Beretta

I found myself at a restaurant called Beretta for my final stop during my afternoon in San Francisco. OK, so being my last stop, my palate was perhaps not at 100%, but I thought this place was awesome simply because I stumbled in around 11pm and was able to chow down on squid ink risotto and a funky craft cocktail.

Alright, so in my impaired state I could still appreciate the effort put into the cocktail menu. I see the Improved Whiskey Cocktail - rye, bitters, dubonnet (a wine-based aperitif), absinthe, and marischino. Hemingway - white rum, lime, cane syrup, marischino, grapefruit. See the full cocktail menu here. Since it was late and I had already consumed so many good cocktails, I went for the strangest thing in my mind, the Gaby de Lys - gin, orgeat (almond syrup), absinthe, bitters. I will not attempt to describe the flavor of this cocktail, but it was strong, different, and pretty sweet - perhaps your local expert can shine some light on this recipe.

The squid ink risotto with calamari was a no-brainer for me as it is a popular topic on the Food Network and I had never tried it. It was creamy, savory and delicious. I'll forgo posting my picture because it looks like, well, a bowl of wet, black, rice. Any favorite places to get risotto in Portland?

Beretta is located at the corner of Valencia and 23rd.