Belly: "An Appetite for Food"

Although some Portlanders see a dark shadow over the newly opened restaurant in the space that last housed short-lived and stigmatized Terroir, the restaurant is as earnest and promising as they come. The roster: fresh/local/seasonal dinner and Sunday brunch. Bamboo tables and wicker chairs, deconstructed wine barrels, and a framed photo of humble russets set the scene in the 60-plus-seat dining room. If your appetite is solid, follow a starter and precede your entree with pasta. The "loaded potato" gnocchi is one of the best. Tasty entrees include pan-roasted sockeye with corn-kernel-studded polenta and sautéed green and wax beans, and grilled culotte steak topped with a puck of bordelaise butter and served with simple russet fries.

IDEAL MEAL: Egg salad "sandwich," gnocchi, brined pork chop.

3500 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 249-9764.

*Sunday Brunch is served 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Please visit Belly's website for more information and directions.

WWeek 2015