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Hot Spot Bars

Bar Diane

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Our Hot Spot of the week is wonderful NW wine spot, Bar Diane! We have been wanting to try this place for ages, and are so happy that we were able to before the winter freeze set in.

Tucked sweetly down the alley behind Eb and Bean, Bar Diane has a lot going for it. The design of the space is welcoming and bright, with high ceilings and an abundance of hanging globe lights. The outdoors is outfitted with tall, warming propane heaters in case you are visiting on a drizzly day, as we did. And, of course, the wine selection is enormous!

One of our favorite aspects of Bar Diane on our recent visit was the knowledge base of the staff. Once seated, our server simply asked us what we were in the mood for, rather than directing us to choose from the small menu selection. When we said we wanted bubbles (when do we not?) he asked us a series of questions that led him to picking out a bottle that he thought would be perfect for us. It was delicious! Super bright and dry as a bone, with just a slight touch of the funk that I love in a good champagne.

We also ordered a selection of charcuterie, and they were very accommodating in letting us do a bit of a mix and match, as we wanted to sample a bit of everything. I’m always happy with champagne and charcuterie, but am very much looking forward to sampling some of their larger offerings when we next are able to return. I also cannot wait to try more of their beautifully curated wine selection! Take a peek at what they have here.

Have you checked out Bar Diane yet? What did you love? Let us know in the comments!

Someday

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Ahhh, Someday. An apt name for a bar that was originally conceived of years ago by the owners, who wanted to open their own bar ‘someday’. An even more appropriate refrain for all of us who are wishing and hoping to return to some sense of normalcy in our daily lives ‘someday’. Yet, while we are waiting for indoor dining to be a safe option again, we are always looking for a great spot to grab a drink and a bite outdoors, particularly as the long winter months approach.

Someday is doing the patio scene right. They have big, well-spaced picnic tables, strands of draped lights across the space, and last we checked, were installing heaters to keep you warm and cozy while you drink. The wine selection is well-curated, the cocktails are balanced and delicious, and there is a selection of tasty snacks. If you are looking for a heartier meal, the patio also offers a few food carts to choose from.

Another really fun and unique thing that they are doing is an Oyster BBQ pickup on Sundays! You all know how much we love oysters, so I can’t wait to grab some of these one of these days.

See more about their menu and hours here.

We are really excited for more visits this winter to this cute tucked-away alley bar! Have you visited Someday yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments!

Hawks View Winery

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This week we headed to the beautiful suburb of Sherwood to meet with a new client and try some wine. One of our favorite things about Portland is that the city is small enough that you can get out to the suburbs in about 20-30 minutes. That allows us to enjoy some of the amazing places outside of the city. Hawks View is a perfect example of this. They have a gorgeous property in the hills with multiple decks, modern design, and, most importantly, delicious wine.

Haw's view winery

I highly recommend trying a wine flight, for $20 you get 6 different wines. If you are lucky they will be starting the flight off with a sparkling rosé, it’s a dry and crisp sparkling wine and pairs perfectly with the end of the summer. They also had a pinot gris, chardonnay, and 3 pinots on the wine flight while we were visiting. All of their wines are very true to the style and moderately priced if you want to bring some bottles home.

They also serve a bit of food. They have a fantastic charcuterie board that has been a staple at the winery since they opened, but they also just started doing flatbreads. Cleverly named after the color of the wine it will best pair with, all the choices counted delicious.

We decided on “The Red” a flatbread with gorgonzola, figs, prosciutto, and arugula. It was delicious. The flatbread was crisp on the edges and light and fluffy in the middle. The flavors are a classic combination that all balance really well. True to the name, it did pair very well with the pinot noir we had.

The tasting room is by appointment only, but they have a very easy online system to use. You can get to it over on their website. You can also buy bottles, book events, or join the wine club while you are there. Let us know when you go and visit this winery, we would love to know what you think! You can also check out some of the other hotspots we have loved HERE.

Baerlic Brewing

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This past week we headed out in search of a cool patio and some yummy beer. While we have an abundance of choices here in Portland, it can be a bit harder to find the truly outstanding ones. Baerlic, however, is a brewery that you can always trust to have great beer. Their huge ‘Super Secret Beer Club’ Patio is just a fantastic bonus!

Berlin Patio

One of the things that we love most about Baerlic is that they excel in multiple different styles. There are a lot of breweries that specialize in IPA in Portland, fewer that you can get a great Helles or a Saison and Baerlic is certainly one. Personally, hoppy beers have never been my thing. This time, I tried an Oat Gose, which is a slightly sour beer usually brewed with a bit of salt, and the Helles. Both were clean, crisp, and delicious. The menu changes very frequently here, but you can check out the beers currently on tap before you drop in if you want to make sure they have one of your favorites.

Baerlic Beer

The ‘Super Secret Beer Club’ doesn’t offer any food, but you can bring your own, order from some nearby carts, or have something delivered. Teote or The Hawthorne Asylum Food Carts would be my recommendations because you can walk there and they are delicious! If you want to check out some of our other favorites places to grab beer, head over to our list of Top Breweries in the city!

Bend

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Our Hot Spot of the Week this week is one of our favorite places to visit in Oregon, Bend! After a fantastic summer of helping so many people find their dream homes, we decided to treat ourselves to a little getaway. A big bonus for us of visiting this lovely city is that our flagship office of Cascade Sotheby’s is located there so we also got to visit with some of our favorite colleagues.

Visiting one of our Bend offices and wine tasting with one of our favorite Bend agents, Dave Holland

The Beer

One of our favorite things about Bend is that there are so many wonderful breweries. No matter what style of beer you like, you will be thrilled with all of your options in Bend. Many of the breweries also have public houses, so one of the days we decided to grab lunch at Deschutes to try their pub exclusive beers and grab a bite. I definitely recommend grabbing their beer cheese soup and some VERY garlicky truffle fries to soak up the fantastic tasting flight.

Look at all of that garlic!!!

The Bubbles

Everyone knows we love bubbles, so of course we had to sip on some on our celebration weekend! We ordered some at our dinners, but our absolute favorite bubbles experience was at the wonderful spot Good Drop Wine Shoppe. They had an amazing selection of champagne and the wine steward was extremely knowledgeable and helped us pick the perfect selection. We went with a delicious bottle called ‘Eye of the Peacock’ (but in French) and it was the ideal blend of bright and crisp with a slightly toasty brioche finish. I highly recommend this spot for all of your wine needs when you are in town.

Bubbles galore!!! 🍾🥂

The Food

We had so many delicious meals while in Bend, but our absolute favorite was Washington. We’re always big fans of ordering a lot of dishes and sharing everything, and here was no exception. We started with the Goat Cheese Fondue (yum!) and the Pork Belly with Dungeness Crab (yummm!) plus some tasty cocktails. Mine was the Garden Party, with Aperol, champagne, gin, and basil and it was positively summer in a glass. We proceeded to order a bottle of bubbles with dinner, and adored our choices of the evening Sturgeon special with corn and Chantarelles, as well as the grilled Bavette steak with Chimichurri. I cannot wait to return to Washington and try every single thing on their menu!

Washington. YUM.

The Outdoors

Despite what it sounds like, we didn’t JUST eat and drink the entire time in Bend. We also went to explore a bit of the nature nearby. While the lava tubes were sadly closed, we were still able to wander around in the lava fields at Newberry National Volcanic Monument as well as hike over to Benham Falls along the Deschutes River. There are so many amazing nature experiences all over the area, so you will have no shortage of choices when you want to see beautiful things or work off all of the indulgences 🙂

We had such a delightful time visiting Bend and we cannot wait to go back! What should we see/do/eat next time we are there? Let us know in the comments!

Ecliptic Brewing

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This week we are featuring one of our favorite breweries and restaurants. With space themed decor and beer Ecliptic Brewing is just a fun place to visit for the whole family. They are currently only offering patio dining, but they have converted the entire parking lot into space for tables so there is plenty of space (pun intended).

Ecliptic also offers a wide variety of beverages, there is a full bar and some local wines to choose from. The real star, though, is of course, the beer. John Harris has been an important NW brewer since his early days at McMenamins. He then moved to Deschutes and Full Sail before finally opening his own brewery.

He doesn’t play it safe with his beer either, depending on the time of year that you visit, you can get almost every style of beer available. I love a fruity sour, there were multiple choices on the menu so I tried the the Carina Peach Sour. With the hot weather we also wanted to try a crisp and refreshing beer so we opted for the Ecliptic-Ruse Collab Pilsner. Both beers were refreshing, delicious, and exactly what we were expecting of the style.

Ecliptic Beers

Ecliptic has by far the best food menu of all the breweries. They focus on fresh and seasonal ingredients and switch up the menu often. This summer they are offering little gem salad, street corn and seared albacore tuna. You can also order one of their many burgers or sandwiches. They always have a great burger, but they are currently also offering a beet melt with goat cheese and granny smith apples and a salmon burger with avocado and jalapeño aioli. Head over to the website to see the full menu.

If you aren’t quite ready to head out to a restaurant you can order the food to go or have some beer delivered! You can order your beer HERE. Have you tried the beer/food yet? What did you enjoy most?

Want to check out our other hotspots? You can find those HERE

5 & Dime

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Our hot spot of the week this week is my favorite patio in FoPo, the 5 & Dime! It’s been almost 2 years since this rad neighborhood spot opened. I am still as excited about it today as I was on opening day! The drinks are cold and the service is warm. What more could you ask for??

First off, I love the decor in this place. From the Anthony Bourdain portrait to the Blazers art and neon signs, everything in here feels hip and effortless. Currently, you will only be able to see it on the way to the bathroom with your mask on, but I applaud the owners for the efforts they have put in to keep everyone safe! They have expanded their outdoor seating area so that there are more tables. All of them have proper spacing and sanitizer as well.

The Seating

The cocktail menu at 5 & Dime is always rotating, and always fabulous. With different themes for each like ‘High School Reading List’ or ‘American Gods’. The seasonal list right now is music-based, and I have been loving the Mary J Blige nod to the Aperol Spritz. If I’m feeling less bubbly (as if) I tend towards their delicious draft Negroni.

While current restrictions mean that their delightful snack boards are on hold for the time being, you can still order some pizza or knots from Atlas pizza next door to soak up all of those tasty libations.

My favorite thing about the 5 & Dime is that they have something for everyone. You can get a cheap beer or a finely-tuned cocktail, a dive bar aesthetic that’s elevated just the right amount, great service with a sense of humor, and most of all, a friendly neighborhood welcome!

Check them out here!

What is your favorite neighborhood haunt? Let us know in the comments!

Muse

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As everyone knows, we LOVE bubbly. All things sparkling, from Cava to Champagne, Pet Nat to Prosecco. We even run a monthly Champagne Meet-up group to explore and celebrate bubbles all over the city. This last meet-up we went to Muse Winebar and now it is our Hot Spot of the week!

There were many things to love at this hip new wine bar. The lighting and decor gave the feel of a dimly cozy wine cellar, with Edison bulbs and black and white photos dotting the walls. The size was just right as well, intimate but still large enough to accommodate our group of 13.

Photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/musewinebar/

Another thing we adored about Muse Winebar was the level of service. Kai, one of the owners, was our server for the evening and he was exceptional. He had a high level of knowledge about everything in his collection and was really great about telling us about the different processes and derivations of the sparklings we were tasting. He was very warm and accommodating, and helped everyone to get exactly what they were looking for.

Photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/musewinebar/

In addition, they had no less than 6 sparklings by the glass (be still, my heart!) AND they do wine flights of 3 or 5 half pours of your choice, so many in our group decided to sample almost every bubble on the list. We also tried several of the food accompaniments: a few cheeses, chocolates, and bread, which were all delicious complements to our flights of wine and lively conversations.

Photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/musewinebar/

We are very much looking forward to returning to experience more of the welcoming atmosphere and delicious wine that Muse Winebar has to offer!

Have you tried Muse Winebar yet? What did you love? Let us know in the comments! Plus, check out our previous Hot Spots here!