Kachka’s deli will be open daily for grab-and-go meals, Russian groceries, and a plethora of house-made items to enjoy at home
PORTLAND, Ore. (November 7, 2019) – Kachka’s long awaited deli, Kachka Lavka, will open on Monday, November 11th at 11:30am, upstairs from Kachka. The Lavka (which means “kiosk”) will be open daily, with counter service and a menu of quick meals to enjoy on-site (at barstools in the deli or downstairs in the lounge), or take to go (Kachka has two parking lots on-site with free 2-hour parking). Owners Bonnie and Israel Morales have created a charming, old-world-inspired shop, with shelves packed full of hard-to-find sundries and grocery items essential to Russian cooking, such as oils, spices, pickles, smoked fish, as well as Eastern European wines, Russian candy and more. Soon, it will also serve as a tasting room for Kachka’s horseradish vodka.
The deli centers around a cold case filled with house-made items: Smetana (Russian sour cream), charcuterie (ex. smoked beef tongue, salo, doktorskaya bologna), cured fish (ike beet-cured salmon, salt-cured herring, and roe), pickles, cultured butter, Russian mustard, Brindza Pashtet, Chicken Olivier, and Herring Under a Fur Coat. House baked breads, piroshki and cookies will also be made daily. A shopper can find everything needed to create their own zakuski party at home, including the Kachka cookbook, which provides a guide on how to do so — just in time for holiday entertaining — as well as plenty of gift ideas. Kachka Lavka will also sell Kachka’s dumplings frozen — Siberian Pelmeni, Tvorog Vareniki, and Sour Cherry Vareniki — to take home and cook anytime.
MENU
BUTERBRODI
Russian style open-faced sandwiches are made-to-order on house-baked breads. Avocado toast’s great-great-aunt.
KOLKHOZ – Fresh Tvorog (farmer’s cheese). sunflower oil. marinated peppers. borodinsky bread
THE NOYCHIK SPECIAL – Moscovskaya salami. litovsky cheese. russian mustard. light rye. pickle spear.
BERIOZKA – Salat Olivier – basically the world’s best chicken salad – on challah bread.
ISAAC’S SBR – Some kids like pbj’s. isaac likes smetana butter & roe. be like isaac. house-cured king salmon roe and smetana butter on challah bread.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
Quick grab-and-go boxes from the case. Lunchables-style.
EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED – sunflower tahini. crudite veggies. ajvar spread. rye crisps.
SOVIET ‘LUNCHABLE’ – doktorskaya bologna. druzhba cheese. marinated peppers. borodinsky bread
BALTIC PICNIC – latvian sprats. parsley mayo. hard boiled egg. pickled onion. pumpernickel toasts.
SELYODKA NA PRIVALY – house cured herring & onions. light rye. herring roe spread.cucumbers.
SOUP
BORSCH – Kachka’s short rib borsch (seasonal)
PIROSHKI, ETC.
Various yeasted buns with a focus on the classics
Hard-Boiled Egg & Scallion (perennial)
Cheese Vatrushka with Raspberries (seasonal)
LOCATION/HOURS
Kachka Lavka is located at 960 S.E. 11th Ave., Portland, OR 97214 (complete with two parking lots for easy shopping and grab-and-go). A separate entrance can be found to the left of Kachka’s front door, up the stairs. Kachka Lavka is open from 11:30am-6pm daily. @kachka_lavka | kachkapdx.com/lavka
About Kachka
Kachka sparked a Russian food revolution when Bonnie and Israel Morales opened their Portland restaurant in 2014. In the summer of 2018, Kachka expanded to a new location in Southeast Portland’s Goat Blocks development, and the original location became Kachinka, a more casual restaurant/bar where it’s happy hour all night long. James Beard Award-nominated Chef/Co-Owner Bonnie Morales cooks the food of the former Soviet Union, including many dishes inspired by those she grew up eating in her Belarusian family. Meals at Kachka begin with a table filled with zakuski, Russian drinking food paired with vodka. The warm and lively atmosphere at Kachka turns dinner into an event, fueled by a parade of dishes marked by deep and vibrant flavors such as dumplings, cured fish and pickled vegetables. Kachka serves over 50 different vodka selections, as well a list of house-made infusions, craft cocktails, and a curated list of beer and wine with a focus on Eastern European producers. Kachka is considered by many to be the best Russian restaurant in the country, and is the only Portland restaurant to be included in America’s Essential Restaurants of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 by Eater, inducted into their restaurant “Hall of Fame.” Kachka was named one of GQ’s Most Outstanding Restaurants of 2015 and Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurant nominees in 2015, and was a semifinalist for 2015’s James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. A cookbook of recipes, Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking by Bonnie Frumkin Morales with Deena Prichep, was released in November, 2017 from Flatiron Books to critical acclaim, winning Food 52’s annual cookbook competition, The Piglet. Kachka is located at 960 SE 11th Ave., Portland, Oregon in the Central Eastside neighborhood, and open daily for lunch, dinner and happy hour. Follow Kachka on Instagram and Twitter @KachkaPDX kachkapdx.com