Kelly's Wedding Weekend! (and Portland Restaurant: Serratto)

Two weekends ago, we celebrated a very special event: Kelly and Adam's wedding!

Anyone who knows Kelly and Adam will not be surprised to hear that their wedding weekend was full of love, laughter, dancing, drinking, and general merriment making.

And while of course I had an amazing time at the wedding itself, one of my favorite parts of the weekend was our girls lunch and mani/pedi session following the rehearsal.

Kel chose Serratto as our lunch spot and I think it was a great choice! 

What: Serratto
Where: 2112 NW Kearney

Honeys Heart: Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Serratto serves Mediterranean cuisine with a focus on local ingredients. The day we were there, they were proudly displaying a huge platter of giant heirloom tomatoes- yum! 

Serratto also has a great ambiance- bright, airy and elegant. Perfect for a celebratory lunch with the girls!

Here's a sample of what we ordered: 

Grilled Chicken Sandwich ($11) on brioche with bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato. 

Caprese Salad with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil.

Pizza Margherita ($10) with fresh mozzarella, tomato, garlic and basil.

Cobb Salad ($12) with romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato, blue cheese, sliced egg and blue cheese vinaigrette. 

 Simple and delicious!

After our tasty lunch, we headed out to get mani/pedis at Oasis Nails & Day Spa. $30 mani/pedis + a complimentary glass of champagne = another great choice, Kel!

I'll also share a look at some of the special little details from the rehearsal dinner which took place later that night. 

 Mason jars, striped straws, giant balloons, custom water bottles. So cute! 

Congrats again, Kelly and Adam! Cheers!

Portland Happy Hour: Davis Street Tavern

What: Davis Street Tavern
Where: 500 NW Davis Street
When: HH Mon - Fri 4 - 6 pm, Sat & Sun 3 - 5 pm

I wrote a blog post about Davis Street Tavern in March of 2009 that did not properly do it justice. It was before I liked gin. Before I had tried their Champagne Cocktail ($8) and LOVED it. Basically, it was before it had become one of my fav spots in NW Portland.

Since Jen moved to Portland in July I've been talking up DST's happy hour, specifically the mac 'n' cheese. So on Saturday, after checking out the Nordstrom sale and spending sufficient time laying on Jen's couch watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, we finally went to happy hour.

Guess what we ordered first? Cocktails! Jen has never had St. Germaine, so I ordered us the French Pear ($9) with Grey Goose Le Poire, St. Germaine, and lemon, while Jen opted for a Basil Martini ($8) made with Hendrick's gin, basil and lemon. They were just what we needed after our lazy afternoon. Jen tossed around the idea of ordering her martini with vodka, but we were glad she didn't! Hendrick's gin has a cucumber flavor that combined perfectly with the basil and lemon (our waitress described the "flavor profile"). Definitely a drink I would order again!

Choosing HH food was fairly easy. We had already done some pre-HH research and checked out the whole menu online, plus the Velvety Mac 'N' Cheese ($5) with girella pasta and three cheese bechamel was a no brainer.

As mac 'n' cheese lovers we tend to order it a lot, but that's not to say we aren't disappointed from time to time. We do have criteria. I like a mac 'n' cheese that is creamy and not full of extra stuff to make it "fancy," and Jen prefers her's hot. Like steaming, need to blow on it, careful not to burn your tongue, HOT. As expected, this met our standards and maintains it's place as one of my all time favorites.

Sticking with our obvious theme of healthy food we also ordered the Shoe String Fries ($3) served with ketchup and green chili hollandaise and Fish Tacos ($7) with tempura cod, cilantro, lime crema Mexicana. The fries were crispy, salty, and gone by the time we left - yikes! While the fish tacos were fresh and a little spicy.

Following our cocktails we also enjoyed a glass of their Italian White Blend ($5), one of a few HH wine selections. I'd say we made some good decisions! We are already planning to return, hopefully with Jen's mom this weekend!

Portland Happy Hour: Davis Street Tavern

As part of my, what feels endless, job search I have been meeting a variety of people to gain insight into what I might like to do, get feedback on what I could be doing differently, and receive suggestions as to positions that may be of interest. Generally I meet people for coffee, lunch, or just in their office, but with my Uncle's friend Laura, we do happy hour.

I have met Laura on many occasions when my Uncle ventures into town and I love to keep in touch with her since she is great fun, as well as someone with years of invaluable experience and insight. Friday night we met at the Davis Street Tavern, on the corner of NW Davis and 5th, with a woman Laura works with and a woman in the process of job hunting like myself. Occasionally the co-owner and long time friend of Laura's stopped by. Not only are their food and drinks a great choice, I like their management!

Davis Street Tavern, which opened in December, offers a diverse drink menu and tasty happy hour food selections. In their successful attempt to be as eclectic as possible I am sure you could try a drink here that you may not find other places. For $8 each I had a Acai-pirinha which has leblon cachaca (a sugarcane based alcohol popular in Brazil), acai puree, and lime. Definitely a new drink for me since I tend to stick to the vodka, and surprisingly I liked it. Their Best Drink, is actually the best drink I had that night, containing cricket club gin, mint, lime, and ginger beer. I don't even like gin, but I liked this. Finally their Champagne Cocktail was tempting with aperol, lemon, agostura bitters, and Cava. Though I didn't have it, it looked and sounded wonderful!

Their happy hour food menu offers selections at $5 each. We shared the Cheese Crostini Trio, Roasted Cippolini & Boursin, White Bean & Rogue River Blue, and Roasted Beet & Fromage Blanc, each offered unique flavor and were equally delicious. The Strip Loin Burger looked awesome. The Velvety Mac 'N' Cheese with Girella Pasta and Three Cheese Béchamel was smooth and rich, but in a perfect size portion so you don't feel guilty eating it all! Also, the Seared Tombo Tuna (Baby Arugula, Fennel, Red Onion, Shaved Reggianito, and Roasted Pear Vinaigrette) looked delicate and refreshing.

I plan on returning soon with the girls to try more and support the new restuarant!