This past weekend my older sister took me on our very first "sister trip" to Portland, Oregon. We went to celebrate my 21st birthday in this beautiful city, and of course to eat as much good food as possible. We spent the whole weekend eating Portland's best and celebrating my belated birthday. We did our research beforehand and decided to hit up downtown Portland as well as the suburbs (which have the cutest houses, streets, trees, and neighborhoods ever!). We started our trip on a Thursday evening, and had our last dinner on a Saturday night. Our first and last meals were perfect, and it felt like home away from home.
Mother's Bistro and Bar
Since we got in on a Thursday evening (thanks to a 2 hour plane delay), we decided to just hang out and chill for the night before we started our weekend adventure. We made reservations for Mother's Bistro and Bar in downtown Portland, specifically in the area of Oldtown and Chinatown. We took the MAX train and walked up to this gorgeous old building and on the corner was Mother's. Walking in, it truly felt like I was in someone's home. With country decor and couch booths, I felt comfortable, safe, and cozy. My sis and I were seated by the window. Our waitress was so lovely as well, and gave us perfect service. Exhausted from traveling, we were in need of homemade comfort food.
Mother's Appetizers
To start, we ordered the Matzo Ball Soup and the Chicken Liver Patè. The matzo ball soup was divine. Garnished heavily with dill, it was slightly lemony with hints of fennel. The matzo balls melted perfectly with the soup, and it was so comforting especially after a long day. The chicken liver patè was the star of the entire meal, I must say. I am a huge fan of patè and chopped liver, especially on bagels. This patè was served with buttery crackers and oh.my.god...it was everything I imagined and more. Despite the country, cozy feel, this dish tasted elegant and exceeded my expectations.
Mother's Entreès
Our appetizers were so good, we were excited to order our entreès. My eye caught the Pot Roast, and my sister's caught the Chicken Fried Chicken. The pot roast was served with mashed potatoes and corn and zucchini succotash. The pot roast was so soft and melted in my mouth. It was filled with juicy flavor and tasted like an old family recipe. You could tell that it had been slow-cooking for hours. The chicken fried chicken was also extraordinary. Y'know when you sometimes get fried chicken but the breading/coating isn't right and it falls off the chicken? This was not the case. The breading was perfectly crisp and thin enough to stick onto the chicken to give it that balance of juicy chicken with a crunchy bite. It was served with collard greens and mashed potatoes. We were in comfort food heaven.
Mother's Desserts
By dessert time, I thought I was going to be too full to move. This was true, but I can always make room for dessert. The waitress knew we were celebrating my birthday, and asked if I liked chocolate. Being a total chocoholic, I was excited to see what she would bring out for me. A few minutes later, she brought out a giant, layered Devil's Cake. I wish I took a picture of this monster of a cake, but I was too intrigued with its beauty. I am usually not a cake type of gal, but just by the looks of it I knew this would be my kind of cake. The cake was moist and dense, and chocolatey perfection. In between each layer of cake was the richest chocolate ganache that was thick, cold, and heavenly. I surely was in chocolate heaven. My sister and I got through half of it and were ready to fall into a wonderful deep slumber. But, the waitress said we weren't completely finished yet, because at Mother's you end every meal with a cookie. She brought out 3 mini cookies for us to share, fresh baked from the day. It was truly a flawless meal, with flawless service. Mother's made my sis and I excited for what was to come during our weekend.
Nostrana
Our last night of our Portland trip was on Saturday. We were tired from our weekend festivities and our busy day consisting of mimosa brunch and the Portland Saturday Market. We had reservations for Nostrana, an Italian restaurant in a cute Portland suburb. Nostrana prides itself on using local ingredients and authentic Italian food. The restaurant was a mix of industrial and rustic decor, and was packed. Definitely seemed like a neighborhood fav. The aroma was amazing and the crowd was poppin' (but not in an overwhelming way). Before we ordered, fresh, rustic Italian bread was brought to the table with olive oil, aka my fav combo. This was not your average olive oil you could buy from any market. This olive oil had a bite and tasted pungent and bitter. Just from this, I knew this restaurant was going to be good.
Nostrana's Appetizers
To start, my sis and I split some burrata and prosciutto served with snap peas. I am a burrata fanatic, so whenever I see it on a menu, I have to get it. It paired great with the prosciutto, and was drizzled with olive oil and cracked black pepper. Creamy cheese with salty prosciutto can never do any harm. We also split the Insalata Nostrana, which was a radicchio salad, with parmesan, homemade rosemary-sage croutons, and Caesar style dressing. This had to have been one of the best salads of my 21 years of life. The radicchio was bitter, crunchy, and fresh and the dressing was made with raw egg and tasted delish with the croutons. So. freakin. good. I wish every salad tasted like that.
Nostrana's Entreès
My sis and I had a hard time deciding what to order for our mains, so we asked our kind waiter what he recommended for us. He suggested the Bolognese as well as the Vongole Bianco pizza. The bolognese was meaty, juicy, and served with short pasta that was al dente with every bite. The pizza was a clam pizza, with oregano, garlic, smoked mozzarella, provolone, and gremolata. My sis and I have never eaten a clam pizza and wanted to step outside our comfort zone. It was amazing. The pizza was lemony to compliment the clams, and the cheeses blended together magically to make every bite addictive. I kept going back for more pasta and pizza until it was all gone.
Nostrana's Dessert
Nostrana's dessert was quite possibly one of the best desserts I've had in a long time. I got back to LA last Sunday, and I have thought about it at least once a day since then. We ordered the cheesecake. Yeah, yeah, yeah, how outstanding could a cheesecake from an Italian restaurant be? It's hard to mess up. It's easy to have cheesecake blend in with all the other cheesecakes you have tried. But no. This cheesecake was something else. It was fluffy yet dense, and it was served with strawberry jam, olive oil (the olive oil makes yet another comeback), flake salt, and black pepper. I never knew a savory cheesecake could exist. I never knew a cheesecake with olive oil, black pepper, and salt could taste so effing magical. Digging in with the perfect ratio of cheesecake to strawberry jam to saltiness made for the best cheesecake I've ever eaten and probably will eat for the rest of my life.
Perfect Start and Ending
As if you couldn't already tell, I fell in love with these two restaurants in Portland. Mother's Bistro and Bar is the perfect restaurant to start your trip. Every staff member makes you feel at home. You can tell every dish is made with love, just like how a mother's dish should be. They emphasize that the best dishes aren't found in restaurants, but they are found in people's kitchen's and homes. Mother's definitely surpassed their goal of making every dish filled with love, and making their customers feel like family. Nostrana was a great place to end the trip, with it's upscale flavors and authentic Italian food. Eating at Nostrana made me feel like I belonged in that cute Portland suburb, and that it was my fav neighborhood Italian joint. Nostrana, if you're reading this, ship a whole cheesecake to my house. K, thx, bye.