The March Hit List: Bar West, Casa Zoraya, Han Oak, and More

Longtime and beloved Pacific Northwest restaurant Wildwood reopened in 2018 as Bar West, a 40-seat, wood-fired restaurant and bar. For those who remember Wildwood, there’s a touch of nostalgia on display, paying homage to the restaurant’s auspicious — and straightforward-yet-delicious — origins. These days, the menu ranges from light finger foods, like rosemary and chile almonds and garlic bread with arrabbiata, to smaller salads and fried chicken snacks, larger plates featuring braised meats, pasta, and fish, and those familiar wood-fired pizzas. Cocktails take center stage from Wildwood’s formerly beer-centric bar, with fun drinks featuring every main liquor, plus a couple of NA cocktails, too. Over the past few months, the restaurant also built out a brand-new patio, making indoor and outdoor dining perfect for whatever season.

Last summer, a family of Andina alumni opened Casa Zoraya on North Lombard. The menu, though short, is bright and beautiful, kicking off with a pair of anticuchos, empanadas, and fried bites like papa rellena and chicharron de puerco, before diving into a fish and seafood ceviche of the day, tossed in aji limo and leche de tigre with a topping of fried calamari. Further down the menu list, larger plates mine Peru’s Chinese influence, with arroz chaufa, here studded with pork belly and shrimp, and oyster mushroom saltado spiked with oyster sauce. There’s also a beautiful lamb in spinach and cilantro sauce as well as a quarter fried chicken marinated in Peruvian peppers.

The powerhouse team — and current JBFA semifinalists — behind La Perlita and Republica are back at it again with Esperanza Trading Co., an effortlessly cool coffee shop project in Southeast Portland’s Woodstock neighborhood. Tucked in the back of a credit union parking lot, the gleaming white space already feels like part of the neighborhood fabric, with families sipping cafe de olla on the sunny front porch as kids run around through the covered patio and back, while those seeking solitude have set up shop in the back room “study” lined with green velvet chairs and an upscale schoolhouse-meets-university library vibe. If you’re normally a visitor of La Perlita or Republica, which proudly serve as incubators for culinary talents of color, you’ll recognize members and treats from the same team here, including a pastry case filled with sweet and savory goods from Matutina, like puerquitos, caramelized onion, potato, and chile morita tarts, little cakes, and of course, conchas.

Han Oak is finally back, with a twist. One of the city’s most popular restaurants, known for their creative spins on Korean American dishes, Han Oak has traded Korean barbecue and their must-order instant ramen-dusted wings for Friday- and Saturday-only set menu hot pot. For $75/person, guests will sample through a multi-course menu of shaved meats, local veg, and fresh tofu dunked in a rich beef broth, alongside punchy sauces. There’s also housemade dumplings and noodles, natch, and maybe most cozy, a silky rice porridge finished tableside, dotted with house-cured ikura. Those looking to make the evening a little more indulgent can also add on an oyster and ikura supplement with Korean crackers and griddled mochi (tableside!) for dessert.

There’s a new sushi spot in town. Kaizen Sushi, from industry vet and Oaxaca son Job Martinez, has been a project decades-long in the making. Martinez, who has worked at nearly every great sushi spot in town — from Bamboo Sushi and Masu to the now-shuttered Sinju and Mirakutei (not to mention, in 2018 Martinez and his brother bought Mirakutei from sushi chef Hiro Ikegaya) — finally has a place to call his own. The menu starts off simple — with the likes of edamame, sunomono, and hiyayakko up top — before delving into creative specialty plates, like salmon toro and grapefruit supremes drizzled in spicy yuzu oil, a seafood-spiked ceviche with tuna and octopus, and hamachi carpaccio with fiery jalapeños soothed by heirloom tomatoes and the buttery fish. Much of the rest of the menu is dedicated to rolls, both creative and traditional (and of course, vegetarian), and sashimi/nigiri. The regionally eponymous “Pacific NW” roll highlights the best of Oregon’s bounty, rolling Dungeness crab and spicy albacore tuna with tempura bits and a creamy-spicy pesto. “Keep Portland Weird” reads like Martinez’s take on the Philadelphia roll, pairing unagi, asparagus, and cream cheese with the classic smoked salmon and avocado.

Gabbiano’s, the new neighborhood red-sauce joint, with its Chianti bottles and pasta-themed artwork (not to mention the hand-painted mural as if looking through historic Italian architecture at a Pacific Northwest landscape), recently opened along Northeast Killingsworth and wow, is it fun. Here, mozzarella sticks, rolled in panko, take the form of mini shot glasses overflowing with marinara sauce. The casually named chicken Parm arrives as two massive floes of thinly pounded, butterflied chicken breasts submerged beneath a sea of marinara and mozzarella. and served with garlic bread. Elsewhere on the short-but-sweet menu is a trio of pastas, one, a simple chitarra with marinara, butter, and Parm (and the option to add meatballs), another, more rustic, filled out with sourdough ricotta gnocchi, confit chicken, cream, and crispy chicken skin. And if that wasn’t enough, even the Negronis arrive with a mozzarella ball garnish.

No reservations.

Portland fine-dining icon Le Pigeon has moved to a five-course chef’s tasting menu and we couldn’t be more excited. The dishes, which will change seasonally, ring of pre-pandemic menus, with dishes expertly layering ingredients that never seem like they could possibly fit together, let alone be showstoppers every time. Dishes start with a corned beef tongue with wasabi, beet mostarda, and green apple crema, and a smoked duck confit a l’orange done like you’ve never had before: served alongside green curry barley with kumquat honey mustard. The non-vegetarian menu is meat-heavy, with veal sweetbreads and rack of lamb filling out the other savory mains before ending on a chocolate passionfruit Monte Cristo with banana mousseline, black sesame ice cream, and chocolate pudding, and of course, a foie gras profiterole to close out the night.

Mucca Osteria, downtown’s white tablecloth Italian restaurant, is a bit of old Portland decadence. The menu, like the timeless decor, follows a familiar cadence, starting with luxurious antipasti like seared scallops in a Parmigiano fondue and steak tartare with a dainty quail egg yolk. Then comes the pasta course, filled out with regional specialties, including a hearty, slow-braised venison ragu over handmade tagliatelle; beef and cabbage-stuffed agnolotti in a truffle Parmigiano fondue (winter is good for some things!); and mushroom- and ricotta-filled tortelli with brussels sprouts and almonds, glazed in a shallot-white wine cream sauce. If you somehow didn’t order all the pasta dishes, there’s a quartet of proteins to balance out the carbs and of course, quintessential dolci to close out the night.

Portland continues to be a growing mecca for ramen shops. Recently, Beaverton’s (and San Diego and Providencia, Chile’s) Sapporo-style ramen shop tucked next to Japanese grocery superstore Uwajimaya joined the fray, opening a downtown location. Unlike other regional styles, Ryoma’s bowls arrive with thicker noodles and a miso-spiked base (though there are other miso-less options, too). While Beaverton’s menu is mostly ramen-focused, the new downtown bar features an expanded appetizer and drink menu. Find new dishes like karaage, torisenbei — fried chicken crackers — takoyaki, and new rice bowls to pair with an expanded sake and wine list. Whatever you order, don’t miss the jiggly, tender chashu.

What started as a zero-proof events and cocktail kit company has morphed into Portland’s first pop-up non-alcoholic cocktail bar (and by the end of the year, a permanent fixture). Visitors will sample through a trio of drinks paired with small snacks. Cocktails, which will change on a seasonal basis, look like roasted corn tea mixed with smoked maple syrup and cooked grape must; a tropical verjus stirred with turmeric drinking vinegar, yuzu, galangal, and shiso; and Earl Grey tea shaken with orgeat, date, and aquafaba to produce a perfect faux-egg white foam. The pop-up, for now, will run every Thursday through Sunday.