Skip to main content
Grand Amari, as a restaurant, is like some people you know (and have probably broken up with): says all the right things, but only follows through about half the time.
This new Italian spot, which was billed as having an “unapologetically traditional approach” to the cuisine in a press release announcing the May opening, is helmed by Jessica Hereth from Olympia Provisions and restaurateur Nate Tilden (Clyde Common, Bar Casa Vale), and promises many things to draw in a hungry lady such as myself: Think fried anchovies, a full bar cart of bitter amari, house-baked focaccia, and more handmade pastas than you can shake a fork at.
And yet, after eating there on several occasions, I can’t put my finger on to whom I’d recommend Grand Amari. That’s not because it was bad (although there were some big misses; more on that in a bit), but more like it was fairly expensive for what amounted to just a nice meal.
That’s often the case for hotel restaurants—this one is off the lobby of the Hotel Grand Stark in the inner eastside—but I guess with the firepower behind it I was hoping for more.
Let’s start with the good, though. A grass-fed, porcini-rubbed rib-eye ($40), served with fresh horseradish grated so fine it was like spicy snow, was one of the best steaks I’ve been served in a minute. Cooked to a beautiful medium rare, the mushrooms boosted the umami of the meat to an 11. The leftovers didn’t make it to the next day.
The pastas were also solid choices. Cacio e pepe ($22), the current darling of the carbohydrate world, is appropriately peppery, cutting the rich pecorino sauce. A pappardelle ($26) was rolled out so thin that I swear you could see your dining companion through those wide noodles. Still, they supported a simple tomato sauce with pork, sugo alla contadina, well. Stick with those over the more expensive bucatini with a squid ink sauce ($31), which was fine but not worth the extra cost.
The service was good, and the cocktails all feature bitters. The signature martini ($16) is delicious with the addition of Finocchietto, a savory fennel digestif. For an extra $5 you can have one that’s been aged in a clay amphora, like I did, but I’m not sure what the difference is.
The real fun is the amari cart, which is wheeled to your table to pair with dessert. For $21, pick your own flight of three from the huge list to sample, or get a little guidance from the server, who turned us on to a few new fernets we’ve never had.
One night, the focaccia ($4) offered everything you would want from the decadent bread—wide air pockets, crisp tops, and generous flakes of sea salt. On another, it was underdone—stodgy and soggy.
Weirdly, Grand Amari is one of the only finer dining establishments where frying the ingredients seems to make them worse: Every fried thing we tried was bland. Like, “Live, Laugh, Love” bland. So bland that even a German would reach for spices.
Perhaps this was most sad-making with the pork Milanese ($40), a breaded cutlet that literally fell flat on the plate. I say this is particularly sad because Olympia Provisions’ whole thing is pork. It’s strange that it only appears in one pasta dish, this entree, and as a $30 or $45 salumi plate. Olympia Provisions is currently marketing its pasture-raised pork program; I saw an incredible chop on special at the Southeast location. More of that at Grand Amari, please.
The same went for the fried anchovies. I was so excited to get them, and then the fried lemons served alongside ended up having more flavor. A seasonal special of fried squash blossoms filled with buffalo mozzarella were nothing puffs.
Portland has had so many hotel restaurants that have been a resounding success; Tilden’s own Clyde Common, formerly located at downtown’s Ace Hotel, was part of the first wave of restaurants that made Portland’s food scene what it is. Grand Amari has a few of the building blocks for greatness, but still has some growing to do.
EAT: Grand Amari, 509 SE Grand Ave., 503-894-8135, grandamaripdx.com. 5-9 pm Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 pm Friday-Saturday.
