• Want fresh-ground hazelnuts mixed with chocolate? Head over to South Willamette's Market of Choice bulk section — they’ve struck gold with a make-your-own-Nutella contraption. Just resist the temptation to position your mouth under the spigot and pull the lever.
• Tokyo Tonkatsu owner Diana Lee says she’s planning to close down her sushi place on April 13 and focus her efforts on her other restaurant, Sushi Seoul. Tokyo Tonkatsu occupies space on 201 W. Broadway in downtown Eugene, and the property is owned by Broadway Place Apartments.
• A new gluten-free cafe is in the works, with Alex Moon heading up the effort. Sundial Cafe & Bakery will feature an all gluten-free and vegetarian menu, with additional options for vegans. Future dishes include banana-blueberry waffles, vegan sweet potato enchiladas and chocolate-banana-walnut pancakes. Moon is funding the project with an online Kickstarter campaign that ends April 3. As of press time, she has raised $10,500 of her $12,000 goal. If the necessary funding comes through, she plans to open the cafe sometime between August and October of this year.
• Mexican restaurant El Jarro Azul has closed down, and a new Mexican restaurant is taking its place: El Patron. Located at 764 Blair Blvd., El Patron opened March 27, and manager Shawna Bowers says owners Juan Rodriguez-Diaz and Jorge L. Corcuera opened a restaurant in Junction City last year, and it was so successful that they decided to open a second location in Eugene. “We have been told we have one of the best carne asadas in the area,” Bowers says, adding that down the road, the restaurant will have DJ music on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as salsa dancing.
• A reader recently wrote to EW lamenting over a perceived lack of decent cream cheese in town and crooning for “real cream cheese,” which “looks like fluffy whipped cream, full of fat and divine.” We have a fondness for Humble Bagel’s creamy confection, but perhaps there are others out there? Let us know.