The November Hit List: Casa Zoraya, Lovely Rita, Baon Kainan, and More

After the tiny, beloved Paiche closed in 2019, there was a dearth of intimate Peruvian restaurant options across town. Enter Casa Zoraya, which opened on North Lombard this past summer from a family of Andina alumni. Casa Zoraya’s tight and bright menu features a mix of recognizable favorites — beef heart and chicken skewers, papa rellena, lomo saltado, and empanadas — alongside wonderfully bright ceviche, salads, and veggie-forward plates. Most of the bar menu stays true to its Peruvian roots, with creative spins on pisco drinks, including a passion fruit pisco sour and a ginger-pisco-infused “chilca-jito.”

This Filipino food cart is among the city’s newest generation of up-and-coming Filipinx chefs, bakers and pop-ups. Helmed by Seattle expats Ethan and Geri Leung, Baon Kainan recently took up residence alongside Viet Kieu hotspot Matta at Metalwood Salvage in Northeast Portland. The menu here is more old-school than new, but that doesn’t mean the dishes aren’t creative and amazing. At brunch on the weekends, there’s tosilog, with juicy, brick-red pork belly, garlic rice and fried eggs; biscuits with longanisa gravy; and the all-time stunner: chicken adobo in a bright and bracing tamari-vinegar sauce. Dinner brings a number of the same — still that incredible chicken adobo — as well as lightly sour sinigang with shrimp, beef kare kare fries, and on Mondays, longanisa lumpia. Close out with two pieces of the jiggly ube bibingka: one for now and one to satisfy the inevitable craving later.

Head to one of Portland’s newest distilleries for a gin-soaked menu of British Isles fare and cocktails in an emerald green, near-private Art Deco space. Guests can enjoy Aimsir’s main spirits — a floral gin and vanilla-scented whiskey — in classic cocktail form, blended and bottled with cold brew coffee, over infused ice, or just straight up. Those that might not be prepared for an all-spirits evening will also find wines, mocktails, and low ABV drinks to keep everyone happy.

Twice a week inside Southeast Clinton’s Magna Kusina, Guadalajara-native Luna Contreras is celebrating her grandmother and the nostalgia of the foods they would eat and cook together at Chelo, a casual, contemporary Mexican street food and drinking snack pop-up with bar vet Michelle Ruocco (Han Oak, Tusk). The team of two has been consistently building out one of the most exciting, veggie-heavy menus this fall, with dishes like pumpkin tamalitos, Chioggia beet remolachas, confit turkey drumstick en pipian, and Contreras’ killer tres leches cake, most recently with almond, pepita brittle, and pumpkin cream. Behind the bar, Ruocco is mixing up crushable cocktails shaken with mezcal, sweet corn and melon, Rumchata with cinnamon and banana, vodka with guava and squash, and more. Chelo opens at 5 p.m. and runs until sell-out.

It’s been another knockout year for food carts in Portland. Among the best is Erica’s Soul Food from Atlanta native Erica Montgomery, whose wings rank amongst the greatest in town. Though they started as a special, it wouldn’t be long before nearly 10 varieties, served “extra wet” in Atlanta-style lemon pepper, Montgomery Burn, peach sriracha, and more became the heart of the menu. Elsewhere, find dishes like Gouda-infused shrimp and grits, vegan smothered tofu, meatloaf, and cornbread-rich “soul bowls,” perfectly paired with beer from next door’s Growler’s Taproom.

The Hoxton’s cozy main floor restaurant is back. After more than 20 months of waiting, the easy-going Pacific Northwest bistro has reopened with menus to get you from breakfast until late. Start the day with coffee, tea or maybe something a little stronger paired with a handful of pastries — recently banana bread, coffee cake and an apple roll cake — larger plates like breakfast burritos and parfaits, or a classic bagel made only a few blocks away. As the sun sets, the menu expands to include vegetable-heavy starters, like variegated radicchio with whipped fromage and garnet yams lacquered in a cranberry glaze, and more robust, protein-centered mains, like a rib eye with black garlic demi-glace and seared king salmon with saffron-braised lobster mushrooms.

This beloved brunch institution, known for its down-home comfort food plates has slowly reopened after months of dinner-only takeout and delivery. Though you can still order all your Mother’s favorites to go, like meatloaf, mac ‘n’ cheese, and biscuits and gravy, there’s something about sitting in that sunny yellow booth just like old times. Celebrate with a bowl of five-hour braised pot roast, buttermilk-brined chicken fried chicken, or a plate of the $15,000 Dungeness crab cakes.

Named for The National’s melancholic love song, this artsy, neon-heavy Pearl District is home to fun cocktails and Asiatic-inspired plates in a pop-y, pink-hued space. Pair musically-themed drinks, organized by theme, such as “classic,” and “bitter, boozy, bruting,” with lime leaf-infused spiced nuts, yucca tots and wonton nachos before melting into the plush turquoise booths as you contemplate the hand-painted pink rabbit on the wall (painted by National frontman Matt Berninger himself).

It seems like there’s always a new pizza place in town. One of the more recent, and dare we say, very good, is Northwest’s Pizza Thief, from Tony Pasquale and Darby Aldaco. Pies here are New York in style, with a crispy sourdough crust, and arrive as 18-inch whole pies and refreshingly, as slices, too! Find classic toppings like a three-cheese mix and pepperoni, as well as more creative mixes like the sausage and onions, with fennel sausage and Jimmy Nardellos, and the seasonal delicata and Fresno chile pie, finished with ricotta and honey. If pizza wasn’t enough, there’s also focaccia, available by the slice or whole, salads, and rye hand pies, stuffed with jams and chocolate for dessert.

If you’re into tea, you know about Smith Teamaker. The eponymous label, named for Tazo and Stash founder Steven Smith, has come to be known across the region as the must-buy label for classic and creative teas alike. While the Southeast location boasts a cozy tasting room, complete with a fireplace and leather chairs, it’s the Northwest cafe that’s all the rage these days thanks to a plant-based menu from former Park Avenue Wines chef Karl Holl. Here, find tea used in the most ordinary and extraordinary ways, from Lord Bergamot-infused (the label’s floral-heavy take on Earl Grey) jam to quinoa scented with sencha, and served in a perfectly fall bowl with kale, apples, tea-plumped raisins, and chai-spiced walnuts in a cider vinaigrette.