"Glamorous, refined, sexy, and one of the city's best Italian restaurants, Ava Gene's is packed every night of the week. This is rave-worthy food, through and through. In the Giardini section, Joshua McFadden sets the bar for Portland salads; what sounds odd on paper (pluots, barley, hyssop, formaggio blanco, and pecans, for example) is revelatory in practice. The pasta, kneaded by hand by JoMarie Pitino, is made from Oregon wheat and rye and extruded into all sorts of fun shapes. If you're lucky you can walk in and find a spot (or two) at the bar. Otherwise, you'll need to make a reservation weeks in advance." - Hannah Wallace
AJ Meeker/Courtesy Ava Gene's