Best Restaurants 2011

Best Restaurants 2011: Best New Restaurants

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Kyle Webster mans the candlelit bar at St. Jack

St. Jack
Francomania in Southeast

St. Jack opened last winter as SE Clinton Street’s answer to Lyon’s bouchons—those jolly, cramped, offal-loving dens of informality where local wine flows all day and Portland’s porky excesses, by comparison, look blessed by the surgeon general. It turned out better than anyone expected, emerging as the year’s most-talked-about restaurant, an essential hangout where everyone found something to love: adventure, passion, coziness, made-to-order madeleines, lip-smacking cocktails, and a menu with enough rich, rustic lyonnaise offerings to test the mettle of Portland’s most adventuresome diners. That means bubbled-over crocks of macaroni pounded with bacon lardons; flirty drinks shaken at a bar lit by monuments of melted wax; and irresistible microbaked treats, from powerhouse éclairs to perfect chocolate sable cookies, posing under swooping glass domes in an Amélie-cute pâtisserie. In this welcoming retreat, St. Jack embodies Portland’s food scene in a single bite: comfort, craft, and open to anyone. 2039 SE Clinton St; stjackpdx.com
Eat: Chicken liver mousse, butter lettuce salad, frog’s legs, boudin noir with roasted apples and pommes purée, chocolate pastis pot de crème

St. Jack emerged as the year’s most-talked?about restaurant, an essential hangout where everyone found something to love.

Little Bird
Downtown’s high-flying destination

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

A beet salad at Little Bird

As chefs across the US cooked up a homey French revival this year, returning more to the bone than the brain, Little Bird claimed its turf: the sexy bistro with a side of Northwest noir. Taxidermied birds perch near tush-friendly booths, and authoritative wine glasses (to match a smart Francophile list) arrive alongside roasted marrow bones that look on loan from the Smithsonian. Familiar comforts like crêpes and duck confit ride to the table like renegade art installations. Even the burger struts out, with an elegant bistro knife plunged through the heart of its ciabatta bun. It’s the destination of the year, as imagined by Le Pigeon’s Gabriel Rucker, a master of culinary send-ups. Rucker’s longtime aide-de-camp, chef Erik Van Kley, has the keys to the car on most nights, and he’s finding voice in the likes of oxtail terrine, a carnal fantasy dressed in dark burgundy onion jam. Not everything soars at Little Bird, especially service, but any place that appeals to your bandmates and your power-broker parents is doing something exciting. 219 SW Sixth Ave; littlebirdbistro.com
Eat: Charcuterie plate, potted duck liver, roasted chicken with pickled peppers, daily fish specials, grilled flatiron steak, ice cream sampler

Castagna
Modernism’s rising star

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

The Harvest composition at Castagna

The recipe for the best dessert of the year: a crazy salad of herbs, a few science moves, and chef Justin Woodward’s bold imagination. Creamy, quietly floral tonka bean ice cream danced with tufts of brown butter cake so shockingly light they almost levitated off the plate. On top, a cocoa-colored tube cracked open and gushed a rich, hot, chocolate-hazelnut liquid over everything, including the fragrant surprise of tarragon, bergamot, mint, and lemon verbena leaves, so that each bite was charged by a different experience. It was a modernist plate three days in the making, and a signal of yet another exciting chapter at Castagna: food steeped in botanicals but grounded in the familiar. Portland’s most risk-taking restaurant has played host to a sequence of respected chefs—most recently, avant-garde forager Matt Lightner, who grabbed headlines—and then a major restaurant deal in New York. Now Woodward, formerly Lightner’s right-hand man, who earned his pastry creds at Manhattan’s famed experimental lab WD-50, is taking his place at the table with impressive technique and dramatic designs. Woodward is still finding his way, but his best dishes signal a young artist in bloom. At $65 for four courses, led by a procession of snacks, a dinner at Castagna is an extraordinary deal. Eat it while you can. 1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd; castagnarestaurant.com
Eat: Harvest composition (30 herbs and vegetables with a dressing of pickled fennel bud and smoked bone marrow); smoked pork; lamb collar with a salad of roots, stems, and sprouts; tonka bean ice cream and brown butter cake

Woodward is still finding his way at Castagna, but his best dishes signal an artist in bloom.

Salt & Straw
Ice cream with an edge

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Honey balsamic strawberry ice cream with black pepper at Salt & Straw.

Portland ice cream shops usually open with optimism, then quickly melt into soup stands. The new Salt & Straw has not been tested by Oregon’s 10-month winter, but judging by late-summer lines more typical of rock shows than ice cream shops all signs point to something more than a passing scoop. Cousins Kim and Tyler Malek tapped the local spirit of craft and collaboration, went their own flavor-crazy way, and are now challenging expectations of what an ice cream parlor might look like: a place that embraces both an iPad cash register and a vintage waffle iron that stamps out made-to-order cones. Each scoop is wildly different, bulging with luxurious texture, daring combinations, and an unmistakable taste of place, perfumed with Steven Smith’s Teas, a changing tap of local beers, Olympic Provisions meat, and chocolate “chips” from budding bean-to-bar stars Woodblock Chocolates. Limited-edition batches are in the works, like a holiday combo of fresh pecans, molasses, and celebratory shots of Oregon’s Stonebarn whiskey. How far will the Maleks push to redefine ice cream on our turf? Bone marrow–and–smoked cherry is already a hit. “I just have to get used to foie gras in ice cream,” says Kim. “Tyler says, ‘Get over it.’” 2035 NE Alberta St; saltandstraw.com

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Salt & Straw

Eat: Homemade almond brittle with salted ganache, Stumptown single-origin coffee with local cocoa nibs, Li’l Smoky Sundae (sea salt and handmade caramel ice cream, slivers of fermented black garlic, whipped cream, burnt caramel sauce, and smoked bourbon cherry)

Wafu

Rock-’n’-roll ramen

Old Japanese cinema posters shoot, squint, and kick their way off a long wall that leads to samurai film icons, flickering through the door of the back room. Pals, daters, and bar hoppers perch on tall stools that line a seemingly never-ending bar, where cocktails arrive with lurid colors and hand-carved ice. The music is jacked to blistering levels, like a hot peppercorn in your ear. Handrolls are packaged with roasted crab, lamb tongue comes brazenly dunked in gin-spiked ponzu, and the pork-intensive ramen is richer than Paul Allen. Welcome to Portland’s rock-’n’-roll ramen spot, where the drinking is serious and the food is designed but decidedly playful. Does it all work? It’s too early to tell. (Smoked chicken schmaltz has already been yanked from the house noodle soup formula.) But last year, chef Trent Pierce proved to be one of Portland’s most electric talents at the short-lived Fin. Now Wafu, with its nicely curated whiskey flights and sake on tap, is already as spirited as a Miyazaki movie. 3113 SE Division St; wafupdx.com
Eat: Ceviche, cured saba with crystalized ginger, aburasoba (brothless ramen with pork belly, kimchi, fried egg)

Boyce is unleashing a fresh voice, mingling his feel for traditional rustic elegance with surprising little incursions into Korean and Japanese flavors.

Bluehour

A kitchen reborn

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Bluehour’s new chef, Thomas Boyce, carves a rack of lamb.

The marshmallowy furniture, the slim-chic bar, the chandeliers floating like otherworldly halos, the loading-dock tables lording over the Pearl District’s tribes of wandering tourists. Since 2000, Bluehour has stood as Portland’s iconic night on the town. But as the kitchen reveled in caviar parfaits, Portland’s food-first, pretense-last revolution passed it by. That’s what makes the late-summer arrival of chef Thomas Boyce so significant: Bluehour is back in the conversation. Boyce is a cook’s cook, fresh from the trenches of Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in LA, and he has the skills to, at last, make Bluehour a food destination, aided in part by the raiding of a private cellar to deepen the wine list. Bluehour cranks brunch, lunch, dinner, and late-night menus, and everything needs revisiting, including the service—but dinners are the priority for now. Boyce is already unleashing a fresh voice that mingles rustic elegance with surprising incursions into Korean and Japanese flavors. He knows his way around seafood, and his homemade pastas show the magic of simple perfection. No guarantees, but potentially, this could be the turnaround of the year.250 NW 13th Ave; bluehouronline.com?
Eat: Crudo (raw fish), terrine of octopus, fromage blanc gnocchi with lamb sugo, braised veal cheeks, chocolate and confection platter

Best Restaurants 2011: The Ultimate Feast

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: Darryl James

FRIDAY

8pm
Grüner Alpine feast at the stammtisch
Grüner exemplifies the Portland food dream: find a style you love, and make it your own. In this, his Alpine dream, chef Christopher Israel makes art of Mitteleuropa in a jewel-box revamp of the leaden and the uncool. Snag a bench at the beech-wood stammtisch (family table) and begin your climb to the mountaintop with two unworldly visions: beet-pickled hard-boiled eggs and a plate of thin-cut radishes displayed like an Indian mandala. Braised chicken is a must, blushing with savory juice and paired with tender spätzle, as is the cider-poached calves’ liver. Grab one smoky, bacon-topped burger for the table, and throw in a side of smashed potatoes—even your thighs will forgive you. Close with berliners—fried balls of buttery brioche dough—with warm chocolate sauce for dunking. Two years ago, Portlanders wondered if Israel could really pull off his vision for schnitzel cuisine. Who’s yodeling now? 527 SW 12th Ave; grunerpdx.com

SATURDAY

Noon
Pok Pok Lunch in the outdoor hut
You can wait in the two-hour line at night—everyone else does, so you’re in good company. But why not slip into Portland’s Thai food temple for lunch, when tables are readily available and instant bliss is just an order away. The beauty of Pok Pok’s daylight menu is the chance to try chef Andy Ricker’s portal to the streets of Bangkok—aahaan jaan diaw (one-plate dishes), best enjoyed in the heated outdoor hut. Unlike Pok Pok’s nighttime flavors, meant to be complementary and shared, these boisterous bowls boast everything you need in a single dish. The Southern Thai noodles, a recent menu fixation, sum up the experience with grilled pineapple, pungent dried shrimp, Thai chiles hotter than brimstone fire, and a wash of sweet coconut cream, thick and dreamy. It’s yin meets yang, a taste of heaven and earth. And at noon, to hog it for yourself is not only encouraged, it’s authentic. 3226 SE Division St; pokpokpdx.com

7 pm
Le Pigeon Just say, “Let Gabriel cook”
The best perch for the best food show in town? A chef’s counter with a bird’s-eye view of a kitchen that responds only to its own mood ring. Pull up a seat at Le Pigeon’s counter, but put down the menu. It’s hard to make sense out of listings like “duck, crepe, chard, peaches & foie,” and no waiter can easily explain what bold innovator Gabriel Rucker has up his T-shirt sleeve. Working in his own world of complex combinations, he toys with French, roams the American landscape, and combs the Asian street, sometimes all in the same dish. So decide how many courses you want, ask the man to deliver, kick back, and watch the surprises unfold. A night’s catch might look like this: 1) “fresh slaughtered eel” with corn, compressed cubes of watermelon, and pickled onions in a blaze of grilled eel butter; 2) braised rabbit risotto with the surprise of salami, gouda, and a mouth-puckering pile of pickled peppers; 3) sweetbreads as you’ve never seen them, swaddled in cherry-fueled Carolina barbecue sauce, sided by bread pudding, and crowned with sweet and smoky cherries; 4) finally, duck—pulling up in its crispy fried skin like a hood ornament. Can it get better than this? Yup. Ask ace sommelier Andy Fortgang to pair beers, ciders, sherries, and wines from the expanded house arsenal. 738 E Burnside St; lepigeon.com

10 pm
Paley’s Place Dessert at the bar
The intimate eight-seat bar at Paley’s Place is one of the city’s great unsung corners, and the perfect place to conclude your evening with the true grandeur and sweet magic of a late-night date with dessert whiz Kristen D. Murray. Slip into whatever looks sexiest—a smoked chocolate soufflé, a walnut cake with candied squash, or perhaps a ginger spelt cake ennobled by wild plum curd. Lady Gaga would surely approve of Murray’s seductive, fashion-forward plates. The signature black-pepper cheesecake says it all: a sculpture of intense fruit sorbet teetering over a dome of tanged-up cream cheese, itself resting on a graham cookie in a pool of berry juice. And that’s before you rake your fork through the Jackson Pollock swirl of Lodi apples mixed with saffron and green cardamom. Murray curates every molecule of flavor, even hand-cutting the peppercorns to find the perfect nose-wrinkling kick. 1204 NW 21st Ave; paleysplace.net

SUNDAY

10 am
Beast The four-course brunch
Welcome to the last leg of this trip: the belly of Beast, where four courses embrace the seasons with French comfort and a no-brakes attitude for the best brunch in town. Light streams over two beautifully set communal tables, Otis Redding croons from the sound system, and the staff powers the room with feminine cool. Coffee comes one way—French press, in the pot—and the bacon tastes like candy. At Beast, the kitchen makes all the decisions for you: set menu, set price, no substitutions. That might mean a dessert to start—a warm, sugar-dusted cherry clafoutis, a kind of pancake-pudding-soufflé rising majestically from a white ramekin—and Naomi Pomeroy’s extreme chocolate truffle cake to end. In between, you’ll savor poached eggs dressed up with a seasonal hash and fat wedges of bread. If you’re still hungry, you can eat your vegetables, served with sherry vinaigrette and a trio of handpicked cheeses. 5425 NE 30th Ave; beastpdx.com

Best Restaurants 2011: Hidden Breakfasts

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Chicken and chorizo sopes at Autentica

Mexican Mornings
Autentica

In Portland, finding that great little taste of Mexico doesn’t necessarily mean tracking down the hottest new taco truck. Every Saturday and Sunday, you can amble on into Autentica and wake up to a tongue-tingling Mexican brunch—steeped in vivid sauces and tender meats, brought to your table after luxuriating for hours in broths brimming with chiles and spices. Come with a group and get messy, sharing forkfuls across the table. Start with a balanced one-two punch of sweet and spicy that’ll wake you right up: a plate of fruit salad served with honey and arbol chile–cinnamon powder. Follow your whims through the varied menu of entrées, but don’t miss the entomatadas—chicken- or cheese-stuffed tortillas simmered in a tomato chile sauce and topped with a layer of cabbage, cotija cheese, and Oaxacan cream—or the huevos en caldillo rojo—two buoyant, perfectly poached eggs bathed in a red chicken broth with aromatic epazote spice and lime. The kitchen may not be on wheels, but it’s as authentic as it gets. 5507 NE 30th Ave; autenticaportland.com

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Autentica chef-owner Oswaldo Bibiano

Euro-PDX Brunch
Navarre

Somewhere between a cabin and a diner, Navarre is one of Portland’s little secrets, the kind of spot you might find on an unmarked dirt road in a European village. But the eatery’s greatest sense of surprise reveals itself only on weekend mornings. You won’t find waffles, pancakes, or gravy at Navarre; this is passionate European territory, and brunch is no exception. Amble into the understated dining room at your leisure, taking in the baskets spilling fresh produce at the entrance, and settle in for an elegantly rustic menu of small and large plates. An order of bread with a hunk of habit-forming French butter and a mason jar brimming with seasonal jam is a must for the table. Pick and choose from the regular menu divided into simple categories of eggs, sides, vegetables, seafood, dairy, and meat, but pay close attention to the specials, which might include a plate of silky gravlax over a potato pancake with dill creme, tortilla Española, crab cake Benedict, and a fresh lineup of seasonal scrambles and omelets. After a light, leisurely stroll through Navarre’s menu, those pancakes and waffles—and the lines that come with them—will seem like a distant memory. 10 NE 28th Ave; navarreportland.blogspot.com

Breakfast for Dinner
Tasty n Sons

By now, many Portlanders have been snared in the painful purgatory that is Tasty n Sons’ endless brunch line. Rejoice, for the deliverance from that particular form of hungry humiliation can be found in Tasty’s nightly “Breakfast for Dinner” menu, a slimmed-down sample of the same goods without the morning wait—and with the giddy, guilt-free joy that comes from pairing your eggs, biscuits, and gravy with a tasty pinot. The menu is small, so you might as well grab a date, saddle up at the chef’s counter, and order it all, starting with bacon-wrapped, almond-stuffed dates for everyone, hot from the griddle and doused in maple syrup. The hearty shakshuka—an Israeli street-food stew thick with red peppers, tomatoes, and spicy merguez lamb sausage, topped with two baked eggs—will wake you up day or night. By dark, the transcendent biscuits and venison loin—served with a plentiful ladling of venison sausage gravy and heightened by the additions of salty-smoky bacon, onion, red peppers, and chive—prove that breakfast really can be the best dinner. 3808 N Williams Ave, Suite C; tastynsons.com

Wood-Fired Weekends
Ned Ludd

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Wood-fired “warmbits” for brunch at Ned Ludd

Who doesn’t love a good, crackling wood fire? In Portland, there’s only one place to find that primal satisfaction in the morning: Ned Ludd, where tall windows, dangling chandeliers, potted succulents, and collections of copper pots complete the quirky, French farmhouse vibe. As with the dinner lineup, the “warmbits” and “plats” on Ned Ludd’s brunch menu come straight from the restaurant’s hallowed hearth, arriving at your table imbued with the flavors of smoked pear, cherry, and applewood. The daily frittata offers a clean, bright start, dotted with rich chevre, sided with a dollop of lemony aioli and salty mixed greens, and showered in fresh herbs. A colorful vegetable hash dotted with sumptuous chunks of smoked trout arrives perfectly seasoned, draped delicately with two sunny-side-up eggs. If you’re craving richer fare, opt for the “bird in the nest”: a slice of wood-fired polenta cradling a baked egg and served in a bath of sausage gravy. Splurge on a slice of brown butter shortbread for dessert—sitting in a shallow pool of sweet cream and seasonal fruit, dusted with powdered sugar, it’s sure to reignite your wood-fired hunger. 3925 NE MLK Jr. Blvd; nedluddpdx.com

Eggs Over (Big) Easy
Eat: An Oyster Bar

A room pulsing with the wail of a live saxophone. Plates piled with sugar-dusted beignets, buckets of champagne on ice, and platters of boozy oyster shooters. Nope, it’s not the Big Easy, but Portland’s closest thing: Eat’s Sunday jazz brunch, which lands the rollicking cheer and boisterous flavors of a French Quarter bistro jam squarely in Stumptown. Reggie Houston’s Box of Chocolates plays from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., and food options are best shared, so come with a group and take your time. Per tradition, half of the menu is devoted to spirits, so if a rum-fueled hurricane, Bloody Mary, or gin fizz is what the doctor ordered, you can fill that prescription here. As for the Creole-inspired victuals, veal grillades are a hearty standout, sliced thick, braised in a dark roux, and served over coarse-ground grits. Classic eggs Sardou, poached and cradled within artichoke hearts in a pool of creamed spinach with house-made hollandaise, easily prove their longevity. Throw in a round of oyster shooters and luscious beignets, and laissez les bons temps rouler. 3808 N Williams Ave, Suite 122; eatoysterbar.com

Best Restaurants 2011: Maximal Meat

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

“The Whole Hog” at the Country Cat

Animal House
The Country Cat

Missouri native Adam Sappington is evangelical in matters of meat and a master of American vernacular cooking—somewhere between a nose-to-tail preacher and a Southern granny. Shimmy up to the chef’s counter, ask for the unofficial “Animal Tour,” and watch the procession of proteins pile up. First: a salad of some sort resting under what matters—a haystack of buttermilk-soaked fried pigs’ ears. Next: the scrapple-stuffed pig’s face, a mash-up loaf of pork parts bound with cornmeal, wrapped in pig skin, sliced, fried in bacon fat, served with a biscuit, and anointed with a sunny-side-up egg. (The dish earned Sappington first prize at New York’s Meatopia, a battle of the country’s beast-loving chefs.) Finally, you’ll enjoy Sappington’s idea of dessert: Portland’s best fried chicken, skillet-crusted in house-rendered beef tallow. Instead of ice cream, a glob of creamy mashed potato does the trick. 7937 SE Stark St; thecountrycat.net

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Adam Sappington at the chef’s counter.

Upmarket Caveman Steak
Nostrana

If meaty exuberance doesn’t seem synonymous with Cathy Whims, best take a closer look at Nostrana’s menu. True, the restaurant is Whims’s love letter to religiously seasonal and devoutly regional Italian fare and perfect pasta, but even the most red-blooded of meat fanatics will satisfy their steak tooth with the bistecca alla Fiorentina. This 2.2-pound, wrist-thick rib steak, seasoned simply with salt and pepper, cooked over an oak fire, drizzled with rosemary and garlic-infused olive oil, and served with lemon wedges, will satisfy your inner upmarket caveman with bites of grass-fed, grain-finished greatness. The mandatory preamble is the insalata Nostrana—a radicchio and rosemary crouton salad with a Caesar-style dressing. It’s arguably the most memorable in Portland, and will perfectly whet your appetite for the city’s greatest steak. 1401 SE Morrison St; nostrana.com

Porky Extravagance
The People’s Pig

There’s nowhere better to reward winter bravery than chef Cliff Allen’s trailer-park pork palace on the corner of SW Ninth Avenue and Alder Street. You don’t even have to flip back your parka hood to bark the two most important words: porchetta sandwich. Gorgeous, herb-seasoned, slow-roasted pork is blanketed in crispy cracklings and brightened by seasonal veggies like simple greens tarted up with lemon vinaigrette. The wider menu is ever-changing but always superb, studded with surprises such as egg salad bound by pork fat aioli, or pork cutlets pounded thin, breaded, panfried, then served with pickled cabbage slaw on a locally baked ciabatta bun. The people’s pig, indeed. SW Ninth Avenue & Alder Street; thepeoplespig.com

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Tableside service at Clyde’s Prime Rib.

Beef Meets Goodfellas
Clyde’s Prime Rib

Step into Clyde’s time machine, an antique steak house with a funeral-parlor ambience of dark wood, red velvet, and creepy chandeliers. The mood is a scene in Goodfellas, but directed by the darkly funny quirk-master Tim Burton. On weekends, feel the beating drum, the bask in the wafting saxophone riffs, and savor the eclectic crowd—everyone from real estate power brokers to working stiffs who fill booths and bar stools for live rhythm and blues, the perfect soundtrack for Clyde’s namesake dish. A fellow pushing a steel cart wields a metal sword to sever a thick, medium-rare slab of prime rib, baptized in a vat of jus and piled on a plate over mashed potatoes. You’ll find yourself asking “Am I in Portland?” The answer comes from Clyde himself: “We source all of our beef locally,” he says, a reminder that we never left home. 5474 NE Sandy Blvd; clydesprimerib.com

A deft technician with a penchant for hedonism, Metrovino chef Gregory Denton builds the Noah’s Ark of charcuterie boards.

Charcuterie Fantasy
Metrovino

Where other chefs stop, Gregory Denton pushes beyond. A deft technician with a penchant for hedonism, he builds the Noah’s ark of charcuterie boards: a plank of wood parading the animal kingdom, with dips into the ocean and flights into the sky, all best shared with friends along with something bold from the impressive wine list. Recent boards turned up lamb chorizo draped in a quail egg, rillettes of duck and goat bolstered by fruity mostarda and marmalade, and a deeply pleasurable tuna blood sausage. Save the salt-cured foie gras with fleur de sel for last, and don’t underestimate accoutrements like house-pickled beets, horseradish cream, and Riesling mustard. Denton works so hard it’s doubtful he sleeps—and when he does, he must be dreaming of meat. 1139 NW 11th Ave; metrovinopdx.com

Best Restaurants 2011: Amped Up

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: Thomas Cobb

PREDATOR & PREY

Enjoy weekly dinners at this peaceable kingdom with rotating prix fixe menus based on a food-chain theme. (No substitutions, please.)

Signature Dish – “The Circle of Life”

A recent trip revealed a whimsical, eat-then-be-eaten procession of garden greens, roasted hare, and wild boar.

Image: Thomas Cobb

FROG & TOAD

The semiaquatic proprietors of this elegant French bistro offer a deeply nourishing selection of wild-foraged, low-impact raw foods.

Signature Dish – “Up the Creek”

A small plate sampler of the day’s catch: locally sourced crickets, flies, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and roaches. Bon appetite!

Image: Thomas Cobb

SKULL & BONES

Nose-to-tail diners, rejoice! This avant-garde eatery serves up real-marrow smoothies and ribs without all that messy meat on them.

Signature Dish – “The Brain Teaser”

Whether served au jus or blended into a luscious soup, the weekly gray matter special always comes in its original container. Ten percent discount for Yale alumni and self-identifying pirates.

Image: Thomas Cobb

SKULL & BONES

Nose-to-tail diners, rejoice! This avant-garde eatery serves up real-marrow smoothies and ribs without all that messy meat on them.

Signature Dish – “The Brain Teaser”

Whether served au jus or blended into a luscious soup, the weekly gray matter special always comes in its original container. Ten percent discount for Yale alumni and self-identifying pirates.

Best Restaurants 2011: The Best of the Rest

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: Stuart Mullenberg

Dove Vivi

Andina

PERUVIAN

1314 NW Glisan St 503-228-9535 $$$

Andean restaurants are as hard to find as a pisco sour on the road to Machu Picchu. Andina is not only a rare destination, it aims for the peaks, with high-end Peruvian fusion cooking not often seen outside of Lima but enough local ingredients to keep it grounded in Portland. Yet the real brilliance here, and what keeps Andina packed with daters, business folks, and tourists, is a savvy embrace of approachable adventure. You can tuck into an unusual lunch, spend the evening gazing at elaborate entrées stacked into visual theater, or eat casually, sharing small plates with friends. The kitchen is not the revelation it was when Andina opened in 2005 as a showcase for Peru’s “New Andean” cooking, but the colorful pepper sauces over hunks of beef or lamb, fanciful ceviches, and quinoa “risottos” appeal to a wide range of appetites. The bustling, jewel-toned bar is a perpetual Pearl District hot spot, with playful Latin-inspired drinks and one of the best cocktails in town: the Sacsayhuaman, a seductive dance of sweet, fire, and passion fruit. Forget trying to sound it out and just order it by its nickname: “sexy woman.”

Apizza Scholls

PIZZA

4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd 503-233-1286 $$

With a reception as warm as a warden greeting a recidivist, Apizza wins no atmosphere awards. Still, for pizza theologists, it’s a temple. Owner Brian Spangler channels New York’s Italian-American coal-oven shops through an Oregon baker’s avid heart. Spangler makes dough daily (and when he runs out, he’s done) and uses an infrared thermometer to suss out prime hot spots in his electric oven. The result: muscular pies with char-speckled bottoms that make East Coast devotees swoon, from a heart-stopping “New York White” to a superb sausage and spicy peppers, all ginormous. Are they worth the hour wait—and the attitude? It depends on how badly you want the real thing.

Bamboo Sushi

JAPANESE

310 SE 28th Ave 503-232-5255 $$$

Kristofor Lofgren was ahead of the curve in 2008, when he opened the country’s first “certified” sustainable sushi restaurant, leaving the murky waters of red-listing and blue-listing to nonprofit conservation pros. The checklist of sustainable catches informs the nonpreachy menu, an in-depth list of sake love, creative sushi, and playful, visual rolls drawn from the Pacific Coast but casting a wide net to other waters. For a small, independent restaurant, and a chic one at that, Bamboo Sushi is going the distance, contracting with one fisherman to provide its annual haul of Pacific albacore tuna and salmon. Even the house California rolls rise above the mundane, holding 100 percent certified local Dungeness crab while keeping prices on par with most places serving the fake stuff. Adventure is part of the house philosophy, and on any night you might find horse mackerel, Tasmanian ocean trout, or cod sperm, not to mention a darn good burger, fat with high-quality American kobe beef. Is it the best sushi you’ve eaten? No. But it’s fun, fashionable, and thinking ahead, and happy hour is a catch.

Beaker & Flask
PACIFIC NORTHWEST

727 SE Washington St 503-235-8180 $$$

Opened by Kevin Ludwig, one of Portland’s top craft bartenders, Beaker & Flask was an instant surprise for its food, with sumptuous, edgy (and sometimes ingredient-cluttered) seasonal selections guided by chef Benjamin Bettinger, who freely blends French techniques with animal love. Think Paley’s Place for the hipster crowd, deep in pigs’ ears, pork cheeks, grilled sardines, pickled things, and, if you’re lucky, the reinvented borscht. Of the half-dozen bars that define Portland’s modern mixology scene, this is one of the cleverest, combining old-school ingredients with whimsical creativity. If you’re ready for a negroni reborn with aquavit and cynar in a lively industrial setting, this is the place.

Broder

SCANDINAVIAN

2508 SE CLINTON ST 503-736-3333 $

To satisfy a Swedish meatball craving, you could drive out to Ikea, run through a hamster-track maze of fake rooms, and eventually locate the store’s big-box cafeteria. Or you could simply head down to SE Clinton Street, where a bustling Scandinavian café awaits with Danish modern atmospherics and food cool enough for Wallpaper magazine. Once seated, settle on a Stockholm hot dog wrapped in a potato pancake with house-made relish or a baked scramble with gravlax or smoked trout, served in handsome skillets next to sides like roasted apples. Everyone comes for aebleskivers, golf ball–size puffs of batter baked in a special pan and served with homemade lemon curd and applesauce. And of course, the rich meatballs in a creamy sherry sauce are far more inspired than the ones at Ikea.

Bunk Sandwiches
SANDWICHES

621 SE Morrison St 503-477-9515 $

Walk down SE Morrison Street at midday, and when you reach Sixth Avenue, you’ll find yourself amid a motley crew of tattooed hipsters, besuited office workers, and tiny creative sprites, each anxiously anticipating a Bunk sandwich. Co-owners Tommy Habetz and Nick Wood create dangerously good culinary experiments between two slices of bread, from salt cod and mashed potatoes with parsley salad to duck pâté bahn mi. No wonder their powerhouse sandwiches are turning up on popular food shows like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Spin-off Bunk Bar (1028 SE Water Ave, 503-477-9515), serves the same signature selection, along with loud (but well-chosen) indie music, an anti-mixology bar, and late-night hours, plus some additional finds, like a french-fry po’boy with duck gravy, courtesy of Habetz’s dream addition—a deep fryer.

Caffe Mingo

ITALIAN

807 NW 21ST AVE 503-226-4646 $$$

It would be easy to write off this streetside café as a low-hanging fruit for the masses who flock to the Northwest blocks on weekends. But Caffe Mingo—the first of the trio that includes the adjacent Bar Mingo and Beaverton’s Mingo—is far from a tacky tourist trap. Stop by unannounced on a Friday or Saturday night and expect a wait approaching the running time of Doctor Zhivago. Why? Well, the pasta dishes, for one. The penne al sugo di carne with tender beef braised in Chianti and espresso might be the closest thing you’ll find in this town to Nonna’s sauce. For dessert, try the classic chocolate torte with gelato. Soft lighting matches the tiny dining room’s warm atmosphere. Order a few glasses of wine from the short but smart list, but don’t get too carried away. The people waiting in sidewalk Siberia for your table are hungry, too.

Chef Naoko’s Bento Café

JAPANESE BENTO

1237 SW JEFFERSON ST 503-227-4136 $

Ohaiyo gozaimasu!! The greeting rings out as you step through the door at this tiny, serene café. You don’t often hear the words in Portland, and it’s generally a reassuring sign that you are in the right place. Japanese families and in-the-know locals come for Naoko Tamura’s Oregon-inspired Japanese comfort foods. Bento is the star of the lunch-only menu: light, healthy, artful, and fashioned with farm-fresh ingredients. The chalkboard overhead reads like a road map of respected Oregon producers. Each lacquered box contains five compartments holding thoughtful bites: sweet omelet, silky tofu, market-fresh greens, rice (white or brown), and a changing main attraction, from lightly fried wild Oregon lingcod to farm-coddled chicken in a tomato braise. If you’re still hungry, the miso soup is fantastically perfumed, and the browned strips of pressed, gooey, rice cake “mocheese” are terrific.

Chennai Masala

INDIAN

2088 NW Stucki Ave 503-531-9500 $

Just a short jump off of the Sunset Highway in a strip mall next to Tanasbourne, a slice of India percolates. The otherwise ambience-free setting wears one telltale patina: flowers handpainted on the wall, lovely and patternless. The friendly staff tends to steer newcomers to safer dishes. Just smile, nod, and say, “But what are your favorites?” and then be prepared for rustic delicacies, particularly dishes labeled Chettinad, a region in food-adventurous southern India. Full immersion means an appetizer of fried lentil-flour doughnuts called thairr vada, slow-cooked mugalai lamb koorma, and, last but not least, a dosa (a rice-flour crêpe, filled, rolled, and meant for sharing). Go for the head-turning, three-foot-long “family dosa” or get adventurous with the chile-sparked Uttapam dosa. Holler for a mango lassi to cool the heat.

Clarklewis

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

1001 SE Water Ave 503-235-2294 $$$

Years after the media noise dimmed, Clarklewis has emerged with a new identity: Portland’s best business-appropriate eatery, with a focused kitchen and beautiful space to match. White cloths now cover the tables, but the former warehouse space maintains the original flavor of casual cool from its former era. Huge garage doors hang agape around the entire building, the smell of smoke pumps from the open wood-fired oven, and an attentive staff stands within reach. Seasonal, contemporary American fare boasts simple salads, rich ragùs, and Oregon-sourced meats, from tender wild sturgeon to charred SuDan lamb leg. Clarklewis’s consistent menu comes alive at lunch, when solid flavor profiles and the occasional out-of-the-park sandwich mingle with approachable ingredients attuned to the seasons. In a city of communal tables and pig parts, Clarklewis has found its niche in a stepped-up, accessible menu, with enough charm to impress a discerning client—or worse, a finicky parent. Closed Sun.

Image: McKenna Johnson

Olympic Provisions

Clyde Common

CONTEMPORARY

1014 SW Stark st 503-228-3333 $$

Set in the bottom of the Ace Hotel, Clyde Common has a tastefully informal gourmet vibe. Framed by tall windows, the restaurant offers a bar that serves the best negroni in town, along with four communal tables and an upstairs with intimate, bistro-size tables. Noise-sensitive diners, beware: high ceilings and resonant wood surfaces can make the buzz and clatter here deafening. But the small menu makes up for such inconveniences with everything from olive oil–poached octopus with chorizo and fingerling potatoes to a house-made tagliarini with Dungeness crab, leeks, and Calabrian chiles. If Clyde’s brand of high-end cuisine signals a new trend in downtown hotel dining, we’re all for it.

DOC

ITALIAN

5519 NE 30TH AVE 503-946-8592 $$$

Dining at DOC is an immersing experience. Getting to your table involves walking directly past the mason jar–lined storefront, straight through the teeny kitchen (which doubles as entryway) and into the tiny, romantic dining room. DOC redefines the idea of the chef’s counter, with every table positioned in view of Italian food lovers and chefs Jobie Bailey and Paul Losch at work in Portland’s most intimate kitchen. The small menu boasts flavors foraged and farmed in Oregon, rapidly changing from week to week. A la carte options are available, but the five-course tasting menu rules at DOC: antipasti, primi (pasta and risotto), secondi (entrées), formaggi, and dessert, plus a bread course with olives and oysters to start. One day’s produce might bring a haul of summer vegetables layered in lasagna, or a primi of lobster mushroom risotto sprinkled with chives. Wine man Austin Morris Bridges pours glasses by the full or half glass from one of Portland’s best Italian wine programs.

Dove Vivi

PIZZA

2727 NE Glisan St 503-239-4444 $$

According to legend, the recipe for Dove Vivi’s crusts has its origins decades ago in what might be called a taxicab kidnapping. Eventually, by a circuitous route, the crust ended up in the possession of owners Delane and Gavin Blackstock. There remains something distinctly mysterious and foreign, perhaps even … Californian, about this crust, but it is inarguably good. An amalgamation of locally milled organic cornmeal, Washington-grown wheat flour, olive oil, salt, and yeast results in a half-inch-thick slice, elaborately textured and slightly crispy. Sink your incisors into the kitchen’s cult classic: fresh sweet corn, smoked mozzarella, and balsamic red onions. But check the specials list for unlikely combos and the realization that, somehow, handcrafted corned beef, sauerkraut, and zucchini pickle relish make sense on a cornmeal crust served in a humble, fun-loving neighborhood spot.

Evoe

COUNTRYSIDE EUROPE

3731 SE Hawthorne Blvd 503-232-1010 $$

Three years ago Kevin Gibson, one of Portland’s most accomplished chefs, left the high-end restaurant scene to become the master of his own universe inside the Hawthorne Pastaworks. Food formulas don’t exist here. In a space no larger than a dorm room, Gibson’s mood reigns whether he is grilling a cheese sandwich, slicing up wild-boar pâté with sour cherries, or rubbing anise into duck to be paired with fresh kumquat chutney—a dish you’d be thrilled to find at a fancy restaurant at twice the price. Check for a scallops salad—a Gibson signature—or squid baked in an earthenware crock with hot peaks of blood-orange aioli (garlic mayo). If you’re on the run, grab one of the nearly dozen daily sandwiches. Best is the Little Bo Peep: exquisite lamb meatballs stacked with frizzy greens on ciabatta bread. Even by Portland standards, Evoe is quirky. But for anyone who loves great food, it’s Exhibit A for why we are the envy of the country. Closed Mon, Tue.

Ken’s Artisan Pizza

WOOD-FIRED PIZZA

304 SE 28th Ave 503-517-9951 $$

French-style bread baker Ken Forkish helped lead Portland into pizza’s promised land in 2005 with experiments at his landmark Ken’s Artisan Bakery. By ’06, he’d spun his puffy-crusted wonders into their own restaurant, complete with a wood-fired oven, a serious Oregon-focused wine list, and a warm setting full of local salvage. Today, lines form by 4:45 for crust that’s toasty and dusky with a nice blush of char, a delicate tomato sauce, and a dozen restrained topping combos, like green garlic with grana padano and pecorino or homemade sausage with fiery chiles. Ken’s spicy soppressata truly elevates the art form, with joyful mouthfuls of crispy salami, wild heat, and smoky dough. Carryout available Sun–Thu.

Lauretta Jean’s + Café Vélo

BAKERY

600 SW PINE ST 503-224-9236 $

Café Vélo’s carefully considered coffee still flows at the corner of SW Sixth Avenue and Pine Street, a few flaps away from Little Bird on the bus mall. But the takeout case has a whole new perfume: wizardly fruit pies, wonderful biscuits, and revelatory quiche. Rising microbaking star Kate McMillen and fiancé Noah Cable serve up American classics with careful twists, serious all-butter crusts, and Oregon fruit focused on the peak of season—with barely a hint of sugar. McMillen bakes up a half-dozen daily pies (whole or by the slice), seasonal galettes, and cult-inspiring $2 chocolate cream sliders that deliver three kinds of single-origin chocolate and one whipped cream cloud in three bites. Quiches taste like a totally new invention, deep-dish and super delicate, and the biscuits are exquisitely light, with a big butter flavor and fine, fresh jam for smearing. Get them in the morning while they’re warm.

Lincoln

NEW AMERICAN

3808 N Williams Ave 503-288-6200 $$$

The brainchild of husband-and-wife team David Welch and Jenn Louis, Lincoln soothes more than it struts, as evidenced by its straightforward, minimalist menu and sturdy fir tables. Louis eschews big flavors and gimmickry for freshness and balance. Her dishes are ingredient-driven and often outstanding, as with a signature appetizer of two eggs baked with cream and chopped green olives, or a delicate hanger steak topped with blue-cheese butter beside a tower of buttermilk-dipped onion rings. Meats are cooked to the perfect texture and temperature: although the offerings change daily, you might be lucky enough to find a sliced pork shoulder served over creamy potato-and-parsnip purée and doused in a piquant salsa verde (with a boneless smoked pork shank folded into the mix). The warehouse space has been remodeled, but nothing about this new restaurant is new-fangled. Closed Mon.

Image: Stuart Mullenberg

Little Big Burger

Little Big Burger

FAST FOOD

122 NW 10th Ave 503-274-9008 $

The mood at Micah Camden’s reimagined soda fountain is at once sterile and pulsing with personality—Lego-red hues, blond wood and slate walls, mind-bending murals, the color pop of Asian cool. If Ray Kroc went to the Rhode Island School of Design, with a semester in Tokyo, history may have looked like this: fast and fun, eco-minded, and feeding a demand for real food, made to order, on the cheap. Plus, there’s beer—nearly a dozen canned brands stacked on shelves as though posing for a Warhol painting. The limited menu includes a locally sourced quarter-pounder served with a picnic mentality: no dishes or trays, just make-your-own plates out of takeout bags. Go for the Rogue chevre burger or the veggie burger, and add some fine truffle fries on the side.

Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty

WOOD-FIRED PIZZA

4039 N Mississippi Ave, Ste 101 503-281-4060 $$

Think wood-fired California designer pizza, by way of fine Oregon farmers. New Yorkers may cringe, Italians may flee, but Sarah Minnick and oven man James Albee bust out some of the tastiest, most satisfying pies in the city: beautifully bronzed and carefully constructed, light on cheese and sauce. Six whole pies arrive dressed for the weather—perhaps wild nettles with crispy pancetta or slivers of black trumpet mushrooms boosted by parsley, citrus, and garlic. Sure, you can knock off a Tolstoy chapter before your order arrives, but that allows more time to contemplate the inventive salads and luscious ice creams that make this neighborhood pizza hangout a rising star.

Image: Thomas Cobb

Lovely’s Fifty Fifty

Noble Rot

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

1111 E Burnside St, fourth floor 503-233-1999 $$

On the fourth floor of south Burnside’s Rocket Building, Leather Storrs cooks comfort food from his overgrown rooftop garden to pair with Noble Rot’s wine program. The rooftop patio is essential, offering unparalleled views of downtown Portland, even in the chill of winter. You can stick to the carefully curated flights, sampling tastes from BC to Bordeaux, or you can venture into Storrs’s jumbled seasonal menu. Diner staples top the list: extra-sharp mac and cheese with a spike of Dijon mustard and a crunch of bread crumbs; crisp, airy onion rings of the highest caliber; a respectable flat iron steak with creamy romesco sauce. The evergreen list of small-plate favorites, like sweet caramelized onion tart on a flaky pastry shell or a “Roof Salad,” well-dressed with carrots, lemon cucumbers, and edible flowers from the garden upstairs, make Noble Rot more than just a room with a view.

Ocean City

CHINESE/DIM SUM

3016 SE 82nd Ave 503-771-2299 $$

No worthwhile dim sum experience is complete  without the following: a parade of multitiered push-carts squeezing though tight-packed chairs with the day’s offerings; house specials not found elsewhere; and the joyful noise of entire Asian clans gathered around massive lazy Susan–topped tables and spinning a feast of barbecued pork buns, pinched dumplings, chicken feet, and all kinds of baked, leaf-wrapped, and steamed wonders. Ocean City delivers, and as at most dim sum houses the selection is biggest and best on weekends (up to 100 options), and more exciting than the encyclopedic Chinese dinner menu. Come with a group and order wildly—anything that looks good (saucers average $2.75–3.75 for several pieces). Zoom in on specials offered on trays, and don’t miss the deep-fried shimp pressed around sugar cane or the divine golden egg custard bun.

Olympic Provisions Northwest

SALUMERIA

1632 NW Thurman St 503-894-8136 $$

The charcuterie list shares the impressive salumi and sausages with the original Olympic Provisions in the industrial Southeast, but the Northwest Portland branch is a completely different animal, with its own feel and flavors. Chef Erin Williams makes her statement with a small and addictive repertoire of European and American dishes, pickled bites, seasonal soups, and salads. Laid-back entrées include rotisserie chicken, plump and juicy with crackling golden skin, and the fantastic, fire-flecked link of OP’s chorizo Rioja, sitting alongside poached albacore tuna in a broth full of fresh shell beans and bitter Basque peppers. The best dessert plays off OP’s charcuterie obsession: a bittersweet chocolate “salami,” pockmarked with cookie crumbs, pistachios, and orange zest, then coated in powdered sugar to emulate the meaty version.

Park Kitchen

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

422 NW Eighth Ave 503-223-7275 $$$

The menu of small and large plates varies with the wanderings of chef-owner Scott Dolich and chef de cuisine David Padberg at this little North Park Blocks gem, one of the first of a new class of local eateries ushering in the city’s finest era of dining when it opened eight years ago. A hardy forager, Dolich knows just what to buy and when: roots, mushrooms, and greens just wrestled from the earth, applied to dishes like porcini bread pudding with fava beans. The kitchen combines eclectic influences and seasonal, yet often disparate, ingredients in rambunctious medleys that can be wonderful or weird. Soups can be outstanding, and the tempura-fried green beans and spears of salty bacon, served in a paper cone, could embarrass a french fry. Closed Sun.

Ping

PAN-ASIAN

102 NW Fourth Ave 503-229-7464 $$

Ping pushes authentic pan-Asian street food to its limits—no surprise, given that Pok Pok mastermind and Asian street food authority Andy Ricker is a co-owner. The intriguing options include brined chicken butt on bamboo skewers, grilled baby octopus marinated in lime and garlic, and tiny bone-in pork chops on a bun, a street favorite in Macau. Wash it all down with a house-made plum drinking vinegar. You’ll find a surprising collection of novelties here, and the izakaya-style menu—divvied up into easily digestible categories like Fried, Steamed, Boiled, Beef, Pork, and Noodles—encourages you to sample all the options, but don’t miss the steamed pork buns or the pork collar in spicy dipping sauce. Plates arrive one by one, accompanied by saucers of sour yellow chile dipping sauce made with garlic, vinegar, and habanero peppers. The procession of bite-size dishes invites you to settle in and savor each smoky, sticky, crunchy arrival. Then, order another.

Screen Door

SOUTHERN

2337 E Burnside st 503-542-0880 $$

One can’t live on pimento cheese alone, but if you could, we’d recommend doing so at this institution of opulent Southern comfort. The airy, modern restaurant on serves all manner of iconic Dixie-inspired dishes, from succulent Carolina-style pulled-pork sandwiches to fried buttermilk-batter chicken. (The cocktails, from the sazerac to the porch-worthy alcoholic lemonade, are equally inspired.) But Northwest ingredients also shine here, as evidenced by an ever-changing seasonal, organic sides menu, which includes such delicious combinations as English peas sautéed in tarragon-spiked butter sauce. Show up for brunch and feast on a hefty portion of fried chicken and waffles drizzled with maple syrup. No matter when you arrive, you’ll encounter nothing but ol’-fashioned hospitality.

Simpatica Dining Hall

AMERICAN

828 SE ASH ST 503-235-1600 $$

A catering outfit by day, Simpatica rolls out a reservations-only, four-course dinner every Friday and Saturday night ($30–40). To get in on it, you’ll need to jump on the e-mail list at simpaticacatering.com—but the extra effort will be worth it. You might start off with a potato-leek soup topped with crème fraîche and finely chopped chives from the farm-to-table menu before moving on to herb-roasted Draper Valley chicken and slow-cooked greens with house-made bacon. Then again, you might not—the chefs (there are three) haven’t repeated a menu since Simpatica opened nearly six years ago. For the walk-in Sunday brunch, diners can order items à la carte, such as buttermilk biscuits drenched in country-sausage gravy, eggs Benedict with house-cured Canadian bacon, or fried chicken and waffles. But arrive early, or you’ll be caught standing in the hall.

Syun Izakaya
JAPANESE

209 NE Lincoln St, hillsboro 503-640-3131 $$

Your fingers will travel four pages before they find any sushi standbys on the sprawling dinner menu here. But those first three pages, filled with some 75 small plates, are the soul of Syun Izakaya, an upbeat Japanese restaurant in downtown Hillsboro. Our advice: order as many as you can. A buttery fillet of grilled cod slicked with a sweet Kyoto-style miso sauce deserves your full attention. So does the maguro yamakake, small cubes of raw tuna mixed with mountain yam and white radish, and topped with confetti-size flakes of dried seaweed. Or make things easy by ordering the izakaya set, a sampling of four classic dishes that includes braised pork belly, octopus in kimchi sauce, deep-fried fish cakes, and seared slices of rare albacore. Wash it all down with sake, of course.

Tabla Mediterranean Bistro

MEDITERRANEAN

200 NE 28TH AVE 503-238-3777 $$

This popular eastside eatery quietly twirls some of Portland’s best pasta in a setting of neighborhood bistro chic. Chef Anthony Cafiero weaves in a taste of Spain, a heavy focus on egg-based northern Italian–style pastas, and a serious devotion to local produce. Snag a windowside table in the bistro-chic dining room, or get up close and personal at the chef’s counter; dead center at the far end of the room, positioned like a front-row seat at the opera. The tempting three-course prix fixe goes for $28, but the real show is the pasta menu. Don’t miss the tajarin, cut into tender gossamer ribbons and tossed with a powerful dose of truffle butter, or the signature raviolo—one giant, paper-thin pasta pillow holding creamy chard, a runny egg yolk and the scent of poppy-seed butter.

Tastebud

PIZZA

3220 SE Milwaukie Ave 503-234-0330 $$

For nine years, former Canby farmer Mark Doxtader has been dishing out hand-tossed, wood-fired pizza slices to regulars at the Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University. At his new restaurant, the formula is simple: thick layers of seasonal, local ingredients applied to a thin crust that’s zapped to perfection in a wood-burning oven. The resulting pies (big enough for two) are rustic and somewhat messy, but in all the right ways. A tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, and salami piccante pizza is light and airy. A pie of roasted peaches, pancetta, mascarpone, and arugula sounds heady, but when washed down with a frothy pint of ale from Hair of the Dog it feels and tastes undeniably Portland. Closed Tue.

Toro Bravo

SPANISH

120 NE Russell st 503-281-4464 $$

Chef John Gorham has managed to import the singular rowdiness and rugged charm of a tapeo in Andalucía to his Spanish-inspired east-side eatery, from the rough-hewn communal tables to the tiny bistro settees for two and the cozy chef’s counter in back. As for the delicious food, there’s a little French and a pinch of Northwest thrown into the mix—evinced by the creamy sherried chicken-liver mousse and the garden-fresh salads made from local greens—but it’s all guided by the spirit of delicious tapas. Expect flavorful paellas, fried green tomatoes with pickled mayo, juicy crab-and-pork croquettes, seared scallops and braised lamb with apricots and coriander, and salt-cod fritters, not to mention bottles of pétillant txakoli and robust Rioja from the modest wine list. Any toreador would feel right at home.

Best Restaurants 2011: Asian Adventures

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Vietnamese soup at HA & VL

Vietnamese Soup Art
HA & VL

To find noodle soup paradise, jump off of SE 82nd Avenue into the hidden Wing Ming Square, walk past—or slow down and browse—the herb shop selling spore oils and deer-tail extracts, and you’re there: HA & VL. These are not the usual Asian soup bowls brimming around this neighborhood. Owners Ha “Christina” Luu and William Voung are artisans, crafting small-batch regional Vietnamese soups with flavorful free-range chickens, meticulously skimmed broths, and noodles fully soaked before taking a dip in the boiling pot to assure an extra bounce of chewy goodness. Every day brings two options, but Thursday delivers the ultimate double bill: snail noodle soup, swooningly aromatic, with fresh-ground ginger sauce for dipping, and shredded chicken noodle soup as you wish your grandmother could make it, with the punctuation marks of sliced pork and dainty hand-cut ribbons of fried egg. The Popsicle-colored café is part of the charm, and if you ask, Luu will whip up the best Vietnamese iced coffee you’ve tasted. But come early: the goods are usually gone by 11:30. 2738 SE 82nd Ave, Suite 102, Wing Ming Square; 503-772-0103 —Karen Brooks

Burger After Dark
Biwa

An Asian menu is not the obvious go-to for a top-notch burger. But Biwa is playful that way—an appealing fusion of Japanese izakaya (pub food) and recycled Portland. Its lusty secret arrives after 10 p.m. (11 on weekends), when the streamlined late-night menu goes into effect. Push past the nighttime tipplers and two-top daters and head for the counter, where the thick perfume of simmering garlic intensifies. Here, the hip-hop rhythms of Dr. Dre prime the appetite for the menu’s hot, cold, grilled, and slurpable highlights, and the kitchen’s burger emerges at last—juicy, grass-fed, fresh-ground, and wearing a coil of marinated pork and a slather of kimchi mayo. The “kasu” bun flies in its own orbit, craftily made from fermented sake lees by underground baking pro Adam Kennedy. Skip the Asian-inspired cocktail menu: this beauty is best with a handmade black pepper soda or a sake flight—a menagerie of two-ounce pours and an adventure through prefectures and styles. 215 SE Ninth Ave; biwarestaurant.com —Benjamin Tepler

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Biwa burger with pork belly and kimchi mayo.

The New Koreatown
Spring Restaurant

One of Portland’s premier food adventures begins in the ominous, poorly marked G Mart in Beaverton. Once inside, follow the shelves of shiny, packaged instant ramen to the meat counter in back, then take a sharp left up the stairs. Welcome to Koreatown, OR—little English is spoken, and the menu is intimidatingly lengthy. Here’s the deal: sit near the glass observation windows overlooking the sprawling Asian superstore while munching on banchan, a collection of traditional snacks, from salty kimchi to chile-spiked sausage. Skip the too-average barbecued meats, and concentrate on noodle dishes, especially the spicy, soul-warming jjol myun (rice noodles, vegetables, hard-boiled egg) or bibim naeng myun (cold, glossy buckwheat noodles lacquered with spice and cut tableside with scissors). Potent stews like kim chee chi gae—a bubbling cast-iron pot of fiery red broth, slivered pork, and silken tofu—will suck the chill out right out of a Portland winter. 3975 SW 114th Ave, Beaverton; 503-641-3670 —Benjamin Tepler

Old-School Phat Thai
Whiskey Soda Lounge

Long before he opened Pok Pok, Thai food perfectionist Andy Ricker had a reputation among friends for making the best phat Thai around. Yet Ricker worried if he included it on his menu, it would always lure diners from trying his other concoctions steeped in street-food authenticity. Now that he’s got lines out Pok Pok’s door for the likes of boar collar and steak salad hot enough to peel paint, he’s finally giving in at his bar across street, serving six variations of phat Thai after 10 p.m. only that are far from the ketchup-laced affairs conjured for the American palate. That means rice or glass noodles fried in rendered pork fat, never served with chicken (“it’s simply not done in old-school phat Thai joints,” says Ricker), the surprise of preserved radish and dried tofu, and serious, nose-dripping heat. The straight-up version alone is worth a visit, but phat thai buu haw khai, mingled with crab, then bound in a thin omelet, is a revelation. 3131 SE Division St; whiskeysodalounge.com
—Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2011: Meat-Free Magnificence

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

The Indian vegetarian tasting menu at East India Co

The Holiday Tasting Menu
East India Co

From the Indian equivalent of wood fire—a charcoal-fueled tandoor oven—comes Portland’s best Indian food. But the real find at East India Co is the seasonally rotating, four-course tasting menu showcasing the flavors of Indian holidays, from the bright colors of Holi in the spring to traditional street foods on Mother’s Day. Chef Pradeep Chandrana’s exploration of northern and western Indian styles uncovers a wealth of meatless wonders, from tandoor-singed mushrooms paired with spicy tamarind-date chutney to a vegetable vindaloo boasting the kind of over-the-top spice not often found in vegetarian food. Arrive early in the evening, snag one of the dramatically plush booths, and lean onto embroidered pillows while you dig into adventurous appetizers, pyramids of delicate rice, and copper dishes hiding vibrant sauces. 821 SW 11th Ave; eastindiacopdx.com

Art & Romance
Natural Selection

With its exposed Edison bulbs and gleaming copper-and-steel kitchen, this little Alberta Street spot is that rare place in Portland: all the intimacy and design savvy of our best locavore restaurants without a spec of meat. In short: vegetarian, not hippie. Two four-course, mix-and-match menus appear nightly, but you can also pick off à la carte choices tailored for a vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free meal. Whatever your dietary path, you’ll be charmed by chef Aaron Woo’s whimsical approach: edible foraged flowers, swirls of colored sauces, artfully cut veggies, and unexpected mash-ups of sweet and savory and fresh ideas, from tempura-fried oranges to grilled peaches over savory stew. Spring for the wine pairings and turn each course into a vino adventure for less than you’d pay for a bottle. 3033 NE Alberta St; naturalselectionpdx.com

Genoa’s new vegetarian tasting menu is a revelatory reinvention of a Portland classic.

Vegetarian Swank
Genoa

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

A banquet of meatless courses at Genoa

Given its long history of ritualistic prix fixe evenings of lush northern Italian cuisine, Genoa’s new vegetarian tasting menu is a revelatory reinvention of a Portland classic. One of two nightly menus, this collaboration between traditionalist David Anderson and farmers market–driven modernist Daniel Mondok (formerly of Sel Gris) yields a five-course, monthly changing vegetable-worshipping feast (with fish options) that is downright playful—not to mention visually stunning. Recent menus have included risotto with goat cheese–stuffed squash blossoms, gazpacho with fennel fronds and chickweed, and fresh ravioli stuffed with sweet corn and pecorino. This is not your parents’ Genoa. Come as you are, in jeans or party threads. Three-course, $45 menu also available Tue–Thu. 2832 SE Belmont St; genoarestaurant.com

Power “Raw Foods” Lunch
Blossoming Lotus

Banish any potential for a post-lunch slump with the ultimate midday energizer: a raw, vegan meal so virtuous it’s practically like going to the gym. Blossoming Lotus is Portland’s raw-food headquarters, with a rabid following among yoga stretchers for a menu that freely shakes up organic vegetables, grains, and “live” foods with roaming Asian, Latin, and farm-to-table flavors. Try the crispy Thai BBQ salad, an overflowing plate of lettuce and vegetables topped with curried cashews, raisins, toasted coconut, and Thai-spiced barbecue soy curls, or tuck into the live pesto and portobello “pizza” piled with microgreens on a tomato and walnut crisp. Your 2 p.m. meeting will thank you. 1713 NE 15th Ave; blpdx.com

Vegan Heaven, With Beer
Portobello Vegan Trattoria

Tony Soprano might fidget here, but chef Aaron Adams handcrafts grandmother-worthy Italian dishes, substituting the likes of homemade cashew cream cheese for Jersey-style ricotta. Come with friends, plunk down $23 a head, and let Adams send out the best vegan deal in town—a seasonally tweaked, family-style feast of fresh antipasti, gnocchi, and ravioli paired with outstanding wood-fired pizza and, to finish, homemade coconut ice cream with house toppings, from the kitchen’s “Oreo” cookie crumbles to nut brittle. Forget the wine and grab some bottles next door at the Beer Mongers, a bottle shop with hard-to-find microbrews—the perfect place to wait out Portobello’s inevitable crowds. 1125 SE Division St; portobellopdx.com

Best Restaurants 2011: The Comforts

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Peruvian roasted chicken at El Inka.

Risotto Night
Bar Mingo

Bar Mingo is as upbeat as a Labrador retriever, with a happy soundtrack, low-slung couches, and flowered pillows. But the kitchen cooks up plenty of surprise: scholarly, to-the-letter takes on old-school Italian from Genoa’s former pasta god, Jerry Huisinga. On any night you’ll find Portland’s best collection of handcrafted noodles, but on Wednesday nights, Huisinga pulls out an even greater trick: a truly authentic risotto—three batches a night, each nearly an hour in the making, and sent to tables only when ready. In most restaurant risottos, the rice is parboiled early in the day and finished to order, so flavors never really harmonize. But Huisinga’s versions, creamy and swollen, hold a savory intensity that’s earned only when built from scratch and served within minutes of the last stir. Flavors vary weekly, from chanterelle to pork-and-beef ragù, but the unfortunate lack of sign-up sheets or reservations doesn’t change. So slip in, place an order, and wait for a fresh batch. 811 NW 21st Ave; barmingonw.com —Karen Brooks

Soup in the Back Bar
Higgins

Higgins may be known as Portland’s farm-to-table pioneer, but the kitchen has blazed another path traveled mostly by regulars: the best soup selection in the city. Skip the white-tablecloth dining room and settle in at the homey back bar, where the kitchen ladles out twooptions daily. The repertoire runs from a powerhouse mushroom barley to a fall-fresh tomato and a split pea so creamy it should require an immediate cholesterol check. But you can rest easy—cream doesn’t even appear in many of the silky broths at Higgins, as many are vegan-friendly. Soup ingredients, as with other options on the menu, are sourced from local farmers and ranchers. 1239 SW Broadway; higginsportland.com
—Kasey Cordell

Image: David Lanthan Reamer

Smoked brisket, potato-chip mac and cheese, and homemade s’mores at Laurelhurst Market.

American Splendor
Laurelhurst Market

In 2009, Portland’s first indie steak house put Bush-era price tags and cigar-chomping atmosphere out to pasture and wrangled a formula fit for the times: farm-connected ingredients, cocktails with He-Man ice cubes, and an inclusive vibe. Most everyone flocks here for affordable steaks fashioned from unsung cuts, but the menu hides one of the best all-American triple-plays in the city. First, land the 12-hour smoked Wagyu beef brisket, a bestial block of tender meat teed up with a shriek of vinegar-punched barbecue sauce and an exquisite top char forged from chiles, brown sugar, and slow heat. Add a side of mac and cheese, bubbling under a golden dome of crushed potato chips with just enough salty crispness to humiliate the usual breadcrumbs. Finish with s’mores, as Portland food fanatics would have them: homemade grahams, torched fresh marshmallows, bittersweet chocolate, and a healthy slug of whiskey to wash them down. 3155 E Burnside St; laurelhurstmarket.com—Karen Brooks

DIY Dessert
Suzette Crêperie

NE Alberta Street’s quirky house of crêpes transforms in the winter: the big garage door seals shut, the patio furniture fades away, and the century-old carriage house turns into a toasty, eccentric escape. On Fridays, the movie projector spools up, flashing black-and-white movies against Suzette’s brightly colored walls and hodgepodge of typewriters, ancient telephones, and Christmas lights. But one thing is constant: dessert chef Jehnee Rains, who earned her pastry stripes at Berkeley’s esteemed Chez Panisse, still folds up Portland’s best sweet crêpes with artful flare. And you get to pick the fillings. Included in the winter lineup: cider-poached apples, marsala-soaked figs, and a scratch nutella from roasted hazelnuts. Even on a chilly night, a scoop of Rains’s honey ice cream is a must. Place your order, head inside, grab a hot cocoa with fresh-made marshmallows, and wait for your luscious origami to arrive. 2921 NE Alberta St; suzettepdx.com—Benjamin Tepler

Pollos a la Brasa
El Inka Authentic Peruvian Restaurant

Inka, not Inca, is the traditional Quechua spelling of the word for the 15th-century empire that stretched along South America’s western shore. And despite the strip-mall location, tradition lives on at this tiny Gresham eatery, where Claudia Fernandez roasts up to 40 chickens in her massive, wood-fired oven every day. Served with three increasingly spicy Peruvian sauces—aji verde (dotted with ear-warming jalapeños, this is the mildest option), aji amarilla (a spicy mayonnaise sauce made with fruity-hot yellow amarilla chiles), and aji panca (a deliciously taste bud–burning sauce made with Peruvian habaneros; tender tongues need not apply). This is rotisserie chicken at its finest: juicy, tender, and infused with the smoky goodness that comes only from two hours in the oven. After you finish picking the last morsels from the bone of your quarter or half a chicken, you’ll be wishing you knew the Quechua phrase for “more, please.” 48 NE Division St, Gresham
—Kasey Cordell

Best Restaurants 2011

Best Restaurants 2011: Best New Restaurants

St. JackFrancomania in Southeast

Little BirdDowntown’s high-flying destination

CastagnaModernism’s rising star

Salt & StrawIce cream with an edge

Wafu

Bluehour

Best Restaurants 2011: The Ultimate Feast

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Best Restaurants 2011: Hidden Breakfasts

Mexican MorningsAutentica

Euro-PDX BrunchNavarre

Breakfast for DinnerTasty n Sons

Wood-Fired WeekendsNed Ludd

Eggs Over (Big) EasyEat: An Oyster Bar

Best Restaurants 2011: Maximal Meat

Animal HouseThe Country Cat

Upmarket Caveman SteakNostrana

Porky ExtravaganceThe People’s Pig

Beef Meets GoodfellasClyde’s Prime Rib

Charcuterie FantasyMetrovino

Best Restaurants 2011: Amped Up

PREDATOR & PREY

FROG & TOAD

SKULL & BONES

SKULL & BONES

Best Restaurants 2011: The Best of the Rest

AndinaPERUVIAN

Apizza SchollsPIZZA

Bamboo SushiJAPANESE

Beaker & FlaskPACIFIC NORTHWEST

BroderSCANDINAVIAN

Bunk SandwichesSANDWICHES

Caffe MingoITALIAN

Chef Naoko’s Bento CaféJAPANESE BENTO

Chennai MasalaINDIAN

ClarklewisPACIFIC NORTHWEST

Clyde CommonCONTEMPORARY

DOCITALIAN

Dove ViviPIZZA

EvoeCOUNTRYSIDE EUROPE

Ken’s Artisan PizzaWOOD-FIRED PIZZA

Lauretta Jean’s + Café VéloBAKERY

LincolnNEW AMERICAN

Little Big BurgerFAST FOOD

Lovely’s Fifty-FiftyWOOD-FIRED PIZZA

Noble RotPACIFIC NORTHWEST

Ocean CityCHINESE/DIM SUM

Olympic Provisions NorthwestSALUMERIA

Park KitchenPACIFIC NORTHWEST

PingPAN-ASIAN

Screen DoorSOUTHERN

Simpatica Dining HallAMERICAN

Syun IzakayaJAPANESE

Tabla Mediterranean BistroMEDITERRANEAN

TastebudPIZZA

Toro BravoSPANISH

Best Restaurants 2011: Asian Adventures

Vietnamese Soup ArtHA & VL

Burger After DarkBiwa

The New KoreatownSpring Restaurant

Old-School Phat ThaiWhiskey Soda Lounge

Best Restaurants 2011: Meat-Free Magnificence

The Holiday Tasting MenuEast India Co

Art & RomanceNatural Selection

Vegetarian SwankGenoa

Power “Raw Foods” LunchBlossoming Lotus

Vegan Heaven, With BeerPortobello Vegan Trattoria

Best Restaurants 2011: The Comforts

Risotto NightBar Mingo

Soup in the Back BarHiggins

American SplendorLaurelhurst Market

DIY DessertSuzette Crêperie

Pollos a la BrasaEl Inka Authentic Peruvian Restaurant

St. Jack
Francomania in Southeast

Little Bird
Downtown’s high-flying destination

Castagna
Modernism’s rising star

Salt & Straw
Ice cream with an edge

Mexican Mornings
Autentica

Euro-PDX Brunch
Navarre

Breakfast for Dinner
Tasty n Sons

Wood-Fired Weekends
Ned Ludd

Eggs Over (Big) Easy
Eat: An Oyster Bar

Animal House
The Country Cat

Upmarket Caveman Steak
Nostrana

Porky Extravagance
The People’s Pig

Beef Meets Goodfellas
Clyde’s Prime Rib

Charcuterie Fantasy
Metrovino

Andina

PERUVIAN

Apizza Scholls

PIZZA

Bamboo Sushi

JAPANESE

Beaker & Flask
PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Broder

SCANDINAVIAN

Bunk Sandwiches
SANDWICHES

Caffe Mingo

ITALIAN

Chef Naoko’s Bento Café

JAPANESE BENTO

Chennai Masala

INDIAN

Clarklewis

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Clyde Common

CONTEMPORARY

DOC

ITALIAN

Dove Vivi

PIZZA

Evoe

COUNTRYSIDE EUROPE

Ken’s Artisan Pizza

WOOD-FIRED PIZZA

Lauretta Jean’s + Café Vélo

BAKERY

Lincoln

NEW AMERICAN

Little Big Burger

FAST FOOD

Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty

WOOD-FIRED PIZZA

Noble Rot

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Ocean City

CHINESE/DIM SUM

Olympic Provisions Northwest

SALUMERIA

Park Kitchen

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Ping

PAN-ASIAN

Screen Door

SOUTHERN

Simpatica Dining Hall

AMERICAN

Syun Izakaya
JAPANESE

Tabla Mediterranean Bistro

MEDITERRANEAN

Tastebud

PIZZA

Toro Bravo

SPANISH

Vietnamese Soup Art
HA & VL

Burger After Dark
Biwa

The New Koreatown
Spring Restaurant

Old-School Phat Thai
Whiskey Soda Lounge

The Holiday Tasting Menu
East India Co

Art & Romance
Natural Selection

Vegetarian Swank
Genoa

Power “Raw Foods” Lunch
Blossoming Lotus

Vegan Heaven, With Beer
Portobello Vegan Trattoria

Risotto Night
Bar Mingo

Soup in the Back Bar
Higgins

American Splendor
Laurelhurst Market

DIY Dessert
Suzette Crêperie

Pollos a la Brasa
El Inka Authentic Peruvian Restaurant