• Belly Restaurant and Belly Taqueria once had the same owners, Brendan and Ann Marie Mahaney, but Belly Restaurant was sold to Diana and Steve Lee in 2015. Now the announcement of the taqueria’s closing (see our story Aug. 24) has caused some confusion for the popular downtown restaurant, which has no plans to close. Belly Restaurant at 30 E. Broadway is still very much in business. The taqueria at 454 Willamette Street will become a New Orleans-inspired restaurant called the Black Wolf Supper Club. A kickstarter campaign for Black Wolf has raised nearly $30,000, and the Mahaneys have promised to match donations. Remodeling is planned inside and out.
• Flavors Catering and Events reported to police that its portable commercial oven and trailer were stolen from Oakway Golf Course Friday night, Sept. 1. “It had to be a group of people as it was pushed through the golf course and then eventually hooked up to a truck of some kind,” Jeannie Loomis says on the Eugene Food Carts Facebook page. “What is wrong with people! This is part of how we make our livelihood.” She says security video was working that night.
• Equiano Coffee Company of Eugene is expanding and has opened a Specialty Coffee Tasting Room at 300 Blair Boulevard in the Whiteaker neighborhood. “We wanted to create a space to showcase our more rare and exotic coffees,” says co-owner and roast master Okon Udonsenata. The tasting room offers unique treats such as cashew milk cappuccino and espresso milkshakes, along with local pastries and confections. The company has also launched a new e-commerce website, equianocoffee.com. “Today the Whiteaker, tomorrow the world,” says Udonsenata.
• Hospice Pet Advocates is a new Eugene-based nonprofit that targets “unintentional pet abandonment due to a medical emergency or death.” The charity is directed by Ruth Helle, a medical social worker, and Thea Peck, a hospice RN. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help build a small animal shelter and raise start-up funds. Find the group at hospicepetadvocates.org or call 541-632-3217.
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