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Montesacro Pinseria Romana

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We all love Italian food, but generally I’ve found that people in the United States tend to oversimplify the wide array of deliciousness that the country has to offer – too often reducing it down to pasta alone. Montesacro Pinseria does a wonderful job of showing off all of the other mouth-watering offerings of Italia.

I actually lived in the Northwestern corner of Rome for 6 months back in 2006, and since returning, had not found a single restaurant that transported me back to those times until sitting down for lunch at this unassuming spot in the Pearl district. However, one bite of the Gambuccio panini (not the pressed white bread variety you may be thinking of) and I was instantly back to a street-side bistro of Trastevere. Perfectly crunchy and soft bread, heaped with a generous portion of prosciutto and burrata, yet it was the zucchine sott’oli (zucchini marinated in olive oil and spices) that honestly brought tears of nostalgia to my eyes. I highly recommend getting the Sbagliato, a wonderfully bright and bitter combination of bubbles, Campari, and Cocchi Torino to cleanse your palate between blissful bites.

I cannot wait to return to try all of the deliciousness on this menu, and relive those days living in the epicenter of amazing Italian cuisine.

Have you tried this place yet? Let us know in the comments!

CMA vs. Zestimate

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Watch below to learn about the differences and what might be the best fit for you! If you don’t want to see the video, read below for a breakdown. Enjoy!

When you want to know what your home is worth there are a couple different options for you. You can reach out to your favorite realtor and ask them to send you a comparative market analysis also known as a CMA. Or you can use a instant home value finder like the one on Zillow called a zestimate. We will break these both down for you.

The simplest thing to do is log in to a website and enter your address for a computer generated home value. The upside of this method is that you get the information almost instantly and its very easy to input the basic criteria. These systems use a general radius from your home instead of taking into account the rapidly changing neighborhoods that we know and love here in Portland. It also doesn’t consider any upgrades you may have done or whether your home is nicer than your neighbors, it just averages all the figures across a broad range.

The better option is to reach out to your realtor and have them run the numbers for you. We know the neighborhoods, what you have done to your home and what value those projects bring to your property and we can get laser focused on the recently sold homes to give you a much more accurate number of what your home will sell for in the current market. While the most accurate way to do this would be to walk through your home with you, we can still get you a better number with just a phone call.

No matter what choice you decide to make, we will be here to help you when you decide to sell!

Ruby Jewel

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This week’s featured spot is the delectable Ruby Jewel! We are here to tell you that this is the best ice cream in Portland. They have amazing flavors that change regularly, they use only locally sourced ingredients, and you can get an ice cream sandwich, inside a COOKIE!!!!!

I don’t dislike the other ice cream shops, which shall not be named, but Ruby Jewel gives you classic flavors with a small twist that only makes them taste better. A current favorite is the Peanut Butter Dream. It is peanut butter ice cream, with peanut butter cups and swirls of chocolate. It is truly to die for. I would recommend getting it inside of some chocolate chip cookies. Some of their other offerings include The vegan Jewel which is made from chocolate coconut ice cream and a gluten-free cookie and the Pride-Which made from cereal milk ice cream, rainbow cookies, and rainbow sprinkles. They will donate 10% of sales to Q Center if you buy this cookie sandwich.

Since its first opening in Portland, Ruby Jewel has grown in popularity throughout the city. They currently have 3 locations that you can step into to create your own delicious treat!
1650 NW 23rd Ave
3713 N Mississippi Ave.
428 SW 12th Ave
If none of these locations is close enough to home, don’t worry! You can now find their ice cream sandwiches pre-made in most of our local grocery stores! You’re never too far away from the best Ice cream in Portland! Check out all the current flavors Here.

Do you have a place that you think we need to check out? Let us know in the comments!

Acadia

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Our hotspot of the week this week has truly been one of my favorite restaurants in Portland for many, many years now. Acadia Bistro has such consistently wonderful food, drinks, and service that the only explanation I have for why is isn’t perpetually packed is that it’s longevity in a city obsessed with ‘new’ makes it almost like a well-guarded secret between friends.

The menu walks a wonderful balance of maintaining the classic New Orleans dishes that transport you immediately to the bayou, and introducing new innovations and seasonal ingredients from the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. It would constitute a cardinal sin to miss out on the BBQ shrimp as a starter, jumbo head-on Gulf shrimp bathed in a pan-sauce so decadent you will dream about it for weeks afterwards. The Hushpuppies are another wonderful opening, fluffy fried batter of cornbread and seasonings, doused with a spicy-sweet orange and horseradish marmalade.

The beautiful conundrum of the entrees is that I can never figure out which is my favorite, and so have learned that I have to bring at least 3 people with me so we can share everything family-style. On a recent visit we all thoroughly enjoyed the Fried Soft-shell Crab with Crawfish Etouffee, the impossibly tender Hangar Steak, the light and balanced Seabream topped with blue crab and brown butter sauce, and a Pork Chop that was practically the size of my head and juicier than I knew a pork chop could be.

The desserts and cocktails aren’t to be missed either. My Vieux Carre was perfectly rich and boozy, and the housemade ice creams are what Salt and Straw wishes they could be. My recent go-to ‘genius move’ is to get a scoop of the Sea Salt Brown Butter on top of the outstandingly delicious Vanilla Bean Bread Pudding. You can thank me later.

What should our next hot spot be? Let us know in the comments!