PoMo Dishes On Paiche | The O Goes In Search Of Panzerotti Gold

PORTLAND MONTHLY—In her latest review, Portland Monthly's Karen Brooks dines at Jose Luis de Cossio's lunchtime spot Paiche. "Some of de Cossio's dishes are amazing; others taste like health co-op specials," she writes. But she says the former Andina chef is "never boring" adding that his culinary skills "navigate the outer edges of Portland, Peru, and Pluto." She also says the "dude knows his way around a leche de tigre, that invigorating wash of hot peppers, lime, and fish juice that forms the soul of cebiche," de Cossio's specialty.

THE OREGONIAN—This week, The O's Samantha Bakall went in search of Portland's tastiest panzerotti, finding some at the SE Foster Road food cart, Bari, where owner Walter Ferrante doles out small and large "deep-fried calzones." The panzerotti's "crescents are pillowy soft, airy and a perfect golden brown," she writes, mainly because Ferrante "patiently stands over" them "constantly flipping them so they fry evenly." And the dough, she says, "stays stretchy and chewy, barely containing the molten fillings."

THE PORTLAND MERCURY—Lamenting the ordering process ("taken at the counter, with little space inside for a line to form") and the cocktails ("too sweet, mixed by the cashiers, and not worth the $9"), Merc critic Andrea Damewood still says that Hat Yai "is already establishing itself near the top" this town's "crowded" fried chicken class. They're "lightly breaded," "crisped to perfection," "amply topped with fried shallots," and "worth getting every time."

WILLAMETTE WEEK—For his latest review, Martin Cizmar likens the pizzas and sides served at Slabtown's recently opened Please Louise to the music it plays, which comes piped in at a "moderate volume" which "everyone likes" "just fine." The pizzas, which he says will appeal to those who feel too many other places "burn" their pies, lack any "specific geographic lineage" and are "well-composed but not especially adventurous." After noting that the salads and sides were more ambitious—none of them "was a dud, but few elevated the overall experience"—he concludes that "Please Louise is a nice little pizza place that suits [the neighborhood] well."