Valentine’s Day 2026 falls on a Saturday, which means both daytime and evening celebrating and canoodling are fair game. Here is where you can enjoy your time together on V-Day—day or night—in a tasty way. Plus, some options are not dependent on being a couple. As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.”
Artisserie Lake Oswego is open. This French pastry shop and bakery opened at the end of August in Lake Oswego (they’ve been on NW 23rd Avenue for a while). They offer croissants, macarons, cakes, baguettes, and more. And brunch! Local influencer @micbanh was there recently and wrote about the brunch:
“The brunch menu is available until 3pm and features dishes like the Courgette Quiche, Suprême Dubai French Toast, Heirloom Cherry Tomato Toast, and more. They also serve bubbly and cocktails for those looking to indulge a little extra!” 50 First Street, Lake Oswego
A favorite strawberry shortcake of mine from last year, made by Take Two bar.
Strawberry Shortcake Week 2025 is from June 9 to 15. It’s a week of restaurants offering their version of strawberry shortcake, inspired by James Beard’s strawberry shortcake recipe. Last year’s Strawberry Shortcake week was fantastic—full of taste treats—and I expect this year’s to be, too. Over 40 locations will be participating this year.
Yanni’s Greek Donuts grand opens this weekend. I mentioned this loukoumades cart back in February, run by a couple of brothers named Theo and Luke, who grew up here in Portland. They passed on the news that they are having a party on Saturday from 6pm to 10pm to celebrate their grand opening. Find them in the parking lot of the Lucky Lab on SE 9th and Madison.
They will offer up fresh loukoumades, a pita souvlaki special, beer, cider, wine, and Greek dancing. It’s great to see more Greek food happening in Portland, with Yanni’s joining this new scene of Greek spots including Tréla, Yiayia’s, and Souvlaki Queen. 1400 SE 9th Avenue, Portland
This year I ate at a variety of places—some fancy, some more modest. But they all served me excellent, tasty, wonderful food. Here are my favorite bites in Portland in 2024.
Bison Coffeehouse: Cafe Latte
Located in Cully on Cully Blvd, this is one of two Native-owned cafes in Portland (the other being All Your Heart Coffee in South Portland). I was there for a meeting with a neighbor and ordered a latte. One of the things I was offered by the barista was a choice of espresso roasts, and I chose a medium roast—this meant the Shoshone Blend, a coffee bean from Honduras medium-roasted by Native Coffee Traders. It was lovely, with notes of chocolate and nuts; plus expertly streamed milk. This is one of the best lattes I’ve had all year. 3941 NE Cully Blvd, Portland. Bison Coffeehouse website