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I agree about Wildwood. I've never had a bad meal there.

As for Paley's I wonder if you've been served by the owner or by staff she's hired. I believe my run-ins were with her. Given her interpersonal style, she may have hired wait staff who are more cordial.

I just grind them and at them to cereal. They taste kind of nutty. As for dog food it's more then a fad. My dog is allergic to flax and it's almost impossible to get dog food without it.

Cod Juniper is one of my favorite dishes which is what you are referring to. They only have it during certain times of the year. They have a small menu, with only one non seafood dish for meateaters. Everything I've had there has been very good. The meal consists of a cup of soup- always the same then the entrée then a salad of plain greens with a vinaigrette (also always the same). They also have only a few desserts and appetizers but also very good. I don't usually have wine so I'm not sure what that adds to the cost but I've usually spent for an entrée and dessert in the twenty dollar range. I haven't eaten at the Daily yet but I like Winterborne as much as the other restaurants you mention. Unless you like seafood, however, the choices are very limited. I used to go there yearly for the juniper.

I also don't like staff hovering. What happened at Paley's was a different experience. One time a friend and I walked in toward the end of the dinner hour asking if we could just get dessert. The woman, I believe the owner, yelled at us across the room of people in an angry voice telling us that this was a dinner restaurant. Really embarrassing. After a while and repeatedly good reviews noting friendly staff I excused that because the restaurant before Paley's had been famous for dessert. A year later I met a friend there. We had early reservations for dinner. When I walked in my friend was the only one seated in the restaurant. She was upset and crying because the staff had yelled at her for asking for a different table. Maybe this behavior works in NY but I'm used to better treatment at a restaurant. I laugh every time I see Paley's described in reviews as focused on customer service. They must know the reviewers and cater to them.

Prices for entrees was in the thirteen to seventeen dollar range. They are all a-la-carte. Pizza was about eight dollars.

I went there tonight for the first time. The waitress was knowledgeable and able to answer questions about the food. I ordered the soup and stuffed chicken. The soup was too salty for me and I am usually a salt lover. The chicken was quite good as was my friends pasta with clams. The high point was the dessert- fresh berries with zabaglione. The meal was fairly expensive including the soup, dessert, and coffee. The meal was enjoyable but didn't compare with those at my favorite restaurants.

This list covers most of my favorites. Paley's has great food but on the two occasions I tried it, my companion and I were treated with extreme rudeness. I went to Cafe Lauro this evening and it was excellent with a range from single pizza's to more elaborate meals. Others not yet mentioned: Laslows, Cafe Mingo, and Winterborne. The Pho Van in Northwest is more upscale than the one on 82nd which is more of a casual, family restaurant. If you can eat dinner early, khun pic's is one of the best Thai restaurants in Portland. If you don't get in when it opens, the wait for a table and then for the food is unbearably long.

I was searching for At Last bars which I've just heard about and stumbled onto this interesting site. I'm newly diabetic and you've saved me a lot of research on my favorite food- chocolate. I have actually found one sugar free chocolate that tastes good. Nothing is as good as "real" chocolate but this comes close. It's called Cavalier and the ingredients are less horrifying than most of the sugarfree: Ingredients: maltitol, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk protein, butter oil, hazelnuts, emulsifier: soy lecithin, flavouring: vanilla.