2009, Diner 2009, Portland area restaurant guide and reviews by The Oregonian
—"You'd be hard pressed to find Piedmontese cooking as good as Alba Osteria's anywhere this side of, well, Alba Italy. Chef-owner Kurt Spak's affinity for the land of truffles, porcini, and Barolo show in his delicate hand formed pastas...focus and obsession drive Spak to find that poetic Piemontese balance of rustic and refined."

2008 - Zagat Guide America's Top Restaurants Portland, OR

2008 - Zagat GuideAmerica's Top 1000 Italian Restaurants

2008, Sept, Bon Appetit — page 104
"Welcome to the Italian-American Renaissance.
—At modern Italian restaurants across the country, chef's are moving beyond rustic, regional Italian food. Instead, they're tranforming the cuisine into something utterly American, with cross-cultural nods, frequent improvisation, and irreverent rule-breaking. And the results? We've collected recipes from our 12 favorite places across the country..."
(Recipe published for Alba Osteria & Enoteca's contorni: Brussels sprouts with pancetta and roasted beets in mustard cream)

2006, Feb, Portland Monthly — page 126
"Dining/Off the Beaten Path .
—Alba Osteria in Hillsdale, named for the chef/owner's favorite cittadina in Italy, is one of the few restaurants in the country that focus on the cuisine of Piedmont (home to this month's Olympic Winter Games) hosts a world of flavors with athletic wines (Barolos, Barbarescos) and food that's more pan-Alpine (dairy, meats) than pan-Italian (marinara)..."

2006, Nov, Portland Monthly — page 82
"15 Restaurants changing the way we eat.
—It's a well-traveled truth by now that Portland rates as a big-time dining town, thanks in no small part to the talented chefs at the restaurants we picked as this year's best, who are elevating expections and breaking down culinary walls. It's quite possible that there are more Italian restaurants than any other kind in Portland, which is why chef Kurt Spak's cooking at Alba Osteria & Enoteca stands out, all the way from his hideaway in an old train station in Hillsdale. As opposed to most Italian restaurants, the menu here offers cuisine purely inspired by northern Piedmont — a cuisine that's rarely offered in Portland, and nowhere else in its fullest form..."

2005 - Portland Monthly — page 62
"Best Restaurants 2005; Chefs' Choice
—A rather unassuming storefront just past the bridge on SW Capitol Hwy houses some of Portland's finest food. Alba Osteria & Enoteca has quietly become a prized escape for many of our city's chefs. 'When you walk in, it's like a secrety place,' says David Barber of Three Square Grill. 'They're more like the house around the corner that has a great kitchen.' Of course, if the house around your corner were this good you might consider moving in..."

2005 - Oct, Gourmet Magazine — page 178
"2005 Restaurant Guide
—thousands of new restaurants open each year, and it takes months of time, travel, and tasting to pick a couple hundred of our favorites. Now it's time for you to start eating. Anyone passionate about the wines and foods of Italy's Piedmont will pounce on Alba Osteria & Enoteca. Portlander Kurt Spak, who trained in Treiso, serves carne cruda, fresh pastas like egg-rich tajarin and hand-pinched agnolotti, rabbit braised in Arneis, and the glorified chocolate pudding called bônet. He also imports rare regional cheeses like the incomparable Castelmagno... "

2004 - Jan, Bon Appétit Best of the Year — page 178
"The Restaurant Reporter
—We've polled some of the country's top restaurant critis for both the best and the most overrated new places of 2003. Here's what they said...BEST PLACE YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF on a quiet corner in the suburbs, Alba Osteria & Enoteca offers very elegant, real Piedmontese food."