I was recently at a dinner party when I threw out one of my favorite ice breaker questions “What are your top 5 go-to Portland restaurants?” Often it’s many of the same haunts – Clyde Common, Nostrana, Biwa – but a very trusted palate in the group broke out with “Fratelli.” I was intrigued…

When the Dining Month challenge was on, I staked my claim on this restaurant early on (well, one of my colleagues also tried it out for DM, but I won the honor of reviewing it). I’ll start by summing it up with this phrase, “an island in the Pearl.” For as hip and polished as the Pearl District is, there are very few top notch yet affordable restaurants, so Fratelli offers something rare for the region. Tucked into an old brick building and with limited street frontage, sneaking into the restaurant is a bit like discovering a hidden gem. Wood, drapes and tapestries create a warm and intimate environment, that feels both polished and well lived in at the same time. Service was spot on throughout the evening, and the food at times, both met and exceeded my expectations.

The Dining Month menu was different and fun. Rather than 3 courses, it’s actually 4! Guests can choose 2 antipasti from a menu of 8 for the first course(s). I selected grilled asparagus, shaved fennel, and egg salad with honey-lemon dressing and a cannellini beans, mortadella, and pistachio aillade. The grilled asparagus was still crispy and had a nice grassy olive oil that clearly said “it’s early summer, enjoy!” The cannellini beans were good, but not that memorable. What really stood out was what one of my companions ordered – the market inspired frittata. Wow, I must insist that you order this if you go, it transcends a standard egg dish. Then, for the main course, pan roasted Draper Farms chicken wrapped in prosciutto with polenta. Succulent, smokey and absolutely delicious, this dish was enough for two people but I just couldn’t share, nor could I stop myself. Needless to say, I left without a doggie bag. In fact, I did myself in on the entree, so when my cheesecake dessert arrived I barely toyed with it and abandoned half to the table. It was good, but it’s tough to live in the shadows of an excellent entree.

If you only have a chance to go to one more restaurant this June, make it Fratelli.

Tuesday night I headed out to Vino Paradiso, which translated into Portlandia means, “A little piece of wine-infused paradise in the Pearl District.”

I was joined by my folks, who I’d invited thinking they’d approve, after viewing a segment featuring VP’s chef whipping together a sformato on KOIN’s Studio 6 program.

We kicked off the evening with cocktails at the bar, and I got one called “Bridges Over Portland.”  The sprig of rosemary, combined with Cock & Bull ginger ale and a local Portland-made spirit was a nice balance to the sweltering evening heat (well, sweltering for Portland).

We then got to the meat of the matter, and I ordered from the Dining Month prix fixe menu – a mixed green salad, the sformato and a chocolate cake to make myself feel like I’ve truly earned my love handles.

This was my first encounter with a sformato and I wanted it to be special.  I carefully explained to my folks its Italian roots, and how the chef prepared the dish (based on what I remembered from the KOIN segment), shamelessly inventing steps for the parts of the recipe that I’d forgotten, and all the while dodging questions about who I may or may not be dating and what I’m doing with my life.

When the main course finally arrived it was a lot like love at first sight.  Only my love was a little airy quiche-like dish with flecks of asparagus & sweet onion, seemingly floating upon a bed of shrooms.  These were no Psilocybin’s, but the meal sent me on a magical trip nevertheless, and due to a mix-up with my mother’s order, we got a second order of the sformato on the house (which I enjoyed for breakfast Wednesdsay morning).

Overall, our service experience was not without a few hiccups and errors here and there – but they were overlooked as our waiter was friendly, courteous, attentive and more than willing to make all corrections so that we left feeling like we had another positive experience at one of Portland’s fine dining establishments.

For my 5-year anniversary with my boyfriend, we wanted something unique, upscale, and affordable. Dining Month made the latter possible and Departure went above and beyond our expectations. The restaurant, situated at the top of The Nines Hotel, was unlike any other restaurant I have encountered in Portland. We were seated out on the rooftop along the edge, among a crowd of trendys, happy hour seekers, and average Joes like ourselves.

It was our anniversary and we were prepared to pay the big bucks for dinner, but we were pleasantly surprised with the fair prices, and accommodating Dining Month menu. We ordered one Dining Month menu and three appetizers; everything went above and beyond our expectations.

Dining Month Menu

• Grilled prawns with long beans, avocado, papaya marinade
• Charred skin chicken with rhubarb, snap peas, shitake, jalapeno
• Kafir lime bar with ginger ice cream

Additional Appetizers

• Pork belly & kim chee fried rice

• Vegetable Udon noodles spinach, ginger
• Shaking beef chili, red onion, watercress

I could not have selected a better Dining Month menu. The three dishes paired perfectly together. They were original creations made especially for Dining Month participants and they were excellent. I had a dream about the Kafir lime bar with ginger ice cream; it’s amazing that food has that affect on me!

Highlights: Amazing view, excellent service, good prices, and a true Departure away from Portland’s typical dining scene! I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Springtime in a bowl at Nel Centro

Our mission continues — working our way through all the restaurants in the line-up for Dining Month Portland.

This stop: Lisa dines at Nel Centro, Dave Machado’s Riviera-inspired restaurant in the Hotel Modera.

Highlights: Bright, robust seasonal veggie soup (minestrone), loaded with plump  favas and English peas with a dollop of garlicky pesto in the middle.  So spring-like and delicious,  and the kind of soup I love to eat in restaurants because it represents hours of chopping…that I didn’t have to do!

Huge portions for the main dishes, and memorable blood orange and mandarin sorbet.

Lowlight: Cookie plate dessert option was straight from the meeting planners menu.  Lots of classic cookies piled on a plate, nearly all lacked interesting, distinctive flavor — except the pistachio macaroon, which was flawless.

NW Portland’s Serratto is one of my favorite spots in town – it doesn’t get a ton of buzz, but it’s been around forever (over 25 years!) and is one of those old Portland staples with great food, excellent service, and an upscale yet warm and cozy ambiance. They also happen to have one of the best happy hours in town, and being that the restaurant is a little pricey, it’s not the kind of place I generally go to for a 3-course dinner. So I was really excited to get the opportunity to check it out for Dining Month, and was very pleased with the meal – all of the dishes were beautifully prepared, the wine pairings were thoughtful and on-point, and the service, as always, was impeccable.

I started off with a chilled asparagus soup, served with crème fraiche and micro-greens set atop a mini crostini  - a combination that gave each bite the perfect crunchy texture and refreshing creamy mouthfeel.

In my opinion, the main course was the standout dish – a house-made spaghetti served with sautéed prawns, English peas, cherry tomatoes and watercress, dressed in a lemon-dill cream. This dish was spot on in many ways – you could taste the freshness of the pasta in the first bite, and the spaghetti’s thick but airy texture made it difficult to put my fork down. While the prawns were cooked to perfection, the dill was a bit strong for me and took away from the simplicity of this otherwise perfect plate.

For the third course we enjoyed a Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée served with a shortbread cookie…rich and flavorful, but with a bit of an overglazed top.

Hope you enjoy my photos from the evening – as always, I had another very pleasant experience at Serratto. There’s just something about this place that draws me in and makes me feel right at home, and even if I only go back for happy hour, I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Serratto.

Chilled Asparagus Soup

House-made Spaghetti

I lucked out and snagged reservations at one of the newest restaurants on the Dining Month list before any of my colleagues, and wow… I’m glad I did. Aviary opened up on NE Alberta St. less than a year ago, and I’ve been hearing the buzz so the $25 menu was all I needed to leap over the threshold and into a seat in the industrial chic restaurant.

The regular menu is arranged in a list like tapas – no departments or courses – but the Dining Month menu was set up more traditionally, separated as three courses and two options for each course, so my companion and I ordered it all and shared. There’s a lot to rave about here, including an exciting wine list with great values, so I’ll stick to our favorites.

Bread was served with bagna cauda, a cream-based olive oil and anchovie dip that reminded me of a thin fondue. I knew I was in for a sophisticated food adventure after my first bite of an ox tail croquette with tomato jam. A thin, crisp breading cracked open to reveal a nugget of tender oxtail with exotic flavors. Amazing. I paired this course with a glass of Cameron Pinot Blanco and it had enough muscle to hold up, and even accentuate the warm spices in this dish.

For the entree, our favorite was a glazed black cod that was so tender we swore it had to be sous vide, though we were informed it was not. It was served with Japanese eggplant, chorizo and fennel. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better, dessert arrived. Our favorite was the buttermilk panna cotta topped with mango gelee and passion fruit sorbet. Tangy, sweet and addictive enough to already have me pondering my next visit.

Tabla Bistro is located off 28^th and Davis, nestled in between chocolate shops and old Portland houses, the location makes the experience feel unique and relaxing. There were some excellent things to note about our experience at Tabla Bistro. The Dining Month prix fixe was three dishes off of the regular menu paired carefully for the best flavor combination and value. Each portion was well thought out, the flavors of each dish did not supersede the one before. The ambience was comfortable, and nice. The service was excellent and for a Tuesday night Tabla Bistro was bustling with business.

What I don’t normally care for with 3-Course menus is the requirement to make one dish of the prix fixe your dessert. Tabla Bistro recognizes this; their 3-Course menu offers an appetizer, pasta, and entrée, which allowed for me to opt into the dessert in the end. For my Dining Month three-course prix fixe I began with the Farmer’s Market Lettuces, followed with the Tajarin truffle butter house-made pasta, and closed with their delectable Forbidden Rice Risotto. The food was rich with flavor, fresh, and well thought out. My guest veered a little with her salad selection, and tried their Spring Vegetable Salad, which she elegantly licked clean from the plate.

In my opinion, not including the dessert in the prix fixe was well thought out, because the second I heard that they offered a Chai Gelato I had to order it. I was able to try more during my dinner, and still jumped at the chance for dessert even though I had already eaten three courses. The Chai Gelato was the perfect combination of something comforting and light to finish off my meal.

My photos from dinner turned out awful, given that they were taken via candlelight, however thanks to The Oregonian I can show off the Tajarin that I was able to enjoy during my Dining Month experience. Let the salivating begin!

Our Dining Month Portland challenge is in full swing at Watershed HQ and that means the opportunity to share our reviews with each other, and with you.  We’ll be posting mini-reviews from some of our restaurant visits on our blog throughout the week.  The list of Dining Month participants can be a little daunting at first, so my personal strategy was simple – start at the top of the list and work my way down.

I should probably mention that I have amazing friends and family who were amused, and slightly baffled, at the idea of trying to visit all of the participating Dining Month restaurants.  Thankfully, they’ve been good sports who are willing to take one for the team (er, waistband?) so I get great meals and some pretty awesome company to boot.  Last night my Dining Month posse visited 50 Plates.

Our first course was iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese dressing, bacon and scallions.  It was simple and delicious. So delicious in fact, that we dove right in and I forgot to get any pictures.

The second course of the evening was a half Draper Valley chicken served with grits and greens.  The portion was more than generous and the dish reminded me of something my Grandma in Missouri would have made, if she were a better cook.

The third course was a chocolate devils food cake with brown sugar ice cream.  You can’t really go wrong with chocolate cake and it was rich enough that we could have easily shared one portion.

As a team we’ve visited 10 restaurants so far, with 51 to go.  Has anyone else checked out the Dining Month Portland deals?  What did you think?  Let us know which ones have been your favorites in the comments below.

I like to do my part to help out – especially when the work involves eating.

For Dining Month I chose to go to Metrovino, located off 11th and Northrup in the Pearl District.  There are many great things to say about this place – the classy ambiance made me feel underdressed in my undershirt (it was the hottest day of the year when I was there) but the friendly staff made me feel welcome and at ease; and they weren’t irritated by my pesky vegetarian questioning.  As a self-described “peskytarian” every dining opportunity is like walking through a minefield mouth first.  That’s why I’m appreciative of the patience exhibited by the fine folks at Metrovino.

For the Dining Month three-course prix fixe I inhaled their pea soup (forgetting any sense of time and place, and forgetting to write down the proper name), followed by their Roasted Alaskan Halibut Fillet and topped off with their Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta for dessert.  I also stole some mammoth bites of the Chocolate Espresso Cake but anyone would have done the same.

While Metrovino is well known for their wine selection – I couldn’t resist the allure of an old flame called Guinness.

It was a lovely day for a Guinness, and a lovely day to enjoy the Dining Month deals at Metrovino.

Oh, glorious June in Portland! The sun is shining, the flowers are flowering, and most glorious of all, the restaurants are treating the city to Dining Month Portland — three-course menus for a measly $25.

At Watershed, we’ve decided to embrace this opportunity enthusiastically, in fact we’ve set ourselves the challenge of dining at every one of the 61 participating restaurants. We’re ambitious, but we’re not insane, so we’re dividing and conquering. With eight of us bringing our appetites to the project, we’re pretty confident about achieving our goal.

And most importantly, we’re not just feeding ourselves, but helping feed others. When you make a reservation at a participating restaurant using the OpenTable link on Dining Month Portland site, a donation will be made to the Oregon Food Bank.

In the first week, we’ve hit these spots: Serrato, Otto, Tabla, Departures, 50 Plates, Cafe Nell, Yakuza, Paley’s Place, and Gracie’s. Up next, clarklewis,  Fratelli and who knows where else.

Here’s what Katie had to say about Yakuza:

“Downtown Dining steal… Seriously good deal! Started with their refreshing cucumber and avocado salad with sesame and tagarashi.   Then their stunning scallop tempura with shredded filo that sits on a bed of rich spicy mayo aioli.  It reminds me of punk rock sushi — definitely a mohawk sort of look.  Perfectly cooked and delicious with or without the spicy mayo aioli.  I like it without, so I can taste the seasoning that’s dusted over the filo…might be a lime salt?  Then dungeness crab rolls with crème fraiche. Wish I could have had the burger in the mix, but hey, you can’t have everything! Swanky vibe – dark, perfect place for a mid-week date night.”