F is for Firehouse. Literally, an old firehouse turned restaurant is where we dined for "F" last month. Located in NE PDX off Dekum, Firehouse is a charming space with great ambiance that reminded me a bit of Ned Ludd.

They feature pizza cooked from a wood-fired oven and delicious rotisserie among other such sustainable and straightforward fare. The prices are reasonable. The service good. You can't go wrong with anything you order...as evidenced by the pics below. If you don't like food of the comfort variety, I suggest you look elsewhere...but then again, who doesn't love comfort food? Firehouse is a lovely, unique place to take out-of-town visitors, meet friends or go for a romantic evening with your lovah. I highly suggest opting for the 3 course dinner for $27. It's a superb deal that comes with an appetizer, which are very hard to choose from, a salad, and an entree. 

Winter Greens Salad...so filling and delicious

Rotisserie Chicken with ricotta gnocchi

Wood Grilled Hangar Steak!

Salt cod fritters and grilled broccoli                                                           

Pizza Napoletana. Yum!

E is for Enzo's Caffe Italiano!

Last month we went to Enzo's...a tiny, Italian cafe on NE Alberta. I had heard about how amazing the pasta is nay how amazing Enzo himself is from a dear foodie co-worker...so when we arrived at E, I quickly through out the suggestion. Enzo's boasts fresh, made-to-order pasta and I can confidently say that it's the best pasta I've had in Portland and what I imagine my pasta will taste like when I visit Italy someday.

Enzo overseas the preparation of every dish that leaves his kitchen and strives to give his customers a true southern Italian experience. Enzo has been known to visit your table and take pictures with you as well...like he did with our table of 8 grateful women. All in all, it's a fabulous place to go if you want beautiful, authentic Italian food at a reasonable price. Thank you Enzo for a nice evening of pasta and wine! Here are some snaps of our gorgeous dishes:

The mushroom pappardelle! It was to die for!

And here is the Spaghetti alla Carbonara and the Pesto w/Penne. Yummers!

Affogato al cafe! Gorgeous!

D is for Dorio Cafe & Taverna!

What was once a sort of weird, non-descript coffee/flower shop in NW Portland/Nob Hill area, now features a sweet little wallet-friendly cafe by the name of Dorio. Actually, I'm not entirely sure what in the heck the place was before and I lived in this particular neighborhood for many years. Whatever it was, they clearly didn't make an impression on me and went out of business, I'm guessing.

As I said, Dorio now inhabits the space and comes complete with friendly service and authentic greek delights.

One of our dinner clubbers is greek and is consequently a tough sell. She thought, for the most part, this place with its delicate and savory tyropitas and the layered, queen-of-comfort-food itself, Patitsio was legit. If you want good greek comfort food served by actual greeks in an approachable, unpretentious atmosphere that's easy on the wallet, this is your place! http://www.dorionw.com/

Now on to the food porn...

This was some sort of apple spice cake with icecream I believe. I'm not so much a "dessert person"...but if it's there, I'll eat it. It was in fact Delicious!

C is for Cat! The Country Cat Dinnerhouse and Bar that is...

Known for their brunch and glorious fried chicken, we went to visit The Country Cat Dinnerhouse and Bar for our "C" restaurant this past November. I'd heard good things but was kinda turned off by the name to be honest. I don't like associating "Cat" with dinner. Anyhoo, The Country Cat is situated in the up-and-coming neighborhood known as Montavilla. The Observatory is a stone's throw away for those who are familiar with that dining gem. (Note to self, mark that one down to visit for "O".)

The service at "the cat" was ok. Our server seemed annoyed with us because we took more than 3 seconds a piece to order a drink. She wasn't unpleasant, just curt. And forgive me, but I don't want my servers curt, I want them downright friendly! No matter, we had French 79ths on the way which consist of sparkling wine, gin, bitters, grapefruit and elderflower liqueur. Lovely.

We each ordered a main course; three of which were the fried chicken and mashed potato cast-iron skillets. We toiled over what appetizers and side dishes to split (more visible annoyance from server) but eventually arrived at splitting the potato bread (I could have eaten the entire basket myself), sauteed chard (hot, lemony and perfect), and the marinated beets and goat cheese with mint and rosemary walnuts (very good).

Here is the aforementioned chard:

Here is a shot of the fried chicken. Those mashed potatoes are second to none! Trust me. I couldn't get over them. And below is a pic of Jessica's Grilled Idaho Trout. Yum.

I would go back...but perhaps for brunch next time. :)

B- Blossoming Lotus!

Here we are at Blossoming Lotus, our first vegan/live/raw food restaurant...I know, I know, altogether now: "only in Portland". It first started as a cafe connected to Yoga Pearl. I remember going there with Rose a few years ago and felt a little intimidated as the hard core yogis and militant vegans sashayed around. It's also quite awkward to eat your dinner in a hot yoga studio as sweaty people pass you by...weird. Thankfully, upon an assumed smash success and need for more space, Blossoming Lotus decided to move out and become an actual stand-alone restaurant near Irvington in NE.

This restaurant is a perfect example of what I LOVE about living in Portland. It's truly one of a kind. But first, let's address my initial skepticism. Who wouldn't have reservations (no pun intended) about a restaurant serving only vegan/live/raw food? What is "live" food exactly? Seriously, no meat? The pretentiousness alone of an all vegan restaurant had me rolling my eyes...and who can forget the scene in Sex and the City where the girls go to the raw food restaurant and Miranda likens her non-dairy, vegan ravioli to "kindergarten paste".

All skepticism was put to rest upon first bite of my delicious Crispy Thai bbq salad I shared with Jessica:

YUM. The soy curls were so delicious!

Naomi enjoying her "live" nachos

"Live" Falafel Wrap

Some of us arrived skeptics, all of us left happy and full. Thank you, Blossoming Lotus, for making vegan food approachable...and delicious! I think it's safe to say, if you keep serving up dishes like these, you will not have a problem wooing vegans and non-vegans alike. The latter of which may end up swearing off meat altogether!

A is for Autentica

Autentica is tucked away on NE 3oth and Killingsworth amid some of Portland's most talked about restaurants. Beast, which- well, enough said. Yakuza, which we tried a few months ago and serves arguably one of the best burgers in town and DOC, a hot new Italian joint. Still, Autentica manages to hold its own among a tough neighborhood. To kick off round two of our A-Z dinner club, there were just four of us but we had a grand old time! We were one of four parties at the restaurant when we arrived (one of which was non other than our mayor Sam Adams). We were taken to a cozy spot on the back patio. It was a warm and humid evening; perfect patio dining weather. The service was friendly and attentive, but not overly so. The patio is surrounded by brightly painted walls and lights and curious plant life. Now, on to the food:

But first, the wine! After a recommendation from our delightful server, we opted to split a bottle of a 2004 Rioja, similar to a Tempernillo, from Spain. I cannot remember the name of it or the winery but all four of us agreed it was delicious at first sip. In fact, I could've had a bottle to myself. UPDATE: the brand is called, CRIANZA from Vina Amezola. :)

Okay, seriously- on to the food:

Jessica and Linda tried this gorgeous beet salad with onion and radish. Delish!

Jen shared an amazing dish (below) with ricotta stuffed corn fritters topped with mole sauce.

And I had a fabulous pork taco and the "ceviche de cayo tierno" or scallop ceviche to the layperson. Yum!

Although a bit overpriced, we all enjoyed our food, service and the ambiance. We'll return without question. Hasta luego!