Rachel's Guide to Portland: Lovely's Fifty Fifty

As the ever-so-awkward Michael Scott once said, "Pizza. Great equalizer. Rich people love pizza, poor people love pizza, white people love pizza, black people love pizza... do black people like pizza?" I remember laughing out loud the first time I saw this episode of The Office. But it's true- everyone really does like pizza. Especially me.

I wouldn't say I'm Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle obsessed with pizza, but I could go for pizza probably once every week and be quite happy. Especially if that pizza is from Lovely's Fifty Fifty on Mississippi Ave. What makes this pizza place better than the rest, however, besides its delicious pizza, is that they also serve homemade ice cream. This girl's heart is won, twice over (three times if you count the wine).

This past  was in the mood for some pizza and ice cream, so my mom and I headed to Lovely's for dinner on Wednesday. The place was actually fairly empty compared to the other times I've visited (maybe people aren't as into pizza in the Summer?), but that made it quite nice- speedy service.

I started out with some delicious Italian red wine, and my mom ordered a salad to start. Sadly, I was a bit too hungry and talkative to snap any photos of the salad, which is a shame. It was a delicious mixed-greens salad with fresh peaches, goat cheese, and almonds. The peaches in the salad were so incredibly juicy and sweet, and the goat cheese balanced it out nicely. I would go back for this salad alone (and if you want to try it- hurry- the menu changes according to what is in season).

As for pizza, my mom ordered the margarita pizza with mozzarella and basil. I ordered the pizza with Mama Lil's peppers (pickled hot peppers), cured olives, bellwether ricotta, and shaved onions. Something about the combination of pickled hot peppers and ricotta is a match made in Heaven. Seriously, so good. And I love the crust at Lovely's- it is more along the lines of a Neapolitan-style pizza with pillowy-soft edges and a thin middle. The pizza is cooked wood fire-style, which has to be my favorite way. Bonus: no use of cornmeal (I hate when places use cornmeal to dust the crust, not just because I'm allergic to corn). Seriously, I think this is the best pizza in town.

And now for the fun part- ice cream. It is no secret that I am a dessert fiend, and ice cream just might be my kryptonite. Growing up, I always preferred ice cream over cake, and even now, I will take good homemade ice cream over cake any day. And Lovely's makes good homemade ice cream. This week, my mom tried the sour cherry and I tried the blackberry. Oh man, this blackberry ice cream was good. Often times, fruit ice cream ends up a bit icey and less creamy. Not so with this blackberry ice cream- it was as smooth and creamy as can be, with no chunks (which I am not fond of). Really, it was a dream and I am making myself hungry just thinking about it.

A note on service: the first time I visited with my family, my nephew knocked my sister's ice cream on the floor before she had much of a chance to eat any. The servers brought my sister a new scoop of ice cream on the house. That, my friends, is how you create repeat customers. I've been back many times since.

How do you feel about pizza and ice cream? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

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Rachel's Guide to Portland: Bamboo Sushi

How many of you like sushi? I absolutely love it, but I can be a bit picky about it. Here in Portland, we have access to great, fresh seafood, so when it comes to sushi, I want to know that the seafood comes from the best sources.

Enter: Bamboo Sushi. I have only ever visited the NW location, so I can't vouch for the SE location. The NW outpost is rather trendy, but don't let that fool you- it deserves its reputation. It also happens to have an incredible happy hour menu where you can pig out on wine and sushi for an absolute steal!

So, let's get to it. When I arrived Wednesday night, my mom was already seated in the bar and had ordered a very vibrant salad. It was perfect for a hot Summer day- light and bright. I ordered a very nice glass of red for $4, which is a really sweet deal in this town.

After salad, my mom and I ordered the nigiri flight, which included shrimp, albacore, salmon, and tuna. I let my mom have the lighter two while I took the darker fish. I love tuna, and this was some really good stuff. The salmon was great too- none of that fishy taste, which is an indication of less than fresh fish. Both fish simply melted in my mouth. Pure deliciousness.

Next, we had the NW Philly roll, which is a salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber roll fried in tempura batter. Say what now?! Yes. OMG, it it so stinking good. I've ordered it every time I've gone to Bamboo because it is so delectable.

My mom and I ended with the California roll, because we wanted to save room for dessert at Salt & Straw next door. I still ended up rolling out of Bamboo a little more full than I should have, given that I was going to top it all off with ice cream. But the California roll was worth it.

Despite leaving the restaurant feeling full, our tab came out to somewhere around $25, which I think is excellent for happy hour for two! Considering the high quality of the food and wine, it is an absolute steal. If you haven't been, I suggest you go soon, and if you do, would you please bring me along? Thanks.

How do you feel about sushi? Portlanders- have you been to Bamboo Sushi? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

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Rachel's Guide to Portland: Levant

How do you feel about Middle Eastern food? I'm kinda sorta crazy about it. In part, it's because it's so vegetarian-friendly, but also because it just tastes so freaking delicious. I am all about the foods of the Mediterranean- olives, pita, hummus, falafel, honey, feta. What is not to love?

So, when I found out about a fancy Middle Eastern fusion restaurant in Portland, I had to check it out. Levant is located on E. Burnside, not far from the new Pix Patisserie. The dining room is fairly small, and it filled up while we were there (we arrived before opening).

We started the evening off with drinks. I chose the Tripoli, a sparkling wine with gin and rose jam. My dad had the Middle Eastern Standard, which is a bourbon drink. Both were delicious, but I think next time I would go for my dad's drink. Sometimes you just gotta go for bourbon.

For food, we started with olives, which are served warm and are marinated in spices. I'm a huge olive fan, and these were incredibly tasty. 

Next up, we ordered the fried haloumi, which is a cheese, and it was served with honey and walnuts. This dish straight up took me to Heaven because it was out of this world delectable. We also ordered some of the fresh, warm pita which was served with aleppo pepper honey butter, which is another word for awesome.

We also enjoyed the fava bean falafel, served with tahini and pickles. This falafel was so fresh and hearty, without being heavy. Spicy, too. I love me some falafel, and this one did not disappoint. Sadly, I did forget to photograph the falafel and the fava bean salad that we enjoyed- it was light and citrusy, perfect for the hot day that we had.

Finally, dessert. You should know by now about my relationship with dessert (i.e. my undying passion). Levant had a really creative dessert menu that had me a little giddy. I love pistachios (which I discovered after I returned from Greece with a small bag of pistachios from Aegina), and there were two pistachio desserts on the menu. Two! Finally, pistachio beats almond (which I loathe)! I went for the pistachio and white chocolate phyllo cigars with apricots poached in sparkling wine and candied ginger. My tongue was very happy. So was my belly. I left Levant feeling very satisfied, and happy to have found a new favorite place for Middle Eastern cuisine.

Have you ever had Middle Eastern food? How do you feel about pistachios vs. almonds? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

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Rachel's Guide to Portland: Irving St. Kitchen

Have you ever decided to go to a restaurant based solely on the desserts they offered? If so, then you're the kind of person I would love to go out to eat with. Dessert was a major factor, besides location, in choosing Irving St. Kitchen for last week's dinner with mom.

 Irving St. Kitchen is a Southern food restaurant with a Northwest flair. They serve fancier (i.e. more expensive) versions of Southern comfort food classics, like fried chicken or ham and biscuits. Their happy hour, however, is very reasonably priced, and I was quite surprised that the place wasn't busier given its location in the Pearl District.

The drink menu is fairly extensive: they serve very nice, suitably-priced wines for happy hour, they have a creative cocktail menu, and they even have wines on tap! I opted for the red wine (I was in need of some calming), and my mom surprised me by ordering a cocktail: the Black Thorne, which was made with plymouth gin, plymouth sloe gin, carpano antica, and orange bitters. My wine was very nice and smooth, and mom's cocktail was the bomb- floral, lightly sweet, and very fragrant with an orange twist!

For food, I was in a salad and french fries mood (it happens), so I ordered the Green Goddess Caesar which was made with fresh, crisp romaine leaves and croutons that melted in the mouth. My mom and I split the fries from the happy hour menu, which were served with a garlic aioli (warning: this aoili made me not enjoy my own company afterward, if you catch my drift; if you want to impress anyone afterward, I recommend skipping the aioli, despite how yummy it is). My mom ordered the ham and biscuits, which came with a red pepper jelly. I sampled a little bit of biscuit with the red pepper jelly and oh my! It was a nice, tender biscuit and the red pepper jelly was such a surprise- sweet, but not overly so.

Finally, it was time for dessert. It was somewhat tough to narrow it down to two desserts for us to share, but we decided on the butterscotch pudding and the banana and chocolate marjolaine. I was kind of expecting to have to horde my dessert, given how it seems that the pricier the restaurant, the smaller the dessert. Not so here. In fact, there was so much dessert, my mom and I each had leftovers. Leftover dessert?! Say what?!

Seriously, both were incredibly delicious. The black bottom butterscotch pudding was sweet, buttery, and there was a layer of chocolate at the bottom (be still my heart). As for my marjolaine, oh man, it was delicious. Layers of chocolate, banana cake, vanilla frosting, and bruleed bananas on the side. You should know that I really love bananas and chocolate together. So basically, I was in heaven. Twice. Because I had leftovers.

I highly recommend this place, especially for happy hour. You get a lot of bang for your buck, and then you can top it off with a bomb dessert. So, to drown your sorrows after realizing you can't afford anything in the shops in the Pearl, get yourself a bite and a drink at Irving St. Kitchen.

How d you feel about dessert? Portlanders, have you been to Irving St. Kitchen? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

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Rachel's Guide to Portland: Nostrana

There once was an Italian restaurant called Nostrana. It resided in Portland, east of the Willamette River. Nostrana was known for negronis and pizza. And it was visited by a woman named Rachel.

Rachel loved Nostrana with all her heart (or, more like, her stomach). The ambiance was just right for her- enough space so that she felt she had privacy, open enough that she could watch the buzzing room around her, and friendly enough that she felt at home. She particularly admired the bar that reached way up to the ceiling, and she enjoyed watching the pizzas cook in the brick oven.

On this particular visit, Rachel was dining with her father. Her dad had instilled in her a sophisticated love of wine, and so the two ordered the flights that were available that evening: she the wines of the Ligurian coast, and he the wines of the Langhe region. Her flight began with prosecco (which was dry, fruity, crisp, and bubbly), was followed by a lovely Pigato, and finished with a delicious Vermentino. His flight began with a dolcetto, was followed by a barbera, and finished with a nebbiolo. Rachel's love of Italian wines deepened that night, and she made a mental note to get back out to the Marchesi vineyard in Hood River.

Rachel and her father started out with a raddichio salad and a tuna and cannelini bean dish. The raddichio salad was a lot like a Caesar, with raddichio in the place of romaine. The tuna dish, however, was unlike anything she had had before. It was comprised of flaky white tuna, fat cannelini beans, thinly sliced red onions, giardiniera, and olive oil. Giardiniera, Rachel learned, was pickled vegetables- in this case, celery, carrots, and radishes. Rachel loved the dish so much, she vowed to recreate it (hoping to do so for the 4th of July).

The main course was a funghe verdi pizza. Rachel and her father both enjoy mushrooms, and this pizza had lots of them. It was also topped with lots of fresh arugula and pecorino cheese. Rachel was so giddy to snip into the pizza (the pizza is served with a pair of scissors for cutting), that she forgot to take pictures of the virgin pizza. Food waits for no man, not even Rachel.

Finally, Rachel and her father topped off the meal with dessert for her and cheese for him. Rachel was in a chocolate mood and the budino was right up her alley- smooth, rich, creamy. Her father enjoyed the sheep's milk cheese, which came with honey, crackers, and figs. Both Rachel and her father were happy with their meal, and left the restaurant with smiling tummies.

Have you ever had a restaurant experience that brought you such delight? Portlanders- have you been to Nostrana? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

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Rachel's Guide to Portland: Little Bird

You know how some types of cuisine make you feel comfortable and nostalgic all at once? For me, that cuisine is French food. I've lived in France twice, and during my first stay, my host family made a point of educating me about good French food. At the time, I was an omnivore and willing to try anything. Now, as a vegetarian, I don't get to eat many of the foods that I once loved (choucroute garnie, anyone?), but I still love the atmosphere of a French restaurant, and the kind of love that goes into French dishes.

My local favorite is Little Bird. It's a fancy little spot in downtown Portland, and appears to be frequented by business-types and couples out for a special evening. For me, it's a nice place to eat with my parents.

The wine list is very French-centric (as it very well should be), and they have a rather nice French-inspired cocktail menu. On this visit, I opted for the "La Vie En Rose," named after my favorite French song. Featuring pisco, Lillet rose, and pamplemousse liqueur (grapefruit liqueur for you non-French speakers), it was an absolute delight. I love grapefruit cocktails, and this one was perfectly chic and refreshing. I felt like a skinny French woman sipping this cocktail as I waited for my mom to arrive.

As a starter, my mom and I ordered the sheep's milk cheese of the day: Le Berger Basque. The Basque Shepherd. I adore sheep's milk cheese, all thanks to my French host parents. They had recently returned from visiting the Pyrenees when I went to live with them, and they had brought back some sheep's milk cheese with them. It was love at first bite. I love the earthiness, the nuttiness. Le Berger Basque was no disappointment. It was technically a hard cheese, but it had such a smooth, creaminess to it. Paired with the accompanying rhubarb jam and candied hazelnuts, it was a match made in Heaven. I was definitely seeing la vie en rose.

For the main course, I ordered soup and salad. The soup of the day was a cream of celery root with waldorf salad on top. I forgot that waldorf salad includes bleu cheese, but luckily there wasn't too much of it to ruin the soup for me. The soup itself was very creamy, perfect for the rainy day we had been having. My salad was a butter lettuce salad with mint dressing, radishes, and pecorino cheese. I don't think I've had a fresher salad in a restaurant before this. They might as well have picked the greens from the garden right before putting them on the plate. The dressing was light, and it was all so crisp, I had to feel proud of myself for eating so healthy in a French restaurant where rich foods tend to be de rigeur.

My mom ordered the Sherry-Glazed Pork Shoulder with roasted corn, fingerlings, manchego and padron peppers. My mom said that it was delicious, and given how big it was, she took the rest home and said that the leftovers heated up very nicely.

Dessert was a tough choice, but I ordered the strawberry ile flottante and my mom ordered the chocolate profiterole with cookie ice cream and mint. I think the pictures speak for themselves. All I can say about these is that they were both delicious.

One of the things that makes Little Bird special is that when they bring you your bill, they also bring you enough mini macarons for each person at the table. They make them there in the restaurant, and the flavors change constantly. This time, they were carrot cake macarons. Such a wonderful way to end a nice meal.

What kind of food makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

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Rachel's Guide to Portland: Ox

How does this sound: Argentinian inspired food with a Northwest flare? You would think that a vegetarian like myself would have a hard time finding something to eat in such a place, but I am here to tell you quite the opposite. It was hard to narrow down which veg-friendly dishes to try.

I will admit that my first experience at Ox was a little off-putting. In fact, I did not stay to eat that first time. It was a Friday night at 6pm in Winter, a very rude lady barged in front of me and was seated before me and my dad, and then we were told that it would be about a 90-minute wait. No go. This girl gets hangry. So we left and I made a mental note to never come on a Friday night (they don't take reservations for small parties- I hope that changes soon). Visit #2 was Wednesday night- the night before Valentine's Day. Arriving at 5:30pm my mom and I were given an hour wait, but told that we could wait in the Whey Bar right next door- the restaurant would call me when our seat was ready. I can handle waiting a bit for dinner if a drink and some nibbles are involved.

Sorry for the iPhone photos- my DSLR was having a meltdown :(

 So Wednesday night this past week was my 3rd experience at Ox, this time with my dad. He arrived before me (thank you insane traffic on a sunny day in Portland), so he snagged us a seat at the bar in front of the grill (precisely where my mom and I had been seated in February). After my traffic fiasco, I was in dire need of a drink and was delighted to see a cocktail named Barbarella on the list. I love Jane Fonda, and Barbarella was a wacky movie, so I had to get this drink. It didn't hurt that it had rhubarb in it. Seriously, you can't go wrong with gin, rhubarb shrub, lemon, and powdered sugar. So freaking good and way to easy to drink.

My last visit to Ox proved to be delectable, so I was hoping that it was not a fluke. We were brought some tasty bread with chimichurri and complementary cauliflower-mushroom soup. I tried to suck as much soup as I could out of the little teacup because, man, was it yummy.

My dad and I started with the dungeness crab bruschetta, and I about died. It was so delicious. Like a party in my mouth. I swear every flavor profile was represented. There was sweet, salty, tangy, rich, and something I couldn't quite place. That's what happens when you combine toast, dungeness crab, avocado, radish, roe, and a mystery sauce.

Next up, we ordered the carrots and endive salad. That might sound boring, but both were incredible. The endive salad came with toasted pecans, blue cheese, and rhubarb sauce. Rhubarb! I let my dad have all the blue cheese (tastes like a musty cellar to me), but man that rhubarb sauce was a nice touch. The carrots were equally delicious (I could tell because I didn't save either of them for last- I ate them both equally, time-wise)- soft, but not mushy, with goat cheese (my fave) and truffled pistachios (say what?!). You guys, these veggies were awesome!

Finally, I managed to save a little room for dessert (have to keep that dessert pocket open, always), so I ordered the chocolate option: chocolate cake with malted chocolate mousse, peanut butter creme anglaise, and malbec marshmallows. Individually, each element was delicious, and together it was magic. The cake was perfect- soft, moist, chocolatey. The mousse was divine (I love malted chocolate anything), and the peanut butter creme anglaise...needs to be replicated at home. And the marshmallows? So fun! The perfect way to adultify a kid favorite.

My verdict? I love this place. I love sitting at the grill and watching the guys prepare all of the meats. I love that this is another place where dishes are served family-style and are meant to be shared. I love the amazing food and the equally delicious cocktails. And I really love the desserts. Go! Just try to make it early on a weekday night.

Have you ever had Argentinian food? What is your favorite cocktail you've ever had? Let me know in the comments below!

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Rachel's Guide to Portland: Roost

I think I've mentioned before that on Wednesday nights, I usually go to dinner with one or both of my parents. This week was dad week, and we joined by a work colleague of his.

I wanted to go to Roost because I had gone there the week before and absolutely loved everything I had. I needed to eat it again, soon. You guys, this does not happen often. I prefer to keep trying new things, even when I find what I think is my new favorite. Roost really called for a repeat visit, and since my first was with my mom, I did not feel bad repeating it so soon with my dad. He needed to eat here.

Roost is an unassuming little place in a brick building on Belmont. The dining room is small, but that doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. It was also relatively empty on a Wednesday night, so it made me feel like we might have stumbled upon an underrated spot.

The menu is not huge, but is jam-packed with plates that sound delectable. The cocktail menu is particularly interesting, with several drinks featuring mint, and a few bourbon cocktails. I started off with the Brown Derby, a cocktail made of bourbon, grapefruit juice, and honey. I think I may have found my new signature cocktail- it had everything I love in a drink. Manly bourbon, girly sweetness, and a kick of juice. My dinner companions enjoyed the gruner veltliner and the prosecco, each having two glasses of their chosen drink. So the verdict on the drinks is: good!

We also started out with some small plates to share: the salt cod cakes and the zucchini fries. In all honesty, the zucchini fries were a bit on the salty side for me (I'm sensitive to salt and prefer dishes that go easy on it), but the special ketchup they were served with was pretty tasty. The salt cod cakes, on the other hand, were divine. They were sizable fried balls filled with potato and cod and coated with breading. We drizzled the accompanying lemon over the cakes, and dipped them in the dilly sauce that came with them. Seriously, these were good, and they were pretty big. There were three of them, so we each got to have one each.

For the main course, I went for the same dish I had had the week before. It is probably my favorite savory dish I have ever eaten, ever. Vegetarian smoked gouda dumplings with mushrooms, mustard greens, brown butter sauce and lemon. Is your mouth watering yet? I seriously want to go back and eat it again. Those dumplings were the right combination of soft and chewy, with some of them being slightly crispy from browning. The mustard greens tasted like mustardy spinach, which is awesome, because I happen to love both mustard and spinach. Major win. And the mushrooms- cooked to perfection, nice and juicy. You guys, this dish is heaven.

My dinner companions both ordered the chicken, and since I am a vegetarian, I cannot attest to its quality, but I can say that my dad wolfed his down and his colleague ate as much as she possibly could. My dad said he enjoyed it, and his colleague absolutely raved about it.

Given that I cannot leave a restaurant without eating dessert, I had to check out their offerings. The week before my mom and I split the s'mores pie and the vanilla custard cake, but the desserts were so big it was impossible to finish. So this week, the three of us split the vanilla custard cake. It's not often that vanilla gets the spotlight at a restaurant. It's too easy for vanilla to come off as plain. Not so here. This is more of a pastry- two layers of puff pastry filled with thick vanilla bean custard. I love me some custard, and this did not let me down. It was thick, rich, and full of vanilla flavor. Seriously, you guys, it's good.

I hope that if you're in town, you'll give this place a shot. The food is so amazing, and the service was very friendly. Parking was also very easy to find on the side street, and I'm sure buses pass nearby. So really, you have no reason not to go.

Portland folks- have you been to Roost? Let me know in the comments!

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