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Among Portland’s ever-evolving dining scene, the once-treasured farm-to-table concept still bestows a kind of awe. Sure, our restaurant options are more diverse than ever, with an abundance of worldly and trend-driven cuisines, yet the idea of simple, locally sourced ingredients from the bountiful farms surrounding us still titillates diners. With its focus on sustainably grown, locally sourced ingredients, the newly opened 82 Acres attempts to do exactly that.
The restaurant is helmed by executive chef Will Preisch and was launched by Carlton winery Abbey Road Farm in the former Quaintrelle space on Southeast Clinton Street. If Preisch’s name sounds familiar, it might be because he was co-chef at Holdfast Dining with Joel Stocks, who’s also enjoyed a triumphant second act with his widely acclaimed restaurant L’Orange. Both chefs champion simple yet refined approaches to transforming Northwest ingredients into dishes that lean French (ambiguously, mind you). For Preisch and his team—which includes Ray Leferink of Quaintrelle as chef de cuisine—this equates to a sort of pastiche of culinary influences that isn’t always clear.
Corrugated metal lines a wall adorned with charming pictures of the very vegetables and animals you hope to consume, giving the narrow dining room at 82 Acres a farmhouse chic feel. The rustic open kitchen lets diners peek in on the action, but instead of cranking out Quaintrelle’s extravagantly priced prix fixe menu, 82 Acres serves up à la carte (and moderately more affordable) dishes.
Considering the restaurant’s name, a reference to the size of Abbey Road Farm, my eyes gravitated toward the “From the Farm” section of the menu on my first visit. Forgoing more lavish snacks like caviar ($45) and oysters ($20–$38), I steered my taste buds into the garden only to find items that ranged from blissful to bland. The carrot falafel ($16) was creative and less carb loaded than your classic chickpea-based staple, with herbaceous shredded carrots giving a refreshing burst to contrast the sneakily spicy kick from the chili crisp.
Even if the Montecucco Farms beets ($16) were flavorful and tangy, the “pastrami spiced furikake” was undetectable and the lardo was little more than a wispy ribbon of fat that left my palate feeling baffled at the intention of the dish. The smoked sunchoke flatbread ($12) was also a bit confusing when it turned out to be like naan with a sauce on the side. Luckily, the fluffy bread was slathered in butter and dusted in flaky salt, and was delightful when dipped in the rich, neon orange sauce. On another visit, I thoroughly enjoyed the charred Lakeside Farms cabbage ($18), served as a wedge doused in an airy smoked cheese sauce laced with pungent garlic.
Preisch’s skills as a chef make their boldest appearance on the small but mighty entree list. On one visit, I devoured the burger ($20), a classed-up yet playful riff on a patty melt with perfect meat-to-fat ratio, sweet caramelized onions, tangy sauce, and chewy baked rye bun served up with wonderfully thin fries. In our smash burger-obsessed city, Preisch goes the other way with a decadent and fun cheffy style that could be among the best. But rating a restaurant like 82 Acres on the merit of its burger would be doing a disservice to the more elaborate entrees.
The steak frites ($38) proved to be the most fulfilling item on the menu with its succulent meat and a twist on the French classic courtesy of hollandaise that carried a little kick from the chili crunch and a generous pile of those tasty fries. The ½ Roast Chicken ($28) was about as delicious as a chicken can be on any menu with its tender cooked and crisped golden skin, but the herb-laden brown butter jus was hardly enough to appreciate, and it felt odd to be served a chicken without a side.
The cocktail menu at 82 Acres skews toward classics (think martinis and Negronis) with a few twists. Meunier After Midnight ($16) was a fun riff on a whiskey sour that incorporated Abbey Road’s pinot meunier to nicely capture the essence of the wine while not overshadowing the whiskey. This being a winery-owned restaurant, I had to try one of the several offerings from Abbey Road, which offers a rotating selection of its own wines that mostly favor grapes less associated with the Willamette Valley than pinot noir. Even if the server was unable to describe a tempranillo as being anything other than dry, that wine complemented the meatier dishes on the menu.
Portland is practically drowning in joints serving Detroit-style pizza, smash burgers, fried chicken and “authentic” Texas barbecue. And many of these places are excellent, but you can find the same things happening in Austin, Seattle, Los Angeles and pretty much any other city. On the contrary, 82 Acres feels like a return to the days when high-quality, locally sourced ingredients were prized. It mostly accomplishes this mission, yet my visits left me feeling a lack of vision in the current menu. Is it French? Middle Eastern? American? Not every restaurant needs to fit into a neat little box, but the sum of the parts should make sense. As the seasons change and 82 Acres finds its footing, it will hopefully emerge as an worthy torchbearer of Portland’s farm-to-table legacy.
TRY IT: 82 Acres, 2032 SE Clinton St., 503-200-5787, 82acrespdx.com. 5–9 pm Wednesday–Sunday.