Warning: this post has zero photographs of food.
Pine State
Last weekend held somewhat of a restaurant tour for me. After my coffee date with Carolynne at Ava on Friday (mentioned: here) my brother, Nick, and I met for brunch at Pine State Biscuits. Although I had eaten at Pine State a handful of times at their Belmont spot, this was my first time to their small but still more spacious Alberta location. Nick ordered his standard: The Reggie (fried chicken, bacon and cheese topped with gravy) while I stuck with a healthier standby: a simple biscuit with an egg and cheese coupled with a few bites of The Reggie that my bro couldn’t finish. My typical go-to is a biscuit with fresh seasonal fruit and whipped cream but I didn’t see it on the menu and decided it was a smarter decision to order something with protein. The best of both worlds would have allowed for half and half but, alas, that flexibility only resides in ones home.
FYI I fully made a mental note to photograph my biscuit AND the restaurant sign and neglected to snap both. My life as a full time food blogger is over! Oh wait…it never started. Phew!
Five Spice
Friday night led Jake and myself into Lake Oswego where he wanted to watch the top-ranked high school football team battle another top-ranked Central Catholic. To get some quality date time in before we met up with friends, Jake and I scored happy hour at Five Spice Seafood and Wine Bar. This restaurant has caught my eye numerous times while frequenting nearby frozen yogurt shop, UU. We selected three items plus beer for Jake and a Summer Porch for me (Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea vodka, freshly squeezed lime juice, sugar and a splash of soda water in a tall Collins glass). The Summer Porch embodied summer and was the perfect beverage for a hot summer evening! This is something I would make for a barbeque without a second thought. We split the crab cakes, hamburger and chicken spring rolls. Typically a hamburger hits the spot but we forgot to 86 the mayo making the bun mushy and gross. The springs rolls stood out as an easy favorite.
Saturday we had the wedding. You saw the menu here. Mmm.
Zeppo
Finally, my tour concluded at Zeppo right next to Five Space and UU. My friend Allie selected Zeppo to celebrate her birthday so a group of girls gathered for an Italian dinner. I had the most difficult time deciding what entree to order, particularly because I wanted something unique that included some seasonal veggies (it was nearly impossible). Thankfully, Lisa and Nicole were there too so we each ordered something different and sampled them all.
I went with the Mac n Cheese because it sounded flavorful and delightfully awful for me in spite of the addition of broccoli (give me the greens!!). The dish simply fell flat for all of us but, never fear, we/I ate the whole thing anyway.
Nicole chose a safer option: Chicken and Asparagus Pizza. This was good once I shook half a cup of crushed red pepper on it but I’ve made better in my own kitchen.
At last we come to Lisa’s dish: Rigatoni Porcini (rich, creamy porcini mushroom and thyme sauce smothering rigatoni pasta topped with Romano cheese). This was the creme de la creme. Creamy, yes. Well-seasoned, yes. Delightful combination of flavors, YES! Once bored with my own meal, I took to dipping the table bread in her creamy sauce. It was completely heavenly.
irun2eat 