wundermunk

Hey there. I'd think about adding Park Kitchen to your list and the Alberta Oyster bar, though the other options on your list are good. I'd skip the Saturday market , and opt for the Portland Farmer's market (on Saturday) near PSU. Also check out Portlandfood.org and portlandfoodanddrink.org for more opinions about places to go here.

Thanks. There are definitely some interesting articles out there about the folks who run the place. Such as this one. I will certainly try to get a reservation. ← Maybe Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, if you have time.

chocolate bread pudding! cube stale baguette or similar bread (about 6 cups) toss them in a bowl with about 1/4 cup melted butter make a custard: heat 1 cup milk, 1 cup cream, pour over about 5 oz. chocolate (use your ganache here) and mix until smooth pour this over: 4 egg yolks that you have whisked with about a cup of sugar. Pour it over the bread cubes and let soak for about an hour or so. Bake in buttered dish for about 30 minutes at 350. This is endlessly variable. If you have stale cookies, brownies or cake around you can throw them in place of some of the bread, sometimes I have caramels or toffee bits around and throw them in the mix, spices are good. chili, cinnamon or any other you like with chocolate, a little bourbon if kids aren't eating it. Yummy. Good with ice cream or whipped cream or fruit.

Thank you all for the great suggestions. We had a fun time all in all, though it ended up being harder than I thought to get the in-laws out of their comfort zone (long story there). So, we ended up having cocktails at their hotel's free happy hour (one of the airport chains, which should clue you in to our framework) because they didn't think it made any sense to go "Out" for what we could get for free. Ugh. But our son enjoyed swimming in the pool and watching cable tv and being pampered by the grandparents. We did convince them to go to "Burgerville" over Mickey D's with the kids! Yay. Unfortuanely, they had all kinds of problems with their order there and were unimpressed. Doh! The grandparents implied that they'd meant Mcmenamins when they suggested we take the siblings out- but we convinced everyone that we could stop in Kennedy school so they could see the concept, and that the food we were going to have was much better. THen it was off to Wildwood for dinner, which was lovely. We just had salads and entrees. I am a little fuzzy about the details (I drank a little too much and am alchohol lightweight- don't worry we had a DD). A friend of mine works there, so he sent over some lovely desserts. A Nectarine Tart Tatin, and a berry soaked bread pudding. So we didn't end up going to dessert anywhere either. Which was just as well, as our guests were perfectly happy which was the point after all. It didn't end up being the cool taste of Portland tour I'd wanted to give, but that was about me anyway, and everyone was happy. So it was a success.

Thanks, Trillium. I was leaning toward Wildwood for dinner, and pix is a great suggestion for dessert and would be a whole different scene which would be fun. So maybe cocktails in North or Northeast which is where we live.

All of my in-laws are coming to Portland from Missouri. And one night we are taking the siblings and spouses out to dinner. So here is my quandry. My husband's brother will be game for anything. He lived in Tokyo and has travelled extensively and is pretty adventurous. On the other hand his step-brother and his wife are very nice but pretty conservative and live in the land of resturant chains. We want to show them a good time and make them feel like they had a great Portland experience... wow the brother but not overwhelm the others... I'm thinking we'll do drinks one place, dinner another and dessert at a third to give them a good variety. Suggestions?

Penner-Ash is a new winery near Newberg and Dundee. Stunning space and Lynne P-A is very talented. Her wines are luscious and interesting. Don't know their hours. Their website is www.pennerash.com. Also check out Erath and the Carleton winemakers studio in the area. I've heard that The Black Walnut Inn right by Erath is a lovely place to stay. Also, Erath is hosting a series of chefs dinners this summer, so you might want to check out their website to see if you can get in on one of those. The line-up looks great. www.erath.com.

← Yay! Chocolate. And naughty chocolate? Hooray!! Thx.

Hi! We are having a family reunion at Ghost Ranch, but will vist Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I am looking for great chocolate shops. Any suggestions?

Hey, I don't know if you made your trip or not but I have a few more suggestions. Anatolia is a lovely greek/Indian restaurant. A good option for lunch (they are open for dinner, too). They do all the standards really well. I love their Moussaka, their bindi baji (an okra curry)- or the Thali platter- which includes several curries and the tastiest peanut chutney. Don't miss the rice pudding for dessert. Marche is really good. And get a warm loaf of the seeded baguette from the Fifth Street Public market bakery. If you are going to be there on a weekend go to the Saturday market for lunch. Toby's tofu tia is yummy. It is hippieland-be forewarned- you WILL see tie dye and smell pachouli. You might even get an offr to buy "The greatest jokebook the world has ever known" by Frog who has an uncanny ability to be everywhere in Eugene at once.