The Eastsider Diaries: Birthday Foodie Madness

Last weekend I was back in the land of no sales tax for a mini-holiday.
I got to see college friends, go to a good old sorority event, and hang out in one of my favorite cities on the west coast. It was a pre-birthday present to myself. And I even found a dress!

You know me, with Portland comes good dining. Foodie heaven, if you will.
And this trip did not disappoint.

B spoiled me with a wonderful birthday dinner at this amazing restaurant called ClarkLewis. It's located in South East Portland, right on Water Ave. They're a "farm to table" restaurant which means all their food comes from local farms. How sustainable and chic, I dare say!

We ordered our drinks and perused the menu. Calamari sounded good and what we got was unexpected-- fresh cooked calamari ink squid ink. B and I were expecting your typical lightly breaded and grilled calamari so when this little dish showed up on our table, we were in awe.

I must say, it was absolutely delicious!
It was new and different, that's for sure, but it was very, very tasty.
For the main course we each had pasta, which was also quite lovely.

hand made pesto pasta

pork shoulder toss

After stuffing ourselves with dinner, we headed over to the Portland City Grill for dessert.
Needless to say we went home satisfied and immediately passed out from a food coma.

Next day we headed to the Screen Door for brunch.
As always, the place was packed and the line was long. For just the 2 of us, it was a minimum of an hour and a half wait. We weren't complaining. Instead, we stretched our legs and walked down the street for coffee.
Only 45 minutes later we were seated at the bar and dived into our beverages.
By the time our hush puppies arrived, I was starting to get hungry...