Wednesday lunch in L.O.
I had a delightful lunch with a friend today in beautiful downtown Lake Oswego. There were some interesting sociological phenomena in progress. Fully half the drivers on the road down that way were holding cell phones to their ears with their cars in motion. Is that illegal yet? And as I walked into this place, I was stunned to see that every one of the 40 or so other patrons was a woman. I wanted to cue this one up. The whole thing was a little scary, to tell you the truth.
| Posted at 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (31)
Maybe it was a lesbian pastry bar...
Posted by Robert | September 30, 2009 4:37 PM
After I got there, a few other guys showed up. But for a couple of minutes, there I was.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 30, 2009 4:41 PM
How much did you have to pay to park?
Posted by Allan L. | September 30, 2009 5:27 PM
Did you have snails for lunch?
Posted by Sluggo | September 30, 2009 5:40 PM
Perhaps residents of Villie Boyce in Wilsonville?
Posted by Abe | September 30, 2009 5:44 PM
Parking is free. That's why there were 40 women there plus Jack. And another reason that downtown Portland is dying.
Posted by lw | September 30, 2009 5:47 PM
How many were not white?
Posted by Dan | September 30, 2009 6:07 PM
The St. Honore in NW Portland appears to be the same customer demographic, based upon my own occasional unscientific sampling.
A FWIW, one of the reviews says European style cafe with prices to match. For the record, that's not at all true; St. Honore is about 3X the prices I've seen in Paris.
Posted by John Rettig | September 30, 2009 6:31 PM
Cell phone ban is Jan 1. Legislature didn't declare it an "emergency."
Posted by DM | September 30, 2009 6:32 PM
And I was thinking of moving there to stay a couple of towns ahead of the baseball fiasco.
Posted by Anon | September 30, 2009 7:51 PM
Manzana used to have a pretty good happy hour there. Went there a lot last summer.A table right by the water was easy to get. Have not been back since ownership change so can't say for sure if it is still top notch...
Posted by RANZ | September 30, 2009 7:52 PM
Parking is free.
And plentiful.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 30, 2009 8:09 PM
L.O. is a trip. I meet a friend there for lunch on a regular basis. It's great rich people watching place. Just don't swim in the lake which smells like swamp.
Posted by Truth | September 30, 2009 8:19 PM
The Sapphire on Hawthorne is quite similar. It's one of my favorite places, and if you go at happy hour, be prepared for a huge difference in gender makeup, favoring the fair sex. All the service people are women( I did see a couple of men in the kitchen, and once tending bar).
I like it. What's so damn scary about it???
Posted by Lawrence | September 30, 2009 8:32 PM
You'll understand when you're my age.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 30, 2009 8:38 PM
Suddenly I have a craving for French pastries.
Posted by Gil Johnson | September 30, 2009 9:02 PM
I dunno, Jack. I'm well past retirement, so I guess it must be a young mans' problem!
Posted by Lawrence | September 30, 2009 9:20 PM
Maybe I'll understand when I'm your age.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 30, 2009 9:24 PM
It helps.
Actually, the women lose their fear of you!
Mixed blessing.....
Posted by Lawrence | September 30, 2009 10:31 PM
I hear pastry parlors are a favorite haunt of cougars on the prowl.
Posted by S.A. | September 30, 2009 11:03 PM
Face it, real men don't eat baquettes.
Posted by Frank | September 30, 2009 11:33 PM
"I like it. What's so damn scary about it???"
No parking and not so good food. Myabe next date when I ride my bike.
St Honore is ***** expensive, but they do make good bread.
Posted by Steve | October 1, 2009 7:47 AM
Jack crashed the "ladies who lunch" party.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladies_who_lunch
Posted by benschon | October 1, 2009 9:24 AM
Some comments from a Lake Oswego resident:
1. There are a lot of ladies in Lake Oswego whose husbands make enough money so that they don't have to work themselves. A lot of them go to St. Honore's to meet and eat.
2. St. Honore's may be expensive by bakery standards, but it's cheap compared to other restaurants in the immediate vicinity. And, IMHO, it's very good food. The owner of the two bakeries has apparently won some French baker's award in the past for his bread.
3. The City of L.O. has spent an awful lot of money over the years on redevelopment of their downtown area, not without controversy. It's a lot nicer than it used to be, but I don't know if it really has been worth it or not.
4. You can't swim in the lake even if you wanted to - it's private. If your kids go wading into the water by the fountain it's likely the Lake Corporation coppers in their boat will come and roust them out. Some of the lake snobs were even mad about the nice lakeside pathway that runs about 1/4 mile west from the fountain and State Street, because it impinged on "their" lake.
Posted by Gordon | October 1, 2009 9:49 AM
"Lake Snobs"
Well just take comfort that they are still paying and paying not only for their overpriced real estate and sky-high property taxes and association dues but also big bucks to solve that horrendous algae problem in their little lake.
Posted by RANZ | October 1, 2009 9:58 AM
Maybe this is the favorite hangout for those women who blog about their dating exploits in Portland.
Posted by MJ | October 1, 2009 10:02 AM
Jack Bog:"Parking is free.
And plentiful."
ws:That parking garage in downtown is owned by Lake Oswego Redevelopment Agency (LORA) which is a public entity. The commerical spaces are private, however. I'm pretty certain it received urban renewal/public assistance for land acquisition, design, and development to construct that "free" parking garage.
Therefore, downtown LO (parking garage) is not really "free", even though I believe it is free parking for 3 hrs or so (not sure on this).
It's funny, people think using TIF to recreate a dilapidated neighborhood w/ condos is bad, but using TIF to construct "free" parking is good?
I'm confused, really. (And no, I do not disagree with the parking garage/development, LO did a great job of development with the retail in front of the parking garage. Well done project, btw).
Posted by ws | October 1, 2009 2:32 PM
It was free to me.
Posted by Jack Bog | October 1, 2009 2:52 PM
I live on a different planet from you folks.
Posted by Molly | October 1, 2009 5:12 PM
Lake Oswego is strange. At least it was to me.
Posted by Rosie | October 2, 2009 12:28 AM
"Therefore, downtown LO (parking garage) is not really "free""
Heck, then any parking on a paved street is not free by that definition.
Posted by Steve | October 2, 2009 7:28 AM