martinotti's

right next door to radish underground is one of the best european markets in portland called martinotti's.

i discovered martinotti's my first weekend in portland when i was staying at the infamous ben stark hotel (now the hipster ace hotel). it's a great little italian market in the heart of downtown just a few blocks from powell's books. it has an espresso bar, cafe and italian market and deli. it's a great place to find many of those items from your trip to italy that you loved so much. and they have an amazing deli counter. my only complaint is they don't have those weird nescafe instant cappuccinos. did you ever see those when you were in italy? you pour it in a cup with hot water and it foams up like a real cappuccino. i don't even want to know what it is that causes the foamyness but i loved those things, i even brought a few packs home. oh please, martinotti's get me some of these!


they are celebrating 32 years of business in downtown portland.


just look at this beautiful meat counter.

martinotti's is at 404 sw 10th 503.224.9028

and i apologize in advance but i have a big project at work next week so posts may be slim. i do have some other great european markets i've recently discovered that i want to tell you about so i'll try to get these up asap. in the meantime, have a great weekend and enjoy our rare dose of february sun.

tanti baci!

radish underground

last week i finally had the opportunity to stop into a store that i have been hearing a lot about lately called radish underground.

radish is a boutique and gallery space with a focus on independent artists and visual designers and each month they feature a representative artist from each of those two arenas.

in addition, both of the owners are artists in their own rights and have a clothing line as well.


i loved their windows for the valentine's holiday.


one of my all time favorite hippie fonts!

if you haven't checked out radish underground, then head on over. it's in that new little pocket of shops just off of sw burnside and 10th.

414 sw 10th 503.928.6435

i heart these

when lorenzo's daughter saw the heart cookies that i posted last week, she wanted to do her own version for valentine's day. so yesterday, she and her friends produced these works of art.




there were a few "jackson pollock" cookies because she said she needed to fix some of the others artwork!

happy valentine's my sweets!

i hope you all have a happy valentine's weekend with your sweeties. and if you don't have a sweetie (i was single for my share of valentine's days, too), here's a little something to at least make you feel better.




these beauties can be found at the daily cafe at 902 nw 13th ave 503.242.1916

xoxoxo lorenzo
now let's just hope it doesn't keep pouring all weekend!

ink and peat

i've mentioned this shop before but it's never had a proper post of its own so today we're going to one of my favorite stores in town, ink and peat.

ink and peat is in a beautiful renovated space over on n. williams kitty corner from pix. it specializes in flowers, plants and home decor. they have a great book collection, there were at least ten i would have loved to have bought yesterday. and right now is the perfect time to stop in because they have wonderful valentines cards and chocolates. they carry wares from local artists and small independent vendors and just have a truly unique inventory. and most importantly, the shop is full of amazing flowers, air plants and succulents. i mean, you just walk in here and can feel all the oxygen.

they have their own blog that you can see some of their beautiful floral arrangements and wedding photos. so go and check out their work.

if i could, i would just live here. so don't mind me if i'm sitting on their chaise eating chocolates and reading decorating books!

ink and peat is at 3808 n. williams 503.282.2700

little red lanterns

the other night i passed by the buddhist temple in hawthorne and had to stop to admire the beautiful red lanterns. it was a crisp, clear night and between the trickling of the fountain and the lovely red glow of these lanterns i was reminded of why i love my neighborhood so much.

if you're over by the barley mill at 17th and hawthorne go and have a look.

basta!

ok, i have to admit that as long as i've lived in portland, i had never eaten at the restaurant bastas until last week.

yes, i know, it's been here since 1992 and is still around so clearly it's doing something right. perhaps it's the fact that the exterior looks somewhat like a defunct IHOP that i had not ventured in until last week. not that i have anything against IHOP, it serves it's purpose, it's just a trattoria in the shape of an IHOP is a little bizarre.

a friend suggested we go there for dinner because we were over in nw very close by. i hemmed and hawed a little but then she said that they have happy hour all night every night. well that always get my attention so we decided we would have dinner there. and it was good and it was cheap.

and once you are inside, it's not so much like an IHOP!


yes, i said it, happy hour all evening long.


our spread including italian wine, mussels, caesar salad, spaghetti and meatballs and risotto. i was really excited to try the quail on the menu but they were out of it that night. however, everything we did have was very good.


and on the way out, i had to get a shot of one of the nicest fish aquariums i have seen in a long time.

bastas is still located at 410 nw 21st 503.274.1572

moule moule

i don't know why but i just love saying moule. such a cool word and an even way cooler store. and guess what? this weekend they are having and amazing rachel mara sample sale. her designs are going from $10 to $150. i found the cutest little slip dress for $10 complete with rainbows and unicorns and i'll dream of wearing it when the sun finally comes out for a while.







i shot these photos of her windows several months ago and they are so perfect for this post. see, i've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them. the dresses were made of the store's tissue paper!

but you'd better get there soon, i seriously doubt there will be much left!

1225 nw everett 503.227.8530

mossy tree

while out for a walk with the dogs last week, i came across this wonderful mossy tree. it reminds me of the holidays, i'll have to go take another photo next time it snows.

happy wednesday! don't let this grim weather get you down.

pick pok

last night lorenzo and i decided to go out to dinner and i wanted to take him someplace i thought he would really like. he loves to experiment with food and loves asian based foods so i thought we'd go to the restaurant pok pok because he has never been there. i've only been there once before so it was a treat for me as well, since i have a habit of going to the same places over and over.

what i remember from the last time i dined there was the fact that most of their plates were grilled, as they do at ping. this time, however, this did not seem to be the case as i noticed many more options on the menu.


there were quite a few diners braving the cold weather outside under the colorful lights. i'm kind of a wimp, though, and prefer to dine inside.


i do however, love the way they have the patio lit up.


inside the restaurant was warm and cozy. we sat at the bar which i always enjoy and we had really great service from the bartender.


we enjoyed a beer as we waited for our dinner. for dinner, we had the pok pok green papaya salad and had them cut the spice down a little as we knew our entree was going to be very spicy. for our entrees we ordered the boar collar meat rubbed with garlic and with a chili-lime sauce. this was good but very, very spicy. lorenzo was sweating and should be cured of anything that could potentially be coming on for the rest of the winter. we also ordered some curry noodle soup served with grilled chicken and crispy yellow noodles. this was my favorite dish of all. i can't wait to back and try this one again but we both decided we needed our own bowl instead of sharing it, it was that good.

i usually try to take pictures of our dinner but this time we dug right in before i remembered. that's how excited we were.

pok pok was the perfect place for a cool winter's night meal and spicy enough to really warm us up.

3226 se division 503.232.1387