Field Trip: Benessere Oils and Vinegars (plus Urban Farmer)

This last semester was long and kind of rough. After a super crazy summer semester, fall semester started and never let up. So, to relax and feel better about everything, Kirsten and I decided to go visit Benessere Oils and Vinegars, which I had first heard about months before in Portland Food and Drink. It was the perfect way for two food obsessed library students to unwind.

The store is beautiful and though small, chockablock full of amazing oils and vinegars. It's also very conveniently located, just a few blocks from Pioneer Square. We started out tasting the vinegars, very impressed by the variety of flavors.

This was one of my favorites. It was so delicious and sweet and though I didn't buy any that day, I will have to find a way to use it in the future in some fantastic dessert.

Kirst was a good sport about me taking a bunch of pictures of her trying a variety of vinegars.

You know I bought this one.

Kirst bought her parents this awesome Spanish olive oil along with a fantastic honey ginger white balsamic. Just before Christmas, I returned to buy my parents the same set. I highly recommended Benessere for yourself and for gifts!

After our tasting adventure, we decided a happy hour was in order. I'd been wanting to go to Urban Farmer for forever and was so excited to go. The ambiance is inviting and open. It's in the Nines Hotel and I always love hotel bars. There's just something so fun about them, but this one is really a step above.

Crab dip with cheese puffs, an excellent start to any happy hour.

Free slider because I checked in with FourSquare? Yes!

Kirst and I split a cheese plate and a charcuterie plate, had a couple of glasses of Riesling, and really enjoyed the beginning of our break.