The 100 Best Restaurants in Portland Feeding Frenzy Restaurant of the Year: Oba Waiter of the Year Mondo Carne Way Beyond Bagels Greengrocer to the Nation Bank on It Warehouse of Earthly Delights Late-Night Grazing Wine's Incredible Journey Restaurant of the Region Nature's Bounty Hunters Two Great Tastes... School's In--Eat Up! Everyone's a Critic

E - I *Esparza's Tex Mex Cafe* Respondents to a recent Gourmet survey weren't off the mark when they named Esparza's the "most fun" Portland restaurant. With a population of ceiling-suspended marionettes growing faster than Metro's predictions for the region and a collection of mounted and stuffed critters including a diamondback rattler and the elusive jackalope, it definitely qualifies as "fun." But Esparza's serves food that can't be found anywhere else, because it's the only place where Joe Esparza runs the kitchen. Joe's culinary sensibilities are rooted in his mom's home cooking. As a kid he would complain about too many beans, so he'd get mashed potatoes with hischile verde pork, and that's what you'll get at the Tex Mex Cafe. He also likes to experiment, and you'll find things that never saw Dallas, such as smoked salmon enchiladas or an ostrich tostada. The newest menu item is the Hank Williams tamale, created in honor of the 75th anniversary of the singer's birth. A thin shell of fresh house-made masa encloses tender smoked beef brisket. A ladle of cowboy chile--ground sirloin, no beans--comes next, then a topping of jalapeño jack cheese. After dinner visit Esparza's Tequila Shrine and savor any of the almost 20 premium tequilas on hand. (JD) 2725 SE Ankeny St., 234-7909. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday. Moderate. Esplanade Esplanade's menu is eclectic--with everything from a standard sun-dried tomato tortellini to a unique black-rice risotto with prawns--and dishes are artfully presented. The cilantro-crusted halibut, garnished with antenna-like sprigs of chives, arrives looking like a fanciful insect wading in a colorful pool of orange and gold bell-pepper sauce. Moreover, it's delicious. Things didn't initially bode well for our most recent visit to this upscale hotel restaurant; arriving a half hour before closing time on a Sunday evening, we were the first customers of the day. But the evening soon picked up. The staff was attentive (with no one else in the large dining room, perhaps that's to be expected) and professional. On a night like this, looking out at the Willamette River from the candlelit dining room, we just had to wonder why there weren't more customers. (MO) 1510 SW Harbor Way, 228-3233. Lunch and dinner daily. Expensive. Fernando's Hideaway A bold abstract mosaic paves the way to the host station at Fernando's Hideaway. There you decide: left to the cavernous bar for tapas (and perhaps a spin around the dance mezzanine amid the din of earsplitting bands or flamenco classes), or right to the hideaway, which features daubed walls, high-backed booths and an airy brick back room with a fountain. The scene is American singles, but the tapas menu (ranging from marinated octopus to a golden egg-and-potato tortilla) and hours (tapas served until around 2 am) are just like Madrid. Entrées aim for Spanish-continental fusion with dishes like rodaballo, halibut in saffron sauce, or picanton Catalan, roasted chicken sauced with raisins and brandy. The most intriguing item on the dessert menu is a tart of walnuts with Spanish bleu cheese. At times the restaurant's reach at sophistication and price level exceeds its grasp. Speak right up if your waiter tries to pull a bait-and-switch rather than disappoint you with the news that they've eighty-sixed something from the menu. (JTW) 824 SW 1st Ave., 248-4709. Dinner Monday-Saturday, lunch Monday-Friday. Moderate-Expensive.

Fiddleheads Here in the United States we generally know a good deal more about Italian and Chinese cooking than about the foodways of this hemisphere, but chef Fernando Divina is out to change that. His ground-breaking restaurant brings together a refined sensibility and superior ingredients to excellent effect. Fiddleheads casts a geographically wide net, including Brazilian, Mexican and Northwest preparations on the same menu, but a sure hand in the kitchen proves a unifying factor. The Bahian style steelhead, cooked to perfection, is accompanied by a delicious black-bean cake; the huge caldo, a Mexican pot-au-feu, is a deeply satisfying combination of earthy, spicy flavors; and the Veracruzano style crab (a ceviche, essentially) has just the right mix of lightness and bite. The place looks like a Native American art gallery, dramatic and stylish, but it's quite large and tends to feel empty, even with the kind of crowd that would make a small bistro feel bustling. (JM) 6716 SE Milwaukie Ave., 233-1547. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Saturday and Sunday. Moderate-Expensive.

*Genoa* Dinner at Genoa is not a meal--it's a journey. Other restaurants may pamper a diner with elegant atmosphere, service and cuisine, but after a seven-course, prix fixe meal at this remarkable Southeast Belmont Street venue, they seem unintegrated and merely three-dimensional by comparison. Genoa's inspiration is to add time to the traditional strategies of culinary escapism. Once you're enveloped in its dark, intimate and windowless dining room, the intense, hurried pace of the outside world fades into memory with the traffic outside. This makes Genoa a very European institution, for dinner is not a stepping stone to the evening beyond; it is the evening. Give yourself over to it, and you'll understand why this restaurant enjoys a well-deserved national reputation. The menu is top-notch Northern Italian, changing periodically to reflect seasonal produce and the passions of the chef. Early in the week, a four-course meal is also offered for a slightly reduced price. (MG) 2832 SE Belmont St., 238-1464. Dinner Monday-Saturday. Very expensive. Gino's Gino's kicks ass. The formula? Excellent, reasonably priced food served in one the coolest settings in town. The menu is a blend of homey, deftly prepared Italian classics and adventurous new recipes. They get the basics right. The Caesar salad is real here, none of that sanitized fake-crouton and roasted-chicken nonsense that pollutes other menus. Gino's knows mussels, and the pasta is properly al dente: Arrange to eat the penne with prosciutto and fresh fava beans before you die. Unlike many restaurants, Gino's puts quality before quantity, but you won't leave hungry. Desserts are consistently excellent, led by an espresso crème brûlée and a dense chocolate-almond cake. The lovingly rebuilt Leipzig Tavern is part of Gino's and adds to an insouciance that's hard to duplicate. Kids are welcome, the wine list is exceptional and there's a freezer incongruously perched on a ledge above the dining room--plenty to talk about if conversation stalls. (NJ) 8051 SE 13th Ave., 233-4613. Dinner daily, lunch Saturday. Moderate

Hall Street Grill The latest and greatest in Beaverton is the Hall Street Grill. This wondrous lodge-like eatery seems glaringly out of place in the mini-mall-infested Cedar Hills neighborhood. The exceedingly high ceiling makes the dining room seem extra large, but a peaked roof, low lighting and plush red curtains give the place a cozy feel. The food is pricey but mightily savory. Grilled dishes include wild king salmon; fabulous maple-glazed pork chops; pistachio-crusted lamb chops with rosemary demi-glace; and a 12-ounce prime-cut top sirloin. Also featured on the menu is a 16-ounce slow-roasted prime rib. Yuminator. If you don't go for mesquite-grilled food, there's also much in the way of pastas and salads. The bleu cheese salad is to die for, and the service is excellent to boot. (FF) 3375 SW Hall Blvd., Beaverton, 641-6161. Dinner daily, lunch Monday-Friday. Expensive. Harborside Restaurant This titillating cousin in the McCormick & Schmick chain is probably best known for the hopping Pilsner Room bar scene, where scantily clad women suck cigars like they're life support. The upscale brewpub is a haven for aging singles, but the restaurant is more dignified. Arranged in tiers so that every table has a view of the Willamette River, the dining room is a lively spot catering to the beautiful people who frequent the RiverPlace Marina. The food is predictably McCormick & Schmick, which means it's consistently well-prepared and constantly changing. The menu is new every day; tantalizing fresh seafood is prepared with interesting twists, such as a red Thai curry-glazed mahi mahi with coconut-mango sauce. The less adventurous will be pleased to find an array of fish, chicken, meat and pasta selections that will satisfy any palate. The Harborside also offers an excellent patio for warm-weather dining and people watching. Enjoy the river view while sipping one of 30 microbrewed beers. (SW) 0309 SW Montgomery St., 220-1865. Lunch and dinner daily. Expensive. The Heathman Restaurant Executive chef Philippe Boulot's Gallic influence has always been present at the Heathman, but look for even more classically French cooking in the new fall menu. It starts at breakfast with crêpes à la Normande, filled with camembert, wild mushrooms and smoked duck. The flavors of Normandy appear again at lunch in the seafood salad of marinated sea bass with a celery and carrot rémoulade, and in the dinner appetizer moules poulettes, steamed mussels with a delicate white wine-chive cream sauce. Particularly wonderful is the country-style veal breast à l'Alsacienne, the humble cut rolled around wild mushrooms and slowly cooked until it almost falls apart. The new $19.99 prix fixe menu, designed for theatergoers in a hurry, features different menu choices, such as the the roasted-vegetable shepherd's pie called hachis parmentier topped with olive-oil whipped potatoes. Save room for the very French apple tart tatin or chocolate gourmandise, or return home (or to your childhood) with a simple slice of devil's food cake appropriately served with a glass of ice-cold milk. (JD) 1001 SW Broadway, 241-4100. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Expensive. *Higgins* Greg Higgins' scrupulous concern for ingredients from local farms and purveyors, his insistence on seasonal freshness and organic produce, and his often brilliantly conceived dishes make his restaurant one of the best in the city. The menu changes all the time, a sign not of whimsy but of ever-evolving ideas about food, with few concessions to the merely trendy. An appetizer of giant grilled prawns served on a small bed of crushed purple potatoes infused with lemon and perked with a spicy rouille is a stunning blend of textures and flavors. Luscious smoked salmon wrapped around a column of fromage blanc is offset by crunchy pickled dilly beans. A cluster of starters serves to intrigue the appetite and introduce you to a highly creative inventor, every dish the product of experimentation and sure knowledge. Higgins ensures that several fascinating vegetarian items appear on each menu. A recent menu featured an enjoyable ragout of lobster mushrooms and chanterelles showered on grilled eggplants, offset by little falafels. One of the best duck dishes around combines confit plus magret, each one gorgeously tender and rich but never fatty, served with a jam of tomato and a scattering of garlic-heirloom beans. Higgins' commitment to sustainable agriculture, Oregon resources and highly artistic creations carries through the menu. In addition, few other restaurants offer such crisply engaging and informed service. The dining room is attractive, formal but not elegant, while the bar area next door is pub-like, a gathering place for downtown professionals and just regular types; its menu is casual bistro and always includes a great hamburger and roasted potatoes with a red-pepper rouille. The bar is deservedly packed for lunch and early dinners. You can return over and over to Higgins and always discover something new and arresting. (RJP) 1239 SW Broadway, 222-9070. Dinner daily, lunch Monday-Friday. Expensive. Hiro Sushi This bento box of a restaurant, with its tiny sushi bar and jewel-like array of raw and smoked fish, is as close to Tokyo as you'll get in Lake Oswego. Customers tend to be Japanese or sushi-savvy Westerners who know the drill, taking green tea and miso soup upon arrival and ordering straight off the special board or the sushi checklist. If you've ever wondered what onions can do for sushi (wonders), try the Oregon roll, a seafood mix with mayonnaise and onion in a hand roll. Spicy Dynamite lives up to its name: Red tuna is diced, tossed with a hot sauce and rolled snug. Hiro's Special is an inside-out roll with an avocado and faux crab mince. For the ultimate experience in uncooked food, try the flying fish roe with egg: a raw quail egg plopped atop red flying fish roe cupped in a nori collar. Hiro has a limited lunch menu of combo plates and a more elaborate dinner menu with tempura. The decor is the usual--bright and austere with blond wood--with a small shrine to the Blazers, and the ambience is friendly and casual. (JTW) 6334 SW Meadows Road, Lake Oswego, 684-7521. Dinner Monday-Saturday, lunch Monday-Friday. Moderate. Hokkaido While there's plenty of fish, rice and noodles to be had on Sandy Boulevard, it's usually in a Thai or Vietnamese dish. Only Hokkaido brings Japanese cuisine to this Avenue of the Asias. Fish is king at Hokkaido, from the moist salmon teriyaki to the buttery sushi to the giant koi circling the indoor pond. The restaurant serves some of the best unagi (barbecued eel) I've tasted--the tangy sauce sweetening meat that melts delicately on the tongue. A bowl of clear soup is too flavorless to support fat, chewy udon noodles, but the accompanying tempura is crisp and delicious. Hokkaido's clean, bright surroundings are complemented by low wooden screens, making for cozy dining and great eavesdropping. If the protein rush of raw fish leaves you craving fat and carbohydrates, try the tempura ice cream, a small scoop of vanilla dipped in sweet, doughy batter and deep fried. Your brain may wonder, "Hey, how do they do that?" but your stomach will know better than to question such an ingenious treat. (KES) 6744 NE Sandy Blvd., 288-3731. Dinner Tuesday-Sunday, lunch Tuesday-Saturday. Moderate. Hudson's Bar and Grill The Heathman Group has moved into Vancouver with this pseudo-National Park Lodge. While the food is hardly up to the Heathman Hotel norms, Hudson's does a nice job with a fairly conventional menu of mainstream standards. The fare, like the rusticated decor, is masculine and hearty and occasionally blends Native American recipes with more commonplace preparations. More generally, the menu is a varied one, taking from here and there. Thus the appetizer list boasts sweet potato ravioli, roast Manila clams with a chorizo, tomato and cilantro sauce and a salad with crispy fried oysters. Things come alive with the meaty entrees, especially a fine braised lamb shank bedded on wild mushroom barley ringed with mint pesto. Boned and roast quail stuffed with sausage and rice, glazed with a dried cherry sauce and served on a mound of white beans is a dish with a Northwest pedigree. Hudson's kitchen does best with other high-protein plates, such as beef short ribs or mustard- and herb-crusted pork chops. With accompaniments like deep-fried bread dumplings and the belly-bloating desserts, there's a tendency toward excess here. It doesn't always translate to great dining, but it does represent an earnest attempt to raise the level of dining in Vancouver. (RJP) 7805 NE Greenwood Rd., Vancouver, Wash., (360) 254-3100. Lunch and dinner daily. Moderate-Expensive. Hunan Amid the upscale steakhouses, tapas bars and Italian eateries that have swept over Portland, a classic Chinese restaurant seems like an anachronism. Chinese cooking has been taking a beating recently with the disappearance from downtown of most of the old favorite places, but Hunan remains as a stalwart representative. The pink-and-red dominated, slightly kitschy interior has long been known as the home of the best pot stickers in the city, and legions are well-acquainted with much of the rest of the menu. Hunan's General Tso's chicken is justly famous; it's a bit heavy on the oil, but it's also gratifyingly spicy. Hearty dishes such as the sesame beef and the smoked duck are standouts, but lighter ones like crab with black-bean sauce and many of the vegetable preparations are just as good. (JM) 515 SW Broadway, 224-8063. Dinner daily, lunch Monday-Saturday. Moderate.

Il Fornaio When Il Fornaio is good, it's very good. Its changing focus on regions of Italy keeps the menu intriguing, and it always seems to have an interesting wine event going on. The bread that was originally its raison d'être (the name means "baker") still holds its own against increasingly stiff competition, and the breakfasts are satisfying. But the restaurant sometimes seems to groan under the strain of its huge clientele and its high aspirations, and the kitchen can be inconsistent. Pastas tend to be reliable, but a recent order of the Petaluma duck was both dry and over-sauced, and the antipasto plate was lackluster. The ambience is terrific in the daytime, when light fills the ample space and makes for a great spot to linger in, but on a weekend night, when the din of boisterous conversation competes with grating pop music, the place can take on the feel of a tarted-up TGI Friday's. (JM) 115 NW 22nd Ave., 248-9400. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Moderate-Expensive. *Il Piatto* Inventive Italian cooking and a buzzing atmosphere have made Il Piatto a favorite neighborhood spot over the past few years. Within the earthtone walls of this oft-crowded Southeast restaurant, diners hunker down to sup on giant slices of bread served with a tangy tapinade, an ambitious array of appetizers and a cross-section of regional fare that ranges from popular dishes such as potato and spinach gnocchi in a creamy tomato sauce to ravioli stuffed with either roasted chicken or roasted potatoes and goat cheese. The extensive wine list includes helpful descriptions that facilitate matching, which is especially handy given the palette of pastas, meats, seafood and risotto dishes on the menu. It pays to be inquisitive here, as the knowledgeable staff can help discern between the succulent items (like the spaghetti alla Carbonara) and the overly hearty (chicken stuffed with mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella and bechamel). (RM) 2348 SE Ankeny St., 236-4997. Lunch and dinner daily. Moderate-Expensive. India House Many Indian restaurants take pride in having tandoors, but how many know how to use them well? India House does--their tandoori chicken is beautifully spiced and still moist--and that alone makes it worth a visit. It's not, of course, the only reason to eat at one of the city's favorite ethnic restaurants. The vindaloos and other curries are very good, and the kitchen won't hesitate to prepare your food fiery hot if that's what you want. There are plenty of vegetarian dishes, including an excellent alu saag (spinach and potatoes) and chana masala (Punjabi style chick peas), as well as crispy pakoras and samosas. Prices are reasonable, but for a real deal go for the $5.95 lunch buffet, which offers a good sampling of the menu. (JM) 1038 SW Morrison St., 274-1017. Dinner daily. Lunch Monday-Friday. Moderate. Indigine A tiny place with some of Portland's best outdoor dining, Indigine combines homey casualness with eclectic tastes. Menus combine European dishes, such as a warm and satisfying zuppa di pesce (Italian bouillabaisse) and rabbit with mustard sauce with Indian-inflected creations. The latter take over in the Saturday feast, a huge--and hugely satisfying--multi-course meal. Salman's vindaloo is a favorite, combining prawns and pork sausage in a hot, hot sauce; more timid palates may prefer the beautiful Muntaz chicken, stuffed with cashews and raisins and roasted with saffron butter, or the yeera moolee, a combination of seafood in a curry coconut milk sauce. There's an abbreviated version of the feast on Friday, but it won't leave you feeling any less sated; pretty much any night you eat at Indigine, in fact, you won't be good for much afterwards except groaning in satisfaction. (JM) 3725 SE Division St., 238-1470. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday, brunch Sunday. Moderate-Expensive. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published October 14, 1998