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Grüner

Grüner isn’t a “German” restaurant, nor does it bill itself as such; rather it is Alpine. This is a vast region that includes pieces of France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, and even a bit of Balkan and Mediterranean influences. All of this is alongside the distinct regional cuisines of Germany. Like billing a restaurant “Italian”, most of us know
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Nel Centro

On a cool evening a few months ago, I sat with friends on the patio at Nel Centro. Three fire pits allowed heat to drift across our table. The flames, reflected in window after window of the hotel, were sometimes three layers deep. Sheltered from the transit mall, it was a little oasis. Vines climbed nearby walls, the background music
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Review: Hot Pot City

[Updated 10/10/09 - Hot Pot City continues to give the same level of quality and service as we discussed in the original review we did here in 2007. However, the restaurant seems to have been "discovered". There are often long waits, especially for counter seating and during prime lunch hours (12-1:30pm). Weekends often fare a bit better. Service can be brisk or completely overwhelmed.]

First Impressions: Beaker & Flask

When is a bar not a bar? That thought wandered across my mind as w and I were sitting in Beaker & Flask a couple of nights ago in the midst of what was turning into one of the most satisfying dinners we’d had in a long time. The reason for that musing was when B&F was getting started, the buzz around town was that bartending savant Kevin Ludwig was finally fulfilling his dream of opening his own place,and won’t it be a cool place to grab

El Gaucho

To many, El Gaucho epitomizes what a steakhouse should be. It feels sophisticated. The atmosphere is formal, the lighting dim and romantic, and lots of dark wood provides a backdrop to tinkling stemware and white linens. Live jazz wafts from the background as tuxedo-clad waiters scurry by with carts for tableside Caesar salads, the darkness punctuated by an occasional burst of flame from a bananas Foster in the making. To many people, this type of ambience is it, as fancy as they will ever dine, a place

East India Company

Downtown Portland is dotted with Indian restaurants and food carts. It has gotten to the point where, when making plans with friends, you have to make sure you all are talking about the same restaurant; otherwise some of your party will invariably end up at the wrong place. That is what happened to me the first time I went to East India Company.

H5O bistro & bar – First Impression

H5O (and that’s h-five-oh, in case you were wondering) bistro & bar is a part of Portland’s newest boutique hotel compound: Hotel Fifty. The bistro is under the helm of Texas transplant, Nicholas A. Yanes, a chef with a resume of high-brow dining rooms around Dallas, along with a degree from the Western Culinary Institute.

This affects the menu in interesting ways-it’s certainly not stuck on localvore

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