Well, the latest chapter in the continuing Portlandia saga involves roving bands of weed-stealing chefs. No, not that kind of weed; it's stuff like wild chicory, and the chefs are climbing over fences to get into backyards and alleys, scrounging for "free" weeds to incorporate into their organic and sustainable dishes.
"If you live in Portland, you have to know what comes with the neighborhood, and in this case, it's bands of sous-chefs," says Connolly.
Around the back of the apartment building he manages is a fenced-in alley that is filled with wild weeds and greens, apparently ripe for the taking.
"In some neighborhoods there's coyotes, some have skunks – here, it's just sous-chefs and all the things that come with that," Connolly says.
Hey, fresh chicory's not easy to find in the stores. They come in the night for your chicory, for your dock, for your mallow. Beware the stalking of the chefs.
God knows what else they'll come up with.
It's probably just a matter of time before the homeless....