Sex Worker-Centric Food Delivery Service, Meals 4 Heels, Lands in a New Restaurant Space | Eater Portland

"Started in 2019 by veteran restaurant worker Nikeisah Newton as a late-night delivery service—driving grain bowls and salads to strip clubs at 2 a.m. and taking orders primarily via Instagram DMs—Meals 4 Heels grew into a community-facing operation that has provided meals for fundraisers like Roux and Queer Soup Night, fed protesters fighting police brutality, and supported food-insecure and unhoused Portlanders through mutual aid. Newton now operates a cafe in Southeast Portland inside the Powerhouse Cafe at the Redd on Salmon building, serving walk-up lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the menu preserves signature dishes including the “Gettin That Paper” bowl with cauliflower and sweet potato noodles, the “Verbal Tipper” with lemon-pepper couscous, preserved vegetables, and balsamic, sweet potato glass noodles topped with pickled cucumbers and truffled tomatoes, lemon-pepper couscous with marinated artichokes, spiced mushrooms and chow chow, black-eyed pea fritters often served on collard greens, and house-made sodas. Although Newton still centers sex workers as the core of her business, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed dressing-room deliveries and she hopes to return to that clientele as clubs reopen." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden