Susie and Dan at Tryon Creek State Park and Lewis & Clark College

Still playing catch up with my blogging – this one is from last April – another engagement shoot in preparation for a May wedding. We met first at Tryon Creek State Park – just down the road from my alma mater, and a place I knew to be cool and shady on a warm day such as we had been enjoying that weekend.

Susie and Dan are so fun to work with for many reasons – for one, they are very comfortable in front of a camera, and comfortable with each other and expressing their affection, humor and obvious joy and love for each other.

We started out with some simple posed photos, these things always have a rhythm or a warm up phase, before anyone knows what direction things may go or what may emerge out of the shoot. 

We began down one of the many shady trails that meander through the park. We’d seen a bridge on the map and wanted to get some shots of that.

However, sometimes the best shots aren’t planned – we came across a log, and they decided to clown around a bit…

In fact, their fun-loving personalities really made the time spent shooting enjoyable – they’d been taking dancing lessons, and were eager to show off their mad skills when we moved our shoot to Lewis & Clark College campus.

But despite the horsing around, it was easy to see how deeply in love these two were – they have an energy together that’s great to be around and I had such a good time trying to capture the little moments between them that spoke of their sweet connection.

After reviewing these photos, I looked forward to being there at their wedding to capture more of their obvious happiness in life and each other.

The rest of their photos from this shoot and subsequent wedding can be found at: http://ginabixby.smugmug.com/

Rachel and Jason at Lewisville Park

I met with Rachel and Jason last February to take a few photos in preparation for their upcoming wedding in May. I think having a photoshoot prior to the wedding day helps everyone be more comfortable.

We met at Lewisville Park in Battle Ground, Washington and just took a few shots around the park – we were lucky to get some dry weather, and despite the cooler temperatures, ended up having a great time!

It was nice to see their obvious care for each other and excitement at their upcoming wedding plans.

It was a pleasant prelude to the subtle charm that would be their big day – I felt honored to be a included as a small part of their plans.

Uptown Billiards Club – Five Shades of Fantastic

You have to love a place that describes dinner as a “Five-Course Tasting Affair” … lets just start with that, shall we. Affair is an apt name for the experience, as in my mind an affair is something one is lured and seduced into (ideally) and requires a curiosity for the unknown, an abandonment of the usual and a sense of adventure. Yes, we’re still talking food, but you get my drift.

When Pam and I decided to have another one of our “girls night out” dinner events we diverted from our past practice of working out first, and then dinner and just cut to the chase. Apparently we’ve graduated to dropping all pretense and now just get to the best part, the yummy dinner and dessert we always treat ourselves to afterwards. It was her turn to pick, and while she had been to the Uptown Billiards Club in the past, I had never been.

This was back in January, so the miserable weather may have contributed to a reluctance to get out and do anything other than hunker down someplace warm and be babied as kind people brought us food. Yes, I realize I’m very tardy in posting this blog – I’ve been on a writing hiatus, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been eating, and shooting photos. I’ve just been neglecting my pet blog – so sue me.

This particular January, the theme at Billiards was “Meyer Lemons”. Each course is served in order, punctuated with a different wine. I realized right away I might be in over my head – I rarely drink and have no clue about wine, but that’s what’s so wonderful about this particular affair – you surrender yourself entirely to the chef and don’t have to worry about it or understand a single thing, nothing to do but experience the array of new tastes.

The cost is a mere $35 ($25 if you forego the wine) and we felt that to be an excellent bargain. They offer a full drink menu which I mention only because I’m in love with the names of the drinks. Someday I will have to write a blog entirely about the creativity of alcoholic beverage names, but another day.

Drink Menu

We started off with something called “Ahi Tartare With Ginger and Meyer Lemon – rainbow beet carpaccio and crispy wonton” Oh dear. Now, I know enough to understand that Tartare probably means uncooked. But heck, who doesn’t like wontons, right? Crispy is code for fried, that’s safe and familiar territory. All I know about the wine was that it was Italian – and we all know anything Italian is wonderful, do we not?

Ahi Tartare with Ginger & Meyer Lemon

The next course, was a very familiar treat – Crispy Fried Cod – lemon buttermilk dressing served with preserved lemon, fennel and pickled onion with a French White Bordeaux. One thing I like about these small portions is there are several of them, so you can get just the perfect amount of a little taste of heaven, sip your wine (I think I had three different types lined up at one point as I’m a slow sipper) to clear your palate in between courses and not feel stuffed or overfull, just happily teased and a little buzzed.

Crispy Fried Cod

Next was the Arugula and Crispy Duck Confit Salad – with lemon and pomegranate vinaigrette, spiced pistachios and pomegranate seeds – with a wine from Spain this time – yay, world tour! Honestly, this is just the perfect thing for someone like me, because I would never order duck as my main dish in a restaurant, but to be able to try something so exotic and not commit to having that be your entire dinner is great. Plus I love salad and vinaigrettes, as well as pomegranate, having something new and different paired with other familiar things is a great way to experiment with new foods. I probably would order duck in the future now.

Arugula and Crispy Duck Confit Salad

The final course, however was my favorite and the one that I wished most for more of (as in “Please, Sir, may I”!) – Braised Beef Cheeks. I admit, by the time I was there, having had all these wines (another Spanish one this time) I was silly and worried about what exactly a beef cheek might be? Was this a delicate way of saying “rump”? Or literally cheeks? I’m not certain I really need to know the anatomical details of what part of an animal I’m eating, but that’s just me. However, by the time I had experienced this melt-in-your-mouth treat, I was beyond caring what it was called and would have gladly swapped dessert for another helping of those cheeks (and that’s saying something). It was served with meyer lemon and roasted celery root puree.

Braised Beef Cheeks

Finally, we arrived to the dessert portion of our lemon tour. House-Made Dark Chocolate Ice Cream, with meyer lemon marmalade and macadamia nut tuille – again with another Italian number – a dessert wine this time. To be honest, I’m not really an ice cream kind of girl. I love cakes and cookies the most, so I could have swapped this out or would have made another choice if there had been one. The dessert was very rich, the dark chocolate paired with the marmalade – I’m also not crazy about chocolate and fruit together, but realize I’m probably in a minority here. The tartness of the lemon marmalade (almost a bitter taste to me against the chocolate) definitely drew out something in the ice cream. I loved the cookies the best.

House- Made Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun and new experience, it’s a great way to try several dishes, to feel pampered and as if you are getting a taste of “cuisine” rather than just “dinner”. The Chef came out and walked around and visited with the diners, there’s a bar and billiards of course, great atmosphere and I hear they have great happy hour deals before six.

I did see that if you are bringing children (and why would you? I’m not sure I’d describe this as kid friendly food – it’s not kid unfriendly per se, but I imagine some of the charm would be lost on a child) you need to give them notice as the only entrance into the restaurant is through the bar.

Cowboy Little’s Big Wild West Show

I think almost everyone at some point in time, at least of my generation, was fascinated with cowboys. I remember wearing my little cowboy hat and playing cowboys with my cap gun – the kind that had the red tape with little black spots… when the hammer hit it, it made a  pop and you got a little smoke puff. I remember the smell, the excitement blended with a little bit of fear at the noise, and, a little disturbingly, the way the metal at the end of the gun tasted after you shot it. I think I even had a little stick pony at one point.

So, the other day, imagine my thrill upon discovering that there was a cowboy show in town – I had no idea what to expect, other than music and hopefully a pleasant diversion for my own little cowboy and I to enjoy. We bought our tickets and headed out – they apparently only perform the first friday of the month at the Funhouse Lounge, so we were fortunate to have heard of it on the day it was playing.

The Funhouse Lounge is a cozy little establishment in SE Portland – it has a full bar but allows minors – at least for this show – and most of the few kids there were dressed up as cowboys. I’m going to be doing the same myself when I go next time, get into the spirit of it! Anything for an excuse to wear cowboy boots and a hat… I think I’ll leave the chaps and spurs at home, though.

There are drinks and sodas and snacks available to purchase and take back to tables and booths – I advise you to get there early, as the stage is not raised and the tables actually filled up fairly quickly – there wasn’t an available seat in the house by the time the show started.

The show itself is a unique and delightful combination of singing, storytelling and improv theater. The show’s appropriate for kids, but doesn’t talk down annoyingly to that level in the way that some family friendly entertainment can sometimes do – just because I have kids and don’t want them exposed to inappropriate content doesn’t mean I had a lobotomy! There are some skits involving guns but nothing that would frighten children. There was a special guest featured – the National Yodeling Champion Larry Wilder who demonstrated his singing and guitar playing skills several time throughout the night.

The show flowed perfectly – the actors are comfortable with what they do and are easy with the audience, involving them in the skits and songs – asking questions and incorporating the answers into the show.

I love improv, and am always impressed with the quick thinking on the feet of the actors and the seamless way they turn the unexpected into comedy when it’s done well. One has to be able to be a part of a team, to pick up on the cues from your fellow actors and keep in mind that you also have an audience to entertain. These guys not only know how to do all that, but they all can do so while singing and dancing! Or in some cases, do so while cracking a whip!

If you want to have a pleasant, inexpensive and fun night out with the kids, experience a bit of americana culture and reminisce about a sweet version of cowboy nostalgia, you really should check out one of their shows. You can view their website at http://www.cowboylittle.com/

Clementine

It’s been awhile ago, but I’ve been so busy on the weekends now that baseball and running season are in full swing, it’s begun to cut into my quality food questing time! However, one fine February morning the little boy and I went out to get some breakfast and take some photos at Clementine Bistro & Bar.

We were there a bit early in the day, so there were only a few other diners when we arrived. Turns out that was a good thing in this case, because they were short staffed that morning and the waiter who was doing 20 things at once seemed a bit frazzled. But he was always pleasant and kept checking on us throughout the meal, despite how obviously busy he was, so while we lingered a bit longer than normal over our meal, the service was great under the challenging circumstances.

There are three rooms in the restaurant – a front room, a bar and a room at the end of a short hallway that is “child friendly” – tables with toys, even some cake put out. As a parent who not so long ago had small children, I appreciate the effort to accommodate and segregate the youngsters. We always used to seek out restaurants that had play areas, but with some atmosphere better than Chuck E Cheese and something to eat more sophisticated than plastic pizza. You cannot underestimate the opportunity to have some coffee, adult food and unbroken adult conversation until you don’t have have it!

So, now that I have a half-grown boy in tow, we opted to sit in the grown up room, right off the bar. In all fairness, I did offer him the seating in the play area, but he gave me a withering look that told me he’s much too sophisticated for dinosaurs, and we quickly moved on.

I wanted to order something different and somewhat healthy, since Luke was once again getting his favorite biscuits and gravy (this after all is billed as a southern style bistro) so I ordered a veggie scramble. I don’t know if it’s southern or not, but it was tasty, the vegetables were cooked perfectly, still somewhat firm, rather than soggy.  Had we tried this at home, they’d have been raw, so I recommend it if, like me, you have to make a conscious effort to eat veggies – they’re tough to cook properly without ruining!  I secretly would rather have sampled some of the other menu items I saw, the french toast, pancakes, chicken fried steak or even the grits. But I was good, however when we return we will be trying some of the more traditional fare.

As for the biscuits and gravy, Luke claimed the biscuits were superior to others he’s tried, while the gravy was not (however as I have to remind you everything from now on is compared to Pine State Biscuit for him, he’s been ruined for all other food).

Just as we were finishing up, the later morning/early lunch crowd began to show up, and fortunately so did some additional employees to help out our original waiter. I’d like to try them again, maybe for lunch or dinner, definitely sample some of the desserts and maybe a southern cocktail drink.

Retro Burgers

I grew up in a small town, and one feature that seems to be consistent among them is the existence of some kind of burger joint.  I’m not talking about the little Arctic Circle or A&W’s that you can still find up and down the coast or out in the eastern part of the state … but the little independent places that somehow just make the food taste better because of the (perhaps pretend) nostalgia that you can soak up while you linger over your meal. It’s like traveling back into time, leaving the modern trend of ‘little plates’ and shiny minimalism behind.

I never met a guy at a malt shop as a teeny bopper, never actually lived the drive-in teen-age hangout lifestyle. But growing up I was saturated in the 1950’s nostalgia wave – starting with the re-runs of the Mickey Mouse Club and Annette Funicello, the Happy Days tv series, all the old re-runs of Leave it to Beaver with these strange families with stay-at-home moms AND sometimes live in maids.

So when I moved to Camas, WA several years ago, I was just enchanted by the local burger joint, Top Burger Drive In. Mind you, it’s not a drive-UP … but a bona-fide, new-fangled almost drive IN.  I could just imagine it on a warm summer night, well, a summer night anyway, maybe not warm – cars with kids in the parking lot, roller skated waitresses bringing out burgers and fries and cokes.

 

Now, you don’t drive up, place your order and drive out again 45 seconds later with your grub. You leave your car there in the window and wait for them to cook your food. Sometimes, if the line is four deep, they  might have you pull into the parking lot for a spell. My boys and I always get the seasoned fries … heavenly.

Inside, there are photos of the building when it was new. You can get hand-scooped ice cream from a tub in the cooler, or you can get the soft stuff from the machine. I think they even have chocolate dip for the soft cones. There are flavored candy sticks – the straight candy cane style, with different flavors that you can suck on until they make a sharp point at the end.

There are booths, black and white checkered floors … and even if it is new, even if it wasn’t there when your grandparent’s were teens, is sure FEELS like it was.

In the summer the kids sit outside on the picnic tables, eating their ice-cream cones and being cool. The old high school used to be down the street, before they build the new one and then a new elementary school and now the town seems quieter, the kids are mostly bussed out to the new developments to the west, to their new schools. I imagine the business has slowed, now that the area boasts a Five Guy’s, a Sonic, and a Wendy’s within three miles.

Personally, I like to be in a place that doesn’t feel like the attempt to look old school is forced. They don’t have to try  – they ARE old school. I like the food – it takes awhile, you have to sit down and visit while you wait for your ‘fast’ food. There aren’t any video games or bells and whistles to distract, no kids on skates rolling out to the cars.

But their onion rings are to die for.

Another place I only recently found is in another neighborhood entirely, in a most unlikely place. Skyline Burgers sits out in the middle of nowhere, up on top of Skyline Boulevard in Portland’s west hills, with not much else around it at all. You don’t see very many houses as you drive around, they’re mostly set back in among the trees amid long driveways the hill dwellers seem to like. Pammy showed me this place, we met there for lunch one day last spring, and now I look for reasons to drive over that way to stop by. I had the same feeling, that this was a place that had once been kind of hopping, but that now was competing with… well, there’s not much else up there but I imagine they mostly just get the locals because there is no other reason to drive up that hill, except to get over it to see what you can see maybe. Although it always is busy and full of diners when I’ve been there.

They make milkshakes out of pie. That right there should convince you to make the drive up Skyline and go check them out. But they also make really good sandwiches and burgers.

You can tell they’re invested in the community – even though it’s hardly a small town, rather a neighborhood. Kid’s drawings cover the walls. Every time I’ve been there it’s been packed. It’s the kind of place you come home to, I guess.

Burgers are great – I prefer the whole lettuce to the shredded (per the Top Burger), but that’s just my taste. They also serve salads, chili, soups … just a nice cozy diner … out in the middle of nothing.

Pine State Biscuits

I will begin by disclosing that I’m not ordinarily a huge biscuit person. Oh, I like them buttered with honey and I’ll eat them with fried chicken and gravy – but I wouldn’t ordinarily go out of my way to frequent a biscuit bar. Which is essentially what Pine State Biscuits is – a cross between a restaurant and a food cart, really.  However gauging by the line extending outside the door and along the sidewalk, a pretty popular joint.

We went there because my little guy loves biscuits and gravy, anything involving a biscuit, really and I’m a typical mom – pretty much a slave to keeping my babies happy when it comes to food. There’s something primal about mothers and the satisfaction we get from feeding our offspring. It doesn’t matter that one of my babies is now over six feet tall, it’s the same as the day he came home from the hospital, at least where food is concerned.

Hence the reason I found myself standing outside in line in the morning waiting for a biscuit.

Sign at Pine State Biscuit

It’s actually a cute little neighborhood – in fact the building next door was someone’s house.  We saw people coming out with paper cartons full of breakfast biscuit, and sitting down on some of the tables outside the door. That put me on a bit of high alert, because it wasn’t a sunny day and there were people eating outside.

Menu at Pine State Biscuit

Once we were inside and approaching the counter, my anxiety increased. I’m not a big fan of having to make my choice in a hurry. I like to sit down, see what other people have ordered, peruse the menu a bit. I’m also not too keen on ordering off a blackboard for the same reason – I’m never certain I’ve really had a chance to look at everything available before I choose. You approach the counter at a random pace, dependent upon the number of individuals in the groups ahead of you, whether they’re paying cash or credit etc. It’s a little chaotic to me – particularly with kids in tow.  Add to that not knowing whether to order the food to go or not, given we were still uncertain at the time we ordered whether we’d get a table or not.

Coffee Bar at Pine State Biscuit

In this case, though, there was the added pressure of not only making a selection quickly, but also keeping your eye out for a place to sit. There were only about four or five tables inside, and a long bar along the end of the room for those who were waiting or choosing to eat there. We were lucky enough to secure a table and I went with a safe order of something I knew I could eat standing up in the event we were unable to find a table before our order was ready. The little guy was fortunately already set on his selection – had been before we even arrived – biscuits and gravy.  He was not disappointed.

Biscuits and Gravy at Pine State Biscuits

It’s been a few months since we were there, and he’s still talking about their biscuits and gravy – it’s the standard by which he compares all others. So that’s saying something.

I played it safe and just ordered an egg sandwich.

Sausage, Egg and Cheese at Pine State

This was the most awkward I’ve felt since I began doing food blogs, because we were in such close quarters to the other diners, there was no way to furtively take photos, no chance to get out of my seat and change angles without stepping on someone else. Not to mention the unavoidable non-consensual photograph taking that I’m beginning to embrace…  I did my best to get some reasonably representative shots of the place – but I honestly felt a certain amount of pressure to get down to eating out food as there was a line extended out the door, and I knew other patrons were probably hoping to get a seat. Seemed a bit decadent to linger, you know? However I did see someone else with a camera, it’s getting to the point this happens quite frequently in restaurants, so I’m becoming less self conscious.

I was not as enthralled with my food choice as Luke with his, however had I been more adventurous I might have fared better. It was tasty, however the cheese wasn’t melted, and it seemed somewhat dry. I’d recommend going with something that has more sauce added to it, or involved in the dish. We’d go back sometime, now that we know what to expect. I’d plan to sit outside to eat, or get it to go.

Overall, I’d recommend it for a quick breakfast, on a good weather day. We recommend the biscuits and gravy, but I’d go for something a bit less standard in a sandwich if I were doing it over, and definitely try the pie next time!

Pine State Biscuits counter

Tasty…but just a taste

My preference for eating out on the weekends has to be breakfast. There’s something luxurious about being out, having the kinds of foods you don’t always take the time to prepare yourself, lingering over coffee and conversation. Tasty and Sons has been on my list since the first day I decided to try writing a food blog. I was persuaded that day instead to try another place, however I’ve been wanting to visit this one for a couple of reasons. One, it’s in my former stomping grounds in North Portland, and two I’m always on the lookout for new breakfast spots.

I’ve grown accustomed to the wait time for many Portland restaurants, the long lines that often extend outside the doors of any popular establishment in the morning – but this time we were fooled – there was no line outside the door. It wasn’t until we got inside that we were able to realize and appreciate the scope of the situation. There were people milling about the foyer, sipping coffee, bloody marys, reading, jockeying around to give each other space to get by. It was a study in social interaction for sure, strangers crowded together in elevator-like coziness – only in this case juggling cups of coffee, coats, purses, smart phones. Some sat on the stairs, others lined the walls – most just stood in the middle of the area, gazing longingly at the lucky ones already seated inside, wistfully tracking the servers as they carried trays of food about the establishment… I can only imagine what the uninitiated must think. However, having that indoor area to wait, despite the dearth of seating, made all the difference. Despite the crowding, we were warm and had coffee, and the wait was just about 30 minutes, not terrible bad for a weekend morning.

The servers were very gracious, always polite as they moved through the area doing their work. Free coffee was available while we waited, one brought Luke chocolate milk. Once we were seated, we were immediately taken care of despite how tremendously busy they were – every table in the building was in use of course. There were four of us, so we needed a table, but there is seating along the kitchen grill area, and had we not had a minor along, there’s also what appears to be a communal long table in the bar area. I liked the cozy feel of the interior, the way they have it broken up seems to incorporate the natural flow, the decor is interesting without being too much, not trying too hard.

We began to place our order and learned that everything was to be served “family style” which was a little odd I thought, for a breakfast restaurant, because I associate that with foods such as Chinese that are one large simple dish and meant to be shared. When you’re ordering a plate combo with one biscuit, a few eggs and some bacon, I wasn’t certain how this would translate into the kind of dish you would share. This also meant, our server informed us, that items would be brought out as they were finished, again a little different, but fine, particularly as we were ready to eat after the wait. And after all it makes sense to have food brought to you while it’s hot and fresh.

What we were unaware of was that the size of the particular dishes we ordered was so small as to preclude that sort of “family style” sharing in most cases. The menu is divided up into two sizes – small plates and big plates. The small plates, just be aware, are extremely small.

We ordered the Chocolate Potato doughnut with creme anglaise ($1.50) a Griddled Bacon Wrapped Date with maple syrup & almond ($2) Two of the Bambino Plates (scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuit and honey butter $6) off the smaller plates menu. Everything was yummy – the bacon cooked properly – just on the edge of crispy without being dry, the eggs were done well. The bambino plate actually was what I would have expected from a small plate. The $1.50, however, for what essentially is a doughnut hole? Really? I did cut it up in order to allow the others at the table to taste it if they cared to, however I felt a little ridiculous doing so. I could have popped that thing in my mouth and downed it with a swallow of coffee – but I exercised restraint.

The bacon fig item I understand, that’s something a little unique, I guess it’s just that to serve that sort of plate and then suggest it’s to be shared family style without mentioning that we might need to order more than one with four people at the table seemed a little negligent. On the other hand, we were aware – or should have been, that it was just one date. Daniela ordered this one, and we didn’t make her share… she said it was very good.

Off the larger plates menu we ordered the french toast ($5) and the Cast Iron Frittata (with butternut squash, swiss chard, caramelized onions & feta.) The Frittata was about what I expected in terms of size, and very impressive as it arrived still in the Cast Iron Pan. Marcella (Daniela’s Aunt had joined us for breakfast that morning) ate every bit and said it was quite good. I’ve never had squash but it looked and smelled delicious.

The french toast was also very good, but again, our server mentioned to me when I ordered that the smaller plate would be two pieces – what she meant was one slice of bread cut into two pieces – had I known that I would have ordered the larger. Although $10 for what really is two pieces of french toast seems a bit steep.

We also ordered the special, which was biscuits and gravy, a standing favorite of Luke’s which I nearly always order for him despite the photographic challenge off-white gravy represents … we are after all there to eat, not just to order dishes that make pretty pictures. He said this was good, although he still hasn’t found anything to top the fare at Pine State Biscuits which I find very amusing – my child is turning into a biscuits and gravy connoisseur! This plate was appropriate sized for a child and served hot, (although the french toast was not) but I think an adult might have been disappointed at the size of the biscuits. A puzzle, because the biscuit that came with the bambino plate was normal-sized.

The service was great, the coffee was very good and the food was good and we ended up having enough to eat without feeling overstuffed and the total cost was still only about $40 which isn’t bad at all for four people. We just were a bit taken off guard by the small portions. They do have other dishes that interested me and that seem to promise a more conventional portion – the burger for instance, Carolina Cheesesteak, and a stew served with rice and eggs. I would definitely go back again, the food was good, but I think for breakfast food, with the items we ordered, it was average. I’d like to return to try their other offerings and see how they compare. I would also know better next time to order the bigger plates, something I tend to not do because they normally are too much food. This is more of a tapas-sized menu, which may be ideal, if you know that going in.

Dorio on NW 23rd

My friend Daniela invited me to try Dorio with her recently and specifically suggested that I bring my camera along in order to write a little review.  I can’t call myself an expert in Greek Cuisine, although I’ll try practically anything once.  While it’s no secret I’m hooked on fried calamari, my everyday food tastes aren’t tending to the exotic. Perhaps Greek food doesn’t fall into the category of highly exotic to most people, but to me it is. My experiences with Greek food in Portland have been limited to places featuring belly dancers and ouzo shots during my college days, or outdoors during the Greek Festival.

Taki is the owner of Dorio and one of the nicest people you could hope to meet. Despite being extremely busy preparing for the night and coordinating his plans for the following New Year’s Eve event he was hosting, he stopped by frequently to chat and say hello and make sure we were enjoying ourselves. The bartender even made us a special coffee drink concoction, something similar to a Bailey’s but much better. Taki’s mother Mary stopped by later in the night, the originator of the delicious greek meatballs they serve and the maker of cookies that sometimes appear on the dessert menu, but that, alas, were not present that evening.

We began our exotic adventure with some tyropites – delicate, cheesy little triangles of filo pastry and an order of spanakopita – one of my other favorite and familiar Greek dishes, because I always feel so good that I’m eating my spinach!

I don’t find Greek food in general to be as spicy or laden with sauces or creams as the other foods I tend to like, so I’m not entirely certain how to gauge this. Even the spanakopita seemed to be almost a dessert because it was covered in the pastry dough. It’s just in it’s own unique category, not a salad, not a vegetable, not really a pastry. But very tasty and enjoyable, I compare it to an empanada. The tyropites reminded me a little bit of quesadillas, and I realize Mexican is not generally the standard by which to judge other foods, it’s just the closest comparison I can make, although I suspect somewhat healthier.

The salad was wonderful – Greek salad has to be one of my favorites. And it almost seems the salad has more intense flavor than the other Greek-style foods, which I find a little odd, but it’s a good balance.

 

They called it a horiatiki salata – romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta and olives … all simple ingredients but when put together just a perfect combo of crunchiness, mixed with the cucumber’s and tomatoes that seem to absorb the flavor of the seasonings.

Daniela recommended the keftethes – Greek spiced meatballs (they recommend an Ouzo accompaniment but we passed on that … if you try it that way you’ll have to let me know how it goes.)

 

These were pretty good, although it was a little different how they were served separately from a plate of pasta, I think that may be the first time I’ve had meatballs ala carte.  They weren’t hot spicy,  just flavorful and a nice addition to the other selections we sampled.

Our final dish was dessert, the baklava – we had to get two although we were so full by then we probably could have gotten away with sharing just one … this is definitely something you want to have with coffee, it’s not overly sweet, but just tends to be fairly dense. I appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet as I’ve had some store bought versions of this dessert that are somewhat overwhelming, and there definitely was a difference to this – more of a subtle taste.

If you enjoy Greek food in a sophisticated and cozy atmosphere, you’ll appreciate Dorio – the family-like environment and great food, plus reasonable prices are a definite hit!

Cactus Ya Ya

This is one of my favorite restaurants, not only in Vancouver, but in the Portland Metro area. Cactus Ya Ya is located just off Mill Plain Blvd on the east side of I-205, but is definitely worth the drive if you enjoy great Mexican/tex-mex food. They’ve been open for about 18 years, and are noted for making their own sauces and marinades.  A recent Columbian newspaper review described it as a fusion of asian, northwestern and southwestern food – I believe because they offer dishes with peanut sauces, kabob type skewers and caesar salads etc. in addition to what most of us consider traditional Mexican fare, although having traveled in Mexico I rarely come across food that resembles what we ate there.  I honestly have no clue what the term “fusion” means – obviously something to do with a blend of styles however exactly when does something cross that line? I mean, is there such a thing as a “pure” food style that hasn’t been influenced somewhere along the way by another culture?

I’ts still primarily Mexican in my book, because the predominant foods are tacos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. And of course, tortilla chips… food of the gods!

They make an amazing bean dip, that accompanies the complimentary chips and salsa. My son always orders their beer battered jumbo prawns.

I’m inevitably torn between the fish tacos which are amazing, the chicken skewers, which I can actually finish as opposed to larger dishes, and the chimichanga which I love as it features rice inside the roll, white chicken and an enchilada-like sauce, guacamole and sour cream. As much as I love their rice and beans, I can get away with only ordering this dish ala carte – in this way I have some prayer of finishing it. I’m certain this isn’t entirely kosher, but I had such a difficult time making the guacamole not look utterly disgusting in this photo and I’m sooo sorry! However I assure you it was amazingly yummy and not at all disgusting in real life!

I’ve visited this restaurant in the summer as well as in the winter, for the ten days each year we get of balmy weather pleasant enough to eat dinner outdoors without getting soaked – summer is nice as they have a patio that wraps around one corner of the building – they are located in a sort of strip-mall area just off Mill Plain, but with the walled patio and the overall atmosphere and the excellent service they more than make up for any lack of ambiance created by the less-than-ideal  locale.

In the winter, it’s a very cozy, warm and snug atmosphere. The inside is somewhat dark, and areas are separated by low walls. They have cozy booths, some against the mid-wall, others next to the windows, there’s a bar area in the back between the main restaurant and the patio entrance. My only complaint is that it’s sometimes a bit noisy, just a low undertow of sound that at times has made it difficult to have any sort of quiet conversation, but those were only at the busiest times. I’ve gone there for lunch to get their tortilla soup with a book and it’s been the perfect atmosphere despite the acoustics.

If you enjoy Mexican food and want to try something a little different without being too out there, and that is unique and not a chain, I definitely recommend you give Cactus Ya Ya a try.