Gourmet Magazine lists America’s Top 50 restaurants. Two from Portland make the list:
Higgins at 28, and Paley’s Place at 46. Seattle has one, Canlis. I’ve never been there. Interestingly enough, Los Angeles only had one, Providence at number 35. For it’s size, I’ve never thought LA was a particularly good restaurant town. Apparently, neither do they.
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What? The Mercury has a serious article on food! Shocking but true. Recently arrived intern from England, Matt Davis, gets a full page called “Liver Let Live”, the scene of Foie Gras in Portland, complete with tons of soundbites from a who’s who of Portland chefs. You can check it out here.
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I’ve been walking past Trust: A Lounge at the foot of the Elizabeth building since March of 2005, or the “coming soon” signs anyway. Now a brief blurb in the Oregonian says it’s finally opening, complete with a doorman and $9.00 drinks. Sounds like they won’t let you in unless they think you are dressed appropriately. Insert rolling eyes here. There was quite a bit of controversy from residents of the building over the potential noise and traffic. Maybe that’s the reason for the attitude; keep out the undesirables and keep the HOA happy.
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Liz Gadberry over at the Portland Tribune, confirms some of my speculation from last week. The Pork Store will not be opening. Apizza Scholls will be expanding into the space to add additional seating. They hope it will happen by the second week in October. Here’s the story and review.
Chris Heinonen says
Cafe Juanita is also in the greater Seattle area, so both cities probably got two. They also put Lantern in Chapel Hill, NC (though the list says Chapel Hill, CA, which is wrong), and there is absolutely no way that restaurant should make this list (and I live there now). I wonder how much of this list was based on previous reputation (which many people suggest is the case for Canlis which, while good, isn’t amazing anymore) and where people have actually been recently.
-s says
Hmmm…I guess it depends on whether or not you count Beverly Hills as LA :)
I wish I could find the link (CNNSI doesn’t seem to have it in their archives), but Paul Zimmerman from CNNSI (he also writes professionally about wine) did a food/wine roadtrip from SF to Portland in the last six months and Chez Panisse graded out at number 14 of the 16 meals they ate on the trip and he thought they had gone downhill.
Cuisine Bonne Femme says
I walked by Trust the other night. My impression? Goths + yuppie cocaine scene + stupid investors. And what a name! Horrible theme and aesthetic. Anyone want to place bets on how long they last?
Matt Davis from the Mercury is one to watch. I think he’s an all around decent writer and a professional reporter. Although I would love it if he hit the restaurant critiques in the same brutal, yet witty way that other British critics are known for. It will be interesting to see if he stays at the Mercury for any length of time.
Canlis is a perfectly decent restaurant and I’ve had a couple of great meals there. It’s a beautiful space way up on top of a hill at the edge of Queen Anne, with amazing views overlooking Lake Union. They really shine with their seafood and make an awesome Cesear inspired salad. Nothing at Canlis is overly fussy or too trendy…you could take your conservative older relatives there for example, but everything is well prepared. It’s what I would describe as an old school, very adult restaurant that has managed to remain current and relative. Quite a refreshing change from most of the trendoid places that have seemed to taken over the Seattle dining scene. Is Canlis the best? Not sure about that, but for the overall experience, I’d say it comes close.
Erin says
-s, I think I found the link you’re talking about, via a piece you wrote yourself on salemfood! (Go to the second page to read about the California/Oregon trip.)
So, is Dundee Bistro worth a road trip? Is there anything else to do in Dundee besides eat here?
nagrom says
I don’t think Dundee Bistro is worth a special trip. If you are in Dundee and need to eat something good then I’d go. Not that it’s bad, it’s a very nice addition to wine country, but not worth a special trip. Painted Lady, however, I would drive for.
Jeff says
Wow. From the Trib article linked to above:
I recently asked Nyland what she thinks of Portland’s recent pizza boom. “We’re all for it,” she said. “We love Cathy (Whims, of Nostrana), and Ken (Forkish, of Ken’s Artisan Pizza) is doing nice work. But, you know, we’re the engine and they’re the caboose.”
WTF? Are they taking PR lessons from Terrell Owens?
Jill-O says
My guess is that Kim answered that way because long before Ken was making pizza (and at first only once a week in NW) and long before Nostrana (with a menu far more ambitious than pizza) opened it’s doors, Apizza Scholls was up and running and doing really well.
Besides, Ken has other concerns in his bakery, and Nostrana’s focus is not solely pizza (I’m not knocking their product, but then, neither did Kim.) . Brian focuses on his fabulous pizza, and it shows in the unflagging quality of his dough, ingredients and the resulting pies.
They were at the forefront (or beginning, like the the engine of a train) of that type of great pizza in Portland, and the others have followed (like a caboose). I don’t think it was mean or offensive to the other businesses mentioned, nor do I think it presumptious for them to take the credit they deserve.
Hunter says
It seemes a bit over the top though, the engine and the caboose?? I do like Brians’s pizza, it’s is pure and well done. But, am I literally the only one that doesn’t think it’s that good? The hype is a bit much. I’ve lived in NY and have eaten pizza all over so it’s not that I don’t have the experience. I just don’t think it’s the end all and bea ll of pizza.
Justine says
Hunter, They may not be the Bea ll of pizza – but they are certainly the Bea Arthur of pizza. I get where Kim was going with this – it sounds harsher than I think it was intended to be. I think we are making a mountain out of a molehill of a quote that was likely part of a much larger and kinder conversation.
Kim Nyland says
My answer didn’t make the article. I said….my customers say that about our ‘competition’, the engine & caboose thing. My reply was we can’t be compared since we make Big east coast style pies…not ‘ classic Italian Neopolitan’ pizzas but the more the merrier. Don’t know who Mr. Owens is…..simply my bad for answering the damn phone!
kim @ apizza
Apollo says
Interesting that Gourmet would choose those two restaurants. I can understand Paley’s, but Higgins seems a little past its prime to me. I havent been in about a year, so maybe it has changed, but I put it in that category shared by Wildwood of restaurants that were needed and great for their time, but are now past their prime. Has Higgins improved greatly recently? Am I missing something?
-s says
Erin,
Thanks for that. I had completely forgotten that I’d put that up.
I liked the Dundee Bistro the one time I went, and my parents who were out for a visit were impressed. I thinks it’s a nice place to go if you’re out that way, though I don’t know if it’s necessarily worth a trip on its own.
hoonan says
Hey Apollo,
Have you eaten at Wildwood lately? Just curious, because I don’t find the food past its prime at all. I was surpirsed at the Gourmet article. How can they list Zuni Cafe and not list Michael Mina or Gary Danko which are both way better than Zuni! Did the budget this year not allow for a visit to either of these restaurants?
Carlo says
Gourmet’s list of top restaurants strikes me as a little dated overall. But I definitely agree with hoonan. I’ve had a few meals at Wildwood this year that were really exceptional. Way better than what I’ve gotten at Higgins, actually.
Apollo says
I haven’t been to Wildwood for probably two years after two consecutive sub-par meals there. The food there seems really dated to me. I know they popularized the seasonal local thing in Portland along with Higgins, but the newer crop of local seasonal restaurants are doing a much better interpretation in my opinion. maybe things have changed in the past few years, but if I recall they have had kitchen shakeups there. Maybe the new kitchen crew is putting out phenomenal meals now at the calibre of some of the newer spots. But it would take a number of excellent meals in a row at Either Higgins or Wildwood to convince me they are better restaurants than someplace like Park Kitchen.
Kristi says
I usually eat in the bar at Wildwood and mostly order appetizers so I can’t really comment on their entrees. In terms of the appetizers, I think that things have improved quite a bit in the past year and they have been turning out some very interesting dishes. A couple of weeks ago a friend and I shared about 5 dishes off the appetizer list and everything was fabulous. The only other meal I had this summer that even compared based on quality and use of local ingredients was at clarklewis.
-s says
Speaking of things called “Apizza,” look what has opened in Stayton:
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060925/BUSINESS/609250308/1040
Foamer says
I’ve written a review of the Stayton Apizza based on a visit my wife and I made on Thursday night:
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/?q=node/11
Word Verification: MONKEY (I suppose that’s food related… but probably not something I’d eat)
Food Dude says
Foamer: I’m finding whatever words I put into the dictionary, the spammers rapidly add them. I just added a few hundred random words until I get a chance to figure out something else.