Lucca

Another local favorite in the NE corner of Portland is a little Italian restaurant by the name of Lucca. I went there for my birthday. What a fabulous place to (currently) live around the corner from! In addition to serving great food, our waiter was very pleasant and informative. The restaurant boasts local, seasonal ingredients, around which their menu changes.

My menu consisted:

Inama Carmenere Piu, 06 (Venet0):

It was not too dry, not too sweet. It was recommended with our meal choice.

Apple Salad:
Made with green apple slices, local wintergreens, hazelnuts, pancetta, and the most flavorful parmesan and sherry vinaigrette. It was like nothing I've ever tasted. I would not have thought that apple and pork and hazelnut would work so well together -- especially in a salad!

Lentil Soup:
I tried some of Dad's lentil soup in exchange for a piece of duck. It was pretty tasty -- and the lentils were cooked through! What a concept!

Strozzapreti & Duck:
I have never had duck before. I suppose the part of my brain that tells me that everything I try will taste like chicken got the best of me. The duck actually tasted much like venison -- though it was cooked in white wine until it was fairly melting with tenderness. The duck topped off a rope pasta, laden with tomato and myriad spices, and laced with pecorino.

Gianduia Tiramisu:
A Swiss dessert, Gianduia is a chocolate hazelnut cake with layers of mascarpone. They served me a hefty piece, topped off with Nutella-worthy shavings. Surprisingly, the best part of this dessert (no small feat!) was the stick of hazelnut biscotti they'd propped on the cake. I could eat that all day long!

My salad: 8
My entree: 13.5
My dessert: 6
The wine: 20

Obviously it was my birthday present. :)

Mio Gelato

A sunny Saturday morning spent visiting the Japanese Gardens can only be followed by having gelato.

So we went to Mio Gelato, on NE Brazee St. We ordered paninis first, partly because we were hungry, and partly to give us more time to decide which flavors of gelato we wanted! Black Forest Ham, and Chicken. The chicken one had red peppers and avocado -- perfect!

And the gelato. After four different samples and many, many minutes staring at the swirled masses of white and brown and pink and yellow and green delights, I decided on a double-header of Italian Sweet Cream, and Strawberry. The sweet cream was what vanilla usually boasts: light and sweet. And the strawberry -- oh, the strawberry! -- sorbet had real strawberry parts in it! Imagine! :)

Panini: 5.9 (ea)
Gelato: 3-5 (or pints for 7, quarts 14)