Pearl District Discoveries
Since Josh started working in the Pearl District, we’ve been paying more attention to restaurants around there, and can highly, highly recommend this place. Yes it’s vegan, and, no we’re not we’re not vegans, although Josh is strictly a vegetarian and I pretty much am as well, except the occasional dabbling in seafood (gotta love the seafood!). However, the food is intensely flavorful and the folks who were there are also incredibly friendly. It’s a bit off-putting that the restaurant’s actually inside a yoga place, but once you get over that, and fight for one of the few tables in the place, it is AMAZING. Seriously. We couldn’t stop talking about the sandwiches from Blossoming Lotus all week. No lie. Plus it’s really near to Powell’s, which is awfully handy, considering how much time we spend there.
We wouldn’t have stopped into the new pizza joint in the Pearl District that had a sign in the window proclaiming, “Voted Best Pizza in Clark County” if we hadn’t read this review. (My assumption is always–fair or not–that everything in The ‘Couv is exponentially worse than everything in Portland.) Leonardo’s is super-good, the kind of pizza I love–that medium-thick, chewy crust, loaded with tons of toppings kind of pizza. My mom loved it too; Josh liked it, but still prefers Hot Lips–and I can’t dispute that, Hot Lips rocks in a completely different way. (Plus, Hot Lips is within walking distance of our house–a definite plus.) The staff was incredibly friendly, too, which is a HUGE plus in the often not-so-friendly Pearl.
And finally, Josh discovered the awesome Pearl Specialty Market & Spirits over on Lovejoy, right before you get onto the Broadway Bridge. The place is a serious liquor store. It seems that in Portland all the booze shops are of the scratch-off lottery ticket and swill variety, and aren’t really the “browsing” sort of place that Josh and I are hot on… Know what I mean? Anyway, this place is fabulous! They have about a million (okay, probably 30) different varieties of bourbon, which makes me happy, and loads of interesting liquors that are very tempting. Since we’re not big drinkers, when we do buy alcohol, we like to get nice stuff. Josh got me some amazing Blanton’s Bourbon for Thanksgiving, which has some of the most beautiful packaging I’ve seen on anything, ever. We went back after Christmas and he got me some Basil Hayden’s as well. (The Blanton’s is amazing, very deep and rich; the Basil Hayden’s is the exact opposite, very light and gentle. Interestingly, I really enjoy both, although the Blanton’s is definitely one that’s perfect on ice while the Basil Hayden’s is a lovely mixer–especially with a spash of ginger ale.) Anyway, again, the folks who work there are very nice, and I also appreciate that the guy carded me, even though it was Josh making the purchase, to make sure that he wasn’t furnishing alcohol to a minor. That sort of rocked.
~Sarah
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