When we had dinner there not too long ago, we knew we’d go back for brunch. Liza actually went with a group of friends two weeks ago and it was so good that when Paul suggested it on Sunday, she was happy to oblige.

We love the simplicity of the atmosphere, the picturesque but not over the top plate presentations, the unique flavor combinations that work so well,  and the fact that it seems to be steady but not so busy as to have to wait forever for a table…yet. We won’t be surprised if that changes soon.

There are about 7 items on the brunch menu (plus 5 sweet options) and they all sound amazing. Paul went for the ham and leek tart with fried eggs, Parmesan cream and watercress. Paul loves fried eggs. He gets really excited about breaking into the yolk, in an Audrey Tautou/Amelie creme brulee sort of way . Thankfully he held back until a picture could be taken.  Paul also loves watercress.  The only problem is that he still has yet to learn to eat it without feeling like he’s slurping the stems like spaghetti.  This in no way detracted from his enjoyment of the meal.

Liza had the same thing she had two weeks ago, because it was that good. Two eggs, bacon, potatoes and griddled toast. Comfort food, on a new level. A lot of restaurants are serving roasted potatoes these days; Roost has some of the best. The bacon is thick and wonderful. The eggs are fluffy and complimented with herbs. And the toast. Oh the toast. Why isn’t toast always griddled? There should be no other way to make it.

(Sorry for the bad picture. We’re still working on the whole taking-pictures-of-our-food-without-being-super-obvious thing and that means that sometimes we forget to check if it was a clear shot or not. We promise to improve.)

We can’t say enough about this place. If we didn’t have so many other places left to try, we’d eat here often enough to be known by name.

We can no longer be criticized.

il Piatto is 4 blocks from Liza’s house, and she has walked by numerous times wondering if it was any good. A while back there was a livingsocial deal for it and she got one, thinking if it wasn’t good, at least we would have saved 50%. We decided to try it a couple of weeks ago on a cold Thursday evening. We called ahead as the deal said reservations were required, and while she hesitated when Liza asked if we could come tonight, she did say to come on. We arrived around 7:00. There were 4 occupied tables in what was a vast sea of seating. We waited at the front for at least 10 minutes before anyone came out of the back and noticed we were waiting. After we were seated we read the menu, discussed our days,  the weather, Paul’s recent hiking trip, and still no server was found. At this point we realized we had no camera to document this so-far foodless night. Paul ran home to get the camera and while he was gone, a server finally came around and Liza ordered for both. The server was a bit put off by the fact that we only wanted water to drink, but we were a bit nervous about how long it would have taken to get a drink had we ordered one.

Bread was served which was nothing to write about. Actually we can’t even remember it now. But we do remember that the olive oil was awkward to pour because of the spout on the cruet, and it was virtually tasteless.

Liza had the Spaghetti alla Carbonara, which is spaghetti with a cream sauce, house cured pancetta, parsley and Parmesan.  Liza doesn’t normally gravitate to cream sauces, but this one sounded good. It was not great, definitely forgettable, and probably a half a notch above what you would find at Olive Garden. Really, there’s just not much to say about it.

Paul had the Stufato di Manzo, which has a better ring to it. It was a cured beef stew with chanterelle mushrooms, roasted plums, Gorgonzola, all served over gnocchi. These are all foods that Paul likes under most circumstances. In these proportions, the dish was overwhelmingly sweet, which was not expected nor really enjoyed. Even without the plums, the sauce would have been very rich. With them, they overpowered everything to the extent that while the beef had the correct texture, it tasted only of plums.

During our time there, only one or two other tables were seated. Having walked by often and never noticing a crowd, and now experiencing it for ourselves, we have to wonder how long it will survive in this city where perfection has become the norm for all things food. It’s a shame really, as it’s in our neighborhood and we love having great options all around us. This isn’t one we’ll return to.

We needed to salvage the night. Paul remembered another groupon he had for Gilt Club, a restaurant in the Northwest, which happens to be from “The List”, and we thought dessert and dessert wines would redeem the evening. We drove over to the other side of the river and arrived at our 2nd restaurant of the night. It was not overly crowded either, but by this time in the evening, it was well past time for a dinner crowd.

The dessert menu had quite a few amazing sounding options, and we took our time narrowing it down. Paul had the marscapone cheesecake with huckleberries and fresh whipped cream. It was light and airy with a not typical cheesecake flavor and texture, but in a good way. He also had a 10 Year Tawny Port which didn’t last long enough to actually have with his dessert.

Liza had the pear tart with dried cherries, puff pastry, caramel sauce and brown sugar ice cream. It was…amazing. Caramel and pears are always perfectly paired, and the dried cherries could have been a dessert all on their own. You should definitely have one of these now, before they take it off the menu. It was accompanied by the 07 Andrew Rich “ice” Gewurtztraminer, which we are proud to say was made, in part, by Ben-the-winemaker. This was Liza’s first Gewurtz, but it will not be her last.

The night began slow, moved to mediocre entrees, and ended with fantastic desserts and drinks. Gilt Club is worth repeating. il Piatto makes no sense when there is much better food for probably less money very close by.

The Blue Pig is a comfy little cafe in the SE, serving breakfast (all day long) and lunch in a traditional American style. It’s unpretentious, welcoming, brightly decorated, serves large portions for not a large price, and if a table of 10 is seated right before you, your server will come over and tell you he plans to get your order in first.

They are always busy on weekends but more so right now due to the 1600 people who bought the livingsocial deal. We waited about 45 minutes for a table, which was fine as we weren’t in a hurry. We did, however, salivate over the food served at the table we were standing by.

Once we got a table we sat down and began the process of deciding between one of the weekly specials or a regular menu item. Our servers were friendly, helpful, and didn’t mind that Paul first said no to a cocktail until Liza’s Blood Orange Screwdriver arrived and he decided he needed one too. They were delicious, large, and less expensive than brunch cocktails anywhere else we’ve been. It’s worth a trip back just for another one of those.

Paul decided on the savory omelet from the specials menu. It was stuffed with peppers, onions, chilies, pickled jalapenos, chorizo, and garlic, and garnished with salsa and chipotle sour cream. It was served with a rather large side of potatoes and a massive biscuit.  And as the photo reveals, there was way more savory than omelet, not necessarily a bad thing.  We’re often skeptical of large-portion restaurants, seeing as how many use portion size as a substitute for quality.  Not so here.  As far as taste, the quantity of jalapenos was a bit much for Paul’s taste, which meant the meal took a lot longer as he had to wait for his mouth to recover between bites.  Otherwise, no complaints.

Liza went with the breakfast sandwich: eggs, cheddar and bacon on a biscuit, with a side of potatoes.

The biscuits are huge and soft and nearly impossible to get in your mouth with all the goodness inside the sandwich. The bacon was perfectly crisp, and there was plenty of cheddar smothering the well scrambled egg.

The only thing we didn’t really love was the potatoes. They aren’t bad, just slightly on the larger side than what we look for in a breakfast potato. Otherwise, it was all fantastic and a place we will return to down the road.

Caitlin and Chris Clark, as you already know, are some very good friends of ours. They are wonderful people we spend a good amount of time with, and they care about good food, wine, beer and coffee. They cook, they bake, they spend a lot of time and effort growing food in their garden, and we all reap the benefits.

They cook everything well, but Liza’s favorite thing they make is pizza. She’s been fortunate enough to be invited over for pizza dinners quite a few times over the last couple of years. Several months ago they invited us both over and it was, as always, excellent.

Chris makes the dough:

It then gets covered in tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil they grow in their garden.

Some fun salts and red pepper were on the table for each to add to their liking.

Caitlin made a beautiful salad with zucchini and edible flowers.

We ate and ate until we were happily stuffed.

If I remember correctly, we had a couple of different wines that night. Some rose, something white, and some pinot.

After we were full and happy, we walked around their garden for a while and then returned to the table for the berry cobbler Caitlin had made.

If you’re ever invited to the Clarks for dinner, make sure you go. We’re hoping for more pizza dinner invites as soon as basil starts growing this year.

We had some Potato Leek Soup

A simple salad of mixed greens, feta and garlic vinaigrette

And bread made by roommate Chris

Pinot Gris provided by Rachel.

Caitlin had come by earlier with some yummy chocolate chip cookies, which we had as both an appetizer and dessert.

It was the kind of Sunday I’d like to have every week. Next time maybe Paul will be in town for it.

(Info on the recipes coming soon)

Last night we went to a relatively new place in our neighborhood, Roost, which opened about 6 months ago, if memory serves us. Paul had read several good reviews and we were looking for somewhere close by that neither of us had been to.

The first thing we noticed was how unadorned the entire place is. It almost feels like an empty art gallery with tables and a kitchen, in a bright, airy and inviting way. We loved the simplicity and found it a refreshing change from a lot of heavily decorated dining areas and uber modern kitchens.

We had just spent Friday night/Saturday morning and afternoon out at Ben-the-winemaker’s winery and farm, so we chose to forgo any age appropriate libations at this meal. As our waiter pointed out, water is life sustaining.

The menu is relatively short, seasonal, changes often and is Oregon grown whenever possible. They were out of all beef items, so we’ll have to return later to try the open faced burger or skirt steak. Paul had the Grilled Spatchcock Hen with Leek and Parmesan Terrine and Watercress. He didn’t say much about it while he was eating, but there were only bones left on the plate when the waiter took the plate away. It was extremely tender, fatty in a good way, and spiced spot-on with mustard and chives. Neither of us have had leeks as a solo side dish before, and we were quite pleased with the combination of the leeks and cheese mixture in this particular style.

Liza had the Roasted Beet Salad with Horseradish Cream, Watercress and Egg Salad Toast, along with a side order of a Mashed Potato Cake. The horseradish cream was the perfect pairing for roasted beets, and balanced well with the peppery spice of the watercress. The egg salad had several interesting flavors and was great on it’s own, but would be better served on non-pumpernickel toast. Easily resolved by eating the egg salad without the toast. The mashed potato cake was just that: mashed potatoes formed into a cake and lightly fried. Southern comfort food, Portland style.

For dessert we had the recently-added-to-the-menu Chocolate Mousse with whipped cream and biscuits, along with a couple of cups of Stumptown decaf. The biscuits were shaped to spell Roost, which gave the meal a fun finale. It was the right size for sharing as it’s quite rich and creamy, and was just what the coffee needed, at least at this hour of the night. And if it had been possible, Liza would have taken the little jar it was served in. But it wasn’t, and she didn’t.

Roost, we will be back to try more of your menu, and maybe if it’s not raining, we’ll even walk. Until then, Paul will see you wistfully on his bus ride home from work.

The shindig took place at the home of Caitlin and Chris, along with a few of our friends. Caitlin is a genius with all things decor, and made lovely decorations. All of the following pictures were taken by Caitlin or Chris.

We (Caitlin, Chis, Liza) all participated in the making of the desserts.

Caitlin made vanilla cakes with chocolate icing.

Liza made a cranberry upside down cake.

Chris made a tiramisu.

Liza made a pumpkin cheesecake, which would look much prettier if she and her roommate Chris could figure out the temperature issues with their oven!

Not pictured (at least up closely) are the chocolate chip cookies that Caitlin made the dough for, and Chris then topped with smoked sea salt and baked. Or possibly baked and then salted; the order is not clear. Regardless, you should know that they are dangerous cookies. They simply jump off the plate into your hand which then goes directly to your mouth, and then the action repeats, and before you know it, the stack of cookies has drastically shrunk and you have no idea what happened.

It was all so very, very good, and the evening was a lot of fun. We even managed to get a picture of us! This was taken before the sugar comas.

Birthdays are fun! Why don’t we do them more often?

Last night I made dinner for Rachel, Viviana and roommate Chris. It was a dinner I had been wanting to make for a while, since the first thought of fall vegetables and apples came to mind, and I stumbled upon a recipe in the Joy of Cooking for sausage and apple stuffed butternut squash. It wasn’t a meal I was willing to undertake on a weekday, as it is a little time consuming, though not difficult. After making sure Chris was free, and securing two of our meat-eating friends, a full fall dinner was planned.

We started with a pear bruschetta, which was a recipe sent to me by my cousin Vivian, from the Pioneer Woman’s website. The pears were caramelized with butter and cinnamon, with a bit of balsamic vinegar added at the end, and put atop a toasted baguette with a mascarpone/honey spread.  It was really easy and, I think we all agree, delicious. Thank you Vivian and Pioneer Woman!

Our entree was, of course, the squash with apples and sausage. The sausage came from New Seasons, everyone’s favorite local grocery store. I love the meat department there. Not only do I completely trust the products, but I trust the people selling it to me. I told them I needed sausage but I wasn’t sure what kind I wanted. They asked what the dish was. I told them, and they immediately knew which kind of sausage would go best. They were exactly right. It was a country sausage, and it went perfect with the tartness of the granny smith apple, the sweetness of the butter and brown sugar, and the rich, sightly nutty flavor of the squash. It may not be very pretty in these pictures, but it was ridiculously good, if I do say so myself.

The only part of the meal I’m not super thrilled with was the pear and chocolate cake. The recipe came from Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food blogs. I don’t blame the blog or the recipe, because I think I know what needs to be done differently (it was a bit too done, for starters) and I am more than willing to try it again. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I would like for it to be, or as good as I believe it can be.

Drinks were a Randall-Monroe 2007 Chardonnay,  and a Black Butte Porter.

Rachel had also made some cookies, which were delicious and had three kinds of chocolate and nuts, but I forgot to take a picture of them, and there are currently none left.

Earlier this week there was an apple cake made, and currently there are two crock pots full of apple butter waiting to be put away. Yes, that’s the 2nd and 3rd batches of apple butter. It’s gone over quite well. As you can see, we are all really enjoying the fall foods around here, and most of the fruit used this weekend was from the 2nd trip I made to the Apple Festival in which another 19 pounds of apples and pears were bought. A lot has been made already, but I hope to still make a good bit more. I have a feeling when Paul reads this, he’s going to be asking for a redo of this dinner when he’s back in town.

10 apples were peeled, cored, chopped, and coated with lemon juice. This morning they were put in the crock pot with sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, and cooked all day long turning into beautiful apple butter. It’s currently still cooling in the kitchen, and the apartment still smells like an apple pie, which Liza’s roommate Chris said was a major distraction all day. When it gets smeared on some toast, there will be a picture.

After the apple chopping, a few of the pears were turned into a pear pie. The crust was an old faithful recipe belonging to Liza’s Aunt Margie, and the filling came out of an old issue of Gourmet magazine. Paul came over last night and enjoyed a slice with Liza and Chris.

Tonight Paul invited Liza and Chris over for a last minute dinner of a delicious (and healthy, if we don’t think about the butter) strata. It was accompanied by a Pacific Rim dry Riesling wine for Liza and Paul, and a Ninkasi Tricerahops beer for Chris. For dessert we finished off the pear pie, paired with caramel ice cream from none other than Alma Chocolate (for a refresher on the Community Supported Ice Cream deal, go here). Nothing goes together like pie and ice cream, and pear and caramel is a perfect match.

The smell of apple butter, an impromptu strata dinner, and the 3 of us finishing off an entire pear pie in two sittings is a pretty good start to the week.