Restaurant Roundup: Bon Appétit names 2 Portland restaurants to best of list
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Two Portland restaurants are on the coveted Best New Restaurants list from Bon Appétit.
The magazine picked 20 restaurants from across the county, and Portland’s Alpenrausch, opened in November 2023, and Pasar, opened in January, both made the list. Pasar also had the recognition of Best Dessert Program. Portland and Philadelphia were the only cities with two entries on the list.
Pasar is an Indonesian restaurant on Northeast Alberta Street that focuses on market food, which is to say small plates and snacks. The restaurant is the second for owner Feny Lim, who goes by Feny. She also owns Wajan on East Burnside.
Bon Appétit restaurant editor Elazar Sontag notes that at Pasar the plates come quick and the sweet and savory dishes are meant to be eaten together throughout the meal.
“A counterpoint to American dessert culture — eat your dinner, then you can have dessert — they’re most gratifying when nibbled between forkfuls of savory dishes. By the end of the meal, it’s hard to imagine eating any other way,” Sontag writes.
Alpenrausch is the latest restaurant from the team at Olympia Provisions. The Southeast Division Street restaurant focuses on Alpine cuisine, which includes Switzerland, Austria, eastern France and northern Italy. The restaurant reflects the five years coowner Elias Cairo spent living and working in Switzerland.
“Dishes pull from tradition while taking every opportunity to highlight the bounty of the Pacific Northwest,” Sontag wrote about Alpenrausch.
He adds that the decor of furs hanging from chairs and a cozy wood-burning stove add to the atmosphere served by the dishes.
“The more bitter, dark mountainous spirits you take down (there are dozens to choose from, infused with assertive botanicals native to high altitudes) and the lower you sink into that fur-covered chair, the warmer the fire starts to feel,” he writes.
Landing on a Bon Appétit list — or any of the other list or big publications like Condé Nast Traveler, New York Times or Esquire — can be a big boost for a restaurant.
The Bon Appétit lists are just the most recent accolades for Portland restaurants. Here’s some other food news to know:
Best BBQ. Three Oregon restaurants made the list of best Texas-style barbecue outside of Texas as compiled by Texas Monthly. Writer Daniel Vaughn tried 149 restaurants in 37 states and then picked 53 he thought were best. The Oregon entries are: Grasslands Barbecue in Hood River; Matt’s BBQ in Portland; and Bark City BBQ in Portland.
James Beard tastes. Tickets are on sale for a Sept. 26 tasting event that features 10 Portland chefs. The event is organized by the James Beard Foundation and called Taste America. Several events are hosted around the country. Many of the chefs are Beard Award nominees and winners. Portland’s event will see chefs from Coquine, Kann, Side Yard Farm & Kitchen, Magna Kusina, Cafe Olli, Lovely’s Fifty Fifty, Kachka, Langbaan, Güero, and Hayward Restaurant.