Park Kitchen, on the edge of the city park is an urban oasis with the sweetest, geekiest, highly awarded waiter in town. At Park, they are known for their cocktails, as much as they are their expansive wine list. Go for a sipping mix of cocktails, the CK & PK, The Adam’s Apple or the Salt & Pepper to shake things up.

Forget your desert diets or your Cali calorie counting. The food is so good at Park; you will want to dive in and go family style to try as much as you can. Go for the Pomegranate, squash and fresh goat cheese salad, the Dungeness crab chiles and persimmon and the Roasted pears with lentil and curry for your cold start. For hot dishes (on the plate), the Catalan pasta, snails, rabbit and salsify and the Chickpea fries and squash ketchup will have you in a delirious state. But leave room for more. The Black Cod and matsutake mushrooms…will melt in your mouth.

Mind you, wines will be flying as the staff is exceptional and they take their paired suggestions super seriously. After our cocktails we had a Ganache Blanch, a Lower Willamette Valley Red, and finished with a Spanish Oloroso Sherry. Now that’s a park I can play in, come rain or come shine.

Another institution and James Beard winner (the equivalent of an Oscar for a chef) is Paley’s Place. This lovely French style Bistro was packed and full of fun on a sexy Sunday night.

The modus operandi in town is to start with a cocktail as most restaurants have a long list of fresh Specialty Cocktails. Go for Paley’s Negroni, a combo of locally crafted Desert Juniper Gin, Campari & Punt E Mes served with a twist. Or perhaps you’re feeling fetching? Then it’s off to the Pear Brandy Kamikaze. It’s made with Clear Creek (one of the many locally made boutique brandy’s) Pear Brandy, Cointreau & Fresh Squeezed Lime juice served straight up. You’ll be on the hot tin roof in no time, kitten. Meow!