Neighborhood:
Brewery Blocks Portland’s version of SoHo, the Pearl is chockablock with multimillion-dollar condominium projects like The Wyatt (1125 NW 12th Ave. (read more), 227-9500, thewyatt.com), where Mayor Sam Adams’ dirty little secret, Beau Breedlove (see wweek.com for the full story), works as a leasing agent. High-end retail is squeezed among the condos, composed increasingly of chain stores like REI (1405 NW Johnson St., 221-1938, rei.com). But don’t worry, world-famous Powell’s City of Books (1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651, powells.com) hasn’t been absorbed by Borders. Yet. The Pearl wasn’t always so glitzy. Just two decades ago, the upscale district was an industrial neighborhood—home to rail yards, warehouses and a brewery that spewed a hoppy, funky stench morning to night. These days, the reek of panic sweat from real-estate developers greets passengers stepping off the Portland Streetcar (238-RIDE, portlandstreetcar.org)—the imploding housing market has hit this land of inflated property values hard. Hints of the Pearl’s past can be found in Tanner Springs Park (Northwest 10th Avenue and Marshall Street). A full city block, the park is bound on its east side by a decorative wall made from reclaimed railroad ties. Looking to the future, Portland Public Schools announced in 2009 that it would open its first new school in years, in the Pearl, in 2011. —Beth Slovic
Featured in Restaurant Guide 2009
Greeted with contempt upon its 2007 opening and compensatory raves soon after, the Pearl District’s monument to gilded elegance has settled into a comfortable—and maybe slightly complacent—routine under new chef Benjamin Parks. The menu is still filled with treasures, including a seared slab of halibut resting on a bed of wild rice (decadently buttered in beurre blanc), and a bowl of steamed clams and mussels ingeniously accented with lentils. A meal in the balcony seating—with its white upholstery and dune grasses, it looks like a spread from Sunset magazine circa 1977—remains as classy as this town gets. But in these penurious times, your best bet is to grab a seat at the bar and let Kelley Swenson pour you a couple of flawless cocktails. For whatever ails you (except, of course, alcoholism), I strongly urge a double feature of the Cryptic Memo and the Mystic Wood.
Order this: Did I mention how much beurre blanc is under the halibut? A lot of beurre blanc.
Best deal: Sure, lots of places have a happy-hour mac ’n’ cheese for $5—but how many throw in Cattail Creek lamb?
I’ll pass: The pork loin? Pedestrian.
AARON MESH
