Restaurant destroyed by fire makes a huge comeback
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PORTLAND, Ore. - It's a comeback story the entire Portland restaurant community can be proud of - this week Aviary was named 'Restaurant of the Year' in Willamette Week's annual restaurant guide.
The award comes just a year and a half after a fire, started by a firework, gutted the local restaurant at 1733 N.E. Alberta Street.
"It was hard to not just sit down and cry somewhere," said co-owner Sarah Pliner. "I thought we had lost it. I thought we would never come back."
She and her co-owner did not know many other restaurant owners in Portland. They had been working in New York for years and had no idea that the community was about to rally to help them out.
One restaurant after another, from all over Portland, made donations and did fundraising to help Aviary's owners get back on their feet. And they moved fast - just five months later, the restaurant reopened.
"It sounds cheesy, but the whole experience of our lives is a little better for being part of a community that we appreciate and that appreciates us," Pliner said.
and that's what makes Portland, Portland.
 @beesknees Until occupy goes by and smashes the windows out. Then it will truly be Portland.
Good to see you're back on your feet Ms. Pliner...if I'm in the area ("Alberta?"), uh...best of wishes!
 @str1ngb3nd3r Alberta is an example of why Portlandia is thriving in spite of itself. What used to be boarded up buildings with graffiti and bullet holes all over them is now a booming hipster community. People who don't live in Portland don't understand the bankroll the people who owned property there earned as the values skyrocketed, and turning it into an art, culture and food community made it a win situation for everybody except the residents who, I guess, wish it was still gangland.
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Lower crime, more business, better tax revenue, and small business owners who can survive adversity.
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By the way, Trade Up Music has/had a -great- little new/used instrument store out there similar to The Starving Musician in San Jose.