Friday Evening on 28th Avenue

Dear Liza,

Last week, Auntie Bridgett and I headed out for First Friday. We kissed Grandpa Nelson goodbye just as the sun was just going down and the clouds were bright and extravagant.

We walked over to the Side Street Gallery for their First Friday Member Show. It was so delightful! Many artists that I enjoy all the time had their works showcased. Anna Macgruder’s whimsical portraits always make me chuckle.

After visiting with the artists and getting a few cards to send to … ahem…. Denmark, we wandered up 28th Avenue looking for dinner.

We read The Sudra’s plant-based menu and were intrigued. There wasn’t a crowd, so we headed in.

We liked it right away. The staff is small and the clientele is quiet, with no loud voices or blustery movies or sports on TV. There was a large screen with a movie on mute, but it was turned off just after we got there. The music was an interesting, low key mix of Eagles, Styx, The Cars, and Cream from the 60s and 70s.

The decor was mostly movie posters from India, which complemented the vegan food selections. We ordered a Peacock Salad and Lentil Kofta Curry, with veggies and sauces on the side. The curry was spicy, the ginger carrots nice and sweet, and the pickled cucumbers snappy. It was a fun, different, satisfying, delicious meal.

We chatted and listened and just basically enjoyed being out together. It has been a hard winter for us and a few hard years for our city. We vowed to get out more and “fall in love with Portland again!”

I hope you love where you live, too.

Love,

Grandma Judy