Brooklyn Neighborhood

Just in time for summer a new restaurant has come to Brooklyn, complete with outdoor seating. I can now attest that Tastebud is a terrific addition to Milwaukie Ave.They’ve been serving up pizza and other delights from their wood oven at farmers markets for a while. Now they’re putting down roots in Brooklyn and after my trip there tonight I’d say we’re lucky. Here’s what the Oregonian had to say about Tastebud;

Mark Doxtader isn’t one to rush progress. Eight years ago he began trucking his mobile wood-fired oven to the Portland Farmers Market to bake pizza, breads and rustic desserts on the spot. Doxtader’s Tastebud booth (named for the Canby farm he used to till) quickly claimed a rabid following that only grew once he added wood-fire-baked bagels and seasonal stuffed pita sandwiches to his repertoire.

Doxtader still fires up his goods at the twice-weekly downtown Portland Farmers Market, as well as the markets at Eastbank and Hillsdale. But the big news is the roving 36-year-old baker has finally put down roots. After two months of weekly Thursday-night pizza practice-runs, Doxtader opens a permanent Tastebud restaurant Friday.

The restaurant’s new two-and-a-half ton Italian wood oven will fire up pizzas with toppings such as green garlic pesto, home-cured pancetta and dandelion marmalade, plus a few meaty entrees and desserts like a chocolate-date pudding cake. Enticing salads and a tightly edited wine and beer list (look for selections from brother-in-law Alan Sprints’ Hair of the Dog Brewing Co.) round out the list. In time, Doxtader plans to add more meat and seafood dishes, brunch and perhaps a prix fixe family supper.

Doxtader is not a traditionalist when it comes to pizza combinations, preferring to let the seasonal harvest direct his creations. “I’ve had a lot of practice baking at the markets and really got to know the seasons — there’s very little that doesn’t make a good pizza,” he says, citing ingredients as diverse as nectarines and brussels sprouts.

Tastebud opens 5-10 p.m. Friday; regular hours 5-10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 3220 S.E. Milwaukie Ave., 503-234-0330

Christina Melander is a Portland freelance writer; cm@christinamelander.com