Andrea and Joe's Culinary Tour

The week before last Andrea and Joe came to Oregon for a spring break trip.  We spent a day and a half in Portland and then seven days in Eugene.  It was amazing.  We miss them terribly and wish that their trip could haee lasted longer (although it was one day longer due to a blizzard in Colorado).

Andrea and Joe got to explore the area while Cliff and I were at work.  Every night we found something fun to do.  All in all I think we ate for most of the trip.  The photos I took prove it as they all involve food.

So here they are....enjoy the restaurant list and photos from Andrea and Joe's Oregon Culinary Tour/Vacation.

Saturday

1:00pm Hopworks Urban Brewery in Southeast Portland with Brie.  Beers, salads, calzones.  Very cheesy but delicious.

4:00pm: Albina Press on Hawthorne in Southeast Portland.  Macchiatto, mocha, two hot chocolates.  Beautiful coffee/hot chocolate art.

6:00pm: le Bistro Montage under the Morrison Bridge in Southeast Portland with Kathy and Jill.  Rolls, fried catfish, greens with hominy, gumbo, red beans and rice, spicy macaroni and cheese.  Great atmosphere with a very diligent water server and a flair for fun foil animals to hold your leftovers.

Sunday

9:00am: Moonstruck Chocolate Co. in Northwest Portland.  Dark hot chocolate, Mayan hot chocolate with cinnamon and almond, and spicy dark hot chocolate.  Really wonderful sipping hot chocolates and the cutest Easter truffles (they were shaped like little cows, lambs, pigs, horses, dogs, cats, etc.).

9:15am:  Portland Bagel Company in Northwest Portland.  Jalapeno and cheese bagels, marionberry french toast bagels, and pesto bagels with cream cheese.  Less of a bagel and more of a buttery round roll with a hole in the middle.  Between the hot chocolates and the bagels, it was a really good fancy feeling but cheap breakfast.

2:30pm: Kettle Corn at the Daffodil Drive Festival at the Long Tom Grange in Junction City.  A bag of warm kettle corn from a bag the size of a toddler.

5:30pm: Falling Sky Brewing in Eugene. St. Pattie's Day beer, corned beef with rye bread pudding, chickpea field burger with salad, and sadly I forgot what Andrea and Joe got.  I got some sort of weird allergic reaction where my face got really red and felt instantly sunburned.  Didn't matter as it was still delicious.

7:00pm: Root beer floats at home.

8:00pm: Cocktails.

Monday

5:30pm: Hop Valley Brewing Company in Springfield. Happy hour cask beers, nachos, sliders with fried, fish tacos, and onion rings.  Greasy and delicious.

7:30pm: Root beer floats at home.

8:00pm: County ham and biscuits at home.

8:30pm: Cocktails at home.

Tuesday

4:30pm:  La Perla Pizzeria Napolentana in downtown Eugene.  Ceasar salad, Margherita pizza,
Quattro Stagioni pizza with atrichokes, muschrooms and basil, and La Perla pizza with tomatoes, house made mozzarella, and Calabrese salami. Too expense as it did not live up to the hype (in our opinions).

5:45pm:  Vanilla Jill's Frozen Yogurt in the Eugene Whitaker neighborhood. Sundae's made with hard frozen yogurt (made with Nancy's local yogurt).  We met one of the owners, Vanilla Jill's sister Chocolate Megan. Sampled pretty much off of the flavors including those that were paleo or vegan.  The vegan cinnamon waffles and fresh whipped cream helped to make Vanilla Jill's a happy Groupon experience.  To me the hard yogurt beats their soft serve yogurt.



Wednesday

5:00pm: Snack at home of nachos and cheese.

7:30pm: Cliff's chana dal with rice at home.

Thursday

5:30pn: Euphoria Chocolate Company in Eugene.  Truffles.  Delicious, delicious truffles.

6:30pm: Fisherman's Market in downtown Eugene. Raw oysters, fish tacos, fish and chips, and fried oysters.  My new favorite place to eat as they have great seafood at a great price. 

7:15pm: Sweet Life Patisserie in downtown Eugene.  Chocolate mouse cake and an oatmeal stout with malted cream cupcake.   Caused us to be so full of rich food that it hurt.

9:00pm: Mead from Maryland at home.

Friday

1:30pm: Falling Sky Brewing in downtown Eugene.  Beer, burgers, chickpea field burger, grilled ham and cheese, potato leak soup, and pulled pork french fries.

3:00pm: Domaine Meriwether Sparkling Wines in Veneta.  Sampled two sparking and three traditional wines.  The owner's dog, Captain, kept us entertained during our tasting by forcing us to play fetch.

4:00pm: Silvan Ridge Winery in Eugene.  Sampled five wines.  Still our favorite winery in the area and to prove it we bought two bottles of their muscat (aka peachie-o's wine).

5:00pm: Sweet Cheeky Winery in Eugene. Sampled five wines and feasted on fruit and cheese that we bought at Market of Choice.  Their view is beautiful so we bought a bottle of riesling to sit outside by a fire and eat fancy blue cheese and aged cheddar with bread and grapes.  We even made a new friend who encouraged us to start line dancing at the Whiskey River Bar in Springfield. 

9:15pm: Prince Pucklers Gourmet Ice Cream in Eugene. Euphoria Chocolate Sundaes.  Best ice cream in town and a happening spot at 9:00pm on a chilly night.

Saturday

8:30am: Dutch babies at home.

2:00pm: Dizzy Dean's Donuts in West Eugene.  One dozen donuts.  Best crullers I have ever had. Once again another great Groupon purchase.

2:45pm: Holy Cow in South Eugene. Kombucha, beer, felafel, lentils and rice, an Indian platter, and fish tacos. Their food makes my stomach and heart happy.

3:45pm: Allan Bros. Coffee in South Eugene.  Americano, mocha, hot chocolate, and more Dizzy Dean's donuts. Joe's favorite hot chocolate of the trip.

8:00pm: Salad, potato pancakes, and homemade sauerkraut at home. Our crock is amazing.

9:00pm: Warmed, spiced mead from Maryland at home.  Absolutely delightful. 


Sunday

8:00am: The rest of the Dizzy Dean's donuts.


I was a wonderful nine days.