The Nines Hotel's Departure Restaurant Drops Anchor in Portland
Hot on the heels of the NYT’s gush-fest, the Nines Hotel in Portland has opened Departure Restaurant + Lounge for dinner and happy hour. Roosting from the 15th floor, the rooftop spot proffers a bird’s-eye panorama of Portland's bridges and mountain peaks beyond. Chef Bryan Emperor, a transplant by way of NYC and Virginia, serves a "modern Asian menu" with a "casual dining experience akin to a neighborhood pub." (Translation: Southeast Asia fare, Japanese-style Izakaya.)
Conceived by the Denver-based Sage Restaurant Group, the restaurant's name and aesthetic is a nod to the days when Portlanders took the monorail in the Meier & Frank Building (where the hotel is housed) and "when an 'around the world' ocean voyage was de rigueur for the modern traveler." That means worldly accents like marine teak decking, sailcloth panels, nautical map murals, ship portals in the corridor leading to the restrooms, and a teak-clad "smokestack" that floats above the bar.
Featuring both locally sourced and imported ingredients, menu highlights include blue fin tuna sashimi, hamachi sashimi with white truffle oil and fleur de sel, dim sum, Kushiyaki dishes (skewered on Japanese charcoal), Kobe beef and foie gras meatballs, and desserts like fried ginger cream and coconut custard. (You can skim the menu here, courtesy of an on-the-ball Flickr user.)
Departure serves a selection of 30 handcrafted sakes and global-themed specialty cocktails (from modern twists on the Manhattan to a sake sparkler). But here's the really good news: the happy hour menu (4-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday) offers cocktails, beer, wine, shochu, and sake for just $5 each (selection to change daily). And, of course, don't forget about the Nine's other buzzy resto, Urban Farmer.
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