Perfect Food Days

You’re no doubt familiar with : I feel like it’s such a mainstay in the Pearl, and one of the first restaurants many of us went to when we moved to Portland. You also probably know that her neapolitan style pizzas (both at and ) are highly acclaimed, and her nostrana salad (available at both restaurants) is downright legendary.

But one thing I didn’t realize until visiting the new Lake Oswego location of last night was how strong the cocktail program is, and that it’s so central to the restaurant concept it’s in the name (the shaker of Oven & Shaker isn’t a nod to a salt shaker or a Parmesan shaker or simple well built furniture (🤦🏻‍♀️) but a cocktail shaker 🤯

I felt so slow at first when mentioned it to me, but enough of you replied in stories to say you didn’t realize it referenced cocktails either that I don’t feel so obtuse. Or at least not alone in my obtuseness 😅

The cocktail program is led by , who has been an important figure in the Portland cocktail scene for 25 years, influencing and developing bar programs in over 100 restaurants over the years. He was also the cofounder of and is a partner in everyone’s favorite bespoke s’mores spot 🤤

’s cocktail list at (Pizza) Oven & (Cocktail) Shaker is divided out by flavor profiles, which just makes picking out your drink so much easier. (Note: also does this too!) We imbibed on 4 tasty cocktails, and fell in love with the Pepper Smash and the Pineapple Trainwreck, which sold out halfway through friends & family night number 1 😯

And now as of Friday 9/17 you can enjoy it all at both the flagship Pearl location as well as the new location at 🎉 I know I kind of am not shutting up about it, but I’m truly so mesmerized by this suburban foodie upgrade 😍

One of you guessed correctly! This beauty is the mushroom and manchego savory biscuit from , and it truly has one of the most buttery, impossibly tender crumbs I’ve ever tasted. Swipe left to see just how beautiful this dough is 😍 I promise, if you love savory pastries and mushrooms, this will knock your socks off.

Crema Cafe is located at 2728 SE Ankeny, and while they are closed for indoor seating, they have a sweet area setup on Ankeny, which overflows to the surrounding businesses seating in the a.m., since they’re not open that early. They also have a location in the .

Last year I had the extreme pleasure of experiencing the epic and stunning Lao Table from with some of my favorite food bloggers, and Farmhouse Kitchen might just win the ‘best pivot of the quarantine’ award by offering this Little Lao Table set for 2 to go! It features a lot of the same incredible dishes in the dine-in spread, fed us for days, and is pretty much the most stunning take out in Portland right now 😍

It was the perfect way to celebrate my little Duncan dog’s homecoming this week from his very scary (but successes ❤️) spinal surgery. I postponed starting the whole30 to enjoy this beast, and it was 100% worth it. And I wish I was eating it right now 😭

You can order either the original or a vegetarian Lao table set for delivery or pickup via . It was too epic for just one photo, so swipe to see the rest of it, as well as the full rundown of what comes in it! @ Portland, Oregon