Coating My Insides with Delicious Grassa

Since being back at work, I'm happy to resume my Downtown Portland restaurant excursions - and it's always fun to do that with my enthusiastic, wonderful co-workers.  About to describe my recent experience at Grassa, Portland's homemade pasta destination, and Lardo's sibling, my friend Laura accompanied me and we had a great time.

Atmosphere:
Essentially attached to Lardo, Grassa is an extension of this casual, stylish eatery.  Just like Lardo, you order first, sit at a communal table and wait for your food to arrive.  I like that there's service at the communal seats in the main dining room, and the waitstaff refills your waters, brings your food to the table and ensures you're having a good experience.

The dining area is simple but warm and filled with lots of patrons - especially during lunch.  Although it's busy, I like that it's possible to score a table without an issue - making Grassa an accessible and friendly destination.

Food:
There's about 10 different types of pasta dishes that grace the menu each day, and they somewhat differ daily.  It's nice to see they vary up their menu items to keep things fresh and interesting, enticing patrons to come back for more.  I went for the gold so to speak in choosing the carbonara, a signature Italian pasta dish, and I wasn't sorry.

Carbonara - The i-ching of pasta dishes is of course the carbonara with lots of parmesan and pecorino cheese, pork belly and a beautifully fried egg on top.  The latter was nice and runny and made the dish feel deconstructed, as egg is usually already cooked into this pasta.  Needless to say, the pork belly raised the indulgence quotient to the nth level and it was perfectly crispy on the outside and soft, fatty and juicy on the inside.  Overall, it made for a perfect end to a busy work week.

Marinated Eggplant - To start things off, Laura and I ordered this nice looking appetizer or contorni, as they refer to it at Grassa. Everything about it was delicious - from the tender eggplant circles to the soft mozzarella cheese, fresh pasta sauce, crunchy bread crumbs and some fragrant herbs on top.  It was a vegetarian's dream, and Laura can attest to that.

Service and Cost:
As I already mentioned, the service was casual but lovely.  We felt well taken care of and although the restaurant was busy, we didn't feel the least bit rushed to leave.  In fact, we could've lingered and hung around for as long as we liked.

Costs are on the expensive side for pasta but well worth the high quality and generous portions.  I also happened to have a Chinook Book coupon for the eggplant dish, which ended up being free, and this made things extra awesome.

3 Mmmms

Grassa - 1205 SW Washington Street, Portland OR 97205
503.241.1133
grassapdx.com

Delicious Lunch Adventure at Thrive Sauce & Bowls

Now that I have a baby, it's a little hard to stick to my usual food exploration routine, but I'm doing my best to manage (eh hem!). Actually, the baby is a great excuse to get out, as she loves movement and exploring new places - who would've thunk it, she must take after me?

Even though my little excursion to the new Thrive Sauce & Bowls was sans baby Edie, it's definitely a place I'd like to return to again, especially since it seemed to be pretty family friendly.  My friend Annie and I greatly enjoyed our lunch there and I can confidently say we'll be back.

Atmosphere:
Given that Thrive started off as a food truck and now has a brick and mortar location is testament to its success and culinary greatness.  Their new restaurant has a fantastic location on NE Fremont Street and 46th Avenue - right in the center of that particular commercial hub.

Impressed by its cheery interior, the dining room is large and airy, boasting a beautiful hand painted mural that showcases a large carrot - no doubt connoting the fresh ingredients used in their dishes.  The rest of the ambiance mirrors that homemade vibe as well, with colorful chair cushions, little country knick knacks on the walls, fresh flowers on the tables and other lovely things.  I like how much room they have for both small and larger parties, with a few outdoor tables as well.

Food:
Even though there's a variety of items on the menu, Annie and I both had our eye on the prize and ordered bowls.  There were many flavors to choose from, and even a bowl of the day, which I ended up choosing. Overall, we were both happy and satiated at the end of our meal - so much so that I almost wasn't hungry for dinner that night. Well almost.

Cuban Bowl - As I mentioned above, this was the day's special and included a bevy of rich, flavorful ingredients.  The braised pork shoulder is what completely sold me along with fresh veggies such as red cabbage slaw, cilantro and a traditional mojo sauce.  Overall, it was very very good but I have to say it didn't taste very Cuban - instead it had more South Asian flavors.  The pork however, was really flavorful, not too fatty and totally submissive at the mere contact of the fork.

Japanese Bowl - Annie ordered the Japanese bowl, which she also got with a protein addition of pork belly.  Even though she was warned it would be pretty fatty, Annie didn't mind and committed to the indulgence.  I had a bite too and loved how beautifully it was cooked, with little crunchy bits on the outside and a soft, almost sweet inside.  The freshness of the veggies such as cucumber, seaweed and cilantro cut all that richness.

Service and Cost:

I like that Thrive is an order at the counter kind of place so it eliminates all the formalities associated with dining out.  We didn't wait too long for our order which was great and the staff was lovely and good about clearing our plates when we were finished.

Costs are on the moderate side and while a little high for lunch, their portions are generous and therefore still offer good value.  My bowl set me back about $13 with tip while Annie's was more like $10.

3 Mmmms

Thrive Sauce & Bowls - 4641 NE Fremont Street, Portland OR 97213
503.288.8365
thrivesauceandbowls.com