTour 2014 that I took at the beginning of October with my partner at Moon Pizza, Brandon Smyth. It was a brief and brutal tour of East Coast Pizzerias. We traveled from D.C. to Boston, down to New Haven then South Jersey. Then the most awesome hospitality from Chef Brad Spence at Amis and Pizzeria Vetri in Philly. (Side note: I love Philly. I can't wait to go back and just wander the Museums all day and eat and drink all night at amazing restaurants.) From Philadelphia, we went straight to Staten Island for a guided tour of classic Staten Island Pizzerias with Mr. Steve LiCastri, the Pizza Guru. I gave up at Roberta's in Bushwick, BK. What?! Sounds awesome, right? Let's just say that I'm still recovering. It was certainly enlightening. And we visited some awesome places with great people. I'm looking at you King of Pizza and Tacconelli's.
What was the music highlight of your year?
Well, that's a tougher question, innit? There's some great bands out there. Fat White Family from England, Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, White Lung, Angel Olsen, Mac DeMarco...all some of my favorites. But, this year (for me) was all about Bulkhead at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA. They hadn't played in twenty years and reunited for a WMBR sponsored show and they were GREAT! Check them out, if you've never heard of them.
Oh, and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at the Arlene Schnitzer Auditorium. I've been a Bad Seeds fan since the mid 80's and this was my first time seeing them. Nick Cave rules.
I was also in two music videos: Bob Mould's I don't Know You Anymore and Ages and Ages' Divisionary. The Ages and Ages video, especially, was pretty incredible. Tim Perry's (lead singer) mom played violin and the kid's from Portland's Phame Academy were amazing. Those were pretty big highlights for me!
Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?
Well, both Huichica and Pickathon keep getting better every year. Two great music festivals with incredible local chefs serving up tasty tasty vittles. But, I think it was the Karaoke From Hell/FeastPortland after-party at Bunk Bar this year. KFH is a live action Karaoke band from Portland, OR. Led by the mighty Tres Shannon from Voodoo Doughnuts. They're amazing! And so much fun. And getting to see Philip Krajek from Rolf & Daughters duet with our very own Joshua McFadden from Ava Gene's on I Got You, Babe while Jamie Bisonette and other food industry folks were getting down on 6 foot Duck Banh Mi's and some crazy ass Nachos with Mole and Halloween Ghost Peeps melted on top. It was actually really good. Also, Natron aka Frank Furter the one man hot dog band rocking us out at the Sandwich Invitational. I'm really looking forward to FeastPortland again this year and I'm hoping we can get some musicians involved. I'm thinking, maybe, the Bob Mould Sausage Party? Shonen Knife Chicken Throwdown?!