Portland Cafe/Xurreria: 180

What: 180
Where: 2218 NE Broadway St.
When: 8am-4pm
Honeys Heart: All the churros! 

Doug and I ate lots of delicious savory dishes during our trip to Spain a few years ago and with all those tapas to try, we didn't save much room for sweets. Our sampling was limited to nun cookies in Granada, marizpan in Toledo, and – the winner by far – churros with drinking chocolate from a small coffee shop in Barcelona.

All about those churros:

So, when we heard that Ataula's Jose Chesa and Cristina Baez were opening a xurreria next to their highly anticipated paella restaurant, Chesa, I was pretty darn excited.

Last night, we got a sneak peek of 180 and let's just say you should be pretty darn excited too.

Here's what's on the menu:

Xurros (aka Churros)
Made to order, these traditional xurros are fried at about 180°C (hence the shop's name). Order 3 for $3.75, 6 for $5.75, or 12 for $10.75 (go for a dozen- it's the fiscally-responsible choice).

Xurros Bañados
Xurros Bañados are traditional xurros served with a coating of xocolata and finished with Jacobsen’s salt. Guys, these are SO good.

Housemade Dipping Sauces
The $4 cup of drinking chocolate is obviously the way to go, but the housemade sauces are also really tasty. Choose from caramel/peanut butter, marshmallow cream, and a special seasonal sauce. At the tasting, the seasonal sauce was lemon curd and it was amazing.

Fillings
Filled xurros can be stuffed with traditional crema catalana, dulce de leche, or housemade crema de xocolata.

Xuixos
I'm so bummed we didn't try these when we were in Barcelona- but these are another traditional Catalan pastry that are rolled in sugar and cinnamon, filled with crema catalana, and look similar to a croissant. We didn't get to try any of these but I'll fix that soon.

Café
The shop will also offer a selection of coffee drinks including Spanish classics like Cafe Bombón (espresso with sweetened condensed milk) and Cortado (espresso cut with a little warm milk). Coffee is also served with a variety of milk options including a locally-produced hazelnut milk (which I learned is much more sustainable than almond milk.)

180 officially opens tomorrow (Friday, Jan 29) and they're giving away free churros from 8am-4pm while supplies last. See you there!

Macaron Day PDX: March 20, 2015

If you know me at all, you know that macarons are like, my favorite thing ever. 

I first fell in love with macarons when I was studying abroad back in 2007 and have been obsessed ever since.

#TBT to little Katie in Paris:

It's been easier and easier to get a good macaron stateside since they've become so popular in the last few years- and I'm definitely not complaining! In Portland, we now have enough pastry shops making macarons that such a thing as Macaron Day PDX has reason to exist.

Here's the deal: On March 20th, participating bakeries and patisseries will give a free macaron to customers who donate to Meals on Wheels (there is a $2 suggested minimum donation). Twelve different shops are participating with some locations making special macarons for the event.

I'll include a full list of participants below, but here are my top three picks for can't-miss macarons in Portland:

Nuvrei (NW 10th Ave)

Kel and I wrote about Nuvrei recently when we checked out their new Mac Bar. Marius Pop, who owns Nuvrei, is actually the one who orchestrated Macaron Day PDX and Nuvrei will be giving out commemorative tote bags to the first 100 customers on March 20th (note: the Mac Bar opens at 9am).

Farina Bakery

I've shared my love for Farina Bakery and Laura's macarons before and I'd say that if you're only going to make one stop for Macaron Day PDX, Farina Bakery should be it. Laura's macarons are always the perfect texture (light crunch on the outside, moist and cakey inside) and she manages to pack loads of flavor into them too.

My current favorite Farina flavor is Honey Pecan (think Mexican wedding cakes but in macaron form), but you really can't go wrong.

Pix Patisserie (E Burnside St)

I will start off by saying that Pix's macarons can be hit or miss texture-wise. But, they have a lot of really fun, experimental flavors that you're not going to find at other patisseries (Meka Leka Hi Meka Hiney Ho macaron with absinthe and chocolate-covered Pop Rocks, anyone?).

Other Macaron Day PDX Participants:

The Cakery (SW Capital Hwy)

Frice Pastry (4082 N Williams)

Hungry Heart Bakery (SE 80th Ave)

Ken's Artisan Baking (NW 21st Ave)

Maurice (921 SW Oak St)

Papa Haydn (NW 23rd Ave & SE Milwaukie)

Pearl Bakery (NW 9th Ave)

Petunia's Pies & Pastries (SW 12th Ave)

St. Honoré (SE Division, NW Thurman & Lake Oswego)

Also, fun fact: Did you know I have almost as many pics of macarons on my phone as I do of my cat? Oh, did you want to see some more of them? Ok!

Doug likes canelés, so that's why there's a bunch of them in there too. Canelé Day PDX next?