A must-try for vegetarian pasta lovers!
First, let me say that, when I say I'm looking for a restaurant that serves vegetarian food, I'm not looking for the local macrame-infested, tofu-pushing, whole foods cafe. Just because I don't eat meat doesn't mean that I don't like good food, and in this day and age, a chef who can't put together a good meatless entree or two is hardly worthy of the name. Thus I tend to do a lot of research when I'm traveling, and usually have dinner plans firmly in place before we arrive at our overnight stop.
That said, we rolled into Bend late in the afternoon of July 19, 2014, only to find that, due to a downtown event, my carefully made dinner plans had fallen through. I was prepared to hunker down in our hotel room with a delivery pizza, but my husband really wanted to go out, so he started sleuthing. I'm very glad he did, as we've now found our "go-to" restaurant in Bend!
Pastini Pastaria is situated in what is called the "Old Mill District" -- an upscale shopping center built in and around a retired mill on the banks of the Deschutes River (note: It's worth building in a little extra time before or after your meal to explore the eclectic shops and the lovely park next to the center). It's easy to find, and there's tons of convenient and free parking in the shopping center lots (both big pluses in my book, especially if you've been driving for nine hours!).
If you like al fresco dining, the restaurant has a lovely, sunny, outdoor seating area with a view of the river. I've had one too many encounters with incontinent sparrows when eating out doors, however, so we chose to eat in the bright, modern restaurant dining room, where we were seated immediately (apparently most of the other diners decided to brave the sparrows for the sunshine and the river view).
Our server was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. She clearly loves the food she's serving, which is something I really appreciate (she told us at one point that she'd sought out the job there because she really loves the food, which speaks volumes as far as I'm concerned).
I was blown away by the number of vegetarian offerings on the menu (It's not often that you find a mainstream restaurant with a total of twelve vegetarian entrees on the menu, in addition to the usual appetizers and salads. But don't worry, meat and seafood lovers...there's plenty here for you as well!). They all sounded good, and it took us a while to choose. I finally settled on a classic: aglio olio. Our 21-year-old daughter, still a kid at heart (even if she did order a cocktail!) went for the mac and cheese. My husband, the adventurous, chose the orecchiete with greens, lemon, and parmesan. Really, though, we almost could have flipped a coin...there were so many really tasty-sounding options!
Because we were really hungry after that long drive, we also decided to order an appetizer: bruschetta with pesto (it's not on the on-line menu, so I don't know if it's a regular offering or something seasonal).
I washed my meal down with a pint of locally-brewed Deschute's Amber. The daughter, as I mentioned, had some kind of sweet cocktail, and hubby (our designated driver) had his usual iced tea.
Pastini is a chain, albeit a local one (in addition to the restaurant in Bend, as of this writing they have four locations in Portland and one each in Tigard, Beaverton, and Corvallis), so I kind of expected the food to be Spaghetti Factory-ish -- "good, but not worth a call home to Mama." Wow! I couldn't have been more wrong! The pasta came out of the kitchen piping hot and perfectly cooked. And oh...the flavors! My aglio olio (prepared with chili flakes, in the Roman style) took me right back to the warm night in a small neighborhood trattoria in a residential neighborhood in Rome where I first encountered the style six years ago. I could have licked the plate. My daughter's mac and cheese, with its crispy crown of brown, buttery bread crumbs, was as good as anything your grandma ever made. We all agreed, though, that my husband's orecchiete was beyond amazing. The bright, lemony sauce was perfectly balanced with the sweet broccolini, the spicy, slightly bitter, arugula, and the rich, very Oregon, addition of roasted hazelnuts.
The bruschetta was very good as well -- light, Ciabatta-style bread, lightly toasted, with a generous helping of basil pesto on top. It also came with a side dish of marinara, which was good, but not necessary.
The portions were just about perfect: We left pleasantly full, but not overstuffed.
My only regret? We only had one night in Bend, so I didn't get a chance to try the five or six other entrees that called my name from that menu! read more