Blossoming Lotus Explained

Blossoming Lotus
City:Portland
State:Oregon
Zip:-->
Country:United States
Other-Information:Hawaii

Blossoming Lotus is a counter-service[1] vegan restaurant in Portland, Oregon, US. It was founded in Kapa'a, Hawaii in 2002. At its peak the company had three restaurants, but now only operates a single location in Portland.

History

Blossoming Lotus opened in 2002, with Mark Reinfeld as chef, with financial backing from Bo Rinaldi.[2] In 2006 Blossoming Lotus moved to a larger location at the Dragon Building in downtown Kapaʻa. The original location was transformed into "The Lotus Root: a juice bar and bakery".

The original Blossoming Lotus Cafe in Portland, Oregon opened on July 29, 2009, in the Northeast Irvington neighborhood,[3] [4] and was followed by the closure of their Pearl District location.[5] A fourth location was planned for Mountain View, California, but never came to fruition.

Both Kauai locations closed in 2008 because of debt[6] and a sharp downturn in tourism, a catastrophic flood that hit the island, and the closure of two budget airlines servicing the island.

The Blossoming Lotus style of international vegan cuisine was popularized in the 2004 Vegan World Fusion Cuisine Cookbook, written by founder and executive chef Mark Reinfeld and owner Bo Rinaldi. The book contains an introduction by Jane Goodall and 200 vegan recipes.[7]

In April 2024, Blossoming Lotus announced that their main location in Irvington would close on April 4, 2024.[8] The restaurant was closed a day early on April 3 after running out of food due to an influx of customers.

Awards and recognition

Restaurant

See also

External links

45.536°N -122.6506°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Review: Blossoming Lotus . 4 July 2007 . Portland Food & Drink . 11 February 2019 . 12 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011521/https://portlandfoodanddrink.com/blossoming-lotus/ . live .
  2. News: Viva Las Vegans. Yang. Jeff. 2006-07-06. Asian Pop. 2007-06-18. San Francisco Chronicle. 2007-11-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20071123135204/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2006/07/06/apop.DTL. live.
  3. Web site: Latest News . 2009 . Blossoming Lotus Portland . 2009-08-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090828055856/http://www.blpdx.com/news.php . 2009-08-28 . dead .
  4. Web site: Blossoming Lotus Irvington – Restaurant Grand Opening . 2009 . Food Fight! Grocery . Facebook . 2009-08-26 . 2023-10-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231021063935/https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fnote.php%3Fnote_id%3D112914461970 . live .
  5. News: Butler. Grant. 2010-05-12. Plant yourself at Portland's standout vegan restaurants. OregonLive.com. 2018-07-24. en-US. 2018-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20180724062735/https://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2010/05/plant_yourself_at_portlands_st.html. live.
  6. Web site: Kauai's Blossoming Lotus to close. December 23, 2008. www.bizjournals.com. 2018-07-24. 2009-04-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20090417035050/http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/12/22/daily25.html?. live.
  7. News: Volleyball Stars: Kapa'a restaurant wins PETA award. Chang. Lester. 2006-07-06. 2007-06-18. The Garden Island. 2004-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20041217121919/http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2004/08/23/news/news02.txt. live.
  8. News: Russell. Michael . April 4, 2024. One of Portland’s oldest vegan restaurants has closed for good. The Oregonian. April 4, 2024.
  9. Web site: Ventiera . Sara . 22 January 2020 . Veg Out: 20 Top Vegan Restaurants from Coast to Coast . Food Network . 9 February 2019 . 10 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190210152527/https://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/photos/best-vegan-restaurants . live .
  10. News: Adams . Wanda A. . Alan Wong's repeats win of 'Ilima's Best Restaurant honor . Ilma Awards 2006 Winners . . 2006-10-10 .
  11. Web site: Past Programs and Events . 2006 Platinum Carrot Chef Award Winners . Aspen Center for Integral Health . 2006 . 2007-11-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071021003036/http://acih.org/programs/past-programs.html . 2007-10-21 .