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    Wildwood Restaurant Closing After 20 Years

    By PDX Food Dude Last Update January 20, 2016 14 Comments

    Wildwood Restaurant PortlandIn a notice sent out by Wildwood today, the restaurant announced they will be serving their last meal on Tuesday, February 25th.

    We’d like to thank our friends, family, farmers and vendors for your stalwart support over the last 20 years. We are so proud of the strides our team has made in recent years and the awesome amount of blood, sweat and tears they have dedicated to the restaurant. After our best year since 2007, it is heartbreaking to have to close now. Our team, lead by Executive Chef Dustin Clark in the kitchen and Cana Flug as General Manager, worked hard to bring an incredible dining experience to each and every one of our customers.

    Wildwood has been privileged to be a part of so many special life occasions, and to have nurtured so much culinary talent in the Portland food community. We are honored to have supported the amazing community of farmers and vendors in the Pacific Northwest, and to have fostered national appreciation for our region.

    Please join us this entire week through Tuesday, February 25th for seven days of celebratory send off. We hope you’ll stop by, raise a last glass with us and send Wildwood off in style!

    Stay tuned for our Next, Fabulous Venture.

    Love,

    Dustin, Cana, and the entire Wildwood Team, present and past.

    Wildwood, originally opened by Cory Schrieber, quickly won praise for its innovative take on using local ingredients. Along with Higgins and Paley’s Place, many consider the restaurant to have played a large part in inventing what is now called “Northwest Cuisine”. Though Schrieber left the restaurant in 2007, Sous chef Dustin Clark stepped up to the plate, and has run the kitchen ever since. Over the past few years, they were starting to regain some of the buzz that they lost during the restaurant boom of the early 2000’s.

    I wish them all the best of luck.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. JandJ says

      February 18, 2014 at 5:36 pm

      Oh, this is way sad. My wife and I had our first date there and they were instrumental in developing our interest in the then emerging dining scene in Portland. So sorry to hear this.

      Reply
    2. PDX Food Dude says

      February 18, 2014 at 5:42 pm

      It was one of my first really good dining experiences in Portland. I was planning on spending next Thanksgiving there. Sorry to see them go.

      Reply
      • Draw007 says

        February 18, 2014 at 9:45 pm

        Perhaps diners waiting until Thanksgiving for their next visit had something to do with its closure? Just wondering…

        Reply
    3. Rachel says

      February 18, 2014 at 5:43 pm

      I don’t mean to take anything away from Dustin, but Adam Sappington (Country Cat) ran the kitchen for a bit between Cory & Dustin. The list of past employees is quite amazing. Wildwood has proven to be quite a jumping off point for some of Portland’s most talented restauranteurs/chefs/pastry chefs/bartenders.
      Fairwell, Wildwood! Many a happy memory there.

      Reply
      • Rachel says

        February 18, 2014 at 6:17 pm

        Or, um, farewell! I mean.

        Reply
      • hsawtelle says

        February 19, 2014 at 7:46 am

        e.g. Jenn Louis of Lincoln / Sunshine Tavern / Culinary Artistry

        Reply
      • greg says

        February 24, 2014 at 8:42 am

        My first time at wildwood, the kitchen was being run by Dustin and Adam together. The food was good but not great. Dustin took that place from a good restaurant to an amazing restaurant. Wildwood has gotten CONSISTENTLY better every time I have gone over the past 5 years. I can’t wait to see what Dustin has up his sleeve next. Good luck to them all.

        Reply
    4. extramsg says

      February 18, 2014 at 7:42 pm

      Sad indeed. Wildwood continued to be one of my favorite places in town throughout the years and one of my recommendations for people from out of town. While the trend of late has been towards more “ethnic” offerings with local/seasonal influence, Wildwood remained the best of those places especially focused on local and seasonal, I thought. People would say, “Oh, they’ve gone downhill,” and I’d visit again and again I’d have an excellent meal. I saw little blips here and there, but worry that Portlanders’ increasing trend-seeking may be the bigger problem. I hope not. I’d like to think that mediocre places won’t replace good places just because they’re new.

      Reply
      • pdxyogi says

        February 19, 2014 at 7:31 am

        Totally agree about too many only caring for and patronizing the next new trendy thing and forgetting established reliable places.

        Reply
    5. Caroline says

      February 18, 2014 at 11:10 pm

      Wildwood once served porkbelly that is still one of the top 10 most amazing food memory my husband and I have together. I will miss this place so much

      Reply
    6. PDX2FLR says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:33 am

      Wow….this comes as a surprise. We had some great meals and even better times dining at Wildwood (mostly back in the day).
      Do food trends and the more casual establishments cropping up have something to do with it?
      Any known plans for the space?

      Reply
    7. Good Food For Me says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:56 am

      This makes me ill. We are loosing one of the very top places in Portland. I will miss this place, but so will everyone else that appreciates quality and innovative cuisine that portrays our area. Very best to the staff and team.

      Reply
    8. man-o-steele says

      February 20, 2014 at 5:02 am

      Wildwood was the first place I went before I moved to Portland. I was impressed and made a trip every time I was in Portland or passing through. I really appreciated how they approached seafood, not always a strength in the Portland dining scene. I purchased their cook book which became a major coo in a long term relationship break up. I still use some of the recipes. After I moved to Portland, I found that I did not visit that often, though the bar was great for drinks and snacks. More recently, I have been impressed and seeing them make great strides again, but after moving to Asia I could not frequent as much as I would have liked. This last Christmas eve had a great meal in a lively, fun atmosphere–the goose was so good and service was excellent. I wish them all well and am sad about losing a Portland institution.

      Reply
    9. Polarwanderer says

      February 20, 2014 at 10:08 am

      Yes, other than Zefiro and Higgins, it was one of the first great new restaurants in Portland for its time. The duck in the first few years was always amazing along with a great Northwest wine list. It was one of the trailblazers and pioneers.

      Reply

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