Bella's: Michelle Vernier's Italian loaf in Lents

Bella’s Italian Bakery and Market is the stop we use when we want an Italian loaf and a market in the same room, and we are already on the east side of the east side — and we get a little giddy every time we pull up! It sits in Lents Town Center, on Woodstock near Foster, in a well-kept corner building with street parking and a lot nearby. Walk in and it feels like someone’s Italian grandmother’s kitchen, only tidier and with better espresso: antique country pieces on the walls, bar seating along one side, a handful of tables, and a pastry case that is a REAL Italian case, not a croissant case with one cannoli for color. We can also see the little market side — olives, cheese, a fridge lined like a pantry — and outdoor seats for the mornings when Portland actually shows up sunny. Michelle Vernier opened the shop after years as pastry chef at Paley’s Place, Imperial, and Wildwood, and after a farmers-market run that started at Lents International in 2015. The 24-seat bakery is the same idea as her family’s salsamenteria: espresso in the morning, pastry, a sandwich, a glass of wine, conversation. “Bella” was what her nonna called the girls in the family. The name is the staff, and you feel that the second someone talks you through the case!

What we always order

The Italian loaf. Ask what they baked. This is a small bakery; the bread board is the day’s work, not a warehouse. We take the loaf when it is out, and we do not substitute a focaccia in our heads and call it the same visit. Focaccia is its own order — thick, dimpled, more cratered than the dark side of the moon, olives and thyme and big flakes of sea salt sitting in the oil-shined pockets. You can do both. We have, and we will again!

Then the pastry that made the farmers-market line: cannoli, GET THE CANNOLI, filled like they mean it. The shells are fried and piped to order so they stay blistered and shatter-crisp, the house ricotta is sweet and tangy and creamy, and the ends get chocolate chips or almonds or pistachios depending on the day. Amaretti and anise biscotti if you want cookies that travel. Tiramisu if you are eating in and the case has it — a tall rectangle of house sponge, rum, and enough espresso to feel it. Those are the names we trust because they are the shop’s own list. The kitchen has also been known for sfogliatelle, ciambella, jam tarts when they are baking them. We do not recite those as a standing menu. We look at the case, and we get excited about whatever is actually out.

Lunch is part of the room. Sandwiches, coffee, sometimes wine. We have used Bella’s as a sit-down lunch and walked out with a loaf and cookies. We have also used the online pre-order market when we needed a pickup instead of a wander. On a 24-seat floor, that pre-order is how you actually get what you came for.

Before you go

Small shop. Twenty-four seats. Closed days are part of the week — public hours have been Wednesday through Sunday, daytime, with Monday and Tuesday off. Confirm before you go, and do not arrive at 2:45 expecting a full case! If you need a loaf, cannoli, or a market order for a specific time, pre-order by noon the day before. We do this when we are driving from across town. We walk in loose when we live nearby. Lents Town Center is easy by car and doable on the Green Line. The parking lot on 91st between Woodstock and Foster is the one the shop points people toward.

Do not confuse Bella’s with Sebastiano’s. Both are Italian, both do cannoli, both have a market streak. Different neighborhoods, different kitchens, different bread. Bella’s is Lents, Vernier, focaccia and an Italian loaf. We treat Bella’s as a destination on purpose. The drive is the price of a bakery that stayed in Lents instead of chasing a prettier street. Bring a bag that can hold a loaf and a box of cookies. Eat the cannoli before they sit — and get ready to plan the next trip before you even leave the lot!

More on the place page: Bella's Italian Bakery and Market