How does a great summer spot fair in winter? (Violetta Review)

The experience of pensively sipping a machiato at a sidewalk cafe while an entire city flows past you is a distinctively European one. In the United States sidewalks are narrow, people are in a hurry, and the city flowing past tends to be considerably less picturesque than European counterpoints, forcing outdoor seating areas to be crammed into a fenced-in backlot, if they exist at all.



An explanation for these differences can be found in about 15 centuries of advancement in civic planning, but anyone who has sat in a Parisian cafe while some historically significant fountain peacefully bubbles in front of them will attest that advancement may not be the correct word.

Portland, Oregon isn't like most U.S. cities. It's emphasis on locally sourced everything has led to an older way of thinking wherein work, home and groceries are all within walking or biking distance of each other. This has allowed for a more traditionally European civic design to take hold. As sidewalks are expanded into streets condensed to accommodate bicycle traffic, the seating areas of cafes stretch out into adjacent plazas.

While the straight-outta-Barcelona Jamison Park has its appeal, the real gem of the outdoor cafe renaissance is Violetta, nestled into the southwest corner of Director's Park. Now, "park" may be a misnomer, because the omnipresent concrete would lead most to think of the word "plaza," but I digress. The actual square footage of Violetta is quite small. The entire restaurant appears in the photo above, but an expansive outdoor seating area immediately to the right of the gentleman with the stroller makes up for the small footprint.

In the summer, that is.

In the winter (like, right now) it's too cold to sit outside, so Violetta's appeal must be stunted, right? Wrong. You may notice that the majority of Violetta's exterior is glass. That means it's just as cold inside. While the cold may detract a few, there is something decidedly charming about sitting inside an icy glass cube noshing down a deliciously warm bowl of chili, and topping it off with some powdered-sugar-melting, dipped-chocolate-espresso-sauce beignets. (The inelegant preparation of which leads them to more closely resemble donut holes than beignets - but since when are donut holes a bad thing?)

Violetta has a nicely rounded menu, complimenting typical grub-spot fare (burgers, fries, milkshakes) with a gourmet twist, are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options (this is Portland), all of which is made with locally raised everything. They don't even let people from out of state work there.

Even though so much of Violetta's appeal is tied up in its European-style plaza seating, the food is good enough to make a trip worth it any time of the year. Not even a construction sight across the street from the plaza that has stood half-completed for nearly three years can take away from the experience.

Sidenote: Make sure you check out both Violetta's food cart (generally found in the 44th and Belmont Cart Pod) as well as the oversized chess set that you can rent out behind Violetta.

8/10