Diamond In the Rough

Champagne, sparkling wine, Cava, Spumanti—whatever you call it, we'll drink it. There's something about the bubbly stuff that puts us in a celebratory mood, and there's so much to celebrate lately, like holiday sales, fall boots, and the recent opening of Cava Tavern.

Nestled between an auto upholstery shop and a parking lot, Cava Tavern is a diamond on a rough stretch of Foster Road. The nondescript entrance belies the warm and convivial European-style dining room/bar. Cava serves premium spirits, a short but sweet selection of beer, and reasonably priced bottles of wine and bubbly. The seasonal menu is mostly Mediterranean with Moroccan and American bistro accents, and the scrumptious desserts are made by one of our favorite local bakers, Anja Spence of Miss Zumstein.

Drop a little trivia at the table when you tell your friends that owner Randy Montgomery was the big cheese at Provvista Speciality Foods, and his wife, Amy Ruppel, is the illustrator for Target's holiday ads. And before all that bubbly goes to your head, tell them Portland Picks sent you!