Sunday, August 29, 2010

A night in The Pearl - Everett Street Bistro

Another night out with the ladies, but this time we enjoyed some fantastic fresh cafe cuisine at Everett Street Bistro. I have eaten lunch here before and I really enjoyed it so I decided to bring my girlfriends back for an evening out. My favorite part of this restaurant are the light colors and the french cafe ambiance. When you walk in, you are greeting by a cold case with delicious desserts, pastries and fresh baguettes. The place is a small, but the bar is open and the ceilings are high so it is spacious but cozy.

Since the weather was nice, we took advantage of the outdoor seating around the building. I figured I would just order water until I saw the cocktail menu! There was no way I was going to pass up a mojito or mango martini. I was not expecting such an extensive cocktail list at a bistro, but was pleasantly surprised. With our cocktails, we also ordered the Pomme Frites.

You can just read the description and see there is no need to stay more..."thinly sliced fried potatoes & garlic cloves tossed with rosemary & thyme served with lemon aioli." YUM! They are made in truffle oil so that makes them healthy right?

So, after we indulged in our fries, we somehow still had room for our entrees. I ordered the Carbonara Pasta, Kelsey ordered the Mac n' Cheese and Aly had the Pulled Pork Sandwich. We all wanted to try different things so we could compare of course.

The pork sandwich was fantastic. It was not your traditional pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and barbecue sauce. This sandwich had avocado, a black bean spread and melted provolone on it. Oh yes, and did I mention it was huge and came with a side green salad too?!
Kelsey's mac n' cheese was made with smoked gouda, caramelized onions and house pancetta (she got it without the pancetta though). It also came with a side of garlic toast...just what we needed, as if the garlic fries weren't enough.

I had the carbonara pasta, but was not overly impressed. It had great flavor, but it was my least favorite out of the three. So, I would recommend the mac n' cheese if you want pasta. The menu seems to change as well and it looks like they have some other speciality pastas depending on the night you go.



I will return for a third time to Everett Street Bistro I am sure...even if it is just for those darn french fries!

1140 NW Everett Street
Portland, Oregon 97209
503.467.4990

Enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner! Take a look at the menus too.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

It is berry season in Oregon!

So in my last post I said that the weather and beer festivals were my favorite parts of summer...but I have to tell you, berry picking is right up there too. Since I drive to Newberg at least five times a week for work, I drive by all the berry farms and fruit vendors and it makes me crave fresh raspberries every time. So, I decided on my day off I would take my sisters berry picking. We tried recruiting some other people, but apparently to them, picking berries is a chore. They are all crazy.


After we gathered up our containers, we headed out to Rowell Bros on SW Scholls Ferry Road, just ten minutes outside of Beaverton. Each year we try and visit a new berry farm and so far we have had good luck at all of them. I drove by Rowell Bros a few weeks ago and it looked like the perfect stop.

Rowell Bros had so many different types of berries too, not just raspberries. They had Coho Red Raspberries, Logan Berries, Marionberries, Siskiyou Blackberries, Boysenberries and Blueberries.There were rows and rows of them! Most all the berries are only $o.99 a pound too.

We started with the raspberries, then marioberries and last blackberries. No one really eats blueberries in our family, so we skipped those. My sister Haylie was a pro at picking them, probably picking like 30 berries a minute. My other sister Kenzie was the opposite, she lost interest after about fifteen minutes. She ate more berries than she picked. Real helpful, but I guess she offered some good entertainment.

We had a great time and picked quite a few in just an hour. All those berries for only $17!
I suggest going to check them out and bring your own container, it saves you a couple bucks!

Rowell Bros
24050 Sw Scholls Ferry Rd Hillsboro or 97123
Open Mon- Sun from 9am - 6pm
U-Pick or They-Pick