The roller coaster ride that is Portland’s restaurant world continued this summer, but August saw a lot more openings than closings. Downtown, in particular, is seeing renewed attention in the form of major chefs taking over and opening restaurants in hotels and sprawling venues. Here are some of the biggest openings of the last few weeks and a few still to come.
Chef Jack Strong is taking over as executive chef of downtown’s swanky the Ritz-Carlton. Strong is no stranger to upscale hotel dining—the chef is moving from wine country’s JORY at the Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, where he earned a James Beard Award nomination for Best Chef Northwest and Pacific earlier this year. Before that, he worked as executive chef of Kai, the restaurant within Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa outside Phoenix, AZ.
An enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and co-author of New Native American Cuisine: Five-Star Recipes from the Chefs of Arizona’s Kai Restaurant, Strong is one of Oregon’s most famous Indigenous chefs. At the Ritz-Carlton, he’ll be working with chef de cuisine Jocelyn Chacón at the hotel’s upper floor dining room Bellpine, and with chef Ocean Carlisle at the ground floor omakase experience, Meadowrue.
August 5 marked the opening of Marée within the space formerly home to Dame on NE 30th and Killingsworth. The restaurant comes from Garrett McAleese, the owner of SE Division’s Italian restaurant Fantino, one of 2025’s buzziest openings. At Marée, chef Jarrott Moonitz taps into Basque, French, and Spanish inspirations for a tight, focused menu. Opening dishes include summer melons with jamon, bomba rice with clams, mussel escabeche toast, white beans with heirloom peppers, and a 16-ounce t-bone. Anna Moss, previously of the French-ish Normandie, will be handling the bar with some playful takes on classics and non-alcoholic offerings.
One of several brightly decorated dining rooms at the Malarkey. Credit: Dina Avila
The Pearl District’s dining scene isn’t over yet, at least if former Top Chef contestant and host of Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out has anything to say about it. Oregon-born chef Brian Malarkey’s eponymous restaurant has to be the most ambitious project of the year, a sprawling 250-seat steakhouse in the heart of the Pearl. There’s psychedelic wallpaper, stuffed and wall-mounted birds, and a huge central bar dominated by a replica of the Thompson Elk Fountain statue. But the Marlarkey is about more than just spectacle. The beef is sourced from Malarkey’s own ranch in Central Oregon, and much of the seafood is local. He tapped chef Jose “Lalo” Camarena—a República alum who founded the mariscos pop-up Metlapíl—to run the kitchen as executive chef, putting a Mexican-American touch on the seafood and steaks. Alejandro de la Parra, formerly of cocktail institution Teardrop Lounge, manages the bar. With a team like that, maybe they can fill those 250 seats.
It was the taproom for Portland Cider Co., then for La Familia Cider. Now, the cozy, wood-filled space on SE 37th and Hawthorne is home to Bar Scorpio, serving drinks and dogs until (actually) late at night. Owner and industry veteran Aurelia Bardel describes her place as a “sexy dive bar,” and she’s keeping things simple: Libations include classic cocktails, a tap list, and affordably priced wells. With a tiny kitchen space, food is limited to a selection of hot dogs (including vegan alternatives), and a few panini. And while many newer bars close their doors at midnight or 1 am, Scorpio stays open until 2:30 am. Right now, the bar is open Wednesdays through Sundays, but Bardel says she wants to eventually be open six days a week.
It’s looking like Malarkey may have kicked off a trend of celebrity chefs setting up shop in Portland. Michael Mina is a Michelin starred restaurateur and founder of the globe-spanning Mina Group. He even has a restaurant on the Ritz-Carlton’s yacht, Ilma. Reportedly by late October he’ll open a more modest bistro in the Heathman Hotel. Bar Sprezzatura borrows its name and approach from his Italian spot in San Francisco’s Financial District, but with a more Pacific Northwest bent. He tapped chef Justin Ramirez, formerly of Coquine, as executive chef, with a menu of Venetian snacks, pastas, pizzas, and other Italian mainstays. It feels like a good fit for the historic hotel that was previously home to chefs like Vitaly Paley and Phillipe Boulot.
Pamana’s second location
The Portland bar scene was forever changed last February when the beloved cocktail lounge Expatriate suddenly closed its doors. Since then, speculation has abounded as to what would take over the intimate dining room, located across the street from Marée. It turns out, it will host the second location of Geri and Ethan Leung’s Filipino restaurant, Pamana. The Leungs got their Portland footing under them in 2021 with their food cart Baon Kainan. Then, they closed the cart and moved operations into Chinatown’s Hoxton Hotel last summer. They’ll keep the brunch menu going there for another two years (at least), while the NE location will focus on dinner. No menu yet, but you can expect Pamana classics like lumpia, sinigang (sour soup), and pancit canton, a dish of stir-fried wheat noodles.
Northeast Alberta’s Urdaneta has wowed Portlanders with its take on Basque cuisine, serving bite-sized pintxos, decadent burnt cheesecake, and glasses of sherry in its snug, romantic little dining room. It’s almost a surprise we haven’t had a follow-up from owners Javier and Jael Canteras already, but that’s due to change in September when the couple opens Feli in Slabtown. Rather than focusing on Northern Spain’s Basque region, Feli—named for Javier Canteras’ grandmother Feliciana—will evoke the culturally diverse flavors and stylings of Southern Spain along the Mediterranean. Think dry-aged tuna, charcoal-grilled vegetables, and llauna rice, a dish similar to paella served in a rectangular pan.
Dining and Cooking