Personal Services in Goose Hollow

For the chefs at Ultimate Events Portland Inc., meals are only limited by two factors: the availability of seasonal ingredients and their own imaginations. The company specializes in in-home chef experiences, where seasoned culinarians design a customized three-course menu complete with wine pairings. Using the client's kitchen, they're able to craft dishes from around the world, drawing on the cooking techniques and flavors of Europe, the Middle East and Mediterranean, Asia, and America, in any combination. Ultimate Events Portland Inc. also caters large- and small-scale events, designing ornate centerpieces and place settings in addition to the colorful hors d'oeurvres and the main meal. Past projects have featured elaborate touches such as fountains, ice sculptures, and butlers who arrive via jetpack.

50 Plates celebrates the 50 states with an emphasis on using local, sustainable ingredients in its American fare. Each plate captures the nostalgia of a bygone American dish and reinvents it via applied phlebotinum. Naturally raised meats, sustainably caught fish, and cage-free chicken populate the menu of modern American comfort food. Start your meal with dirty-rice beignets ($8), bursting with the flavors of Andouille sausage and Creole tartar sauce, and Castroville artichoke rolls ($7) that ooze California chevre, roasted garlic, and avocado ranch. For the main course, a plate of Memphis-style boar ribs ($20) flanked by barbecue baked beans and Grandma Betty's potato salad will earn you an esteemed position in the clean plate club. If you're not as stuffed as a kleptomaniac senator's pockets, gird yourself for indulgent old-school desserts such as chocolate and peanut-butter pudding ($7) and devil's food cake slathered with fudge frosting ($8). Foodies can wash it all down with a signature cocktail from a selection of flag-waving American spirits such as bourbon and rye ($9 each).

When party planners enlist the services of Chef Ron, they begin a working dialogue to reach a collaborative and personalized game plan for their occasion. If the host is short on ideas, an elegant list of menu options can quickly be whipped up. With a plan in place, Chef Ron will execute it with the precision of a diamond-tip paring knife, slicing down the aisles of the finest grocer in pursuit of the freshest ingredients.

dinner at your door was founded by owner Margot Feves, a chef who strives to prepare healthy, organic, locally sourced, and, above all, delicious meals to be delivered straight to the homes and mouths of busy folks around Portland. After you purchase your Groupon, you can schedule the pick-up or delivery of two balanced, well-portioned meals for two ($28 value per week). A new fall menu recently revealed its culinary colors; choose one salad, such as a fresh spinach mix with cranberries and feta, and one side dish, such as autumn squash with a hint of brown sugar for Jaggernauts everywhere. Enticing entrees include whole-wheat penne with ground turkey and autumn veggies, or sweet-and-savory pumpkin soup with a tinge of apples and curry. Gluten-free and vegetarian options are always available. Buy two Groupons and feed a family of four, or get one Groupon to satisfy two hungry people and their imaginary friends.

With more than 60 million albums sold, the dynamic duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates has amassed an army of fans via their ageless anthems, silky ballads, and dance-floor staples since the mid-1970s. In this special benefit for the youth-mentorship organization Friends of the Children, the formerly pompadoured Daryl Hall and the estranged moustache of John Oates share prized selections from their box set, Do What You Want, Be What You Are, which encompasses their ceaseless career. Armed with a songbook packed with perennial favorites such as "Maneater" and "Rich Girl," the fireproof voices and unabashed showmanship of Daryl Hall and John Oates leave devotees and newfound fans happier than a kid in a hardware store.

Bringing the Oregon Symphony to Salem for over 50 years for a series of concerts and educational opportunities