Sad news: Fife Restaurant in NE Portland is closing
This arrived in my email today:
Dear Food Dude,
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…..to every last one of you that has supported us over the last six and a half years! This summer I am moving out of Oregon and thus we are closing the restaurant. Our last night of service will be Saturday, May 2nd. It has been my pleasure to fix dinner for you and to share laughs and stories and be witness to many proposals, birthdays and anniversaries. Since opening I have met some wonderful people and have made some life long friends. Portland has been a special place for me and my family and having all of you over for dinner at Fife has been a great part of our lives. To my “gang” of farmers that have been my inspiration, to the ever growing throng of Fife regulars and to my current and former staff that have helped me keep my dream alive…….Thank you, Thank you, Thank you a thousand times. I look forward to fixing dinner for all of you one last time.
Marco Shaw
On a personal level, I’m really sad to see Fife close. Marco is a class act, and though he doesn’t know who I am, I always enjoyed sitting at the bar and watching him and his crew cooking while having a conversation with us. I liked the way he went out of his way to work with local farmers, and how hard he tried to work game onto his menu. I am genuinely upset to see him go.
Nino M. says
This is quite sad…my wife and I live just a few minutes walk from this restaurant and consider it the star of Beaumont Village’s dining scene. It will be really, really missed.
RosePetalTea says
I’m so sorry to hear this, Marco. I love what you created at Fife. Wishing you all the best in your next adventure.
nancy says
I am sorry to hear about Marco Shaw closing Fife. He is a good, good man. I wish him and his family all the best in CA, and let us know exactly where you are xx
tfagin says
my husband and i ate at fife the night we got engaged, after 8 years of dating. i can be very enthusiastic about dessert, and i labored over the dessert choices and ultimately decided we had to have 4 of them (for just the 2 of us). the waitress brought us a fifth dessert to share, because it was her favorite and she didn’t want us to miss it. like i said, a very special night, and i will always have good memories of fife. i wish the crew the best.
Nino M. says
Here is an Oregonian story with more insight into his leaving. It looks like he might have an interested buyer in the space, so we can keep our fingers crossed it will be just as good:
http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2009/04/fife_restaurant_closing_next_m.html
Reva says
Wah. We’ll miss Fife. But good luck to you, Marco.
Dinah Davis says
Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn.
One of my favorites. *Sigh*
Maria Stuart says
I too am sad to read of Marco’s departure. I only had the pleasure of eating in Fife once, but Marco has a rare and remarkable gift for pairing food with wine. In his hands the food and the wines together created a magic that just sang. Thanks Marco. Portland will miss you. Best of luck in your travels, and maybe come back and see us again!
Dave J. says
Noooooo! The next owner better step up to the plate and keep those chicken livers on the menu!
Prone to Hyperbole says
Hey Dave J. I gotta say, I agree with your sentiment that those livers were a stand out. And not to be negative, but I don’t think you or i will taste the likes of those organs in this town again. The secret? Marco’s Grandmother’s cast iron pans. Maybe I’m wrong and he deep fried them. But I tend to recall them being pan fried. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the other secret in those cast iron pans was a correct type of fat for such preparation. Maybe lard, if not vegetable shortening. I swear….. I could have just eaten those livers and drank their superb cocktails every time I went! But then again, oh the quail!!!! Sigh….. Bye Marco. Take your dream with you and share it with others!
OH… One more thing (to Marko). Way to represent the SUPERIOR crab in your Maryland style crab cakes! BLUE CRAB FOREVA!!! I believe that the ony people who prefer the one-dimensional dungeness crab are simply too lazy to deal with so much work for so little meat in the case of the blue crab.
(Please no one hate me! My name is Prone to Hyperbole after all ;-) I actually love all crabs equally. Except for that blue crabs are better…) he he he ;-P
Johnny says
actually we coated them lightly with flour/ sauteed them in peanut oil
and just as they were browned we then finished them with scratch made chicken stock/ fresh sage herb and smoked bacon..
I did my extern there 4 years ago upon graduating from the western culinary
institute…
matt says
Anyone who ever enjoyed Marco’s pork ribs knows the sorrow I feel today.
Food Dude says
Um… did you not read the article? Following the dream type of thing.
Metro says
Yeah… but they always say that sort of thing. He just opened a new place up the street this summer didn’t he?
Food Dude says
That was year before last, right before the economy started crumbling
HMS says
We had the chance to attend a couple of the winemaker dinners at Fife in addition to eating there several other times. You could tell what fun he had and how much he enjoyed creating the dishes to accompany the wines on those occasions. This is a real loss to the area.
ChrisH says
I never made it to Fife while I was living in Portland, but his new restaurant will be up the road from me, and he’ll be a part owner of the farm that I get a Meat and Produce CSA from, and I can only hope the new restaurant is as good as I had heard from friends that Fife was in Portland.
Robert Fortney says
I too am going to be sad to see Fife go. I have had such a great time getting to know all of my beaumont regs. I’ll let you all know where I end up…. but if you know of anyone hiring I’m all ears.
Your bartender
Robert Fortney
RobertFortney@gmail.com
Robert Fortney says
I’m working at Metrovino now :) Its a new place in the Pearl come check us out!
http://metrovinopdx.com/