Also, I believe in signs...first, when I was getting off the interstate in Philly to get to the airport, I turned onto Oregon St. The second is that I was re-reading my recipe for my limoncello (to be finished next week) and I realized that the restaurant the New York Times interviewed is in Portland!! Well it was then on my list to try this limoncello. It was bright and very lemon forward and not a lick of bitterness (trust me, I will pick out any little wisp of bitterness)...my mom was with me and said the limoncello I started for her around Thanksgiving tasted very similar, so I'm hoping mine tastes similar!!
Overall the trip was just what I needed, a break from residency. Last night, we went to Pok Pok, a pan-asian restaurant that was packed! The chef won the James Beard Foundation award in 2011, otherwise people would not be happy to wait a hour for a table. We were lucky and sat at the bar. Food was awesome!! I had their spicy wings and mom had a glass noodle and prawn clay pot, very delicious. They also have "drinking vinegars" there and, of course, I had to try one. I had a meyer lemon flavored one, which had a nice lemon flavor with only the very slight tang of the vinegar. Of course, before this we had drinks at our hotel, the Heathman, which seems to be a Portland institution. Very nice, boutique hotel, which has recently undergone a multi-million dollar renovation, which shows. The rooms are very nice, and they asked what kind of mattress I wanted to sleep on (temperpedic, of course!!). The hotel restaurant is very nice and we had lovely cocktails - mom went for the Old Fashioned and the Sazerac, I went for TLC (thai lime and chili, which was very spicy!) and 50 Shades of Gin (milder with nice citrus). After Pok Pok we had our limoncello at Nostrana then headed back to the Heathman for dessert and live music.
Today we met with a real estate agent to have a drive around the city and a wake up call about housing prices in this area. Oh well. Then we walked from our hotel to have lunch at the Picnic House. Wonderful food. We each had 1/2 sandwich, 1/2 salad and a cup of soup for $18. Pretty reasonable and the food was delicious - I had citrus poached shrimp sandwich, mushroom soup and a tomato, lardon and avocado salad. Mom had a blueberry turkey and apple sandwich, tomato soup and mixed fruit on greens salad. Next, we walked to the Pearl District, a nicely renovated area of downtown with cute shops and loft apartments. I would totally live in this area if I had the chance!! We walked to REI and I found a pair of hiking boots for our upcoming trip to Peru and some backpacks. Next it was off to Voodoo Donuts. The line was crazy, but what else were we going to do? Also TOTALLY worth the wait!! That's the classic voodoo donut (with raspberry filling and a pretzel stake!) and a maple bacon bar.
Had a wonderful time with my mom and am NOT looking forward to being on a plane all day tomorrow then in the car, but perhaps I will see you again Portland...
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