Last Thursday

Today I've been feeling very cantankerous and grouchy, so will instead focus on yesterday.


Yesterday was the last Thursday of the month. Here in Portland, that means Alberta Street turns into a big hippy/art/drink/fire dancing/food/etc party. This happens every last Thursday during the good months, folks.

It's awesome.

I met my brother and sister-in-law for a bite to eat before we were to venture down. My friend Shelley joined us. We ate at the Vita Cafe on 30th and Alberta. This place is one of the oldest, that I know of, vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Portland. It's the first one I ever went to, at any rate.

As a snack, my brother and Michelle and I decided to share the Spicy Tempeh Sticks with a peanut dipping sauce:I think it's their "chicken-fried steak" tempeh, just cut up into strips, but it was pretty good. The peanut sauce was a little thick and not very peanut-y, and the whole thing could have used more of the hot sauce, but honestly, any time I get a plate of fried tempeh I will probably be pretty happy.

Shelley showed up and the two of us split a Supergrain Salad--black and white quinoa, currants, pumpkin seeds, some other stuff I don't remember, and a carrot ginger dressing. Nice and lite. Great meal to split after deep fried tempeh.

After dinner, we meandered over to Tour de Crepes a few blocks down. My friend Marcy and her husband John own this adorable little shop. You've got to go out back to this food cart thing, order, and then take a seat at their tables-half of which have old awesome doors as the table top.
We shared a vegan crepe (!) that had hazelnut liquor and dark chocolate. Mmmmm. Marcy, you're a genius.
Michelle, Shelley and I also had a champagne cocktail. I had a belini--peach puree, a slice of peach, and champagne. They both had the raspberry lime belini. I definitely recommend stopping by here (closed Mondays and Tuesdays I think.)


We wandered a bit after that, every single bar was at capacity, and it seemed the streets and sidewalks were as well. After Shelley and I stopped by a party for a minute to say hi to our friend Maryanne, (and have a pint of IPA), we headed down to the Bye and Bye on 10th and Alberta.
All vegan bar, all the time. This place is AWESOME--it's always so packed, and is frequented by meat-eaters and veggies alike. They have a killer meatball sub, and make some delicious braised greens and tofu.

I had a perfectly tart and sweet margarita, and was ready for bed.

Also, this really awesome thing happened to me yesterday: My review of Alu Wine Bar on Yelp was the Review of the Day! That made me pretty dang happy all day. Go check it out!